Learn Hardcore Chinese: tā shuō zìjǐ suīrán yǒudiǎnr hàixiū, dànshì gēn guānzhòng shuōhuà de shíhou juéde hěn xīngfèn. - She says that although she is a bit shy, she feels very excited when she talks with the audience.

If you said 她说虽然有点儿害羞…, it sounds like a narrator talking about “her” in general, not clearly showing that these are her own words about herself. In reported speech about oneself, Chinese very often uses 自己 after verbs like 说, 觉得, 认为, etc., to show that the subject = the person speaking/thinking.

So 她说自己… = She said that she herself…

Why is there nothing like “that” after 说? In English we say “She said that she is shy.”

Chinese does not need a word like “that” to introduce a clause after 说.

English: She said *that she is a bit shy…*
Chinese: 她说自己有点儿害羞…

The part after 说 (here: 自己虽然有点儿害羞，但是…兴奋) is simply taken as the content of what she said. You don’t add a special conjunction.

You can add 说“…… ” with quotation marks for direct speech:

她说：“我虽然有点儿害羞，但是跟观众说话的时候觉得很兴奋。”
She said, “Although I’m a bit shy, I feel excited when I speak to the audience.”

How does 虽然…但是… work? And do we really need both parts?

虽然…但是… is a common pattern meaning “although… (yet) …” / “even though… (still) …”.

虽然 = although / even though
但是 = but / however

In your sentence:

虽然有点儿害羞 = although (she is) a bit shy
但是跟观众说话的时候觉得很兴奋 = but (she) feels very excited when speaking to the audience

About leaving things out:

You can keep both, which is the most typical:
她虽然有点儿害羞，但是跟观众说话的时候觉得很兴奋。
You can drop 虽然 and just use 但是:
她有点儿害羞，但是跟观众说话的时候觉得很兴奋。
= She is a bit shy, but feels excited when speaking to the audience.
You can drop 但是 and keep 虽然 (common in speech and writing):
她虽然有点儿害羞，跟观众说话的时候觉得很兴奋。

So you don’t have to use both, but the “full” pattern 虽然…但是… is very standard and clear.

What’s the nuance of 有点儿害羞? How is that different from just 很害羞 or 一点儿害羞?

有点儿 before an adjective means “a bit / somewhat / rather”, often with a slightly negative or undesired feeling.

有点儿害羞
= a bit shy / kind of shy (implying that this shyness is a slight drawback or obstacle)

Compare:

很害羞
= very shy or just shy (neutral, could be a description without strong negative feeling)
有点儿害羞
= a bit too shy / rather shy (often hints that this shyness causes some difficulty)
一点儿害羞 is uncommon.
With adjectives, you normally use 有点儿 / 有一点儿 instead of 一点儿.
一点儿 is more often used with nouns:
- 一点儿水 – a little water
- 一点儿钱 – a little money

So 有点儿害羞 is the natural way to say “(she’s) a little bit shy” with the nuance that this shyness is not ideal.

Does 害羞 just mean “shy”? Is it the same as “introverted” or “scared”?

害羞 (hàixiū) mainly means “shy / bashful / easily embarrassed in front of others.”

It’s about feeling shy or embarrassed in social situations, especially when attention is on you.

It is not the same as:

内向 (nèixiàng) – introverted (personality type; may not be shy in public speaking)
害怕 (hàipà) – afraid / scared (fear, not shyness or embarrassment)

In this sentence, 有点儿害羞 tells us her social feeling (she’s shy), but later 觉得很兴奋 tells us that despite that, she actually feels excited when speaking to the audience.

Why do we use 跟观众 for “to the audience”? Could we use 对观众 instead?

Both 跟 and 对 can appear before the person you are speaking to, but there is a nuance:

跟 + person + 说话 / 说
= talk/speak with someone (more interaction, like “with” or “to”)
对 + person + 说话 / 说
= speak to / toward someone (emphasis on the direction; often slightly more one‑way)

In your sentence:

跟观众说话的时候
= when (she is) speaking with/to the audience
This feels quite natural for a presenter interacting with the audience.

Using 对观众说话的时候 is grammatically OK too, and would sound a bit more like “when speaking to the audience” (direction from her to them). In many contexts here, 跟 and 对 are interchangeable, but 跟…说话 is very common in spoken language.

Why is it 跟观众说话, and not just 跟观众说 or 跟观众讲话?

