30 Days to "Le" 了 Mastery!

Do you find the particle "le" 了 confusing?

You know what I mean...

● "It's kind of like past tense, right?"

● "No, it's perfective aspect! Or is it completed action?"

● "But no, it's change of state, isn't it?"

● "It's also a required part of some grammar constructions, like 太X了."

● "Too confusing, I'll just keep thinking of it as kind of like past tense and hope it falls into place eventually..."

If figuring out all of the subtleties of 了 make you want to throw your grammar book out the window…

You're not alone!

Everyone struggles with mastering the nuances of le 了.

● It's very different from anything you'll find in European languages

● But, there seems to be some overlap with some familiar aspects of Indo-European grammar

● So it can be really difficult to know when to use it, and when not to!

And you're supposed be able to get it right on the fly in conversation, while also thinking about pronunciation, tones, vocabulary, and everything else?

It might seem like you'll never really get how le 了 works, that it's destined to always be just out of your grasp.

Well not so fast. Help is at hand!

We’ve created a unique 30-day challenge, the "30 Days to 了 Mastery Challenge," that will help you both learn (head knowledge) and acquire (intuitive, experiential knowledge) the use of 了, so you can express yourself confidently and correctly in conversation with native Chinese speakers.

No boring grammar exercises.

No trying to spit out correct Chinese based on memorized rules

And most importantly...

Begin to use 了 confidently, on the fly, in conversation with native speakers.

 

Introducing the July
"30-Days to Le 了 Mastery" Challenge

With your coaches...

Here’s how the challenge works:

We’ve crafted a 30-day program designed to give you both crucial types of knowledge when it comes to mastering 了:

● Head knowledge (information you learn—declarative knowledge)

● Acquired knowledge (experience—muscle memory)

This means you'll not only know the rules about 了, but you'll have practiced using it in context so many times that you start to build up muscle memory. It's this muscle memory—this experiential knowledge that allows you to use 了 correctly in context because it just feels right to use it correctly!

You'll see a big improvement by the end of the program, and you'll also have the tools and knowledge to continue improving!

Each day has specific tasks for you to complete, which are designed to:

1. help you understand how 了 works in more detail,

2. embed the correct usage of 了 in your muscle memory,

3. give you a bunch of 了 pattern sentences: sentences using 了 that you know you know, that you can use as a reference for similar sentences.

Just 30 minutes a day or less is all it takes.

All you have to do is show up and do the tasks we give you each day.

The results?

By the end of the month, this experience will deepen both your knowledge and your intuitive understanding of 了, enabling you to:

● Use it correctly naturally, AND

● Be able to understand it when you hear it in new contexts, because you'll have the tools to analyze it.

What You'll Get...

The concept is simple yet brutally effective!

Every day, for 30 days, you’ll receive a few tasks to complete. These tasks will go in 5-day cycles.

Each cycle, you'll get a set of sentences using 了, which you'll practice over and over with a native speaker recording.

These sentences will start out short and simple, and get longer and more complex with each new cycle.

You'll also get a short story with each cycle that features heavy use of 了.

These stories will help you to exercise your new knowledge—analyzing each usage of 了—and will also give you some reading practice and likely some new vocabulary to boot!

The sentences and stories will all come with native speaker audio for you to practice with, and you'll be able to choose your preferred accent and gender (Taiwan or PRC, male or female) so you can practice with the voice that suits you best.

There will also be some grammar explanation videos to help you with understanding the various uses of 了.

So during the 30-day challenge, you’ll spend your 30 minutes each day doing intensive speaking drills with the sentences, watching grammar videos, and reading/shadowing your short stories.

We'll give you everything you need for each day, and you just have to show up and do your reps.

Just like a boxer throws punching combos for reps to build muscle memory for for combos, you'll do chorusing and shadowing for reps to build muscle memory for 了 sentences.

AND

Each week during the challenge, we'll be conducting a few group Q&A/coaching sessions. We'll schedule the times to accommodate for different time zones.

Plus, you'll get access to the 了 Mastery Community—a whole cohort of people going through the challenge along with you. Find an accountability partner, ask questions, and share tips—our communities are always super lively, and many people have made friends with people they met in the community.

