Course: Chinese Speaking Tune-up
Learning Mandarin for years, but still struggling to speak confidently?
How to go from stumbling speaker to confident communicator in Mandarin without spending hours drilling tones
Dramatically improve your spoken Chinese using my 28-day program developed over 20+ years of getting to native-level fluency. You will practice and improve with just a single sentence each day — in just five minutes — and learn how to self-correct and continue improving after the course has finished.
If you’re learning Chinese, and still struggle with your tones and pronunciation…
Then I’m about to share how you can dramatically improve your level of fluency, and speaking confidence in just 28 days, or sooner.
It’s a simple system I’ve developed over 20+ years of getting fluent in Chinese. It’s specifically designed to correct ingrained, “fossilised” pronunciation mistakes you might not even notice any more.
It works for any level of speaker from “lower intermediate” (HSK3), to advanced, and above. And it works even if you’re feeling rusty, out of practice, and have very little time.
Plus, it’s already helped over a dozen professionals improve their spoken Chinese, and get their confidence back, including university lecturers, China experts, and long-time Mandarin enthusiasts.
But first, let me introduce myself…
My name’s Andrew Methven.
I've had a 20+ year career in business in China, lived and worked in China and Taiwan, using my Mandarin daily with Chinese-speaking clients, teams, entrepreneurs, and executives.
For the last five years I've been building RealTime Mandarin, an online language learning platform helping thousands of seasoned China watchers improve their Mandarin every week.
It took me a long time to get fluent. I struggled for three years while studying intensively between 2004-2006.
Towards the end of that time, while at a language school in Taiwan, I met someone who changed everything and made me believe it was possible to get really good at speaking Chinese.
His name was Joe, a larger-than-life character from Texas who spoke perfect Mandarin.
I'd heard of him but hadn't met him until one summer morning. During a 1:1 lesson, as I was struggling through a disjointed conversation about what I did the day before, I heard a booming voice chatting away in rapid, fluid, beautiful Chinese from the reception area.
It was Joe.
His Chinese sounded amazing. Effortlessly good.
"Do you think I can get that good?" I asked my teacher.
"He's been here for years," she said.
In other words: "probably not".
That was the first time I'd encountered a foreigner who actually sounded Chinese.
I felt jealous, envious, but mostly inspired. It was possible to get really good.
That moment was a turning point.
But I realized that to get where Joe was, I'd never make it with my current approach.
Mechanical tone drills weren't translating into natural conversation. Teacher feedback was frustratingly generic. Textbooks were dull and irrelevant. TV dramas were too challenging — I just ended up pausing them to read subtitles.
So I tried something completely different.
I set a goal of learning 20 full Chinese sentences every day from real life, from conversations I'd had or overheard. I typed those sentences up, printed them out, and got a native speaker to record them.
I spent two hours daily with my walkman (that's all we had then!), mimicking the recordings, speaking out loud, memorizing each sentence, recording myself, and learning how to self-correct.
At some point, my tones and pronunciation started to come naturally. People began double-taking, shocked that a foreigner could speak like a native. I started getting genuine compliments about my Chinese — and they actually meant it!
Fast-forward 20 years to May 2025...
RealTime Mandarin was growing, and members started asking for help with their tones.
So I ran a pilot with 12 of them for four weeks in June.
I set daily one-sentence speaking tasks using real content from the RTM archive with native audio. Students recorded themselves, sent to me via WhatsApp or WeChat, and I gave specific feedback on voice notes.
The experience brought back my memories from Taiwan — they were struggling with the same challenges I'd faced 20 years earlier. Challenges very few Chinese teachers can help with.
And here's the thing: most of their "tones" problems had nothing to do with tones!
We started focusing on the real culprits: intonation, rhythm, parsing, and emphasis.
Because sounding fluent isn't just about accurate tones or classroom pronunciation. It's about making your spoken language sound natural and authentic, not just mechanically correct.
The pilot exceeded expectations. As one student explained:
I could barely pronounce Mandarin anymore after a little over a year off, and now I'm better than I ever was before after only 28 days.
I took that experience and created the Chinese Speaking Tune-up.
Introducing: The Chinese Speaking Tune-up
The Chinese Speaking Tune-up is a four-week course that helps you go from stumbling speaker to confident communicator in Chinese, while learning how to self-correct and continue improving long after the course ends.
It combines daily 5-minute speaking tasks, 1:1 forensic feedback via voice notes, and weekly live coaching to help you sound more natural, accurate, and fluent in Chinese.
