Let me guess, you have been in the Mainland for a couple of months now, maybe for quite a number of years. You already have some basic knowledge in Mandarin Chinese, at least enough to get your way around the place with natives. However, you feel an uncom
Let me guess, you have been in the Mainland for a couple of months now, maybe for quite a number of years. You already have some basic knowledge in Mandarin Chinese, at least enough to get your way around the place with natives. However, you feel an uncomfortable aura of stagnation, and your level needs room for improvement. Yet, with all the crazy schedules and bustling lifestyle, that seems like a far cry.
These are only a few tips to help you to improve your second language. However, like learning any other language, you must find motivation of some sort, particularly from within to push you on to improve on it. That means that you must work on your determination. First off, remind yourself of the feasible reasons why this second language is beneficial to you and your career or life. Once you have decided to go an extra mile in being a bilingual speaker, you must be willing to commit. In so doing, you might have to adopt methods or a lifestyle that goes contrary to what you are used to; what better way can you improve than to work harder than normal.
READ FOR PLEASURE:
You could borrow some books from Chinese friends to read on your spare time? You have no spare time? Catch those short moments in the train or bus to work or whatever destination to read a few lines, sentences, paragraphs or pages. On lonely lunch breaks, you could make good use of your eyes with a book than gazing into nothingness. The plus side- you learn new words without having to typically memorize them or study them.
CONSISTENT PRACTICE:
Continue to practice your new words, or phrases or sentences so it sticks forever. One way to do that is to talk to yourself. Speak the language to yourself, have a conversation with yourself using this second language. Another way of practicing is to eavesdrop into the conversations of natives (quite unconventional). That way, you can improve on your listening skills, and at the same time discover grammar structures or word usages of the language in spoken terms.
GET INVOLVED WITH NATIVES:
Maybe you may not too much of the extrovert 0r sociable person that easily jumps into making new friends. However, you can encourage your old and cherished Chinese friends to speak Chinese with you whilst they use you to learn English. That way, conversations consistently switch from language to another. That not only makes speaking interesting and educative, but also it becomes a win-win situation for both parties.
FIND NEW WAYS IN LEARNING THE LANGUAGE:
You have probably taken an online course and would like to catch up on the level as soon as possible. Sometimes, your learning methods may not be suitable for you. This is why it is very important to have a self-assessment before stepping into a new lesson, so you find out your past mistakes and work on a way forward. This could be a major cause of stagnation. Once you continually use learning methods that don’t work for you, you have to stop! Some other learning methods include the use of apps, or games that are language oriented, music and videos. I realized, after a self-assessment, that recognizing characters became easier once I adopted watching Chinese movies with Mandarin subtitles or other movies with Mandarin subtitles. So I invested some time in watching such movies and improving on my character recognition. At the end of the way, i have worked on my vocabulary in an exciting and relaxing way
REVIEW YOUR BASICS:
The basic part of any and every language is more than important. With a good grasp of this, you can graduate into more advanced depths. So take some time to review your basic Mandarin. For instance, instead of using direct translation methods, use those basic Mandarin lessons to form and understand conversations and sentences.
