Taking a course is a good step for anyone who wants to learn Chinese. It seems fashionable to bash classroom learning and list all the things you miss out on and how bad it is, but on the whole, classroom learning is great.

5 tips to make the most of your Chinese course

That doesn't mean that it's perfect, it's a tool for learning among others and by knowing how to use that tool, you can improve your own learning.


In this article, I'm going to give you some advice on what to keep in mind to make the most out of your classroom learning.

1. Take responsibility - One of the reasons many students are frustrated with classroom learning is that while it feels like they ought to teach you everything, they always fall short of that. You're the one who's learning Chinese, so you need to make sure that the way you are studying will help you reach your goals. If something isn't covered in your course, you need to find it on your own.
2. Use teacher time wisely - A good teacher is one of the few resources you almost always have to pay for, so use the time wisely. Make sure you come to class prepared so you don't need to ask questions you could equally well have answered in 30 seconds using a dictionary. You want your teacher to answer the questions you really need the teacher for. I have written more about independent learning here: Can you learn Chinese on your own?
3. Add more speaking practice - Unless your class is very small (less than five students), you won't get much speaking practice done in class. You need to get that on your own and you need it now. Learning Chinese just by going to class won't be enough, you need to use the language you learn a lot before it really sinks in. Make friends, find language exchange partners and so on. This is mostly a problem if you're not studying in China, of course.

1. Add more listening practice - Listening practice is often neglected in classrooms, perhaps because it's so time consuming. Listening to a dialogue once or twice is far from enough. You also need more breadth. Get a second textbook and some podcasts to use in parallel with the course material you already have.
2. Improve your pronunciation - In most classes, the teacher doesn't have the time to thoroughly go through and fix the pronunciation of all students individually, so this is something you need to do on your own. Your teacher not correcting you any more is not a sign that you can relax, it just means that either you're slightly ahead of the others and require less attention or you're so far behind that the teacher has given up.

The dangers of a passive attitude

Taking a course is great, but you need to be aware that it's extremely rare for a program to teach you everything you need, so don't just follow along, become more active and take responsibility for your own learning. Like any other tool, classroom learning is if you use it wisely.