Sexy Money Genius

I always wanted to learn a new language. Growing up in Manila, you can only get so fluent in English and Filipino. In college, I had a spreadsheet where I compared the amounts for learning German (Goethe Institut), French (Alliance Francaise), and Spanish (Instituto Cervantes). I must have had what they call paralysis by analysis because I only started last week — learning Mandarin.

I’ve had a free membership at ChinesePod.com since they officially launched in December 2007 but I just filtered their emails straight to label(folder) called (Old/Learn Chinese) so it was hidden right away. I decided to face it, that sometimes you have to spend for something to dedicate yourself to it, like how others pay for exorbitant gym fees or tutors. So I started with the Basic Plan, which is USD 39 for 6 months — exactly PHP 1753.10 (I called my credit card hotline the day after to know the exact peso amount for my monitoring). Less than P300 a month! Beat that! When I get a bit past Newbie, I’ll likely upgrade to the Guided plan.

It’s pretty neat actually. Now that I’ve paid for it, I actually listen to a new Newbie Mandarin lesson at least every other day. My roommates must find it weird when I practice saying aloud “zaoshang hao” (good morning) when I’m still too lazy to get up in the morning.

I download the audio to my iTunes — I have my own feed URL and access to lesson reviews and PDFs. I copy it to my pq1 USB disk (2GB, P540 from CD-R King) so that I can listen when I’m using the HP laptop. I also sync a copy to PalmOne Real Player for JP’s Palm Tungsten T3 which I’ve claimed for myself. And I have a printout of the first 6 Newbie lesson PDFs at my bedside.

It’s really suited for me since I like to do things at my own pace. Affordable quality Mandarin lessons — don’t you just love the magic of the web? I’ve listed other places you can get beginner Mandarin lessons in the real world, however I can’t attest to their teaching methods.

• Chinese Mandarin Business Language – Level 2: August 2-30 Saturday PM (Call PTTC at 4688969) ~ P2,500 for 5 Saturdays
• Speak/Read/Write Mandarin. 10 Days Guaranteed. Lessons available every Saturday 9am-11am, 3pm-5pm at 32 P. florentino St, Corner Araneta Avenue, Talayan Village, Quezon City. Call Dunric Ng at 412-5493 or 0922-881-1618. ~ Free

Next, I’ll be mastering the First Tone! Xing! But here’s one for you.

Good quality right there. If you sign up for a free membership at Chinesepod via the links on this post, I get a teeny-tiny thank you from them, so I’d appreciate that. And oh, I just remembered. I don’t have a Chinese name So I still can’t fully practice the “What is your name?” exercise. Know how I can get one?

Learn Chinese with ChinesePod.com
Here’s what ChinesePod’s customers are saying…

“It is the first time in years that I am truly learning.I am able to fit the learning into my schedule. Many thanks.”
“I simply love ChinesePod. Keep up the good work!”
“This is a great way to learn. I love the flexibility of the material presented. The podcasts are so listenable and the extra learning tools for the dialogues are extremely helpful.”
“Very high quality lessons — interesting, contemporary, relevant.”

Why not see for yourself.
Click here for a free trial.

I just went to see a model unit in my dream city last week. Die Broke: A Radical Four-Part Financial Plan recommends buying your second home first, so I chose the 3-bedroom unit. When I saw the payment scheme… we’ve got a LOOOOONG WAYS TO GO.

We’d probably get a mortgage. How exactly, I don’t know yet. Same as with credit cards, personal loan requirements would require business owners to show financial statements showing profits for 2-3 years. We start operations in 2008 – so the soonest I can get my house is in 2011?

In the meantime, I have to save for a downpayment of $70,000 in 4 or 5 years time, net of inflation. I’ve already cut my expenses to the bare essentials and my level of savings right now isn’t enough to hit that target so my topline has to be adjusted. I have to earn extra and from that incremental, invest 1/3 back into the business, 1/3 in a high-yield investment with a horizon of 5 years, and 1/3 in balanced funds.

If I make an extra $2,000 per month and invest 2/3 or $1,333.33 at 12% p.a., compounded every quarter for 8 years – I manage to get my $70,000 downpayment – but come on, 8 years!!! H01y$(*#$(!!! There must be something wrong with my arithmetic. But I just followed the FV equation in Excel… sigh. Our business better pick up soon.

I’ll be joining a foreclosed properties meetup this Saturday, January 19, 3-5pm at Gloria Jean’s Coffee in Robinson’s Galleria. Maybe that’ll get me some extra moolah.

If you’re interested in viewing the model units and getting your own, you can contact Jean Azucena, Property Consultant at (+63) 927 860 3414