How to go beyond mediocre Chinese...
I've been living in China for 10 months and have developed a reasonable degree of competency in Chinese speaking, listening and reading by learning myself through constantly asking questions, making notes, studying books, using QQ, Skype and MSN, listening to Chinese songs, watching Chinese films etc. I can get around China very easily, buy and negotiate price, make jokes and have basic conversations with people about a variety of topics... now I'm worried my language learning will 'plateau' because I don't 'need' to learn any more to get by since the people I work with have great English and I know enough Chinese to communicate on a day to day basis with anyone else. I've also bough children's books and am learning to write Chinese myself.

Any suggestions as to how I can push myself towards becoming a fluent speaker, reader, writer and listener? Is a formal course necessary?By the way, I live in China (except for the next few weeks) so talking with native speakers is not a problem- most of my friends are Chinese, but speak okay to excellent English.

Question

How to go beyond mediocre Chinese...
I've been living in China for 10 months and have developed a reasonable degree of competency in Chinese speaking, listening and reading by learning myself through constantly asking questions, making notes, studying books, using QQ, Skype and MSN, listening to Chinese songs, watching Chinese films etc. I can get around China very easily, buy and negotiate price, make jokes and have basic conversations with people about a variety of topics... now I'm worried my language learning will 'plateau' because I don't 'need' to learn any more to get by since the people I work with have great English and I know enough Chinese to communicate on a day to day basis with anyone else. I've also bough children's books and am learning to write Chinese myself.

Any suggestions as to how I can push myself towards becoming a fluent speaker, reader, writer and listener? Is a formal course necessary?By the way, I live in China (except for the next few weeks) so talking with native speakers is not a problem- most of my friends are Chinese, but speak okay to excellent English.

Answer

maybe you can try voice chat with native speakers, for i think that oral chinese is really different from wrote chinese,or what you listen in TV program.

and i guess there is no necessary to have formal courses.

Answer

maybe u can read some classic chinese novels or poems,and FIY,if u want to ask questions about chinese,using chinese would be better to improve ur chinese skill,hope it could help u^_^

Answer

积累词汇是一个很大的问题，尤其是当你学到中级的时候，平常的话都能说，但就是感觉不能超越，所以，得先多积累词汇 ------词语、成语）但是最好的是一边积累一边和中国人一起练习，这样你才能正确地掌握其用法。

Answer

Hi, Gareth! Congratulations! You are a good speaker, reader, writer and listener already:)
But if you want to do it better,I think you need more practice. Good films,books,songs are very useful, but it'll take so much time to improve. So if you want to be a fluent speaker as soon as possible, you'd better look for a good teacher. I think he or she can teach you in formal way. And he or she knows your weak point. 
Of course, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me, I believe I will be a good teacher:)

Answer

理解啦。你的现状也正是我学英语的现状，我想这是大多数学习非母语面临的最大难题了，我称之为“半吊子”，不过你的优势更大一些，因为你是在中国学汉语。
我想大家除了说让你多锻炼没别的了，其实关键还是你自己。周围的中国人母语还是汉语吧，既然这样，你就和他们讲汉语咯，就算说的不好也要说，如果他们说英语，你就说汉语，他们自己也会明白你的，或者直截了当的请朋友和你讲汉语。

Answers · 7

Still haven’t found your answers?

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn a language from the comfort of your own home. Browse our selection of experienced language tutors and enroll in your first lesson now!