How to organise speaking sessions

[Kherith]

Hi everybody,

As my first semester (well 3 months and a half) of chinese is over in 2 weeks, I am going to make sure I master all the hanzi we learned, vocabulary and review grammar before starting some speaking sessions with my girlfriend, because my biggest weakness is speaking (well at my stage of beginner I suck at everything, but you understood me haha).

So my questions are simple :

- Should I organise some topics or whatever things for each training session in order to practice what we've learned in class or should I just talk about anything and get knowledge from that ?
- I was thinking of writing down everything I dont know and search about it after each session, which will, I think, increase my knowledge. However, that will probably significantly slow down our conversation rhythm (if I can actually speak out something haha). What do you think of this ?

Thanks
 

[889]

Yes, you have to structure your session time beforehand. Since your girlfriend isn't a trained teacher, I assume, you'll have to do this yourself.

 

Otherwise it's so easy to just fritter away the time in simple chitchat. And each session will end up with pretty much the same chitchat. You need structure to keep advancing.

 

Recording the sessions on your phone for later review is also useful. And you won't have to stop and write stuff down.

[艾墨本]

It's great that your girlfriend is willing to do this! Having done this with my girlfriend, it is important to realize that she isn't a trained tutor (I assume). You'll need a lot of patience in both directions. If either of you get impatient, take a break and continue another day. Your relationship is more important than a few new Chinese words.

 

Some methods that work well with tutors that aren't trained tutors:

 

For review, you can write down words, phrases, and grammar patterns you want to practice on notecards. You can have that normal roaming conversation but regularly pull from the deck and insert it into the conversation you are having. If it doesn't fit, perhaps the direction fo your conversation can change to accommodate the word/grammar/phrase. I've found this keeps learning in the center and is also humorous if you put some strange words in your deck. Tell your girlfriend not to correct all of your mistakes. She should focus on 1) mistakes related to the things you are learning and 2) mistakes that greatly impede understanding. 

 

Similar to the above, you can have topics written down on note cards with several leading questions to direct the conversation. You can write the cards in English, but she should explain the topic and ask the questions in Chinese without you seeing the card. Move on to the next question when the conversation goes stale. 

 

Base your speaking session around something you recently watched. The first section is then to summarize what you have watched. You can prepare for this ahead of time by writing down keywords and studying them. Next, your girlfriend can ask you clarifying questions which will naturally point out where your Chinese was unclear. Take conscious note of this as it is happening. Native speakers will often do this for you without you realizing. Practicing be cognizant of this can go a long way towards your learning.

 

Sometimes just focus on listening and pronunciation. You read a dialogue and have her correct your pronunciation. Or, have her read the dialogue bit by bit and you repeat what she says relying only on your listening ability.

 

A tactic I have used with myself and my students. Tell a story or summarize a story in three minutes. Have your girlfriend correct some tidbit and grammar. Practice those bits. Repeat the same story with all the same content plus corrections in two minutes. Then do it again in one minute. It's a great way to focus on and improve fluency.

 

When you're not with your girlfriend it is important that you listen to a lot of content. Listening comprehension is the first step to improving your speaking ability. If your textbook had audio recording for the dialogues, listen to them over and over. Listen to podcasts (see this thread https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/51989-a-short-list-of-resources-for-studying-chinese/) or watch kids shows like 喜羊羊. You could also practice the listening section of the HSK 3. 

 

[Kherith]

Thanks very much for this very useful information. I'll definitely follow your advices when I start those speaking sessions (July since my semester is not over yet and I work so no time to do additional studies right now)