All three are possible, with small differences in usage and feel:

说话 (shuōhuà)
- Literally “speak words / talk”
- Very common, neutral word for “talk / speak”
- 跟观众说话 = talk/speak with the audience (as an activity)
说 (shuō) alone
- Often needs an object (what you say): 对观众说话题 / 说故事
- 跟观众说 is possible but usually sounds like “say (something) to the audience.”
- If you just mean “the act of speaking,” 说话 is more natural.
讲话 (jiǎnghuà)
- Also means “speak / give a talk / address (people)”
- Often used for more formal or public speaking, meetings, etc.
- 跟观众讲话 is understandable and leans a bit more toward “address the audience.”

In this sentence, 跟观众说话 is the most natural and broad way to talk about “speaking with the audience” in general.

What exactly does 的时候 do? How does 说话的时候 mean “when (she is) speaking”?

的时候 (de shíhou) literally means “the time when …”.

Structure:

[Action] + 的 + 时候
= “the time of [doing that action]” → “when [doing that action]”

Here:

说话 = to speak
说话的时候 = the time of speaking → when (she is) speaking

And with 跟观众 in front:

跟观众说话的时候
= at the time of speaking with the audience → when speaking to/with the audience

So 的 turns 跟观众说话 into a modifier for 时候, forming a time phrase: “the time when she speaks with the audience.”

Why is the time phrase 跟观众说话的时候 placed before 觉得? Could we say 觉得在跟观众说话的时候很兴奋 instead?

Chinese usually places time phrases before the main verb:

(她) 跟观众说话的时候觉得很兴奋。
When (she) speaks to the audience, (she) feels very excited.

Putting 跟观众说话的时候 before 觉得 is the most natural order.

You can say:

她觉得在跟观众说话的时候很兴奋。

This is also grammatical and means basically the same thing. The difference:

[跟观众说话的时候] 觉得很兴奋
→ emphasis on the time / situation: When that happens, she feels excited.
觉得在跟观众说话的时候很兴奋
→ emphasis starts on 她觉得 (she feels) and then specifies in what situation.

Both are fine, but the original order is simpler and very typical.

Why do we need 很 before 兴奋? Can we just say 觉得兴奋?

In Chinese, when an adjective is used as a predicate (like a verb: “to be excited”), it often needs a degree adverb in front, such as 很, 非常, 有点儿, etc.

很兴奋
literally: very excited, but in many contexts 很 is just a neutral linker, and doesn’t always mean “very” strongly. It can just mean “(is) excited.”

If you say 觉得兴奋 without 很, it:

can sound a bit abrupt or unsuitable in many everyday contexts, or
may be interpreted as somewhat contrastive / comparative (e.g., “feels excited (instead of something else)”).

That said, 觉得兴奋 is not wrong and can appear in some contexts, especially written style or when you want a stronger, contrastive feel. But the default, natural spoken pattern is 觉得很兴奋.

How do we know if this sentence is talking about the past (“felt excited”) or about a general habit (“feels excited”)?

Chinese verbs do not change form for tense (no -ed, -s, etc.), and here there is no aspect marker like 了.

So by itself,
她说自己虽然有点儿害羞，但是跟观众说话的时候觉得很兴奋。
is tense‑neutral. It could be:

She said that although she is a bit shy, she feels very excited when she speaks to the audience. (habitual / general truth)
She said that although she was a bit shy, she felt very excited when she spoke to the audience. (about some specific past situation)

The past feeling is implied more by 她说 (she said) and by context. If you needed to emphasize a specific past time, you might add more context or use time words:

昨天她说自己虽然有点儿害羞，但是跟观众说话的时候觉得很兴奋。
Yesterday she said that although she was a bit shy, she felt very excited when speaking to the audience.

Can we move 虽然 to the very beginning, like in English “Although she is a bit shy, she feels very excited…”?

Yes, you can start the sentence with 虽然. Two common variants:

Original style (subject before 虽然):
她说自己虽然有点儿害羞，但是跟观众说话的时候觉得很兴奋。
虽然 at the front of the inner clause:
她说，虽然自己有点儿害羞，但是跟观众说话的时候觉得很兴奋。

Both are natural. In both versions:

虽然… introduces the concession (although she is shy)
但是… introduces the main contrasting result (she still feels excited)

So yes, you can put 虽然 early, just keep the structure 虽然…但是… around the part that belongs together.

What is the overall structure of this sentence in simpler parts?

We can break it down like this:

她说 – she said
自己 – that she (herself)
虽然有点儿害羞 – although (she is) a bit shy
但是 – but
跟观众说话的时候 – when (she is) speaking with the audience
觉得很兴奋 – (she) feels very excited

Reordered into more literal English:

She said that she herself, although (she is) a bit shy, when speaking with the audience, feels very excited.

Natural English:

She said that although she’s a bit shy, she feels very excited when speaking to the audience.