The Tune-up uses my Chinese Speaker's Toolbox approach, which gives you three essential levels:
Level 1: Foundation
Master tones and pronunciation, focusing on the difficult sounds and tone combinations that trip up even advanced learners. This is the basic but essential mechanics of language.
Level 2: Flow
Understand rhythm and parsing, and how native speakers actually sound when they speak. This is how words connect naturally.
Level 3: Fine-tune
Perfect intonation and emphasis, which is how emotion and feeling are conveyed through language and what makes speech sound authentic.
This is the only course where you'll work on all elements of spoken fluency simultaneously — tones, pronunciation, intonation, rhythm, parsing, and emphasis — building confidence and consistency.
You'll learn how to hear when your pronunciation is correct and when it needs work; how to self-correct and sound natural, even if you're feeling rusty or don't have much time.
The course is for you if you describe your Mandarin as "intermediate" or "advanced but rusty." Or you've been learning Chinese for several years but want to finally sound as good as the level you understand.
You are motivated to improve your speaking, but you need structure, feedback, and accountability.
It’s ideal if you use Chinese regularly for your work, or if you are living in or planning to move to a Chinese speaking environment and need to improve fast.
How the Chinese Speaking Tune-up works
This course works with systematic diagnosis, not guesswork.
Progress tracker
At the start of the course, you'll get a short Chinese text to read aloud and record. Submit your audio to me before the course begins, and I’ll send you detailed feedback telling you what you need to work on.
You'll record the same text again at the end of the course, and be amazed at the difference and how much you’ve come on.
Daily speaking tasks
Starting Sunday August 17, you'll get one short, practical sentence to practice every day, complete with text with pinyin, tones, and translation, and a recoding of a native speaker saying it.
Then all you have to do is to listen to the native audio, repeat outloud, record yourself saying it, and then listen back.
1:1 voice chat coaching
You'll connect with me on WeChat or WhatsApp. Then everyday you’ll send me the daily recording of your sentence.
I'll send you feedback via voice notes with specific analysis on how to improve your tones, pronunciation, and overall speaking, so you don’t have to guess if you're speaking correctly.
Weekly live sessions
The course includes five live Zoom calls.
In the kickoff session I introduce the Speaker’s Toolbox system and outline the course.
Then there’ll be four weekly check-ins for Q&A, where I share common challenges with that week’s speaking tasks. It's practical, not theory.
Live sessions are held at 2pm UK time on the following dates:
Kick-off: Sunday 17 August
Week 1: Sunday 24 August
Week 2: Sunday 31 August
Week 3: Sunday 7 September
Week 4: Sunday 14 September
All sessions are recorded and available on the course site.
What my students are saying
Here’s what some of my students from the pilot said about their experience:
“Now I'm better than I ever was before, after only 28 days.”
Andrew has identified about 4 mistakes I have a tendency to make every time I'm speaking. Now, after my 28 day tune-up, I can keep drilling myself on my recurring mistakes, and my drive for learning Mandarin has also been reinvigorated. I could barely pronounce Mandarin anymore after a little over a year off, and now I'm better than I ever was before after only 28 days.
“It helped me build confidence and awareness”
Having a real, human tones expert who also has a deep knowledge of the process of learning mandarin makes learning and improving so much faster. The tones course improved both my confidence and awareness of tones and pronunciation- and also how much practice it takes to get the tones and vocabulary into one's head.
“It helped me build a daily speaking habit”
I really enjoyed the course because of the careful reviews I received and the feeling it gave me of being accountable. It helped me build a habit of training my oral expression, making time and space for it everyday. It helped me identify bottlenecks and define a strategy for future study.
“Just a few minutes every day, with consistent practice can improve pronunciation significantly”
I would recommend this course to anyone who is interested in improving their pronunciation but maybe not sure how to start. It helps build a habit, following approach similar to the one in Karen Cheung's TED talk on improving pronunciation, just a few minutes every day, with consistent practice can improve pronunciation significantly and help get you closer to native sounding.
“I got specific, analytical feedback”
Specific feedback on pronunciation is difficult to come by. I still recall one of my earliest teachers trying to teach me to pronounce one of the vowels and tones in her Chinese name: she would demonstrate over and over, and with each of my attempts inform me that I was, alas, still wrong. I didn't improve from that type of feedback--listening is key, but unlike hearing, listening must be learned. Feedback needs to be more specific and analytical, and that's what this course can provide.
“Regular, personalised feedback from Andrew is invaluable”
The course helped me identify and improve not just my tones, but also my pronunciation and rhythm of speech. The short, daily assignments and regular, personalised feedback from Andrew will be invaluable for me going forward, as I continue to work on improving my spoken Mandarin.
