Resources for advanced heritage learners?

[yueni]

From what I'm reading in this thread, it seems like nobody's actually addressing the real issue that OP is facing, which is active language use (speaking, writing, constructing sentences actively). A lot of the suggestions have to do with what OP is actually good at, which is passive language use (listening, reading, comprehension). And there's also an insane focus on vocabulary, which it seems to me is not the actual issue that OP is facing right now.

 

@adeliepingu, just to give you a quick and dirty background. I am a heritage Chinese speaker, but English is my native language. I previously was in a similar situation to you where passive language use was fine, but active language use was problematic. I eventually worked on improving my Chinese, and got an MATI for Chinese & English translation & interpreting, and have been working in the industry ever since. I am now basically fluent in Chinese (and have been living in China for the past couple years).

 

From reading your post, I understand you want to improve the following things: 1) Chinese grammar; 2) not sounding like you're just speaking/writing English-ified Chinese; 3) increase reading speed; 4) accent.

 

Increasing reading speed can only be done by reading more. That's it. Read the kind of text you are interested in reading more of, and you will read faster in that style of text. I read a lot of technical manuals & reports and news-related things, so my reading speed for those kinds of materials is fairly fast. Still a lot slower than all my Chinese colleagues, but I am not spending all day catching up at least. However, it can take me over a year to finish a Chinese novel, because that's not the typical type of reading material I read. Pick your battles.

 

Chinese grammar & speaking/writing Chinese the way a Chinese person will speak/write is a different kettle of fish. One way to do it is to formally take a Chinese class not in America. Go spend a year in China/Taiwan and focus on the grammar stuff. Another way to improve your active use of Chinese is to use Chinese actively. In terms of conversation, I advocate shadowing as a good way to improve your speaking skills.

 

Since you watch TV dramas, use them as part of your conversational training. Dramas set in the modern day would be best for this, because the style of language used in period dramas tend to not lend itself well to daily conversation. What you should do is shadow what the characters in the drama are saying. Basically, after one character speaks, repeat what they say after them. Do not pause the drama. It might be easier to just pick one character and shadow what that specific character is saying. This is how shadowing works. Let the character start speaking. Give him a 1-2 second lag, then repeat exactly what he is saying. This way, you are practicing your listening skills and are also actively using real Chinese (scripted by native Chinese speakers) in a real context. If you keep on doing this, you will begin to internalize how Chinese spoken by native speakers is expressed. You will find yourself beginning to use common turns of phrases and grammatical structures that you have been repeating. It will seem too much and too overwhelming in the beginning, because you won't be able to keep up. That's ok, you'll get better with practice. 

 

You should also focus on word collocation, or 词语搭配, which is probably another reason why your Chinese is so English-ified. Learn which verbs and nouns go together. When you are shadowing a native speaker speaking their native language, chances are high that they are speaking a lot faster than you can follow. That's also normal. If you can't catch up, or the speaker speaks fast naturally, focus on one specific part of grammar. For instance, collocation. Say, for example, the character you are shadowing says something like, “你真的能够准时完成我昨天给了你的任务吗？” If you are focusing on collocation, then you might listen and get the whole sentence, but instead of repeating exactly everything the character is saying, you just focus on matching words together. In this instance, you might just repeat out loud: “完成……任务”. Doing this will actively reinforce in your mind that these are the words you will want to use when you want to talk about completing tasks. This is one way to de-Englishify your Chinese. You can use this same method to internalize whatever part of Chinese grammar you feel you are lacking in, just really zero in on the one thing you plan on working on each time you begin shadowing for the day. Do not focus on more than one thing on each session.

 

Shadowing is also a good method to practice your accent. Before you start, pick the accent you want. I'm serious. Don't try to mix accents up, it will confuse you. It would be even better if you pick a specific person you want to emulate, and then shadow only that specific person. While you are shadowing that person, record yourself. Do it in short segments. 1 minute, max. Listen to the recording of yourself and compare it with the original speaker. Where are your pronunciation problems? As always, focus on one thing at a time. If you are working on your fourth tone this session, don't worry if your 'ng' sounds are not clear. Focus on getting your fourth tone right, and only your fourth tone right that session. Work on your other accent issues in your next session.

 

If you want to improve your writing, the method is the same, but instead of using spoken Chinese, use written Chinese. Copy a paragraph from a novel/story/whatever you are interested in/reading. Copy it exactly word for word, and then keep on writing the next couple paragraphs on your own. The first paragraph is just to get you into the style of how Chinese is expressed by a native speaker, so you need to pay attention while you are copying (just like you do when you are shadowing). Focus on grammar. Which words go where, and in what order? Ideally, pick a paragraph that focuses on one topic: true love, a historical event, etc. Then, in the two paragraphs after, emulate the writing as best you can, and continue it on your own. Honestly, for writing, if you have somebody who can critique your work, that would be best, but if you don't, this method will at least help you internalize the real sentence structures and forms of expression used by native Chinese speakers.

 

Note: Written language and spoken language are two completely different things. Do not read out loud to practice your spoken language. Do not try to copy spoken language from your drama in written form. (I mean, you can do these things, but language expression differs when you're speaking vs when you're writing, so it kind of defeats the purpose a little bit.)

[snowflake]

Am wondering whether the OP is trying Yueni's advice and how things are looking?  

[ChineseBon]

You can read novel, but you just put Chinese in an "English" way. So I think what you need is to write and to speak more.