How To Practice Chinese Speaking

Of all the fundamental aspects of learning a language, speaking may be the most challenging one.

This is especially true when you are trying to learn the Chinese language. You may find Chinese hard to speak, as it's super different from Western languages. For one, it uses Chinese characters which are not phonetic, so learning pronunciation is much tougher, and the syllable pronunciations also greatly differ from other languages due to tones.

Therefore, it's incredibly important to understand what types of effective activities you can use to learn Chinese and how to utilize them in a daily manner to improve your speaking skills.

Below we present you with a basic practice guide.

Study Pinyin

Pronunciation is the foundation of speaking. Mandarin Chinese uses pinyin as the phonetic system. This pinyin system uses the Latin alphabet, and many of the sounds are similar to the letters of the English language. These include the sounds for the English letters "h", "q," "r," "u," and "t." However, the Chinese phonetic alphabet also has unique sounds like "sh," "ch," and "zh", which are pretty different.

In general, Chinese pinyin is divided into initials and finals. In a simple explanation, the initials are used at the beginning of a pinyin as consonants, while the finals are used as vowels, and they also indicate the tone of a word.

One unique yet essential part of Chinese is that it also has tones, which may be hard and unintuitive for Western language speakers, but it's very important to learn.

Being able to speak in correct tones will ensure you sound like a native speaker, and more importantly, it will make your speaking MUCH easier to understand. Many words in Chinese have similar pronunciations, and without the correct tones, you may sound confusing to others.

Many new learners start by learning pinyin before they learn the characters, which can be difficult to memorize at first. This isn't necessarily a good idea as you should probably start practicing characters from the beginning, but your initial early concentration should be pinyin and correct pronunciation.

Before starting to practice and advance your speaking skills, it's essential to learn the correct pronunciations of Chinese words and learning pinyin will allow you to recognize more words and phrases. Correct pronunciation can also help build up your confidence when speaking Chinese and avoid embarrassing yourself by saying something that sounds kinda of weird.

There is great navigation for all the common pronunciations on our site, check out the pinyin chart!

Build up Vocabulary

In order to be able to speak in full sentences and express your thoughts, you need to at least have a basic Mandarin vocabulary so that you can put words together to form sentences. This is of course, also fundamental in learning a new language.

There are many tools out there you can use to start building up your vocabulary, such as practice books, mobile apps, software, and websites. Flashcards are especially useful in learning and memorizing new words. We've mentioned a few methods and tools for this purpose in the article on how to improve Chinese reading skills, feel free to check it out.

Read out Loud

You may find it an effective way to improve your reading comprehension by reading short passages, stories, news, books, etc. Reading something interesting to you in Chinese is no doubt a great approach to building up your vocabulary as well as improving your reading skills. But you can also improve your Chinese pronunciation and speaking skills at the same time - by reading out loud!

While you may feel strange at first when you read things out loud, once you get used to it, you will find it more natural to speak in the language.

But keep in mind that you should pay attention to your pronunciation. Start reading aloud slowly and make sure you're reading and speaking with the correct pronunciations and tones. With repetitive practice over time, it will come across as much easier and more natural for you to speak Chinese!

If you feel it's embarrassing to read out loud, do it when you're alone, or read out loud with a voice that only you can hear - whichever way may work for you. Another trick is that you can record your speaking and listen to it afterward. By doing so, you can hear more clearly how well you spoke, what's the problem and where to improve.

The takeaway here is that, by reading out loud, you get to exercise your pronunciation with more practical materials and get used to speaking in Chinese. Overcome the fear of opening up your mouth, and that's where it starts!

Engage in Conversations

While the methods above help build up your fundamental speaking skills, nothing is more effective than engaging in real conversations.

The best approach, of course, is speaking with native Chinese speakers. By doing so, not only do you get to practice your spoken Mandarin in real-life situations, but you can also get a better and deeper understanding of the nuances of the language. When you make mistakes, the native speaker can also correct you and teach you the most native way to express something. In addition, it's very likely that you'll enlarge your vocabulary of words and phrases at the same time.

When speaking with a native speaker, you should pay close attention to their pronunciation. As mentioned above, poor pronunciation can hinder your ability to communicate effectively.

Don't be shy when you try to speak in their language, most native speakers are patient and willing to help you. Just be confident and comfortable in your delivery, and take the time to form your thoughts and put your words together.

But it's not always possible to find the chance to speak with native speakers. However, there are different Chinese learning programs, language exchange opportunities, and meetup groups where you can practice speaking with other fellow learners. It's also a great way to advance your speaking skills, help each other out, and make friends and connections.

Additionally, there are online chats and platforms for Chinese learners where you can also talk in Chinese as well. However, most of the time, people would type and text in Chinese rather than speak out loud. Even then, you can still practice thinking in the language and making up sentences in a timely manner which is close to real-life face-to-face situations.

Watch Chinese Dramas

Another great method that you can use to assist improve your speaking skills is by watching Chinese TV shows and movies.

What's best about it is that it's a fun thing you can do on your own, and it can be quite effective - if you do it the correct way.

Find shows and movies that you are interested in and watch them in the Chinese original voice with subtitles. By doing so, you are able to immerse yourself in a Chinese-speaking environment without having to find native speakers or fellow learners to speak with. And it is a great listening practice by itself!

But keep in mind that always try to pay attention to the words and phrases used in the show and match them up with the subtitles.

If you find yourself fully engaged in the storyline of the show, and forget about the learning part entirely, I'm sure this happens quite commonly, you can always go back and rewatch again. But this time, try to keep your attention on the language!

There are many great Chinese shows out there you can choose from, and here is an article that recommends a list of good Chinese shows to watch, along with their streaming availability and rating info.

Speaking is important, and it's hard to speak fluently in a new language. Constant practice is the only way to master speaking.

Be patient with yourself. Learning a new language takes time and there will be setbacks along the way. As long as you practice and make improvements day by day, you'll get there eventually!