I send daily tips + guides to help you speak better Mandarin. Read by 3500+ learners. Join below.
learning Chinese makes me more social
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Speak better Mandarin
I send daily tips + guides to help you speak better Mandarin. Read by 3500+ learners. Join below.
As you may know I started speaking Mandarin by practicing alone in my bedroom. I watched videos, repeated phrases, and recorded myself speaking. It's simple but powerful. Here's why: Practicing alone helps you isolate the problem. Talking to someone in a new language is tough. You have to think of what to say, how to form your thoughts and pronounce it correctly. But you also have to listen and understand what the other person is saying. And then there's the element of social anxiety and...
The most important lesson I've learned about speaking Mandarin is this: The more I speak, the more I am allowed to speak. When I started building a daily speaking habit and recording myself speaking every day, something interesting happened. I didn’t suddenly gain more vocabulary or better tones after the first day. But I noticed myself speaking MORE Mandarin immediately after recording. I started thinking in Chinese. I started talking to myself in Chinese. Why? Because speaking builds...
When I moved to Taiwan in 2019, my Mandarin was terrible. I could say a few phrases, but my tones were wrong, and I lacked confidence. I remember passing by a bustling food market by my Airbnb on my first day of arriving. I was enthralled and wanted to check it out. But I was afraid to speak. I remember the fear vividly—nerves rising, social anxiety creeping in. What if someone noticed? What if they judged me? What if they mocked me? But I decided to be bold. I walked up to a fruit stall and...