The Get Speaking Mandarin
Part 3
A course designed to get you speaking.
Listen and Repeat.
Build muscle memory and intuition.
Master intermediate Mandarin grammar and speak with confidence!
25 audio lessons, 25 audio drills, 25 grammar videos, and regular live Q&A sessions! Zero to basic fluency for just $497!
What is “Get Speaking?”
In this course, you’ll learn to speak Mandarin by listening and repeating, thereby building your intuition. The sentences in the course embody the grammar needed for the HSK 3 test and part of HSK 4, and the most common 2000 words.
After completing this course, you should be able to speak basic Mandarin correctly because it feels correct. You’ll have an intuitive grasp for the grammar. Grammar explanations will also be provided, but only after you’ve completed the audio lessons and repetition drills for those grammar points, making the explanations much easier to understand.
You can also choose to not do the grammar lessons, and rely solely on your intuition (which comes from having listened to and repeated native speaker speech). Having said that, knowing the grammar explanations will help with test taking.
Course Highlights
Learn intermediate grammar and the most common 2000 words through practical conversation, including:
• Express feelings and emotions
• Discussing habits and characteristics
• Daily life situations
• Speaking politely
• Describing problems and solutions
Each lesson features an engaging dialogue, along with live Q&A sessions, and a choice of study maps depending on how aggressive you want to be with your study.
What other Chinese learners are saying:
“An entirely new approach to learning new language patterns and structures while developing speaking skills to a degree I would not have believed possible for a learner of my age, with as full a daily schedule as I have. These last two months have brought about nothing short of a revolution in my language learning.”
- Rick (Taiwan)
“I started this course by being very uncomfortable just by trying to pronounce very basic single words. The contents and scheduling are really optimum to smoothly make quick progress towards full sentences. My daily time management is always very constrained. This course allows me to easily practice daily with high efficiency with the very little free time I can find every day. If you want to be able to make progress despite your very busy life, this course is made for you.”
- Pascal (Singapore)
“Through continuous repetition, the course has helped me to better understand what I am hearing and to produce the correct sounds when I speak. The course also gently takes you from very simple grammar and vocabulary to more complex sentences. Together with graded readers, this course has made the largest contribution to my improvement in speaking Chinese.”
- Ricardo (Germany)
Lesson Sample
Instructions (please read these first!)
Step 1: Listen to the Audio Lesson
Step 2: Practice with the Repetition Drills
Step 3: Watch the Grammar Video
Audio - choose your voice below!
PRC Audio
TW Audio
* Note that the actual lessons will be longer and contain lots of practice material—these are just the dialogues!
Who is this for?
For Chinese Learners
Most language courses teach you head knowledge. It’s like learning to play golf or do yoga by reading and memorizing books. This course is experiential. It’s like learning to play golf by actually practicing your golf swing, or learning yoga by actually doing the poses. The difference is huge!
For the Tongue-tied
If you struggle getting the words out, this course if for you! If you’re an intermediate learner (HSK 3-4 or equivalent), this course will get you where you need to go. If you're higher level but still have a hard time with speaking, then you'll be able to build up your inner database of correct sentences and get a more intuitive feel for the language, and lower the amount of thinking required to speak!
Lifetime Access
You'll have lifetime access! Like all of our courses, you can go at your own pace and you'll be able to revise the course as much as you want after you've finished it. No need to stress about pacing—you can go at whatever pace you want!
Your Instructors
John Renfroe
Co-founder, Outlier Linguistics
Before co-founding Outlier, John studied Linguistics and Paleography in the Graduate Institute of Chinese at National Taiwan Normal University. He co-founded and later ran the Taipei Classical Chinese Reading Group, a weekly reading group consisting mostly of graduate Sinology students from western universities. He also taught classical Chinese to members of the group who had no previous instruction in the language. His coursework and research focused on excavated Warring States bamboo texts, historical Chinese character morphology, and the Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字 and its commentaries and criticism.
Ash Henson, PhD
Co-founder, Outlier Linguistics
To say that Ash is a language enthusiast is an understatement. He speaks Dutch, Mandarin, Cantonese and German, all in varying states of decay. In addition to these, he has learned to some level or another another 7 languages and is currently working on Japanese and European Portuguese. He sees language learning as a chance to experiment. The goal is to find a better way (either getting the same result in a way that takes less time, or getting a better result). And he’s been at it for 30 years! He got his PhD in Chinese at National Taiwan Normal University in paleography and historical linguistics. He was also in the PhD program for Teaching Chinese as a Second Language for six years. For his qualifying exams in that department, he had to learn functional grammar, cognitive grammar, case grammar, transformational grammar. So, we've definitely got you covered on the grammar front!