The Results

By the end of the challenge you’ll have newfound understanding and extensive practice using 了 in real, useful sentences and contexts.

Imagine how much you’ll improve with that amount of practice dedicated to just the 了, one of the most challenging aspects (pun intended!) of Chinese grammar.

 

Ready to Shape Up Your Grammar?

We've meticulously organized the entire challenge, so all you need to do is show up and dive in!

Here's what you need to know to join us:

● Start date: July 1st

● Daily time commitment: 30 minutes

● Total duration: 30 days

The investment in your grammatical transformation is just $97 — equivalent to a couple of sessions with a professional tutor.

All materials (written and audio), video lessons, activities, community interaction, and Q&A sessions are included.

And lifetime access means you get to keep everything, even after the challenge is finished.

Click the "Enroll Now" button to sign up today.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What level is the challenge for?

No matter your level, if you're struggling with 了, this challenge is for you. The practice sentences are mostly at the HSK1-2 level because we want to keep the examples simple so you can focus on 了. The short stories may be as high as HSK3, but we'll be giving you comprehensive vocab lists in case there are words you don't know. But even if you're at HSK4 or above, if you struggle with 了, this challenge will be beneficial. You'll probably already know all of the vocabulary, so you can just focus on the usage of 了 itself.

How can I access the challenge?

Mobile, desktop, laptop, tablet... The challenge is super user-friendly and you'll be able to log on from anywhere!

What exactly will I learn? How will this challenge help me?

During this challenge, we'll start by reviewing the basics: the main uses of 了. After that, you'll get practice with progressively more challenging uses of the particle, so that you can become comfortable with its use in a bunch of different contexts. Mastering 了 will significantly improve your Mandarin and make you sound much more natural to native speakers—poor use of 了 is a dead giveaway!

You'll also drill a bunch of sentences using 了 until you bury them into your muscle memory. That means it will start to become more effortless and automatic to use the particle correctly, and you'll know instinctively when to use it in context. By the end of the challenge, you'll have a much deeper knowledge and intuitive ability to use 了 correctly.

What's so special about this method anyway?

The particle 了 is unlike anything in most Indo-European languages. We're accustomed to tenses, not aspects. So, when learning Mandarin, when we encounter 了, we tend to file it in our brains as "basically kinda like past tense."

But it isn't!

Thinking like that will lead to to use 了 incorrectly. It simply can't work. You have to learn 了 on its own terms. That requires both an intellectual understanding of how it works, and the experiential understanding that you build up through encountering it in a bunch of different contexts, and imitating its use in a systematic way.

With the "30 Days to 了 Mastery" Challenge, you'll get both. The grammar videos and short story analysis helps you build your intellectual understanding, and the chorusing and shadowing drills will help you build your experiential understanding! This will create a virtuous circle that can't help but improve your usage in real life.

As you complete your reps each day, the particle 了 will begin to lodge itself into your subconscious. It doesn't happen right away - in fact it may take a few weeks for you to feel the real effects. But by the end of the challenge, you'll have a new command of 了 that will surprise you.

I'm not sure I can commit for 30 days

Your daily tasks should only take 30 minutes. The principle of the challenge is, "do a little each day and big results will follow." 30 minutes is a pretty manageable amount of time to devote to your Chinese.

You can break it up into 5 minute chunks throughout the day:
• 5 minutes after breakfast
• 5 minutes on your lunch break
• 5 minutes before dinner
• 5 minutes while waiting for the bus...whenever is convenient for you!

The secret sauce is the consistency - working at it for a little bit of time every day. You'll be amazed at the massive progress you make from simply showing up every day to give focused attention to one aspect of your Chinese!

What if I decide the challenge isn't for me?

All of our products come with a 30-day money back guarantee. If you are unsatisfied with it for any reason, reach out at any point during the challenge and we'll issue you a full refund.

How long do I have access to the course after the end of the challenge?

How does "lifetime access" sound? While the challenge is 30 days, you will have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like.

What exactly does "lifetime access" mean?

In practical terms, it means the course materials will be available online for as long as Outlier is in business. If we do ever go out of business or otherwise need to remove the course for any reason, we'll make the material available for you to download for a period of at least 6 months.