What I've been thinking about recently:

When you start learning Chinese, you’re asking it to commit a lot of energy to something new.

But your brain loves the status quo. It’s wired to save energy and stick to what’s familiar.

It’s why passive activities like listening feel easier. They require less effort. You don't need to actively engage.

It's why practicing speaking feels harder. We have to actively engage.

Speaking adds pressure.

Pressure = growth.

Think about working out at the gym. If you always lift the same weight, your muscles won’t grow. To get stronger, you need to increase the load.

The same rule applies to learning Chinese. If you want to improve, you need to do more than listen or read. You need to speak.

Speaking is a brain workout.

Speaking Chinese feels uncomfortable because it’s like lifting heavy weights for your brain.

We’ll make mistakes. We’ll stumble. But this is how we learn.

Don't fall for the trap of only learning passively.

Get messy. Get uncomfortable. Start speaking. And you'll break past your plateaus.

If you need help improving your speaking, I created the Copy Paste Speak course for learners like you.

I used this 8-step system to learn to speak Mandarin like native speakers by watching videos and practicing in my bedroom.

It’s 50% off for early Black Friday for a limited time.

Enroll today, and I'll also send you my best workshop Passive → Active Vocab Workshop.

I'll show you how to turn passive vocabulary into words you can confidently use in conversations. Normally, it’s only available to members of the Chinese Speakers Community.

Grab it here:
​https://copypastespeaking.danyopang.com/​

Reply after you enroll and I’ll send you access to the workshop (ends today).

加油,

Danyo