Christine Shen
Language Instructor
Christine is an experienced Chinese instructor with two master’s degrees in language teaching. Over her career, she has taught high-ranking managers in major companies, and she currently teaches diplomats, providing instruction from basic daily Chinese to advanced professional language. Her extensive background in language education and hands-on experience with diverse professional clientele allows her to offer tailored and practical lessons. She is passionate about helping students achieve fluency and confidence in Chinese, empowering them to excel in both personal and professional contexts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the course teach the PRC standard or the Taiwanese standard? Will the native speaker on the recording be male or female?
We'll be offering both PRC Mandarin and Taiwanese Mandarin options, so you can choose which standard you want to learn! Also, we'll be providing both male and female speakers for both standards. You can choose which one fits your needs best!
Can I go at my own pace? Will I still be able to access the course once I've finished it?
Yes! Everything is available for you to go through at your own pace, and we have suggested study schedules too. You get lifetime access to the course, so you can go back and review as many times as you want!
How much Chinese do I need to know to take this course?
This course covers all of HSK 3 and about half of HSK 4. If you aren't quite at that level yet, we recommend starting with Get Speaking Mandarin 2. If you're brand new to learning Mandarin or haven't gotten as far as HSK 2 yet, we recommend starting with Get Speaking Mandarin 1.
How long does the course take to complete?
Each lesson will take about an hour to listen to in its entirety, but you'll also need to spend a few hours doing your repetition drills for each lesson. Given 25 lessons and lots of repetition, expect to spend around 100 hours or more to get the full benefit of the course.
How much time will it require per lesson?
It really depends on how much review you do. We highly recommend spending at least 20 min per day reviewing with the repetition drills and audio lessons. A little bit every day is much better than a lot once a week.
So, at a minimum, 20 min per day on old material, and 20 min per day on new material. Scheduling "review weeks" (where you just review, and don't learn any new material) is a good way to get caught up on reviewing. You should spend a minimum of 3-5 hours per week between new material and reviewing. Of course, a more aggressive review schedule could bring that up close to 10 hours per week, or even more. It depends on your goals! We can help you figure out a good study/review schedule—just ask!
We'll also do occasional live 45 minute Q&A session on Zoom, so you can pop in and ask questions if you'd like. There is also a discussion forum, so if you can't make it to the office hours, you can still get your questions answered. You can also watch the replays of the Q&A sessions.
Will I need anything (apps, etc.) in order to take the course?
No! Everything you need will be provided to you. You just need a device with internet access.
Here is a list of references I used for creating the course. However, I recommend NOT buying them until AFTER you’ve completed the course. And of course, you’re under no obligation to buy any of them.
Li and Thompson, Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar
Claudia Ross, Ph.D., Schaum’s Outlines Chinese Grammar
A.G. Hawk, The Quick and Dirty Guide to Learning Languages Fast
Vivian Ling and Wang Peng, Essential Mandarin Chinese Grammar
Yip Po-Ching and Don Rimmington, Chinese an Essential Grammar
Yip Po-Ching and Don Rimmington, Intermediate Chinese: A Grammar and Workbook
Muhammad Wolfgang G. A. Schmidt, All the Grammar and Language Points for Each of the Six Levels of the Chinese Language Proficiency Test (HSK)
Richard Xiao, Paul Rayson, and Tony McEnery, A Frequency Dictionary of Mandarin Chinese
What time will the live Q&A sessions be?
We do the Q&A sessions at different times to try to accommodate people in different time zones as much as possible. You'll get notified in advance, and we usually offer two different time slots each time we do a Q&A session, so you can choose whichever one works best for you.
What does "lifetime access" mean?
In practical terms, it means the course materials will be available online for as long as Outlier is in business. If we do ever go out of business or otherwise need to remove the course for any reason, we'll make the material available for you to download for a period of at least 6 months.
Can I get a refund if I decide the course isn't for me?
Yes! We have a 30-day, no questions asked refund policy. If you decide you don't like the course for whatever reason, just reach out by then and I'll be happy to give you a full refund.
Will there be assignments or homework?
Assignments will be listening to the audio lessons, doing the repetition drills, and watching the grammar explanation videos. This is where the learning happens.
Can we collaborate with other students or form study groups?
Definitely! Our live courses usually have a few hundred students enrolled, so there should be plenty of students of all backgrounds and interests in this course too. Working together and coming up with better ways to study with other people is definitely a good thing. However, for your own learning, you have to do the legwork on your own!
We'll also have a private online community where you can work together, ask questions, share notes, etc.
25 audio lessons, 25 audio drills, 25 grammar videos, and regular live Q&A sessions! Zero to basic fluency for just $497!
30-DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE!
We believe in the quality of our products and are committed to your satisfaction. That’s why we offer a 30-Day Money Back Guarantee on all purchases. If you are not completely satisfied with your purchase, simply contact us within 30 days for a full refund, no questions asked.
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