Speaking Practice with Skype friend

[老马萍]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here, been studying with a private tutor for 3 years. My speaking ability lags way behind reading and writing since I live in the States and have limited practice opportunities. I do have a Skype friend who is determined to help me learn to speak however, I haven't figured out how to best use her help. I can't have an actual conversation because I stop and start, struggling to remember enough of the words I've learned (as my friend points out, I haven't really learned them if I can't remember them). So when we meet on Skype I really struggle to speak and mostly feel like a failure. I meet with my tutor twice a week for 2 hours each. We've been using Integrated Chinese and I'm kept quite busy with lots of trying to memorize vocab and written exercises so I never seem to have time to prepare a separate speaking activity with my friend. I've tried re-telling her the stories from my text but I don't do that very well and also it isn't clear how she can participate. Her English is MUCH better than my Chinese so often we revert to just English. We usually talk for 1.5 hours every week, obviously I can't use that much time speaking Chinese. Any suggestions for how to make the best use of my friend's help?

[Mindmaxd]

I am also try to teach my foreigner friends chinese, I think it really need a topic to talk or some books or something like that,or the talk can't last long,I am still trying to find a good way to teach them and at the same time I can improve my english,Some daily topic will be good imo,Eg this calss you guys can talk how to buy things in chinese and in english,and next time when you go to the shop buy something you can remember this class and then try to review it.

Hope it will helpful for you.

[igotyofire]

Do you have problems carrying conversations with your native tongue with people you have just met? Sounds like your possibly a bit shy( just my opinion).....Obviously you know some chinese & I suggest just spitting out every word that comes to mind...even if that means you wont be able to go in depth in your conversation. In the beginning conversations are not to complex & jumping around to different topics is quite normal until you learn more & are able to expand upon that particular topic...So if you have to ask a bunch of one liner questions in order to carry a conversation...then so be it!

Your friend can participate by listening to you speak & correct you right on the spot with regards to pronunciation, tones & grammar. When your friend replies it then switches to your listening comprehension skills & if you dont understand ask your friend to repeat that specific sentence. Its slow going at first but if you don't ever put yourself out their on the front line Into those uncomfortable situations of trying to speak more then you wont ever learn how & one day will just become a giant walking chinese dictionary with no idea how to use that vocabulary effectively.

[li3wei1]

I would suggest shorter sessions. two hours is a long time if you can't string a sentence together, and it can get frustrating. I'd say go for an hour, and spend your extra hour beforehand trying to prepare something, just writing down a bunch of vocabulary around a topic that you want to discuss.

[stoney]

"Her English is MUCH better than my Chinese so often we revert to just English."

You should consider paying for a private online tutor who will not allow you to speak any English.

[老马萍]

Thanks, everyone, for responding. I think I am my biggest obstacle. I don't like making mistakes and that inhibits me from speaking more. I know, I know, that's a loser. Lei3wei1, you're right, of course, I'd be doing well to speak for 5 minutes! Igotyofire, your advice makes a lot of sense. Speaking is half the problem, the other half is being able to understand what my friend says to me. I guess I expected my reading, writing and speaking abilities would all progress at the same rate. My tutor says my reading/writing level is intermediate but I speak/comprehend at maybe high beginner. Have you guys found that kind of disparity in your efforts to learn? Do you find it helpful to practice speaking alone, that is into a recorder? My Chinese friends say listen, listen, listen and that will improve speaking. Do you agree?

[Neil_H]

I would suggest you work through something like Pimsleur Mandarin so that you can get used to speaking short sentences and basic everyday topics.

Once you have this under your belt you will be able to speak better with your friend and expand the topic. Learning words is one part, putting them together into a sentence is the next part.

[Vegemighty]

I'm having the same problem. I'm living in Chengdu now and I have trouble speaking. Its not that I'm incomprehensible but that I don't have anything to talk about. I'm not a natural talker. I let others take the lead. Its a personality issue. Also the fact that they speak sichuanese, so I can't join in on conversations as readily as I could in English or Mandarin (I guess). I think finding someone online might be an effective remedy, if they're a talker. What do you think?

[lgflyman76]

Vegemighty

Hi, I'm a Chinese living in Chengdu. I'm willing to help you out with speaking Mandarin, and I guess in turn you will be helpful to my English ability. But I don't know how to contact you because this website seems not happy with the private communication between visitors.

[imron]

this website seems not happy with the private communication between visitors.

This website is not happy with private communication by *new* visitors. This is to stop advertisers from signing up for an account and then spamming all the members with private messages.

[roddy]

ignore me...