SPEAKING HELP

[adamnhms]

Hello,

 

I've been self learning for a little more than a year.  I love chatting with natives, but I can't speak well.  Tones/pronunciation aren't too big of a problem, it's expressing myself.  When I'm typing, I can think stuff out at a pretty steady speed and have a conversation with someone.  But speaking is so different.  I cannot think of what I want to say on the spot.  Very simple thoughts, no problem, but even a one to two sentence thought requires time.  Practicing with natives doesn't help too much either, other than correction with pronunciation.  I think what's difficult is how condensed thoughts are, whereas English has prepositions and all kinds of necessary words.  This is crushing me.  I want to hold a conversation.  I read everyday (aloud), I tackle grammar here and there, I try to improve.  I know everybody has this when learning a language, but has anybody had this same particular problem?  You can't think of your thoughts immediately?  What can I do to get better?  I appreciate all help, thank you!

[Kanjiology]

I've had your same exact problem and still have some symptoms even after living in China for almost 2 years, but my symptoms did start to get better after some time. You're always going to look back and see that you have made a lot of progress, you're much better than when you started, your problem will become less and less noticeable as time goes on, at least it did for me. What I did to resolve this problem, not being able to say something on the spot, was get used to the feel of the language （语感）, absorbing Chinese media, listening to people talk, and then I just mimicked it. You don't need to think so much, listen to how the natives say it, and you can just mimic it, after awhile it becomes second nature.

 

Hope I could help a little, good luck, sounds like you're off to a good start.

[imron]

I read everyday (aloud)

How many consecutive days have you been doing this, and what sort of content are you reading out loud?

[Shelley]

I try to overcome the problem of constructing sentences in a conversational situation by talking to myself even if it is only in my head. I think of something I may want say and then say it in Chinese.

 

I wonder round the house looking at things and trying to make a sentence about it. I am only at a very basic level when it comes to speaking because i have been self studying and have no conversational practice.

 

This has changed a bit and I have had reason to speak Chinese recently So before i had to speak i practiced a few simple phrases, so i could rattle them off giving me confidence if not actually doing a lot of on the fly talking.

 

Having a few "stock sentences" gives me something to say and some breathing space to come up with a relevant comment. It helps to have conversational friends who understand you are learning and will give that extra moment or two to respond.

 

You make progress then it stops for ages then another leap and then you plateau again and so it goes on.

I think the speaking part of learning Chinese has more plateaus than the Andes

[Altair]

My oral skills are not very advanced, but I can carry on a limited conversation in certain contexts.

 

I think the key is not to focus on what you want to say, but rather on what you can say.  In other words, don't focus on the English you would normally say, but rather on the closest stock Chinese phrases you know.

 

For instance, if you are eating a meal, you might think of saying: "Wow, this food is really tasty and has an intriguing flavor I can't identify.  Could you tell me what the ingredients are?"  Instead say: "This dish is delicious.  What is in it?  I really like it."  这个蔡很好吃。里面是什么？我非常喜欢。  If your Chinese is at an intermediate level, the latter sentences are not too tough, but the former are quite difficult, especially if you want to say them in any kind of authentic way.

 

Suppose you want to extend the conversation with "Is this one of your favorite dishes?  Is this really authentic local food, or just the kind of thing made in restaurants.  It seems much spicier than what I am used to."  Again, I do not know how to say much of this in authentic Chinese and so might say instead: "Do you eat this dish at home?  Is it a Beijing/Shanghai/southern dish?  It's really a spicy one.  I am not used to it."  这个蔡，你是在家吃吗？是个北京／上海／南方蔡吗？真的很辣。我不太习惯。

 

Focus on short structures and patterns you know, and work out from there.  Listen to the structures that are used back at you, and incorporate them in your replies or your elaborations.

 

You can even prepare for situations by thinking up four or five structures you are likely to use.  Think of likely variations to spice things up and allow for a little creativity.  For instance, in meeting someone, you could prepare equivalents of:

 

Are you a student?  I am too.

What kind of work do you do? I am a ____.

What do you study?  Where do you work?  I am a ___ and work at ________.

Where do you live?  I live at ____.

 

Suppose you then want to say: "How long have you been living there?"  You may realize that the Chinese structure can be a little complicated and may not recall on the spot how to construe it, especially if you start with 你倠在那儿 as your model.  Then just simplify with an equivalent, such as "When did you start working/studying there?"  This structure is much closer to the English equivalent and to what elementary grammars teach.

 

When people inevitably compliment you on your wonderful Chinese, you might want to reply with "Thank you, but I am really struggling with my oral ability and have a little difficulty maintaining fluid conversations."  Instead, prepare two or three stock equivalents of "You're too kind."  Expand with "I read a little, but have difficulty speaking." 

 

Replace vocabulary you don't know with words you do know.  I, for instance, don't know off hand how to say the nouns "reading" and "writing" in Chinese.  There are several equivalents of "to read" that come to mind, and I don't know the differences without having to think a lot.  I can, however, easily say 念字 and 写字, which do fine for simple conversation.  If you have more fluency, you might not easily recall words for "conversational ability," but might recall that Chinese often use the word 水平 ("level") in such situations.  You can then construe a reply using this word.  For instance, 我的(...)水平不够高.

 

Remember that many constructions can be simplified by turning the main thought into an unmarked topic at the beginning of a sentence or a phrase.  Make use of parallelism or coordinate structures, rather than always thinking of how to translate English conjunctions.  For instance, instead of trying to say: "When I write, I have time to think of what I want to say; however, when I speak, I have difficulty remembering words and putting them together into spontaneous speech," say: "写字,不太难。可是把字想出来，自然地说话，很难。  This structure places "writing words," "recalling words," and "natural speaking" as parallel topics.

[aone]

Contact me at any time when you want to have a Instant chat.

[adamnhms]

Thank you all for your helpful advice.  

 

Suppose you want to extend the conversation with "Is this one of your favorite dishes?  Is this really authentic local food, or just the kind of thing made in restaurants.  It seems much spicier than what I am used to."  Again, I do not know how to say much of this in authentic Chinese and so might say instead: "Do you eat this dish at home?  Is it a Beijing/Shanghai/southern dish?  It's really a spicy one.  I am not used to it."  这个蔡，你是在家吃吗？是个北京／上海／南方蔡吗？真的很辣。我不太习惯。

 

@Altair your response and take on formulating thoughts in Chinese is exactly how I thought I should learn, but wasn't very quite sure until' now.  Thank you!!!