HSK 1–2 | 为什么学了很久还是不会说中文？| Why You Still Can’t Speak Chinese?

Hello everyone! Welcome to "Everyday Chinese"! I'm your friend, Wang Yu. Hello everyone, I'm Li Ming. It's great to be with you all again. Li Ming, I want to ask you a question first today. Oh? What question? Go ahead. Well, I have many friends who are learning Chinese. They often send me messages, using Chinese characters, and they write very well. They also listen to our podcast often, and they say they can understand it. Hmm, that's great. It shows they are studying very hard. Yes. But, they have a very big problem. They can't speak Chinese.

Or rather, they are afraid to speak Chinese. They often ask me: "Wang Yu, why have I been learning for so long, I know so many characters, but I just can't speak?" Ah, I see. That is a very, very good question. I think many of the friends listening to our podcast might have the same problem. Exactly! So, today we want to talk about this topic: Why can't you speak Chinese even after studying for a long time? Alright. I hope today's chat can help everyone. Li Ming, I think the first, and biggest, reason is "fear." The fear of making mistakes. I agree. Many people are not "unable to speak," but rather "afraid to speak." Yes! It's exactly that "afraid to." It reminds me of when I first started learning English. I knew a lot of words, and in books, I could understand them all. But, when the teacher asked me to stand up and answer a question, oh my god, my heart would beat so fast. You were scared. Yes. I had so many thoughts in my head, but my mouth just wouldn't obey. I couldn't say a single sentence. I was afraid my pronunciation was wrong, my sentences were wrong, afraid my classmates would laugh at me. I completely understand. This feeling, we call it a "psychological barrier." You really want to speak, but it's as if there's a wall blocking your mouth. Yes, yes, exactly, a wall! You put it so well. Did you have this feeling when you were learning a foreign language? Of course. I'm someone who tends to be a perfectionist. So, when I first started, I always wanted to make every sentence I said completely correct. The grammar had to be right, the vocabulary right, and the pronunciation right too. And the result? The result was, I thought too much and spoke too little. Before I said a sentence, I would have to think about it in my head for five minutes. By the time I had it figured out, everyone else had already moved on to the next topic. Hahaha, me too! Exactly the same! So how did you change later on? Later, a Chinese teacher of mine said something that changed me. He said: "Language is for communication, not for exams. It's okay if you make mistakes. The fact that I can understand your meaning, that's what's most important." That's so true! "The fact that I can understand your meaning, that's what's most important." An American friend of mine told me the same thing. At that time, I wanted to tell him in English that I had gone to see a movie yesterday. I said: "I yesterday see a movie." Mm, that grammar is incorrect. Yes, it's completely Chinese grammar. After I said it, my face turned bright red. I felt so embarrassed. But my friend immediately said: "Oh, a movie! Which one? Was it good?" He completely understood what I meant! He didn't think my grammar was strange at all. Exactly. He cared about "what movie you saw," not "whether your sentence was correct." From then on, I started to become braver. If I made a mistake, I made a mistake. The important thing was, I said it! I expressed my meaning. So, to our friends listening to the podcast, I want to tell you, please don't be afraid. It's really okay to make mistakes. Your Chinese friends, your Chinese teachers, they will definitely understand you. Right. Bravely open your mouth. This is the first and most important step to learning to speak Chinese. Wang Yu, besides "fear," I think there's a second very important reason. What is it? It's that many friends only "input," they don't "output." Input? Output? What does that mean? They sound a bit like computer terms. Haha, let me explain. It's very simple. "Input" is your learning process. For example, reading books, recognizing characters, listening to our podcast. All this knowledge enters your brain. This is "input." Oh, I get it. So I'm "inputting" every day. Yes. But language learning requires not just "input," but also "output." "Output" is the process of you using the language. For example, you write characters, or, more importantly, you "speak" Chinese. I get it! Many friends spend a lot of time reading books and listening to lessons, which is "input." But they never speak Chinese, so they have no "output." Exactly right. Wang Yu, let me give you an analogy. What do you think learning to speak Chinese is like? Um... like learning to sing? A little bit. I have a better analogy. I think learning to speak Chinese is just like learning to swim. ...swim. Learning to swim? Interesting. Tell me more. Imagine, a person wants to learn to swim. He buys many books about swimming and reads them at home every day. The books tell him how his hands should move, how his feet should