It was the summer when Taiwan's borders opened after the pandemic. After taking private lessons for quite some time, I decided Taiwan would be my capstone project. I hopped on a plane for 20 hours, took a taxi to where I'd be staying for the trip, and woke up refreshed and ready to test out my chinese.

When I went out for breakfast, the owner of the restaurant asked me what I wanted.

And I understood nothing.

At first, I thought maybe it was because of the accent. Before this point, I was only familiar with China's northern accents. But later it became clear.

It was my foundation.

The vocabulary I had learned was not particularly useful for everyday conversations.

I was shocked and frustrated. I'd spent much time and money on lessons and textbooks, yet I couldn't even use the knowledge!

I had been studying the wrong things.

Here are the issues I've found with HSK materials.

• Limited practical use of vocabulary lists: Many words are outdated and not applicable to daily life.

• Scenarios don't cover realistic situations taking the subway or using necessity apps like WeChat (微信) or LINE.

• Organization of the material is sparse.

• Speech is too academic and formal, not reflecting speech in reality.

So, understanding the cons listed above, I decided to change my methods.

I created a routine. I created a circle of feedback.

Each morning, I would turn on the local news to get my brain into the Chinese-thinking mood while I got ready.

Every day I visited the same FamilyMart in my neighborhood. I bought roughly the same things. And listened closely to what the attendant would say. This also got my ears used to hearing numbers. If I didn't understand, I could read the screen. By the third day, I was finally able to hold a conversation with the cashier. On the second to last day of my trip, I even won the receipt lottery~

I took a picture of the menu of that breakfast restaurant I visited the first day. I memorized the items I was interested in: Soy Milk (小杯豆浆)，Radish pancakes (一份蘿蔔絲餅), add chili (加辣椒). The second day, I forgot how to say Soy Milk (dòu jiāng).

While eating, I would also watch the natives. How did they order? How did they pay? I remember paying attention to how they separated their change into three green trays (i.e. dollars, large coins, smaller coins).

By the third day, I could order quickly without any hiccups.

I would listen to the news again as I fell asleep.

After about 5 days, I started to see the fruits of my labor. I could take the 🚇 jié yùn · 捷运 (ㄐㄧㄝˊ ㄩㄣˋ) or Taiwan's MRT system by relying entirely on audio. I could order food without pointing and saying "wǒ yào zhēi ge · 我要这个".

My final breakthrough moment came when I spontaneously attended an event at the recommendation of a local. At one of the tents, I tried different beers. The saleslady asked me, "你会听懂我吗?" ("Do you understand me?").

At that point, I realized she had been speaking Chinese the entire time. And I understood everything.

When I returned from Taiwan, it was clear what I needed to do.

I had improved my Chinese more in those weeks in Taiwan, than the years learning from the HSK.

No longer would I focus on HSK material. From this point forward, native material was the best method for me.

Thanks for reading!

Ai Yue (艾乐)