I would suggest to make personal connections with the vocabulary you've learned. For example, if you're the word“森林, ask yourself questions like when was the last time I went to a 森林？Do I like 森林？What is 森林like in winter? Perhaps it'll stick with you. For me when I try to build up vocabulary I like to draw pictures and come up with things relating the word I'm learning. Hope this helps, good luck on your Chinese studies! (leave a comment down if you have further questions) 加油啊

Hi, I'm a native Mandarin speaker living abroad in different countries for many years. I am always a passionate language learner. Learning a new language is challenging, but helpful and indispensable for you to adapt yourself to the new environment. The learning method ,I think, should vary according to your levels and your goals. If possible, expose yourself to the target language as much as possible. For English speakers, the most difficult point of learning Chinese may be the tones for beginners. As a beginner, you may focus more on listening and have a native speaker to correct your pronunciation. And various sentence structures and Chinese characters may be difficult for intermediate learners to remember. Then you need to focus more on reading and try to enlarge your vocabulary by using it in your everyday life. If you are an advanced learner, then choose a topic which you are interested and talk with native speakers frequently which is definitely the best and quickest way.

Hi Sonni, The main way is to speak and practise a lot with someone or people who is/are good at Chinese. Learning with a teacher here is a good way. You can also listen to recordings, record yourself repeating after them, and then listen to it afterwards to see the similarities and differences and improve from there. Even though you want to improve your speaking, don't neglect the other areas too. The better you are at them, the easier speaking will be for you. Recalling characters will be quicker too. As they say, "practice makes perfect", so don't be afraid to make mistakes and speak more :)

practice makes perfect😅