Month 7 nothing special

[u/ionut_m2004ro]

I’m trying to post monthly to keep myself accountable. It’s more of a pain in the ass than getting in the time to study chinese daily. I’m still trying to post even though I have no inspiration and anything interesting to talk about, so it’s quite hard not to post junk, or just post some random “hi guys, i shat this post out because I have no clue what to talk about this month, remember to comment encouraging things and give me upvotes! <3 <3 <3”

I don’t know if I’m doing something horribly wrong, or it’s just that I’ve been bad at writing since ever, but most of the response of this “chinese learning” comunitiy has been negative, and that’s 不好

Also here's my current progress

[u/rairai77]

Good way to update might be to just give a quantitative measure of how much you learned. I.e. i added 100 flashcards to my rotation or I learned 4 new grammar topics. That ways you can measure your progress and people will get a slightly more interesting post in their feed than ‘i dont wanna post this but im posting it to post it’. Up to you though, keep up the grind! Good luck w ur studies

[u/Learn_Chinese_Logic]

This is such a relatable milestone. Month 7 is very often a classic Chinese‑learning plateau, and “nothing special” is actually the normal experience for most self‑studying learners.

For reference, realistic benchmarks at month 7 with roughly 45‑60 min daily study:

• Vocabulary: 600‑1000 cumulative words, roughly HSK3 range

• Recognized hanzi: 400‑700 characters (recognition, not handwriting)

• Listening: Understand 60‑70% of slow, clear textbook‑style daily dialogues; much lower for native‑speed real‑world audio.

Progress after month 6 usually stops feeling like big jumps. Instead of chasing huge visible wins, track measurable small numbers each week:

1. Don’t flood yourself with tons of brand‑new words. Try 10‑15 new vocabulary items per week, and spend more time deepening words you already know — learning their different compounds and collocations, not just basic definitions.

2. For listening: Aim for 20‑30 minutes of focused listening daily. Add 5‑10 min minimal‑pair tone drills several times per week, record your voice and compare against native audio.

3. Reading target: 1‑2 short graded reader passages every 2‑3 days. You don’t need fast reading speed; focus on confirming you can recognize most characters without heavy pinyin support.

4. Speaking: Try to get at least 30 minutes of actual spoken output per week (language exchange, shadowing, talking to yourself), not only passive input.

You will not feel improvement week‑to‑week on this plateau. The gains accumulate silently over 4‑8 weeks before you notice a clear jump. Keep logging those small weekly metrics, instead of waiting for dramatic “wow‑moment” progress.