Learn Hardcore Chinese: lǎoshī shuō zhǐyào wǒmen měitiān rènzhēn fùxí, zhōngwén shuǐpíng yídìng huì tígāo, zhèyàng dàjiā jiù gèng yǒu xìnxīn le. - The teacher said that as long as we review carefully every day, our Chinese level will definitely improve, and then everyone will be more confident.

So 只要 emphasizes that the condition is sufficient. If you meet this condition, the result will (naturally) follow; you don’t need other special conditions.

Is the 就 in 这样大家就更有信心了 part of the 只要…就… pattern?

Yes, it’s still functioning as the result marker in the broader 只要…就… structure, even though 这样 comes before it:

只要我们每天认真复习，……，这样大家就更有信心了。

You can think of it structurally as:

Condition: 只要我们每天认真复习
Result: 大家就更有信心了
这样 (“in this way / if it’s like this”) links the first clause to the second.

So 就 here has its usual meaning of “then / in that case / consequently”, showing that the second part is the natural result of the first.

Why does the sentence use both 一定 and 会 before 提高? Aren’t they both kind of like “will”?

They each add a different nuance:

会 before a verb often means “will / be likely to” (future likelihood or result).
一定 is an adverb meaning “definitely / certainly / for sure”.

So:

会提高 = “will improve / is going to improve”.
一定会提高 = “will definitely improve / is sure to improve”.

You can say:

中文水平会提高。 – Our Chinese level will improve.
中文水平一定会提高。 – Our Chinese level will definitely improve (stronger confidence).

Using both is natural and very common: 一定 shows certainty, 会 marks the future/result.

Could I say 中文水平会一定提高 instead of 中文水平一定会提高?

No. The natural order is:

（subject） + 一定 + 会 + verb

So:

✅ 中文水平一定会提高。
❌ 中文水平会一定提高。

In general, degree / attitude adverbs like 一定、肯定、大概、也、都 go before the modal verb (会、能、可以、要, etc.), not after it.

What does 这样 mean in 这样大家就更有信心了?

这样 literally means “like this / in this way / in this case”.

Here it refers back to what was just said:

If things are like that (i.e. if we really review seriously every day and our Chinese level improves),
这样大家就更有信心了 = “in that case, everyone will be more confident.”

So it’s a linking word that connects the first clause (study → improvement) to the resulting state (more confidence).

What does the 了 at the end do? Does it just make it past tense?

The 了 here is sentence-final 了, which usually marks:

a change of situation / new state,
rather than simple past tense.

In 大家就更有信心了:

Without 了: 大家就更有信心 = (stated more as a general fact) “everyone is more confident”.
With 了: 大家就更有信心了 = “everyone will then be (become) more confident (than before).”

It highlights that, compared to now, there will be a new, changed state: people will end up more confident once the condition is fulfilled. Even though the event is in the future, Chinese still uses 了 to mark this change-of-state.

What exactly does 更 add in 更有信心?

更 means “more / even more” and is used for comparisons, often when something is improving or increasing:

有信心 = “have confidence, be confident”.
更有信心 = “have more confidence / be even more confident”.

The comparison here is understood from context: more confident than before, after their Chinese has improved.

You don’t need to say 比以前更有信心 (“more confident than before”) explicitly; 更有信心 already implies that comparison.

What is the difference between 有信心 and 自信?

Both relate to confidence, but they’re used a bit differently:

有信心 = “to have confidence (in something)”
- 我对学中文很有信心。 – I’m very confident about learning Chinese.
自信 =
- adjective: “self-confident”
  - 他很自信。 – He’s very self-confident.
- noun: “self-confidence”
  - 要建立自信。 – (You) need to build self-confidence.

In 大家就更有信心了, the focus is on everyone having more confidence about studying Chinese / about succeeding, not on their personality trait of being self-confident in general. So 有信心 is more appropriate here than 很自信.

Why do we say 中文水平 here? How is 水平 different from words like 能力?

