Chinese Podcast - How to Practice CHINESE Speaking ALONE At Home 怎么说好中文 - Intermediate Listening

Hello everyone I'm Xiaohan Welcome to my channel Fufu Chinese Today we're going to talk about a topic that many friends are very concerned about: how to practice speaking Chinese at home alone This isn't easy for many people is it Many people think that since I'm not in China no one here speaks Chinese so how can I practice speaking Chinese Maybe you're not ready to look for strangers online yet and chat with them in Chinese If you're like me and still a bit shy it's even harder isn't it So today I'm going to share a few methods that let you practice speaking natural Chinese right from home Let me ask you a question first How do you think your Chinese is Have you been studying for a long time but still don't dare to speak up You might think oh my tone isn't standard is it Are my words too few What if I say something wrong You might have had this thought too: "My pronunciation isn't perfect how can I speak " Isn't that right But actually I want to tell you that these ideas are completely wrong you don't need to worry about them at all Because the key to speaking good Chinese is not about whether your pronunciation is perfect nor about whether you make mistakes The most important thing is whether you dare to speak and whether you can keep speaking Next I'll tell you why Think about it you know those top people in certain industries like Yao Ming and Jackie Chan right Do you think these people were already great from the start Absolutely not They were all beginners at first You know when Yao Ming first started playing basketball he also missed shots When Jackie Chan first started training in martial arts I guess his movements must have been very clumsy Right there are definitely a lot of mistakes Okay the problem comes up Since everyone starts off doing things poorly why do some people eventually become really good at it while others stay stuck where they are Actually the difference is just one thing Action So the key is that no matter what new thing you're learning you'll initially be really bad at it so bad that even you will be embarrassed by it We will certainly make mistakes but that is also part of the learning process The only way to get better is to keep doing keep practicing keep persevering As long as you don 't give up you will definitely see progress I have found that people who speak good Chinese are The initial statements weren't very good but they kept insisting on learning practicing constantly because they knew that even if they couldn't speak well now as long as they keep studying and practicing one day they will get better So they practice speaking Chinese every day And what about those who gave up It's just because they weren't willing to keep going They might have learned a little Chinese at first practiced for a few days and then thought it wasn't useful Then it's impossible not to doubt oneself Chinese isn't suitable for me it's too hard I can't do it Then they stop learning They give up So if you really want to speak Chinese well Start taking action now You don't have to go to China You don't need to wait for any opportunity you can practice on your own at home At the beginning if you don't speak well it's okay that's completely normal Nobody is perfect from the start right Does everyone want to ask me something How should I practice I have seen many learners before they worked really hard studying grammar and memorizing new words all day but their speaking skills improved very slowly Why is that It's not that they aren't smart enough but the method is wrong Today I'm going to tell you about this method a way to efficiently practice speaking Chinese You don't need to go to China you can master Chinese by yourself at home First remember an important secret: if you want to speak Chinese well you must first get your brain used to Chinese making it a part of your subconscious This is the key to speaking Chinese fluently What is the subconscious This sounds a bit complicated Actually it's very simple it's a kind of ability that you can naturally accomplish without thinking too much like riding a bicycle you might think while riding should I move my left foot first or my right foot first You would never think about these things at all You just get on and ride right For example If you've learned piano it's the same You don't think about each note before playing Where should my fingers go Right you wouldn't think that way It's the same for native speakers You don't even need to think about grammar structures When you speak your sentence it's already correct Why is that the case Because your brain has already become accustomed to it if you want to speak Chinese well you need to make it a habit in your subconscious like a native language so that it comes out automatically and naturally How can you achieve this Here I want to tell you a fact: forming subconscious habits is not done by memorizing grammar The more grammar books you read and the more grammar lessons you take the more you actually develop a different kind of ability Called conscious cognitio This way of thinking requires you to think as you speak The problem is when you're having a conversation with someone you don't have time to think about the grammar do you Someone asks you a question You need to respond immediately You may have memorized a lot of grammar You understand tones sentence structures and measure words But when you speak your mind goes blank Because you're trying to think about what to say and how to say it at the same time you get stuck right So spoken practice is essential Relying solely on memorizing sounds and grammar is definitely not enough Instead you need to speak it like a native I call it subconscious learning What is subconscious learning Does it mean that you can learn Chinese by playing Chinese audio while you sleep No Actually this means that you learn Chinese without realizing it For example when you listen to Chinese conversations You are not learning grammar for the sake of grammar but to understand the meaning While you focus on the content your brain automatically absorbs grammar and vocabulary This is how you learned your native language as a child You are not going to analyze grammar You are just going to listen repeatedly You listen a lot and a lot Then your brain automatically picks up the language rules So now how can we use this method to practice speaking Chinese My advice is simple take three steps: first listen a lot second talk to yourself third do input-based speaking practice First let's talk about listening