Why you shouldn’t just focus on listening.
Today I was watching a popular language YouTuber who said that beginners shouldn't start practicing speaking because it's not useful when your comprehension is limited. They suggested focusing only on listening practice instead.
Here's what I think about that:
I’m sure this approach has worked for many people. But I've also noticed that learners who follow this approach take a very long time and often burn out.
The problem is that it assumes listening and speaking are separate skills when instead they're actually closely linked. When you practice speaking, you also improve your listening, and when you practice listening, you improve your speaking.
I've been learning Mandarin for four years, and there are still plenty of things I don’t understand. I learn new things every day from conversations. Does that mean I shouldn’t be speaking?
I don’t think so.
One important thing to remember is that speaking is a negotiation of meaning. When I speak Mandarin and someone doesn’t fully understand me—maybe because of my non-native vocabulary or pronunciation errors—they usually try to clarify what I mean.
This back-and-forth helps me learn new vocabulary, improve my listening, and get better at speaking all at once.
But this progress only happens because I put myself in situations where I speak and have conversations. I noticed a big improvement in both my listening and speaking skills when I started having more conversations.
You could stick to listening and wait to speak until you feel “ready,” but from what I've seen, this usually takes a long time. It might be a safer approach because you won’t make as many mistakes, but it’s not as efficient. Plus, many learners give up halfway because progress is slow.
It’s like trying to learn how to play soccer just by watching games. You might understand the rules and what a great penalty kick looks like, but that doesn’t help you learn how to actually kick a ball, balance your body, build up power, aim, etc.
These are skills you can only get through practice (实践).
And if your goal is to get conversational, the best and fastest way I’ve seen to get there is by speaking before you feel ready. when your comprehension is still limited.
That’s why I made the Copy Paste Speak Course to focus exactly on this: how to build a speaking habit so you have more conversations and express yourself with native speakers.
You can access it here today:
copypastespeaking.danyopang.com
If you enroll before this weekend, you also get access to the Language Learner OS for free ($100 value): a digital study hub to keep you organized, track vocab, build habits, and stay productive learning Chinese.
(ends this weekend)
循序渐进,
Danyo
PS cool Chinese vocabulary the day:
潇洒 (xiāo sǎ)
潇 (xiāo): deep and clear (of water); natural and graceful.
洒 (sǎ): To sprinkle; to scatter; free and easy.
When combined as "潇洒" (xiāo sǎ), the phrase means natural and unrestrained, confident and graceful.
Example sentence: 他举止潇洒,给人留下了深刻的印象。(Tā jǔzhǐ xiāosǎ, gěi rén liú xià le shēnkè de yìnxiàng.) His demeanor is confident and graceful, leaving a deep impression on people.