水平 literally means “level” and is often used for:

language ability: 中文水平、英文水平
skill/knowledge level: 写作水平、专业水平

So 中文水平提高 = “Chinese level improves / your level of Chinese improves”.

能力 means “ability, capability” and is broader and more abstract:

语言能力 – language ability
学习能力 – learning ability

You could say 中文能力提高了, but 中文水平提高了 is a very common and natural collocation, especially when talking about test scores or overall proficiency.

In 我们每天认真复习, what does 认真 do? Is it an adjective or an adverb here?

认真 is originally an adjective meaning “serious, conscientious, careful”, but it is very often used adverbially before a verb, without adding anything like “-ly”.

认真复习 = “review seriously / carefully / conscientiously”.

So in this sentence:

我们 – we
每天 – every day
认真复习 – review seriously

You could also say:

我们每天都很认真地复习。

But 每天认真复习 is shorter and very natural in everyday speech.

Why is 每天 placed right after 我们? Could I say 我们认真每天复习?

The usual word order for a simple Chinese sentence is:

[Subject] + [Time] + [Manner] + [Verb] + (Object)

So:

我们 (subject)
每天 (time: every day)
认真 (manner: seriously)
复习 (verb: review)

This gives 我们每天认真复习, which is the natural order.

✅ 我们每天认真复习。
❌ 我们认真每天复习。 (sounds unnatural; “认真” shouldn’t split “每天” and “复习”)

You can also move the time word to the very beginning if you want to emphasize it:

每天我们都认真复习。 – Every day, we review seriously.

But you generally shouldn’t insert 认真 between 每天 and 复习.

What kind of 会 is this? Does 会提高 mean “will improve” or “can improve”?

Here 会 is the modal verb that expresses future likelihood / result, so it means “will / is likely to / is going to”, not “know how to”:

中文水平会提高。 – Your Chinese level will improve.

会 has at least two common uses:

future / likelihood:
- 明天会下雨。 – It will rain tomorrow.
- 这样做会有问题。 – Doing it this way will cause problems.
ability (learned skill):
- 我会游泳。 – I can swim. (I have learned how.)

In 一定会提高, it’s clearly the future-result meaning.

In 老师说只要我们每天认真复习…, do we need a word for “that”, like “老师说‘…’” or “老师说的是…”?

Chinese doesn’t need a separate word for “that” like English does in reported speech. You can simply put the clause after 说:

老师说只要我们每天认真复习，中文水平一定会提高。
= “The teacher said (that) as long as we review every day, our Chinese level will definitely improve.”

You can add punctuation or particles for style or emphasis:

老师说：「只要我们每天认真复习，中文水平一定会提高。」 (quoting with punctuation)
老师说，只要我们每天认真复习，中文水平一定会提高。 (comma after 说)

But grammatically, 老师说 + clause is completely fine and very common; no extra “that” word is required.

What exactly does 复习 mean here, and why doesn’t it have an object?

复习 means “to review / to revise (material you have already learned)”.

Often it takes an object:

复习生词 – review vocabulary
复习功课 – review schoolwork
复习今天学的内容 – review what we learned today

In 我们每天认真复习, the object is understood from context (probably lessons, vocabulary, homework, etc.), so it’s omitted. This is very natural in Chinese:

今晚我要复习。 – I have to review tonight. (review my lessons / what I learned)

Why do we have both 我们 and 大家 in the same sentence? Aren’t they both “we/everyone”?

They overlap in meaning but focus on slightly different things here:

我们 = we / us (the group including the speaker)
- 只要我们每天认真复习 – As long as we review seriously every day
大家 = everybody / everyone (in the group)
- 这样大家就更有信心了 – then everyone will be more confident

The idea is:

If we (the students) do the action (review every day),
everyone in the group (all students) will feel more confident.

You could rewrite it using 我们 twice, but 大家 is natural when talking about the general emotional state of the whole group.