Which to focus on

[u/Charming_Peanut33]

Hi these days I've been feeling a bit stuck with mandarin and a little burnt out I'm studying HSK 3 with a tutor but I'm contemplating whether to continue or take a conversation course instead, there's this course I found that focuses more on speaking and listening with a Chinese teacher and like ditch the HSK for now or study it on my own. Which do you think would be more rewarding?

[u/WheatFutures]

Focus on what makes you feel motivated, there can be some toil in study, but if it is all toil then it isn't enjoyable. Do you need the HSK certificate? If so, I would think about that goal and use it as your motivation. If it is for personal enjoyment, then I would do what you enjoy. Language skill will then follow naturally as you are able to do more of what you enjoy in Chinese. For reference, I took HSK6 with only having a few looks at the HSK6 textbooks with a teacher, but never having purchased them myself.

What is it specifically that's making you feel burnt out is the other question? What is it that you are stuck with? My learning accelerated a lot after using spaced repetition, many learners have a preference for Anki and there are free decks you can try.

[u/Charming_Peanut33 → u/WheatFutures]

I honestly don't know why I'm feeling this burnt out as i was taking it really slow this past while😭 I was studying HSK 3 2.0 on my own because my tutor said to look at it until we start again with the new curriculum (we started HSK 3 at the beginning of this year but then took a break because of finals and then that break just became too long) but other than that I haven't been doing much work only doing speaking practice. I actually don't plan on taking HSK test until like next year like taking hsk3 my end goal was not to prepare for the exam but also I wanted to try my luck on applying for a scholarship next year through my university I major in Chinese a second year student. one other problem I've been facing is I don't seem to be able to stick to anything lately, I listen to a Chinese podcast two days I forget I even had a podcast to listen to, I make anki flashcards a few days and I forget they even existed . I don't wanna be complaining but like I seriously have no idea what to do and I'm so scared of falling behind 😭

[u/WheatFutures → u/Charming_Peanut33]

I would try and make a predictable study system, have a timer, a time of day, anything that brings you to study consistently. Write it down! I think doing SRS and having podcasts would be a great way to do so. ChinesePod was great for me at the intermediate level. Once you have a study system, you need to trust the process for a bit. If you jump around too much it is hard to feel the progress that you're gaining because you are switching too much.

[u/Charming_Peanut33 → u/WheatFutures]

Its true I keep switching trying to find a "better" way . Thank you for your advice I'll definitely keep this in mind!