Everyone knows that listening is a common method for learning Chinese Many people say to listen to Chinese but is this really necessary You might also ask me if I just want to practice speaking why should I spend time listening Isn't it better to just practice speaking directly Actually even if your goal is to speak good Chinese if you don't listen a lot you won't be able to speak it fluently or naturally The reason is simple: listening regularly makes speaking Chinese easier Why The more you listen the more your brain will get used to the sounds and structure of Chinese You have to listen first before you can speak This way you won't get flustered when talking to others If you don't listen enough Complex Chinese sentence structures will keep trapping you you' ll get stuck on constructing sentences word choices and various aspects on the contrary by frequently listening to Chinese you will gradually get used to this language and its various expressions Its sentence structure Its pronunciation tones Your mind automatically remembers these complex aspects of Chinese You will remember its sound It feels just like a native language The next time you speak it You don't need to think much at all — your Chinese comes out naturally Should we read Chinese then If you can both listen and read that's even better but if you have limited time I suggest focusing on listening first Listen to help you get familiar with pronunciation tones and intonation These are all essential for speaking fluent Chinese Also when you watch videos with Chinese subtitles it's also a way to practice your reading Even if you focus on listening you can occasionally practice reading as well So I would like to ask everyone to try to listen to more Chinese content such as Chinese videos podcasts audiobooks movies and TV shows all of which are acceptable What Chinese podcasts should I listen to What videos to watch What content is most suitable for learning Chinese Answer Very simple The content you like If you like traveling watch Chinese travel videos If you like food listen to Chinese food podcasts If you like kung fu watch Chinese kung fu movies It's that simple Just listen to what interests you Never learn Chinese by watching content that you are not interested in because that will make learning Chinese a burden Imagine forcing yourself to watch things you are not interested in and over time it will become tedious We will definitely get distracted and feel bored and may eventually give up learning Chinese Speaking of this I want to share my experience of learning English When I first started learning English It started with content I personally enjoyed I really like listening to English songs especially the band Ko Huan and Taylor Swift I often wear headphones and listen to music while taking the subway and when waiting in line These singers' pronunciation is very clear the melody is also very pleasant to listen to When I listen I don't just listen to the song itself I also try to understand the lyrics I write down the words I don't understand and then look them up Before looking them up I usually try to guess their meaning So that's how it is I was happily listening to songs and learning a lot of new words and colloquial English expressions So I think learning a language is actually exploring a new culture If you find this culture interesting you'll have the motivation to keep learning For example when I was a kid I really liked Harry Potter I've watched every movie more than once and actually the first time I started reading was the books every time the author released a new book I was really excited I was really anxious to get the Chinese translation Later on my English got a bit better I thought I could read the original English version myself So I started reading the original English version of Harry Potter Because I already knew the story in the book I found that during my reading I just needed to learn some new words When I finished reading seven Harry Potter books my English really improved a lot Actually learning Chinese is the same principle If you like The Three- Body Problem or Journey to the West-style Chinese movies and TV shows You can definitely try reading their original novels or even the script you're already very familiar with these stories and you really like them so it will be easier to stick with it In short learning Chinese is not about just learning you should first make yourself enjoy the fun of it so that you can persist longer Also one more thing to remind everyone a very important point when learning Chinese look less at grammar You might be wondering why I say to pay less attention to grammar Isn 't grammar important I certainly know that you will see many Chinese grammar videos online But I truly suggest everyone If you want to speak Chinese fluently and naturally Watch fewer and even avoid these boring grammar videos Why Because watching this content can easily develop the bad habit of thinking about grammar first when speaking Chinese We don't think about grammar before speaking our native language right We aim to speak Chinese naturally just like we speak our native language So please remember to listen more and read more What you like in Chinese content watch fewer grammar videos since you need to listen more then how long per day is suitable for listening to Chinese anyway My advice is to listen as long as you have time When facing a new language it's best to maintain a large amount of input so that you can gradually become familiar with it The more you listen the faster your progress will be Of course I know everyone is busy and can't spend a lot of time every day What can be done then Actually I have a method which is to incorporate listening to Chinese into your daily life If your listening skills are already good you don't need to keep watching the subtitles you can do things while listening such as exercising doing housework walking running commuting waiting in line during these times You can put on your headphones and listen to Chinese many successful language learners I know rely on this method you can easily listen for 30 minutes a day almost no extra time needed However be careful not to listen during times when you need to focus on work or study Because that would distract you You can listen while doing simple mechanical tasks This way listening to Chinese won't specifically take up your free time You can easily accumulate your Chinese input volume Listening a lot is important but to improve your speaking you also need the right practice methods Speak Chinese Dare to speak out Only by speaking out can