move. He also watches many videos online to see how world champions swim. He has learned all the theory. Mmm, he's a very diligent student. Then, I take him to the edge of a swimming pool and say: "Okay, you can get in the water and swim now." Do you think he'll be able to swim? Of course not! He'll sink! But why? He has already learned so much knowledge. Because he's never been in the water! His body doesn't know what it feels like to be in the water. Reading books and actually doing it are two different things. Exactly right! Learning to speak Chinese is exactly the same. You can understand all the characters, you've listened to all our podcasts, that's like the person who has read all the swimming books. You have a lot of knowledge in your brain. But if you never open your mouth to "speak," your mouth, your tongue, they will never learn how to produce Chinese sounds. Your body doesn't have the "habit of speaking Chinese." You put that so well! "Speaking Chinese" is a physical habit! Just like swimming, it requires your body to practice. Just using your eyes to see and your ears to listen is not enough. Your mouth needs to practice too! Yes. So, friends, please check your learning method. Are you only reading and not speaking, only listening and not speaking every day? If so, you may have found the reason why you can't speak Chinese. What you need is to get in the water immediately, and start practicing "speaking" right away. Li Ming, just now we talked about "fear of making mistakes" and "only input, no output." I'm reminded of one of my students, her name is Mary. She has a particularly typical problem. Oh? Let's hear it. Mary is a very hardworking student. She's been learning Chinese for two years, and she might know more characters than I do. She can read Chinese news and understand the general meaning. Wow, she's very impressive! Her Chinese level must be very high. Yes, in theory. But, she almost never speaks. During class, when I ask her a question, she always thinks for a very, very long time. Sometimes, she just doesn't answer, she just smiles at me. Is she also afraid of making mistakes? A little. But more importantly, she wants to speak too "perfectly." Once after class, I asked her: "Mary, why don't you speak in class? Your Chinese is very good." What did she say? She told me: "Teacher Wang, I want to speak. But, when I want to say a sentence, many questions pop up in my head. Is this word used correctly? This sentence, would a Chinese person say it like this? Are all my four tones correct? I think and think, and then I don't know what to say anymore." Ah, this is what I was talking about earlier, my old problem. The pursuit of perfection. Yes! She wants to say a sentence exactly like a native Chinese speaker, without a single mistake. But, the more she thinks like this, the less she's able to speak. I know that feeling all too well. It's like you want to walk, but with every step, you have to think: Where should I put my left foot? What about my right foot? Should my body lean forward? If you think too much, you forget how to walk. That's exactly the feeling! So, I told Mary: "Don't think so much. Language isn't math, there aren't that many 'completely right' or 'completely wrong' answers. Right now, you are a learner, making mistakes is normal, and it's expected." Right. Making mistakes is a part of learning. There's no baby who doesn't fall down when they first learn to walk. And there's no one who doesn't make mistakes when they first learn to talk. Yes. So my advice to Mary was: Forget "perfect." Aim for "finished" first. That's a great way to put it. "Finished is better than perfect." What does that mean? It means, don't always think about saying a 100-point sentence. If you can say a 60-point sentence, that's good enough! As long as the other person understands you, you've succeeded. For example, if you want to tell someone "I went to a coffee shop with a friend this afternoon and had a latte." This sentence is a bit long and difficult. Mmm, for a beginner, yes. You might think, is the tone for "afternoon" (xiàwǔ) correct? How do you say "coffee shop" (kāfēiguǎn)? And how do you say "latte" (nátiě)? You think and think, and finally give up, and don't say anything. That's very likely. But if you aim for "finished," you can say it more simply. You can say: "Today. Me. Friend. Drink coffee." The grammar is wrong, it's very simple. But, can your friend understand you? Of course! They can definitely understand. And that's enough! You have "finished" the communication. Later on, as you get better at speaking, you will naturally be able to say that perfect, 100-point sentence. But for now, please start by saying that 60-point sentence. Well said. So, friends, don't let "perfection" become your enemy. Just saying it is the most important thing. Alright, Wang Yu. We've analyzed three main reasons: First, fear of making mistakes. Second, only input, no output. Third, pursuing perfection too much. We've talked so much about "why," now we should give our friends some practical, simple methods. Tell them "what to do." Great idea! This is the most important part. You