You're Moving Your Lips Too Much

本站添加: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]For many sounds, Chinese speakers barely move their lips, and you're overworking yours. Over-enunciating is one of the biggest giveaways that you're not a native speaker, and it's exhausting you for no reason. So, just watch any native Chinese speaker. Their lips barely move for many sounds. Their mouth stays relatively relaxed. Now, watch yourself in a mirror speaking Chinese. You're probably working way too hard. So, here's a test phrase: 我 饿 了. Watch a native speaker say it. Barely any lip movement. Now, try yourself. Keep your lips almost still. Let the sound come from your throat and your tongue, not from exaggerated mouth shapes. 我 饿 了.

[00:00:35]Now, in English, we move our tongue and lips and cheeks constantly. We enunciate a fair bit, but Chinese doesn't need that as much. And when you over-enunciate, you actually distort the sounds. Plus, you tire yourself out.

[00:00:45]Your jaw will ache, your mouth will get tired, and you make it impossible to speak Chinese at speed for any extended amount of time. The solution to this is simple: lots of listening and repeating to useful Chinese sentences. That's how your mouth learns how to relax.