Over the last 12 months, busy Welsh accountant and father to a young daughter, Lewys Thomas, has been working to improve his Mandarin speaking skills with I’m Learning Mandarin founder, Mischa, as his coach. In this post, he writes about learning Mandarin in the UK around a busy lifestyle and showcases his impressive transformation in a video interview recorded entirely in Mandarin.
*You can read Lewys’s previous blogpost after 6-months here.
A year ago, I had a problem that was eating away at me.
I desperately wanted to communicate with my Chinese mother-in-law, but every time I tried to speak Mandarin with her, she couldn’t understand what I was saying.
My tones were all over the place, my sentence structure was awkward, and the conversations I wanted to have with my wife’s family—were just out of reach.
Here’s a voice message I sent her on WeChat just before I started working with Mischa:
Painful to listen back to now, honestly.
The worst part? I’d already been trying to learn Mandarin for a couple of years. I’d used Duolingo, HSK textbooks, every app and method I could find. I’d managed to memorize around a thousand words—which had taken enormous effort for someone as busy as me.
But memorizing words and actually speaking are two completely different things.
The Reality of Learning as a Busy Professional
Let me be clear about my situation: I’m a senior accountant with a demanding full-time job. I have a very young daughter. My time to learn Mandarin on a daily basis is severely limited.
And I live in the UK—so I don’t have the benefit of being surrounded by native speakers every day.
When I came to Mischa, I was honest: I couldn’t spare more than 2-3 hours a day for Mandarin, and most days it would be much less.
I thought this might disqualify me. Surely you need hours and hours every day to make real progress?
But Mischa said something that changed my perspective: “It’s not all about the time - it’s about consistency and efficient methods.”
The 12-Month Plan
In my first session with Mischa, we mapped out a realistic 12-month plan:
6-month goal: I had a trip planned to China to visit my wife’s extended family, including my mother-in-law. I wanted to chat fairly freely with them on a few topics of interest, with decent tones, and - most importantly - be understood whenever I spoke.
12-month goal: Speak much more freely, approaching fluency on a wider variety of topics, and be able to handle myself in most social situations. The big test would be taking part in the Mandarin Retreat - an entire week of 100% Mandarin immersion with no English allowed.
I’ll be honest: the goals felt ambitious. Almost impossibly so.
The Transformation Begins
Over the following months, Mischa and I worked on my tones and sentence structure systematically. Despite my time constraints, we structured my studies in a way that fitted around my other obligations.
The first breakthrough came when I stopped trying to cram hundreds of random words from HSK lists I’d never have to use, and started building my own personalised immersion learning system focussed on the things I needed to say.
Here’s what changed:
I collected the phrases I actually needed to say as audio files. Not random vocabulary from textbooks, but sentences relevant to my life - talking about my job, my family, what life is like in the UK compared to China.
I started immersing in my own content During my commute - 30 minutes of driving each way - I’d listen to my audio files read out by a native speaker on repeat.
I mimicked constantly and got feedback. I used shadowing and the echo method to mimic the recordings and Mischa sent me continuous feedback on my pronunciation, until I developed the ability to hear my own mistakes.
I used what I’d learned with real people. I found Chinese friends locally and we’d meet up, speak only Mandarin, and I’d immediately use the phrases I’d been learning.
Six Months In: China Trip
Six months into coaching, I traveled to China to visit my wife’s family.
This time was different.
I could communicate with my mother-in-law. Not perfectly - I was still making mistakes - but she could understand me. We could have actual conversations.
Here’s a clip from an interview I did with Mischa around that time:
The difference from that first WeChat message is like night and day.
But I wasn’t done yet.
The Mandarin Retreat: Total Immersion
After twelve months of coaching, I attended Mischa’s Mandarin Retreat - one week of total immersion in the UK countryside with a small group of learners and native tutors.
Every single activity was conducted entirely in Mandarin. No English allowed.
Before the retreat, speaking Chinese felt like pressure. But during that week - cooking Chinese food, playing mahjong, going on walks, just living in the language - something shifted.
Speaking Chinese became natural.
I remember playing mahjong with the group. Before the retreat, I’d tried playing with my Chinese family and performed terribly because I couldn’t follow what was happening.
But at the retreat, I wasn’t thinking about “learning” anymore, I was just enjoying the game, chatting naturally, living in the moment.
I realised I’d stopped studying Chinese. I’d started living it.
Twelve Months Later: The Results
Recently, Mischa interviewed me entirely in Chinese to document my progress. You can watch the full interview below, but here’s what stood out to me:
When Mischa asked about my recent learning situation, I replied in Mandarin:
“Now when I speak Chinese, I don’t have that feeling of ‘learning’ anymore.”
I’m not studying Chinese. I’m using it.
I chat with Chinese friends. I watch movies and listen to podcasts in Chinese because I’m interested in the content, not because I’m “practicing.”
What This Means for You
If you’re reading this and thinking, “But Lewys, you must have had more time than me” or “You must be naturally good at languages” - let me put you straight.
I’m a senior accountant with a full-time job and a young daughter.
I live in the UK, not China.
I don’t have any language talent - I failed miserably for two years before finding the right method.
I can say hand on heart that what changed for me wasn’t my circumstances. It was my approach.
Looking Forward
Going foreard, I cant wait to go back to China and play mahjong with my mother-in-law.
Before coaching, I couldn’t communicate with her. Now, I can sit at the table, play the game, chat naturally, and connect with her in her language.
That’s what learning Mandarin actually means to me. Not passing an exam or reaching HSK 6. But being able to have real relationships with my Chinese family.
And while I’m not finished yet and still have improvements to make, I’m delighted with the progress I’ve made over the last 12 months, while working full-time, raising a daughter, and living thousands of miles from China.
If I can do it, there’s no reason you can’t too.
Lewys is a student in the I’m Learning Mandarin Gym, where he received 12 months of personalized coaching to transform his speaking ability. If you’re interested in achieving similar results, you can learn more about the ILM Gym.