go first, what's your good idea? I have a very simple method, and it's something everyone can do. It's: talk to yourself. Talk to yourself? As in, speaking to myself? Yes. Many people say: "I don't have Chinese friends, I don't live in China, I don't have an environment to practice Chinese." These are not problems. You can create your own Chinese environment. How do you create one? Using the "talk to yourself" method. For example, when you wake up in the morning, you can look out the window and say in Chinese: "Good morning. The weather is nice today." When you're eating breakfast, you can look at your bread and say: "This is a piece of bread. I like to eat bread." Haha, this method is so interesting. Whatever you see, you say it. Use the simplest Chinese words and sentences you've already learned to describe the world around you. For example, if you see a red cup on the table, you say: "This is a cup. It is red. I use the cup to drink water." I get it! There are several advantages to doing this. First, you don't need anyone else, you can practice by yourself. Second, you won't be afraid, because no one else is listening, so it's okay to make mistakes. Yes. And, most importantly, this exercise can help your brain and your mouth build a connection. It gets you used to thinking in Chinese, and expressing yourself in Chinese. This exercise is very simple, but if you stick with it for ten minutes every day, after a month, you will definitely notice a huge improvement. That's a great method, perfect for friends who are a bit shy. Then I also have a method. My method is to find a "language partner." Language partner. This is also very popular. Yes. The internet is very convenient now, you can find many Chinese people online who want to learn your native language. You can become friends, become language partners. And then? How do you practice? You can arrange to have a call once a week, or a video chat. For example, chat for thirty minutes. The first fifteen minutes, you speak in Chinese. The last fifteen minutes, you speak in your native language. This way, it's helpful for both of you. This method is also very good. Because you have a real person to communicate with. You can practice listening and also practice speaking. Yes. And when you're chatting with a real person, you'll learn a lot of things that aren't in textbooks, very authentic ways of speaking. If you can't find a language partner, there's another way. What is it? Go talk to people in the real world. For example, if there's a fruit shop downstairs from your home, you can go and chat with the owner. This might be a bit difficult for beginners. It's not difficult. You can start with the simplest questions. In China, we often call older, friendly women "Ayi" (Auntie). You can walk into the fruit shop, smile and say to the owner: "Ayi, ni hao." (Hello, Auntie). Mmm, that's a good start. Then, you can point to the apples and ask: "How much is this per jin?" A "jin" is a common unit of weight in China, one jin is equal to 500 grams. The owner will tell you the price. You might not understand, that's okay. You can ask her to write it on a piece of paper. In this process, you only said two or three sentences, but this was a real, successful communication! You will feel a great sense of accomplishment. I agree. These small successes, will give you a lot of confidence, and make you more daring to speak Chinese. Exactly! So, my advice is, go out and find people to talk to. Even if it's just one "hello," one "thank you," it's a remarkable start. Alright, today we've talked a lot about "how to start speaking Chinese." Our time is almost up. Wang Yu, as usual, let's summarize today's content for everyone. Okay. Today we talked about why you still can't speak Chinese after studying for a long time. We think there are three main reasons. The first, and most important, is "fear." Everyone, please do not be afraid to make mistakes. Right. The second reason is that many friends only "input," they don't "output." Please remember our "swimming" analogy. Learning a language requires not just using your eyes and ears, but more importantly, using your mouth to "practice." Yes, you have to get in the water and swim! The third reason is, don't pursue "perfection" too much. Please remember, "finished" is better than "perfect." Saying a 60-point sentence is a hundred times better than saying a 0-point sentence! That's a very good summary. We also provided some simple methods, like "talking to yourself," or finding a "language partner," or bravely going to say a sentence to the "Ayi" at the fruit shop. We hope these methods are helpful to everyone. Mmm! Well, friends listening to our podcast, now it's your turn. We want to ask you a question: To practice speaking Chinese, what was the first Chinese sentence you said? Do you dare to start speaking Chinese? Do you have any good methods for practicing speaking? Please leave us a comment in the comment section below! We are really looking forward to seeing your sharing and your stories. Okay, that's all for today. Thank you for listening to "Everyday Chinese." We'll see you next time. Goodbye!