I stopped studying Chinese and started reading it instead

I was terrified of reading Chinese books for an entire year. I had 6,000 words memorized but still couldn't read.

Then I realized I'm returning to the US soon and thought - well heck, it sure would be nice to be able to read when I don't have friends to chat with all the time. My conversational Chinese was plateauing anyway.

I'd neglected reading long enough. Time to face my fear. And what did I discover? It only gets easier! Here's my numbers:

• Day 1: 26 characters/minute
• Day 5: Finished 1st novel
• Day 10: Finished 2nd novel
• Day 14: 87 characters/minute

After only 10 days I went from illiterate to falling in love with reading. I started to digest beautifully crafted stories, learn more culture, see everything in context. It's infinitely more fun than flashcards.

Posted about this on Reddit - over 200k people saw it and hundreds finally admitted they've been avoiding books too.

I only email when I actually discover something worth sharing.

The truth no one tells you: You're never going to feel ready.

But after just 14 days of actually reading, I realized the fear was worse than the reality.

Join me in actually reading Chinese instead of just studying it.