How you can get your speaking confidence back in 28 days
And why the Chinese Speaking Tune-up is different to anything you've tried before
Hello!
Yesterday I launched the Chinese Speaking Tune-up.
This is a transformative 28-day program to help you build confidence in your spoken Chinese, identify and address ingrained pronunciation problems, and teach you how to self-correct them.
If you missed it, you can find all the course details here.
And if you’re ready to commit and get your Chinese speaking confidence back now, you can join here:
You’ll have to be quick, though. Ten people have already joined, so there’s only 18 spots left!
What makes the Chinese Speaking Tune-up different to anything you’ve tried before?
There are plenty of options for improving your Chinese pronunciation: classes, tutoring, tone drills, mimicking C-dramas and children’s audio books, or language learning apps.
I've tried them all!
But they were never enough. I needed systematic, one-on-one support to build real spoken fluency, and learn how to self-correct.
Here's how I think about it: when my Mandarin gets rusty it’s like an old car that's been sitting in the garage for months.
The engine still runs, but it's rough, makes strange noises, and doesn't perform like it used to.
It needs a tune-up.
I could try basic maintenance on my own, like changing the oil, or replacing the spark-plugs.
But a proper tune-up needs systematic diagnosis by a skilled mechanic with the right tools. Someone who knows exactly what needs fixing, and how to fix it.
It’s probably the same for you when your Chinese is feeling rusty: you need someone who knows their stuff to help you.
That's exactly why I created the "Speaker's Toolbox"— the system I use in the Chinese Speaking Tune-up to help you improve tones and pronunciation quickly.
There are three levels in the Speaker’s Toolbox:
Level 1: Foundation
Identify mechanical issues with your tones, pronunciation, and pitch. You’ll focus on the difficult sounds and tone combinations.
Level 2: Flow
Then you’ll work on rhythm and parsing. These are the lubricants of native speech, and how words connect and flow naturally.
Level 3: Fine-tune
Last, you’ll focus on intonation and emphasis. These are the minor adjustments which make your speech sound natural and authentic.
This is the only course where you'll work on all elements of spoken fluency simultaneously — tones, pronunciation, pitch, rhythm, parsing, intonation, and emphasis — building confidence and consistency in as little as 5-minutes a day.
You’ll get specific diagnosis of your recurring mistakes, and 1:1 guidance from me on how to fix them.
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 on voice note 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 work on every day, complete with Chinese text, pinyin, tones, and translation, as well as a recoding of a native speaker saying it.
Then all you have to do is read, listen to the native audio, repeat out loud, 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 fluency, so you don’t have to guess if you're speaking correctly.
➤ Weekly live sessions
The course includes five group 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 and workshop common challenges with that week’s speaking tasks. It's practical, using real-life examples, not theory or boring textbook stuff.
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.
How the Chinese Speaking Tune-up can help you
I ran a pilot of this program back in June with 12 participants. And it went brilliantly.
Here's what one of them said afterwards:
“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.
And another shared:
“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
Ready to join and get you speaking confidence back?
Jump in, and tune up!
The deadline to join is next Wednesday, 13 August at midnight.
I am only accepting 28 students in this cohort on a first come first served basis, so I can give everyone my full attention.
And ten spots have already been taken by RTM fans like Anne:
If you join, you’ll get the full 1:1 coaching experience over four weeks, life-time access to all the course materials, and the tools and knowledge you’ll need to continue to improve on your own after the course has finished.
See you on the inside!
Cheers,
Andrew
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P.S. Worried about the time commitment?
The daily tasks take just 5 minutes so you can work around your schedule. All materials have lifetime access, and live sessions are recorded if you can't attend so you can access them at any time.
P.P.S. Concerned you're not “advanced” enough?
If you're already HSK3 or above, you're ready. We use sentences from real news content in the RTM archive, which is challenging but exactly what you need for rapid improvement.
Below HSK3? No problem. You can practice with your own content (presentations, speeches, any text) instead. Just provide the text when you share your audio with me, and I'll guide you through it daily with voice note feedback.
And as another pilot participant shared:
I think anyone from lower intermediate and up would benefit from this course. In fact, if I had received some of the feedback earlier in my Mandarin learning journey, I might not have to be unwinding bad habits now!