Learn Hardcore Chinese: zài zhōngwén kè shàng, lǎoshī ràng wǒmen zìyóu shuō zhōngwén, biǎodá zìjǐ de yìjiàn. - In Chinese class, the teacher lets us speak freely in Chinese and express our own opinions.

在 marks location, so 在中文课上 literally means “at/in Chinese class.”
You can sometimes drop 在 and just say 中文课上, especially in casual speech or when the context is clear, but 在中文课上 is the more complete and standard way to say “in Chinese class.”

What does the 上 in 课上 do? Why not just 中文课?

课 by itself is “class / lesson.”
课上 literally means “on/while in class”—it emphasizes the time or situation of being in the class.

中文课 = the Chinese class (as a course)
中文课上 = during Chinese class / in Chinese class (as an ongoing situation)

So 在中文课上 focuses on what happens during the class.

How does 让 work here? Does it mean “let” or “make”?

In this sentence, 老师让我们自由说中文 means “the teacher lets us speak Chinese freely.”

The pattern is:
让 + [person] + [verb phrase]

Depending on context, 让 can mean:

“let / allow” – permission
“make / have someone do something” – causing someone to do it

Here it clearly means the teacher allows the students to do something: speak Chinese freely and express their opinions.

Why is it 自由说中文 and not 自由地说中文?

Grammatically, both 自由说中文 and 自由地说中文 are acceptable.

自由地 is the more “textbook” adverb form.
In everyday modern Chinese, many common adjectives used as adverbs (like 自由, 认真, 勇敢) often drop 地, especially in speech or when the adverb is short and common.

So 自由说中文 sounds very natural and fluent. Adding 地 would sound a bit more formal or careful, but not wrong.

Why is 中文 used twice? Isn’t that repetitive?

They refer to different things:

中文课: the course / class is about the Chinese language.
说中文: the language being spoken is Chinese.

Even though it’s the same word 中文, it’s doing different jobs: once as part of “Chinese class”, once as “Chinese (language)” being spoken. This kind of repetition is normal and not considered awkward in Chinese.

What’s the difference between 中文, 汉语, and 普通话?

Roughly:

中文 (zhōngwén) – Chinese language in a broad sense; often used in school subjects, reading/writing, and as a general term.
汉语 (hànyǔ) – the Han people’s language; often used in more formal or linguistic contexts, like 汉语水平, 汉语语法.
普通话 (pǔtōnghuà) – Standard Mandarin (the official standard in mainland China).

In this sentence, 中文课 is very natural; 汉语课 is also possible but sounds a bit more formal or textbook-like. 普通话课 would be a class specifically on Standard Mandarin pronunciation/usage.

What’s the difference between 说中文 and 表达自己的意见? Aren’t they both just “speaking”?

They focus on different aspects:

说中文: emphasizes the language being used (Chinese).
表达自己的意见: emphasizes the content (expressing your own opinions).

So together they mean:
“The teacher lets us use Chinese freely and (using it) express our own opinions.”
It’s not redundant; it highlights both using the language and saying what you think.

Why use 表达 instead of just 说 again?

说 is broad: “say, speak, talk.”
表达 is more specific: “express (ideas, feelings, opinions) clearly.”

Using 表达意见 suggests:

expressing your views in a more considered or complete way
not just talking, but putting your thoughts into words

So 表达自己的意见 sounds a bit more formal and emphasizes the idea of expressing opinions, not just chatting.

Why is it 自己的意见 and not 我们的意见?

Both are possible, but they feel slightly different:

我们的意见 – “our opinions” as a group; could be shared or collective.
自己的意见 – “one’s own opinions”; for 我们, this implies each person’s own individual opinions.

In a classroom context, 表达自己的意见 usually implies:
“Everyone is encouraged to express what they personally think, not just repeat one standard answer.”

What is 的 doing in 自己的意见?

的 links a modifier to a noun.

Structure here:

自己 = oneself
的 = attributive marker
意见 = opinion

So 自己的意见 literally is “self’s opinion” → “one’s own opinion.”
You can think of [自己] 的 [意见] as “(the opinions) that belong to oneself.”

Who is the subject of 表达自己的意见? There’s no 我们 in that part.

The subject is still 我们, carried over from the first part. Chinese often omits repeated subjects when it’s obvious from context.

So the full logical structure is:

老师让我们自由说中文，(让我们) 表达自己的意见。

The second 让我们 is just left out because it would be repetitive. Native speakers do this all the time.

How else could you say “in Chinese class”? Is 在中文课上 the only way?

Other common options include:

上中文课的时候，老师让我们…
“When we have Chinese class, the teacher lets us…”
在中文课堂上，老师让我们…
(课堂 is a bit more formal or written-sounding.)
Just 中文课上，老师让我们… (omitting 在) in some contexts.

在中文课上 is a very standard, natural choice and works in both spoken and written Chinese.

How do we know this sentence is about a habit/rule and not a one-time event, since there’s no tense?

Chinese doesn’t mark tense the way English does. Habit or rule is usually shown by:

the context (here it’s describing how the class is conducted in general),
the lack of any specific time word (like 昨天, 现在, 明天),
the nature of the verbs (让我们自由说中文，表达自己的意见 sounds like a general policy).

So by default, readers interpret this as a general, ongoing situation:
“In Chinese class, the teacher (typically) lets us speak Chinese freely and express our opinions.”