Learn Hardcore Chinese: tā yǐwéi zìjǐ méiyǒu bànfǎ tígāo zhōngwén shuǐpíng, kěshì lǎoshī shuō zhǐyào jìxù liànxí jiù huì hǎo duō le. - He thought he had no way to improve his Chinese level, but the teacher said that as long as he keeps practicing, it will get much better.

觉得: neutral “to feel / to think / to have an opinion,” no implication of being wrong.
- 我觉得学中文很有意思。
  “I think learning Chinese is interesting.”
认为: “to believe / to hold the view that,” more formal and logical, still neutral.
- 很多人认为中文很难。
  “Many people believe Chinese is difficult.”

If you said 他觉得自己没有办法提高中文水平, it would mean “he feels/thinks he can’t improve his Chinese,” without the built‑in hint that this belief is wrong.

Why does the sentence use 自己 (zìjǐ) instead of 他 again?

自己 is a reflexive pronoun, similar to “himself / herself / oneself”.

他以为自己没有办法提高中文水平。
Literally: “He thought himself to have no way to improve his Chinese level.”

Here, 自己 refers back to 他 (the subject). Using 自己:

Avoids repeating 他.
Makes it clear we’re talking about his own ability/situation, not someone else’s.
Often adds a nuance of self‑reflection or internal thinking.

You could say 他以为他没有办法提高中文水平, and it’s grammatically OK, but native speakers much prefer 他以为自己… in this kind of inner‑thought context.

What does 办法 (bànfǎ) mean, and how does 没有办法提高… work?

办法 means “way; method; means; solution.”

In the pattern 没有办法 + verb phrase, it means “(to) have no way to / be unable to find a method to…”.

So:

没有办法提高中文水平
- “(He) has no way to improve his Chinese level.”
- “(He) can’t find a way to improve his Chinese.”

Common patterns with 办法:

有办法解决问题
“have a way to solve the problem”
想办法
“think of a way / find a way”
一点儿办法都没有
“have absolutely no way (to handle it)”

What is 提高 (tígāo) exactly? How is it different from other words like 进步 (jìnbù) or 改善 (gǎishàn)?

提高 means “to raise; to improve; to increase (a level, ability, quality, etc.)”. It often takes an object that is being improved:

提高中文水平 – improve one’s Chinese level
提高成绩 – improve grades
提高效率 – increase efficiency

Comparisons:

进步 – “to make progress / progress”
- 我的中文进步了。
  “My Chinese has improved / I’ve made progress in Chinese.”
- Focus is on progress happening, not on raising a specific metric.
改善 – “to improve (usually conditions, situations)”
- 改善生活条件 – improve living conditions
- More about circumstances than personal skills.
提升 (tíshēng) – also “to raise / upgrade,” often more formal or “step up a level.”
- 提升自己的能力 – enhance one’s abilities

In this sentence, 提高中文水平 is the natural, standard way to say “improve (one’s) Chinese.”

What does 中文 (zhōngwén) mean here, and how is it different from 汉语 (hànyǔ)?

Both can mean “Chinese (language)”, but there are nuances:

中文
- Literally “Chinese writing/text,” but in practice: the Chinese language (modern standard Mandarin in everyday use).
- Very common in casual speech:
  - 学中文 – learn Chinese
  - 我的中文不好 – my Chinese isn’t good
汉语
- More “the language of the Han people”; slightly more formal or linguistic.
- Used in contexts like language education, linguistics:
  - 汉语语法 – Chinese grammar
  - 汉语水平考试 – Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK)

In daily conversation, 中文 is often more natural, especially when talking about your own ability like 中文水平.

What does 水平 (shuǐpíng) mean, and why is it used with 中文?

水平 literally means “level (of water)”, and by extension “level; standard; proficiency”.

When used with skills or knowledge, it means “proficiency level / standard of ability.”

中文水平 – Chinese level (your proficiency in Chinese)
英文水平 – English level
技术水平 – technical level
水平很高 – high level
水平不够 – level is not enough / not high enough

So 提高中文水平 is “raise/improve (one’s) Chinese proficiency.”

How does the 只要…就… structure work in 只要继续练习就会好多了?

只要…就… is a very common pattern meaning “as long as … then …”.