“I loved getting feedback on what I'm doing well, and also areas for improvement.”
I loved that his feedback included comments on what I'm doing well, and also areas for improvement. I would highly recommend this program to anyone looking to improve their speaking skills.The course helped really put my tones under a microscope. I was getting them mostly right before, but during the course I got some excellent feedback to take my tones to the next level.
What to do next
Until now this system has only been available to me, a cohort of 12 students, and my private coaching clients.
For this improved and updated version it requires an investment of only $299 to join.
You’ll get the full 1:1 coaching experience over four weeks, and get life-time access to all the course materials.
I am only accepting 28 students in this cohort on a first come first served basis, so I can give everyone my full attention.
It’s a valuable program which will finally help you break through your pronunciation plateau, in just 28 days — potentially saving you years of effort and frustration in honing your speaking skills.
My Guarantee
I’m so confident the Chinese Speaking Tune-up will work for you, I’m offering a lifetime guarantee.
After you’ve been through the training, I know you will see a dramatic improvement in your speaking, pronunciation, overall fluency, and confidence.
Though if for some reason you find it’s not working for you, all you need to do is drop me an email and you’ll get a full refund within 24 hours. No hassle. No questions asked.
Join now!
Now you’ve seen that the Chinese Speaker’s Tune-up is the only training where you get specific, forensic feedback on your pronunciation in just 5-minutes a day.
And I’ll be personally walking you through the process, so you understand where you’re making mistakes, how to self-correct them, and how to build a learning system which you can use yourself after the course has finished.
You get the exact tactics that I used to get fluent.
It works even if you’re feeling rusty, and if you only have a few minutes a day to work on it.
Just follow the process and you’ll see massive improvement in 28 days or less.
And you’re fully protected with my guarantee.
So if you want to finally break through your pronunciation plateau, and start communicating confidently in Mandarin, click the button below to get started today:
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the Chinese Speaker’s Tune-up all about?
The Chinese Speaker’s Tune-up is a four-week course which will help you get from stumbling speaker to confident communicator.
It combines daily 5-minute speaking tasks, 1:1 voice message coaching, and weekly live meet-ups, to help you sound more natural, accurate, confident, and fluent in Chinese.
Q: Will it work for me?
It’s perfect for both lower intermediate learners (HSK3 and above) and more experienced Chinese speakers.
I personally help you identify and correct your ingrained pronunciation errors on your spoken Mandarin, so there’s never a need for guesswork.
I will show you exactly what you need to do to improve your speaking and pronunciation.
Q: What makes the Chinese Speaking Tune-up different?
I’ve been learning Mandarin and using it in business for more than 20 years. What you get with this course is practical, actionable advice and guidance which helped me get fluent and operate professionally in Chinese.
It’s the training I wish I had when I started out back in 2006.
Q: How long will it take before I see an improvement?
The program is 28 days, but you start practicing and getting 1:1 feedback on day 1.
I give you all the resources and guidance you need, you just follow the process.
Students report they see and feel a difference almost straight away when they start getting daily feedback from me.
And, importantly, you teach you how to implement the system on your own after the course has finished.
Q: How much does the program cost?
To join the course is an investment $299, which gets you access to 28 days of 1:1 daily voice note coaching, 5 x live sessions, and lifetime access to all the course materials.
Q: When does the program start and when are the live sessions?
The Chinese Speaker’s Tune-up starts on Sunday 17 August.
You start sharing your audio for 1:1 feedback on that day, and then daily for the next 28 days.
Live sessions are held at 2pm on Sundays. The dates are:
Kick-off: Sunday 17 August
Week 1: Sunday 24 August
Week 2: Sunday 31 August
Week 3: Sunday 7 September
Week 4: Sunday 14 September
Q: What if I can't join the live sessions?
The live sessions will be held at 2pm UK time Sundays.
If you cannot join live, you can access the recording from the course site.
Q: What if I don’t have enough time?
I know you're busy so I made it as simple as possible to participate.
The daily tasks can be completed based on your own schedule.
You just need to set aside 5 minutes a day if possible.
If you can, try to join the live sessions which are one hour.
Q: How does the 1:1 coaching work?
This is done asynchronously via WeChat or WhatsApp.
All you need to do is connect with me on your preferred app, and message me your audio recording each day when the tune-up starts.
I give feedback on voice note daily, normally in my morning (UK time).
Q: Can I use my own content to practice?
Yes of course!
If you want to get 1:1 guidance on your tones using your own content, such as a presentation or speech, then you can do that.
All you need to do is provide the text along with the audio for each day.