here was one thing that took me ages to grasp about the Chinese language which eventually changed how I thought about it, and how I learned it.
Once I grasped that, I could finally break through to an advanced level.
That one thing is: Chinese is a “high context” language.
That means communication is based on signals, tone, and understanding the “unspoken” context. Whereas in English, which is a low context language, communication is more straightforward.
So in learning Chinese, you need to know more context to really understand what’s going on, and use that context in how you learn and remember because everything is so alien.
Using context in learning language is about making more mental connections. It’s not just about learning words; It’s how to use context and stories to help you understand, remember and use language.