Andys October Language Challenge Week 2

Andys October Language Challenge Week 2 Andy is our new UX Designer and recently joined the italki team in September.  One of the first things he did was join the italki October Language Challenge as he really needs to improve his Chinese as you can tell from his Public Video Pledge.  Hes graciously offered to blog about his experiences and how he is going to conquer the Challenge!  Take it away Andy This week Ive been naughty.  Since my last post seven days ago, I only took one class! Shame on me! While working it is very difficult to free up some time and save some mental energy to learn a language, especially one so difficult like the Chinese.  I have to say that I have some good excuses for not being able to actually take more classes. In fact in China we had a short weekend, last saturday it was a working day to make up for the long national holidays of the first week of october. Sunday and Monday i was knocked-off by a cold (I swear its not Ebola!) and iIwas not able to focus on nothing really Although, excuses doesnt really help you to learn a language. What is actually helpful is to set up a routine and schedule the classes in advance. At least for me, this should work better. If I know that a class is coming I  can find time to prepare and to arrange my other appointments in my busy calendar. Im sure than making my study time a commitment instead of a filler for my free time will definitely improve the results. Said so, until the end of October I will wake up earlier and take my Chinese classes in the morning before going to work. I used to do the same last year, but it didnt last long because to be able to attend the classes at the Chinese Language Institute before going to work I had to wake up at six in the morning! Commuting to the school and then commuting again to work was taking up 60 to 90 minutes every time. What a waste of time! By taking classes online I will  be able to save all of that commuting time and wake up one hour and a half later. Andys calendar to complete the October Language Challenge Here is my plan: Wake up around 7.30 and review the previous lesson between 8 and 8.30 while having breakfast (instead of the news!). Take one hour class from 8.30 to 9.30, then pack my stuff and go to work. Im lucky enough to live just 15 minutes by bike from the office so i should be able to be at work before 10.  Sounds like a good plan to me! So I already booked all the classes that Im still missing in order to achieve the 12 hours of classes goal. Im planning to be done by the 24th of October, almost a week in advance! What about you?  Do you have a schedule? How does it look like?  Let me know! See you next week guys!