Newbie | I want coffee!

Although we don’t foresee you—after being force-fed fruit an hour after a 14-dish meal (on those cool tables that spin around)—suffering from “hunger pains,” there might be a chance that your Chinese ...

23 Kesä 202111min

Explaining in another language that you “have your father’s eyes” is dangerous, seeing as a simple grammatical mistake could mean you actually took them from him…which won’t get you invited to stay in...

21 Kesä 202114min

No, it’s not the Proclaimer’s one hit – nor is it Tinky Winky’s (too controversial, even for our Saturday Show) tune – but we do have an ole melody from yesteryear that tikes learn. We’re working on a...

18 Kesä 202110min

Few things in life are certain: 1. Life 2. Death 3. A non-English speaking barber might struggle in getting that “feathered” look you’re after So, it’s John and Jenny to the rescue, in the wind-blown ...

16 Kesä 202117min

We don’t know if you heard but, (if not—were you on Mars?) Beijing’s got the Olympics here in 2008. So we thought we’d make sure you can hold your own in a conversation with a Beijingerrrr (those “r’s...

14 Kesä 202111min

In Chinese, you often encounter single characters that have multiple related meanings. This has the potential to confuse learners because sometimes it is hard to make connections between component cha...

11 Kesä 202116min

Now you’ve used your Mandarin skills to find the hotel, check-in, order in some room service—but wait! There is something essential you forgot to learn how to say. In this podcast, we aid you in makin...

9 Kesä 202112min

In our previous newbie tone change series, we have introduced the tone change rules for 不, 一, two third tones, and three third tones. Just like many other aspects in the Chinese language, tone changes...

7 Kesä 202117min