The more Mandarin Chinese you learn, the less you feel like you know.

It’s a weird phenomenon, and it means that intermediate-level Chinese can be a serious drag sometimes.

You’ve mastered the basics of talking to people, but still don’t feel like you’re anywhere close to fluency.

Despite having learned an ever-growing list of useful vocab, you still feel like your conversations revolve around short statements, misunderstandings and more than just a few ting bu dong situations.

But don’t despair—with a few simple tips you can drastically improve your conversational ability in Chinese and improve your speaking in leaps and bounds.