This Week: Two Types of Fluency, University Life, Aviation Adventures, and What is a "Make Up Day"?

Each week I share practical reflections, language-learning topics, and snapshots from daily life here in China. This time, we explore what fluency really means, take a look inside a campus bookstore, reflect on weekend routines, and make a trip to an aviation museum.

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This Week’s Videos

1. 🗣️ Two Types of Fluency?! – What does “fluency” actually mean, and which kind are you aiming for? Watch here
2. 📚 The Campus Bookstore – A quick look inside the university bookstore. Watch here
3. 🌞 It’s the Weekend – Do you change your weekend routine or keep your weekdays’ discipline? Watch here
4. ✈️ To the China Aviation Museum! – Continuing the adventure from the Military Museum, we visit the Aviation Museum to see lots of planes, helicopters, and other flying stuff at one of Beijing’s largest outdoor museums. Watch here
5. 🗃️ What is 调休 (tiáoxiū)? - No such thing as a free holiday!

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Two Types of Fluency?!

Mid-term exam season is here, and it often conjures up a question: What is really meant by "fluency"?

There are two main types:

• Understanding and responding quickly to language input
• Speaking or writing smoothly and coherently without frequent hesitation

Which one matters more depends on your goals. Which are you working toward?

We did talk about this on last week's podcast.

📹 Watch here: YouTube Link

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The Campus Bookstore

A quick walk through the ZhongYang CaiJing DaXue bookstore in Beijing. Mostly focused on economics, finance, and taxes—with a small English section dominated by IELTS preparation books.

Still, it’s a great glimpse into what Chinese university bookstores look like. Oh, and they didn't really want me making videos inside.

📹 Watch here: YouTube Link

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It’s the Weekend

Do you treat weekends as a time to kick back and relax, or do you use the time to work on personal projects?

I've heard some people say that sticking with the same routine is actually better for you since it doesn't shock your system. Be it getting up at the same time, keeping the same study habits, or even NOT eating whatever you want, keeping a similar routine can make transitioning back to the typical work week a lot easier.

But, then how and when do you relax?

What do your weekends look like?

📹 Watch here: YouTube Link

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To the China Aviation Museum!

On the recommendation of some commenters from our visit to the Military Museum in Beijing, we ventured over to the Aviation Museum which is (kinda conveniently) located next to the university I'm currently teaching at.

Located in Changping District, the China Aviation Museum is a huge expanse of land that showcases aircraft from the country's history. It not only has a statue dedicated to Feng Ru, one of the first pilots in the country, but it has a replica of the Wright Brothers' airplane and, of course, several aircraft that Mao ZeDong flew around in.

It's all outdoors so if you go make sure you dress for the elements. Oh, and it's all being moved up to Changchun later this year, so be sure to check where it's located before making plans.

The video is about an hour, but includes several conversations from throughout the day and an in-depth look at the entire museum. Don't have time to visit? This video will show you everything.

📹 Watch here: YouTube Link

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🗃️ What is 调休 (tiáoxiū)?

In China, there’s no such thing as a free holiday.

调休 (tiáoxiū) refers to the practice of “make-up workdays” — meaning if there’s a public holiday, you often have to work a nearby weekend to “repay” the day off.

For example:

• If a national holiday falls on a Thursday and Friday, you might enjoy two or three days off.
• But you’ll likely work the previous Saturday or Sunday to balance it out.

It’s an adjustment of the work calendar to maximize long breaks without officially losing any workdays across the year.

For newcomers, it’s confusing. For locals, it’s just part of life. Plan accordingly—your weekend might disappear before you know it.

Have you ever worked in a system with 调休 before?

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Best,

Steve