Best way to recover Chinese skills?

[Valachio]

I immigrated to Canada from China at the age of 9 (I'm 19 now).  I need to do business in China and it would be super beneficial for me to be able to speak, read and write Chinese better.

 

In terms of speaking.  I can speak coherent sentences with a lot of pronounciation errors and broken grammar.  However my advantage is that I do not have an accent when I speak.  If I speak a mistake-free sentence, people won't be able to tell the difference between me and the average Chinese guy.

 

In terms of reading, I can probably understand 10% of the words in a sentence.

 

In terms of writing, I can write my Chinese name, and that's it.

 

Anyone has any advice as to the most efficient way I can recover my Chinese abilities?  Should I just find some free online courses?  Or should I make the investment and find myself a private tutor.

 

Thanks.

[Apollys]

Maybe something like a language exchange partner is exactly what you need, since you are already confident in the basics but you need to practice a lot of speaking and listening to re-stimulate those dormant parts of your brain and bring the skills back.  I would definitely recommend some sort of conversational practice, whether through language exchange or a personal tutor.  This will also help make sure you've still got the pronunciation skills you had when you were 9.

 

As for writing, I'm not sure how much time you have to spend on it. Perhaps a lot of stuff will start coming back quickly as you remind yourself of what you once knew, or maybe it's been unused for too long and it will be quite a lot of effort to learn it all again.  I would guess that you could develop reasonable reading proficiency without too much time investment though.

 

Some general resources that I like for learning Chinese:

 - Anki: SRS flashcards with great decks for learning Chinese

 - Du Chinese: nice reading app, a voice speaks the words and highlights the characters, with full phrase translation on the top of the screen and pop-up definitions available

 - Skritter: very nice character learning app, but you do have to pay - if you're a bit stingy about paying for things like this, just wait until you know you'll have regular free time in your schedule for a month, sign up for that month and use it every day, I guarantee you'll get your money's worth

[Shelley]

Nowadays there specific textbooks/courses for heritage speakers. I would do a search for learning chinese for heritage speakers.

 

You are in a group of learners that is different from total beginners and as you say you need to concentrate on different things ie writing.

 

Finding Chinese Forums is a good start

 

Hope this helps.

[歪果仁]

Awesome sounds like you will advance really quickly. Some suggestions from me...

-italki is a great way to get really cheap tutoring from professional teachers and has helped me a lot.

-you could try HelloTalk for language exchange however that can be more trouble than it's worth remember 天下没有免费的午餐 there is no such thing as a free lunch

-if you want to work on your reading check out The Chairmans Bao really good for that

also if you look Chinese that is an advantage as people will immediately start talking Chinese to you rather than English

Good luck mate!

[Flickserve]

Firstly, learn to read something practical like the Chinese menu with your favourite food and order by reading the menu. This will get you very far.

Once you have done that, the most efficient way will be to get a job in China and live on your own. Then ask colleagues or anybody how to get things done e.g. How to fix a pipe and talking the plumber about about. Spend a couple of months looking after yourself like that and try to read the characters around you.

You will learn a lot - far faster than compared to staying in Canada.

[murrayjames]

Hi Valachio!

 

As Shelley mentions, your study method will be different from ours. Many of us here are adults learning Chinese for the first time. Things that took us years to get together (**tones**) will come naturally to you.

 

My suspicion is that learning to read will be the key. It will expand your vocabulary and iron out the kinks in your grammar. Also, remember that your parents (and other family members) are an untapped language resource. They speak Chinese fluently, use the correct words, and do not make tone or grammar mistakes.

 

Finally, welcome to Chinese Forums! Do stick around—some of the folks around here speak really, really, really good Chinese. There have a number of native Chinese posters here as well.

[imron]

See this advice from another heritage learner.