In another article, I mentioned that my Chinese handwriting was not very good. But it wasn’t just my handwriting, my Chinese speaking and reading skills were not good either. Why? Because after I dropped out of school 5 years ago, I focused all my attention on English; which did pay off considering I am writing this article in English. But because I am Chinese and live in China, I really need to catch up on my Chinese skills, especially speaking.

Creating the library

The main problems when I speak in Chinese is that I don’t raise my voice, and I stutter. To solve these problems, I decided to learn and read aloud Chinese poems every day, and upload them to the internet. This way I can practice my speaking while also learning about Chinese history and literature! After nearly two months, I uploaded a total of 68 Chinese poems and looking back at it, it’s really a lot!

Result

I wasn’t expecting this project to single-handedly solve my stuttering and volume problems, but it did help me improve a lot and allowed me to realize some causes; For example, rushing and being anxious. This project is also a test of my willpower; I wouldn’t consider reading Chinese poems a hobby.
Even though reading and reciting the poems weren’t much fun, I really enjoyed researching the backstory of the author and the time period in which the poem was written. I usually found some interesting connections! I also learned that the environment was a really good source of inspiration (the Moon and Lakes/Rivers were particularly popular) and that LiBai really liked alcohol.

Link to my poems: https://www.ximalaya.com/renwen/11921685/