Self-review means listening to your own spoken Chinese and checking it against a fixed list. It matters in any speaking task and in daily practice, and it finishes the route in Second-language expression.
This is a self-study habit, not an exam marking scheme. Check the speaking task wording for your qualification on the Cambridge subject page.
Chinese examples stay in Simplified Chinese with pinyin. The speaker is invented.
What goes on the checklist?
Six points are enough to start.
- Answer: did I answer the question that was asked?
- Order: is there a clear first, next, last?
- Links: do the linking words match the relationships? (See the links lesson.)
- Tone: does the register suit the listener? (See the formality lesson.)
- Words: are the key words correct, and did I avoid repeating one word?
- Fluency: where did I stop, restart or fall back to English?
Mark each point as yes, partly or no, and write one example of where you saw it.
Worked example
Task (invented): Jia Hui explains to a friend how to make fried rice. She records 30 seconds.
Transcript, first try:
炒饭很好做。你先放油，放饭，放蛋。然后……呃……那个……放酱油。很好吃。
Step 1, run the checklist.
| Point | Result | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Answer | Partly | No ingredients named at the start |
| Order | Partly | 先 and 然后 used, but no 最后 |
| Links | No | Only two, and a long gap |
| Tone | Yes | Casual suits a friend |
| Words | Partly | 那个 used to fill a gap |
| Fluency | No | Two stops |
Step 2, choose one or two fixes. Add the ingredients and an ending, and replace 那个 with a planned phrase.
Step 3, second try.
做炒饭需要隔夜饭、鸡蛋和葱。首先，热锅放油，把鸡蛋炒熟。接着放饭一起炒，再加一点酱油。最后撒上葱花就可以吃了。
Step 4, compare. The answer is complete, the order is clear with 首先, 接着, 最后, and the gap has gone.
The mistake to watch for
A common slip is a vague review: “That was okay”, or “My Chinese is bad”.
Vague review: 我说得还可以。
This gives you nothing to change. The checklist forces a specific note, such as “No 最后, stopped twice at step 3”.
Another slip is to check only grammar and ignore the listener. A sentence can be grammatical and still not answer the question.
Check yourself
1. A speaker answers “How do you get to school?” with a long story about yesterday’s rain. Which checklist point fails?
Show answer
Answer. The question was not answered directly.
2. Write one concrete note for the point Fluency after hearing yourself stop twice.
Show answer
A model: “Stopped twice before the second step. Prepare the phrase 接着放饭 and say it three times.” It names where and gives a next action.
3. Why fix only one or two points per second try?
Show answer
Because speaking is already a heavy task. A small, clear change is easier to apply and to hear, and you can fix the next point next time.
Where this leads next
Log each slip in the mistake log and retest queue, and compare a first and second draft with the writing revision compare view. Next, try the module practice set.
A teacher in online one-to-one Chinese tuition can listen to a recording with you and show which point to check first.