Structure:

只要 + condition, 就 + result

In this sentence:

只要继续练习，就会好多了。
- Condition: 继续练习 – “continue practicing”
- Result: 会好多了 – “it will be much better”

So it means: “As long as you continue to practice, it will get much better.”

Other examples:

只要你来，我们就开始。
As long as you come, we’ll start.
只要每天说中文，你的口语就会提高。
As long as you speak Chinese every day, your speaking will improve.

Why is there no explicit subject in 只要继续练习就会好多了? Who is continuing to practice?

In Chinese, if the subject is already clear from context, it is often dropped.

The previous clause’s subject is 他 (“he”):

他以为自己没有办法提高中文水平，
可是老师说只要继续练习就会好多了。

The teacher is clearly talking about his practice and his Chinese. So Chinese doesn’t need to repeat the subject (他 or 你):

(他/你) 只要继续练习，就会好多了。

In English you must say “you/he,” but in Chinese it’s natural and concise to omit it when obvious.

What is the role of 会 (huì) and 了 (le) in 就会好多了? Is 了 past tense?

In 就会好多了:

会 indicates future possibility or likelihood: “will / will be able to / is likely to.”
了 here is a change‑of‑state particle, not a past‑tense marker.

So:

会好多了 ≈ “will be much better (than before)” / “will become much better.”

Details:

会 (future possibility):
- 明天会下雨。– It will probably rain tomorrow.
- 多练习会有帮助。– Practicing more will help.
Sentence‑final 了 (change of state):
- 天冷了。– It (has) become cold.
- 我累了。– I (have become) tired. / I’m now tired.
- 会好多了。– It will become much better (compared to now).

So 了 here does not mean “past tense.” It marks a new situation / change: from “not good enough now” to “much better (in the future).”

Why is it 好多了 (hǎo duō le) and not just 很好 or 更好?

好多了 is a common pattern:

adjective + 多 + 了 → “much more [adj] (than before)”

So:

好 – good
好多了 – “much better (than before)”

It emphasizes a big improvement or large difference.

Comparisons:

很好 – very good (describes the current state, not explicitly compared to before)
更好 – better (comparative, but not strongly “much better”)
好多了 – much better now (compared to the previous state)

Example:

你今天看起来好多了。
You look much better today. (than before)
吃了药以后，我觉得舒服多了。
After taking medicine, I feel much more comfortable.

In the sentence, the teacher wants to emphasize: if he keeps practicing, the improvement will be significant, so 好多了 is natural.

Can I also say 好很多 instead of 好多了? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say 好很多, and it’s also correct. Both 好很多 and 好多了 mean “much better”.

Subtle differences:

好多了:
- Very common in spoken Chinese.
- Slightly more colloquial and fluent.
好很多:
- Also fine in speech and writing.
- Feels a bit more neutral / straightforward comparative: “better by a lot.”

In this specific sentence:

只要继续练习就会好多了。
只要继续练习就会好很多。

Both are natural. Many speakers would default to 好多了 in conversation.

What does 可是 (kěshì) do here, and how is it different from 但是 (dànshì) or 不过 (búguò)?

可是 is a conjunction meaning “but; however.” It introduces a contrast with what came before.

他以为自己没有办法提高中文水平，
可是老师说只要继续练习就会好多了。
He thought he couldn’t improve his Chinese, but the teacher said that as long as he keeps practicing, it’ll get much better.

Comparison with similar words:

但是 – also “but/however,” slightly more formal / neutral.
可是 – often feels a bit more spoken / emotional, but the difference is small.
不过 – “but / however,” often with a softer, “on the other hand / though” feel.

In many contexts, 可是, 但是, and 不过 can be swapped without changing the basic meaning:

他很忙，但是还是来了。
他很忙，可是还是来了。
他很忙，不过还是来了。

All ≈ “He’s very busy, but he still came.”

What part of speech is 练习 (liànxí) here, and why doesn’t it say 练习中文?

练习 can be both:

a verb: to practice
a noun: practice; exercise

In this sentence it’s used as a verb:

继续练习 – “continue practicing”

The object “Chinese” is understood from context:

Topic: 提高中文水平 – improving Chinese.
So 练习 is implicitly “practice Chinese.”

You can say:

继续练习中文，就会好多了。
“As long as you continue to practice Chinese, it will get much better.”

This is also correct, just a bit more explicit. Dropping the obvious object is very common in Chinese when context makes it clear.