Elementary | A New Jug for the Water Cooler

Zen might be of Asian design, but it takes a back-seat when someone cuts in line. In this podcast, Ken and Jenny lower their professional integrity by teaching some mild ways of insulting someone in Mandarin Chinese and the importance of never, ever wearing a green hat…ever. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/0055

5 Feb 202112min

Remember back in the day (insert nostalgic music here) when a tank of gas cost ya a nickel, “George W” referred to “Washington” and “chatting” was something done face-to-face? In this lesson, we tackle just that (the last one, as none of us drive here and another one of us is from Texas), online chatting. In this podcast learn about getting online and chatting, amongst other hobbies, in Mandarin Chinese. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/0119

3 Feb 202114min

Boasting 1.4 billion people, needless to say China’s a big place…with many different types of weather. This podcast will not only teach you weather basics in Mandarin Chinese, but also how to plan accordingly. What else are you going to talk about with the driver while heading to work the same time as aforementioned numbers are? Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/0049

1 Feb 202112min

No doubt these questions will be among the top 3 you’ll need to memorize…here they are, in no particular order: 1. What’s your name? 2. Where are you from? 3. Have you ever had the pleasure of meeting that clever “laowai” that writes the wonderfully entertaining introductions to ChinesePod? …your name you know, and until we have the pleasure, the only thing left is your ole stompin’ ground. In this podcast, Ken and Jenny talk teach you how to talk about where you call “jiā.” Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/0113

29 Jan 202112min

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 characters and their meanings within multiple-character words. That's why we created this Character Mind Map series, where we focus on characters and the words they make up.Today, we're talking about 出 and all the interesting words using this character. Let's check them out! Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/4315

27 Jan 202112min

“Do a lesson on University major’s” you said. “Okay, here you go” Chinesepod replied. (3 weeks past). “Do another lesson on university majors” you demanded. “We already did one” we responded. “Do it NOW” you shouted. “You’re not the boss of me” we informed. “Yes I am” came the curt retort…so now we see who’s bossing who…with lesson #2 on uni majors…meanie. Listen in on this podcast to learn how to ask someone about their major in Mandarin Chinese. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/0110

25 Jan 202112min

Chengyu are Chinese idioms that consist of four characters. Although they originate from classical Chinese, Chengyu remain as an important aspect in both spoken and written language. They may seem erratic and confusing to you at first since they don’t follow the usual sentence order and their meanings depend heavily on context. But don’t worry, in this Chengyu series, we will introduce simple Chengyu made up with all the characters that you already knew, and you can infer the actual meaning by looking at the separate characters! In this lesson, let’s take a look at three Chengyu with number 五 (five) in them! Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/4304

22 Jan 202114min

Think the Von Trapp’s liked to sing? That’s nothing! Wait until you get the Chinese invite to listen…which is anytime. So, what do you do after someone gives you a tune, offer up the same “thanks” you give a taxi driver or a proper “you sing very well”? In this podcast Ken and Jenny compose a lesson for the ages. You’ll learn how to compliment someone on their singing using Mandarin Chinese. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/0109

20 Jan 202114min