Tā zài jiā zìxué sān nián, shēngǎn dúxué'érwúyǒu de júxiàn, zhōngyú jiārù le dúshūhuì.
After three years of self-study at home he felt keenly the limits of 'studying alone without peers,' and finally joined a reading group.
Tips
history
From 《礼记·学记》 (Li Ji, Record of Learning, compiled late Warring States / early Han, ca. 2nd c. BCE), one of the earliest systematic treatises on education in the world. Full passage: 独学而无友，则孤陋而寡闻 (If one studies alone without companions, one becomes narrow and ill-informed). The line justifies the communal school as essential to real learning.
usage
Always quoted with the consequence clause 则孤陋而寡闻 (then one is narrow and ill-informed, itself now a set idiom 孤陋寡闻). Modern use: argue for study groups, peer review, open source, classroom discussion.
