Proficient mandarin speaker, need tips to improve.

[youra6]

Hi all,

I am born to a Chinese speaking household and had took many years of Chinese classes as a kid. I have also taken advanced Chinese courses in college.

However, the problem with with languages especially Chinese, is that if you don't use it, you lose it. Unfortunately, I don't have any Chinese friends to practice Chinese with. What things can I do to maintain and possibly improve my Chinese? Watch Chinese movies with subtitles? My goal is to

Here is a breakdown of my Chinese skills:

1. Comfortable with vernacular Chinese. I can hold a conversation about pretty much anything as long as it doesn't get academic.

2. I can recognize about 800-1000 Chinese characters

3. My writting is terribad. Can write at most 400 characters

4. Cannot understand news in Chinese. However I able to understand Chinese TV shows (70-80% of it).

5. Chinese cartooons for example (Jackie Chan Adventures) can prove to be a challenge at times.

Thanks guys!

[grawrt]

Talk with your family!

This isn't really a chinese-related experience but when I visited my family in Turkey over the summer they only really spoke Turkish with me and I told them not to let me speak english with them(the ones that understood) and my Turkish improved immensely. Even when I didn't know the word for some things I still used turkish to try and get that word out (for example: When I forgot the word for Fig, I told them to name dried fruits for me and when I recognized fig I was able to finish my original sentence lol.) It was a little hard at first and frustrating but after a while I started to say phrases I never would have said.

imron made a very helpful post for if you want to be able to understand the news here: http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/22456-fluency-proficiency-etcsome-insight-please/#comment-182682

Hope this helps & Good luck!

[gato]

How about start reading the news in Chinese regularly? Or some short stories? What you need is to increase your vocabulary.

You might be able to find some useful tips here:

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/36343-strategy-to-relearn-reading-for-heritage-learner/

Strategy to relearn reading for heritage learner

[youra6]

Is there a quote button by any chance? Thanks for your respomes

To address grawrt's post, I think speaking with family would help, but it would only really help with vernacular Chinese. My parent's have lived in the states for more than 20 years and although they can speak/write Chinese a hell of alot better than I can, they won't be able to help me much with academic language.

Their skill level in Chinese is probably comparable to that of a 7th or 8th grade Chinese student. I will take a look at that link you gave me, thanks!

And to Gato, I do read Chinese, but sometimes I have trouble understanding things I read. Its funny, sometimes I would be able to recognize a 词语, but have no idea what it means. I'll look at that post you gave me, and thanks guys!

Keep em coming!

[zhouhaochen]

We have a lot of overseas Chinese students coming to Beijing for exactly the same reasons. Limited vocabulary, much lower reading than speaking ability, and often wrong/outdated usage of terms by today's mainland Chinese standards.

Working at a language school, suggesting a trip to China to do a Mandarin course for overseas Chinese might be self promoting, but I do honestly think that this would be the best way to get ahead. You need to work on the specific areas you have problems in to get ahead, you would progress fast, but it wont come just by itself.

Alternatively, trying to "create" a China environment at home - you have Chinese university students where you live? They speak very good Mandarin, in many cases do not particularly care to join the culture of their host country and spend most of their free time cooking for each other and speaking Mandarin - with locals welcome to join as long as they adapt to them culturally and linguistically. Might be a good crowd to join. I think I spoke more Mandarin than English in London when I studied there.