you make it wor Now it seems we' ve come back to the same question we started with Is it If there's no one around who can chat in Chinese what should you do Don't worry The few good methods I shared with you today You can refer to them The first one The most common practice method is to talk to yourself more How exactly do you do it Think about it What did you see What are you doing How do you feel Or what are your thoughts You can talk to yourself Speak out loud For example If I practice speaking Chinese this way I would say I am walking The weather is really nice Two people are running ahead of me I walked under the tree by the roadside some red and purple flowers It's kind of like that You can talk about what you're doing and also discuss your hobbies and interests This is a great way to practice especially when you first start and it helps you start speaking right away But I also want to remind you that you can't just use this method Why Because it has two problems First You will only use words you already know This way you won't learn new words Second if your grammar and tone already have some issues this kind of exercise won't help you correct them it might instead reinforce the mistakes So if you really want to speak Chinese more fluently in addition to talking to yourself every day you can also try the second very effective method which is input-based speaking practice what does that mean Use materials from native Chinese speakers to practice such as Chinese videos podcasts TV dramas movies or any audio or video with standard Chinese This method has an advantage It's a great practice method that constantly exposes you to correct vocabulary tone and grammar helping you avoid incorrect expressions It's called imitation How do you do it Listen to me First step First find a piece of audio or video from a native Chinese speaker the speaking speed should not be too fast Second step Listen once Make sure you understand most of the content Don't rush to repeat When you encounter unfamiliar words Look up their meanings first If the content is especially long you don't need to practice it all just practice the first three to five minutes that's enough Third step: play the audio or video from the beginning listen to a few words pause then read aloud Remember Don't wait until the whole sentence is finished before repeating this will make it easier for you to imitate accurately When imitating not only should you follow along with the words but also learn the other person's rhythm tone and intonation try to be as similar as possible Step four when your level improves you can try more challenging tasks such as memorizing entire sentences at once then repeating them Of course if the sentence is too long and you can't remember it you can also rephrase it in your own words Once aga I'll give you an example this sentence A fall evening Walking alone in the park Is very comfortable You can try simplifying it to Walking in the park Or even just Is good This way of rephrasing is especially helpful allowing you to quickly find other expressions when you get stuck instead of staying there forever Alright the method is explained Everyone remember all spoken practice All of them need high- quality input to be effective This way you can continuously absorb correct expressions and make your Chinese more natural and authentic Now let's summarize the practice methods we just discussed First listen more ensure high-quality Chinese input and integrate Chinese into your daily life Second Talking to oneself Giving oneself an opportunity to speak Chinese Third Practice by Imitation Learn by Following Native Speakers This way your Chinese will become more and more like that of a native speaker more fluent and more natural I've explained all the methods to you now Next I want to give you a challenge After you finish listening to this podcast today speak a little in Chinese Just one person speaking Say anything you want Talk about it What did you do today What happened yesterday Or repeat what you heard today Before doing this challenge remember two things First at the beginning you will probably not speak very well This is normal Don't worry You might make mistakes stumble even say things that others don't understand It's okay this is very normal everyone has gone through this stage Second Persist in speaking every day What you said today is not good It doesn't matter Now does not represent the future As long as you keep speaking as long as you keep practicing I guarantee your Chinese will definitely get better and better Imagine this moment One day You are chatting with your Chinese friend You don't need to translate nor think about grammar You can understand all the jokes in the Chinese movie You can even tell your whole story in Chinese The key is to not wait until you are ready to start Because you will never feel ready True preparation is to do it now So to speak Chinese well the secret is actually very simple just remember three things First don't be afraid of making mistakes Second listen more listen to content you like Third stick to daily practice good Then start today Even if it's just listening for ten minutes and speaking a few words you are already a little better than yesterday Keep doing this every day The day when you speak Chinese fluently The day is near Keep up the good work If this is your first time listening to my show don't forget to click the subscribe button below Recently a friend asked me what the name of this channel means Okay I'll explain it today Fortune It means "blessing " In China during the Spring Festival we put up a big red "fu" character on the door and windows It's especially festive and gives a strong holiday feeling Look at this "fu" character It's the character for "blessing" that I put up last year during the Spring Festival And did you notice This character for "blessing" is pasted upside down Why is that Because "upside down" and "arrived" sound the same in Chinese When the character for "blessing" is pasted upside down it means that the blessing has arrived It's just that good luck has arrived Hope this channel brings you good luck and happiness just like this big red couplet does Okay If you found this video helpful don't forget to give me a thumbs up if you can share this video with your friends who are also learning Chinese I will be very happy Also if you have encountered any problems or difficulties while learning Chinese or if you have any successful learning experiences you would like to share with everyone please leave a message in the comments section and tell me Bye for now see you next time