The italki team joins the 2015 New Year's Language Challenge

How much Chinese can they learn in 20 hours?

3 members of the team at italki are taking the language challenge to improve their Mandarin Chinese. Each of them will take 20 hours of lessons between January and February. Can you do better than them?

15th January

22nd January

19th February

12th February

29th January

5th February

28th February

TAKE THE CHALLENGE

Karthik

First Challenger

I've lived in China for almost 1 year now, and I'm still having trouble communicating with people and my coworkers. I tried to learn Mandarin before, but I couldn't commit to it. So, I'm hoping that by taking this challenge, I can finally make substantial improvements in my speaking/listening ability, and be able to talk (more) fluently with my coworkers!

I want to take this challenge because it will push me to actually study and to be persistent. I get very frustrated that I cannot communicate with the locals, and so taking part in this challenge will help me overcome that barrier.

"

"

Josie, Customer Support

Karthik is the Data Scientist at italki, and has been trying to learn Chinese before with no results. Now he wants to challenge himself to speak with his Chinese colleagues. Check out his video pledge!

Country: U. S.

Goal: Speak in Mandarin with coworkers

Hours studied before the Language Challenge: 15 hours (a long time ago)

Karthik  Data Scientist

Language Challenge begins
 
Check the video pledges of the 3 participants 
Karthik´s video pledge
Josie's video pledge
Aimé´s video pledge
First Week Review
 
One week into the language challenge the participants make their first video update
Watch it here
Second Week Review
After two weeks, Karthik, Josie and Aimé feel like they are making a lot of progress
Read the blog post here
Mid Term Review
 
Who is doing better?
Read the blog post here
1 Month Review
Our team members review the fourth week of their Language Challenge.
Read the blog post here
The Last Effort
 
Only 1 week left and our students will be making their last effort to complete the challenge.
Read the blog post here
The Big Final
 
Who has improved more after 20 hours? 
Read the blog post here
The Challenge
 
Between January 15th and February 28th, Karthik, Josie and Aimé will take 20 hours of language lessons to see how much they can improve their Mandarin skills. They will post weekly updates of their progress and will compete with each other to see who is the fastest learner.

Join the italki Language Challenge!

Copyright © 2016  italki HK Limited.

I'm excited to do this challenge, because it's going to force me to get out of my comfort zone and learn a new language.  It will also help me communicate better while I'm here in Shanghai.

"

Aimé Intern

Who is doing better at the challenge? Who is your favourite?

Tell us your opinion or give them your support. Join the discussion board here

 

Second Challenger

Josie

Josie is part of the Service team at italki. She has been to China a few times but has never been disciplined enough to study Mandarin. Check out her video pledge!

Country: England/Sweden

Goal: To be able to have a five minute conversation with another Chinese person in our office about their hobbies and interests 

Hours studied before the Language Challenge: 5 hours

Third Challenger

Aimé

My name is Aimé and im a recent college grad from the Canada. I'm currently in Shanghai doing a marketing internship at italki. Check out my video pledge!

Country: Canada

Goal:Have a basic 5 minute conversation in Mandarin

Hours studied before the Language Challenge: 2.5 hours of Mandarin lessons

LAST UPDATE: Our team members hace completed the 20 hours of the Language Challenge. Read the blog post here to see their progress  and join the discussion board