Chinese explanations can help you understand English quickly. The risk is writing your English answer word for word from Chinese, which sounds unnatural.
This page shows how to use both languages well, and explains when one-to-one English tuition may help.
What does it look like?
You may have thought: “I understand the rule when I read it in Chinese, but when I write, my sentences feel stiff.” “My teacher says my English is correct but sounds strange.” “I think in Chinese and then translate.”
This is common for students who learn in more than one language. It does not mean your English is poor. It means you think in one language and write in another.
Where does translation go wrong?
Chinese and English build sentences differently. Chinese verbs have no tense endings, time words can sit in different places, and some phrases have no direct English match.
Word-for-word translation keeps the Chinese pattern, so correct English words can still make an odd sentence.
A worked example
A student wants to say that they will go to the library after school. They think in Chinese and write: “I after school will go library.”
Every word is English, but the order is not. A partly fixed version is “After school, I go to the library”, where the tense is wrong for a plan. A natural version is “I will go to the library after school.”
The three versions show the path:
| Version | Sentence | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| Word-for-word | I after school will go library. | Chinese word order, missing “to the” |
| Partly fixed | After school, I go to the library. | Correct order, but tense is off for a plan |
| Natural | I will go to the library after school. | Correct order, tense and article |
The Chinese explanation helped the student understand why “to the” is needed. Producing the natural sentence came from practising English directly.
Use Chinese to understand, English to produce
A simple rule of thumb: use Chinese when you need to understand an idea, and switch to English when you write the answer.
- Understand the rule in Chinese.
- Read two or three English example sentences that use the rule.
- Write your own English sentence from an English idea, not from a Chinese sentence.
- Check it aloud. If it sounds odd, compare it with the examples.
Keep a short list of phrases, not single words. “Go to the library” is more useful than “library”, because the phrase brings the right grammar with it.
How can you practise?
Write about your day in simple English sentences, without writing Chinese first. Read the result aloud and mark anything that sounds strange.
Read short English texts at your level and notice how phrases fit together. Copy three good sentences a week into a notebook and write three new ones in the same pattern.
When might one-to-one tuition help?
If you think in Chinese but need natural English answers, it helps to have a teacher who explains each rule clearly and then has you practise in English. Lessons are in English or BM, and the practice is what makes the English flow.
Lessons are taught in English or BM, depending on the subject, and the teacher explains clearly in whichever suits you. Mention your form and what you want to work on when you enquire. The page on teaching language explains more.
You can try a lesson with the one-hour trial class (from RM50). The fee is agreed before the trial, and afterwards you decide whether the teacher is a good fit. Fees are then paid monthly, based on the number of classes that month.
Where to go next
Parents can read understanding online one-to-one lessons when you prefer another language. For targeted repair, see grammar repair.
To go through your own writing with a teacher, see online one-to-one English tuition.