{"id":5763,"date":"2026-02-17T12:21:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T20:21:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/2026\/02\/17\/learning-mandarin-post-2\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T12:21:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T20:21:32","slug":"learning-mandarin-post-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/2026\/02\/17\/learning-mandarin-post-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning Mandarin \u2013 Post #2"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>My goal is to spend 5 minutes everyday practicing Mandarin using the HelloChinese app. What I am learning is that it is difficult to develop new habits, especially when my life is already so insanely busy. Even though I am only aiming for 5 minutes a day, it is difficult to find the capacity after being in school full-time and working several jobs.<\/p>\n<p>So\u2013 today I am focusing on how to develop new habits. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"612\" height=\"408\" src=\"https:\/\/nathanclark.opened.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10111\/2026\/02\/istockphoto-965099436-612x612-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-146\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-center\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p>I asked Google Gemini: \u201cHow do I develop a new habit?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/nathanclark.opened.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10111\/2026\/02\/Gemini-1-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-144 size-full\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>It gave me 3 steps:<\/p>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Strategy of \u201cSmall\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Basically, don\u2019t start too big<\/li>\n<li>Set very small and achievable goals as a means of avoiding getting overwhelmed\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>While I don\u2019t think that 5 minutes a day is an overwhelming goal, I will adjust my goal to simply opening the app everyday<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Use \u201cHabit Stacking\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Pair the new habit with a habit that you already have<\/li>\n<li>For example, meditate for 1 minute after drinking your morning coffee\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I will try to open my app everyday after dinner. If that doesn\u2019t work, I will try something else<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Design Your Environment\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Put the tools you need for the habit literally front and center<\/li>\n<li>If you want to drink more water, put a water bottle on your desk\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Since I often have my phone on me, I do not think that this is the issue<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Reward and Track\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Use visual progress and instant rewads\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The app has a built-in streaks and rewards tool, so again, I do not think that this is the issue<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>I now begin take 2 of my Mandarin-learning journey.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-xxlarge-font-size\">\u795d\u6211\u597d\u8fd0 (wish me luck)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My goal is to spend 5 minutes everyday practicing Mandarin using the HelloChinese app. What I am learning is that it is difficult to develop new habits, especially when my life is already so insanely busy. Even though I am&#8230; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/2026\/02\/17\/learning-mandarin-post-2\/\">Continue Reading &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5763\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci336\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}