The concept of “saving face” is very prevalent in Chinese culture. This also means that it may be hard to get native Chinese speakers to offer you constructive criticism. The only way to get it is to constantly ask them for it. “How is my pronunciation?” “Did I say it in the right way?” If you don’t ask, expect them to continue complimenting you even in areas where there may be room for improvement.

Although native Chinese speakers will rarely bluntly offer you criticism, there are other ways to get constructive feedback from them. When asking questions or having conversations with Chinese speakers, a common occurrence is for them to repeat your question or statement to clarify its meaning. Observe closely how they do so. Do they use the same wording that you do? Or do they change the words slightly? If you notice a change, consider that a correction for you to use next time!