The Latest Mandarin Chinese Language Lessons
Excellent Materials for You to Learn Chinese Mandarin Language
Latest Lessons
Shopping for the Husband Intermediate
The men paid their dues last week by going on a grueling excursion through mall after mall to find the perfect pair of shoes. Now it's the ladies' turn to do the shopping! Listen to two women discuss birthday gifts for their husbands in today's lesson.
shopping, gift, daily life
Market Research 2: Management Report Upper Intermediate
So the consumer survey on the potential motorhome market in China has been conducted, and now it's time to present the results to the boss. This lesson, part 2 in an ongoing series, covers the key language for discussing marketing segments in a business setting.
marketing, business, travel, research
How to Eat a Hairy Crab Intermediate
Hairy crabs from Yangcheng Lake are an extremely popular food in southern China. As a foreigner, however, you might be a bit confused as to how to try to eat one of those things. This lesson will teach you everything you need to know about how to consume these tasty arthropods, as well as the faux pas to avoid (and a healthy dose of expectation management).
eating, crab, culture, measure words
Red Chinese Music Beijing Standard Time
Today, David and Greg welcome JC, a fellow ChinesePod employee and music aficionado, as a guest host as they explore the sounds and history of "Red" Chinese music. Chinese revolutionary music was one of the main forms if not the primary form of musical expression in mainland China starting in the 1930's during the Sino-Japanese War up until the late 1970's. Enjoy the show and feel free to leave questions and comments below! For a more in-depth and academic look at a Chinese revolutionary song, check out our ChinesePod lesson on the song "labor is the most glorious!" If you're hungry for more info on the foundations of classical Chinese music, we did a newsletter a while back that covers the basics.
music, songs, lyrics, revolution
How to be Negative Qing Wen
No one likes to be a debbie-downer, but sometimes you've just gotta say "no." In this lesson, QW goes over a few important words that turn regular sentences negative and the proper situations in which to use them. Any questions or comments are welcome below!
grammar, time, negative
Adopting a Chinese Child Upper Intermediate
The Chinese are well aware that many foreigners are adopting Chinese babies. Many of these foreigners even return to China with their children, introducing the land of their heritage to them. But what does the average Chinese person think about this phenomenon? Listen in on one such conversation in this lesson.
child, culture, parents
A Good Book Elementary
You may not be up to reading novels in Chinese just yet, but you can certainly express your opinion on whether or not a book is good. In this lesson, all your bookworms can learn how to express a little love for the printed word (the kind on dead trees).
books, shopping, measure words, numbers
Teaching Japanese Go Upper Intermediate
Known in the West as "bizarro Othello" and "the thinking man's checkers," the game known as "go" in Japan and "weiqi" in China is actually quite the intellectual exercise with a long, rich tradition. In this Chinese lesson, the basics are taught to a child (who might actually be a bit too young to absorb it all).
introductions, teaching
Shopping for the Wife Intermediate
This is a Chinese lesson for all those poor unfortunate men who have been sent on shopping missions, and whose wives were smart enough to deflect the "I don't know what you like" excuse by providing an actual photo of the object of desire. Learn about shoes and bags here.
shopping, shoes, size
Chinese Dialects (Part 2) Beijing Standard Time
Our two-part series on Chinese dialects returns with a look at five distinctly different dialects from areas around Southern China. This barely skims the surface of the multitude of dialects found in South China and China as a whole (Fujian province alone has over 200!) but we hope you'll find this a worthwhile and interesting listen; don't be discouraged if you don't understand a single word! Check out last week's BST for part one of this series which covers Northern dialects!
Chinese, dialect, local
一下，一会儿，and 一点儿 Qing Wen
We've got three ostensibly similar but quite unique phrases for you today, ones that you probably see and hear often but may not be quite completely clear on how to use. Listen in as the team discusses "moments" and "bits" in today's Qing Wen lesson and learn how to use them to full effect!
time, actions
Bachelor's Day Intermediate
This lesson is for all you singles out there (guys AND girls!). Bachelor's Day, celebrated on the eleventh of November in China, is extra "auspicious" this year as the official date is 11/11/11! In today's lesson, two guys discuss their Bachelor's Day plans and get ready to celebrate.
culture, holiday, activities, people, feelings
评《乔布斯传》 Media
史蒂夫.乔布斯，苹果公司的创始人，全球最具影响力的CEO，在2011年10月走完了他短暂而又传奇的一生。在无数苹果粉的心中，乔布斯不是人，他是神。生前他是一个极度保护隐私的神秘人，我们无从得知生活中的他是怎样的一个人。《乔布斯传》的出版为我们揭开了这层神秘的面纱，让我们了解到一个真实的天使与魔鬼的结合体。今天为大家推荐的是一篇中国读者的读后感，看看他心中的乔布斯是怎样的。 来源链接：评《乔布斯传》：现实扭曲力场
people, opinion, personality, technology, business
Buying a Book Intermediate
If you like reading but still have yet to buy a Kindle, this lesson is for you. Today, our hero ventures into a bookstore but finds that they've forgotten the name of the book they're looking for. What is to be done? Tune in and find out!
books, history, literature, shopping
Pregnancy Series 10: Postnatal Recuperation Upper Intermediate
In China, the month after childbirth for the new mother is subject to a number of strict rules and careful precautions to make sure she recovers properly. This means dietary restrictions, lots or rest and no showering, to name a few! Today's lesson features a new mother and her mother discussing this important first postnatal month.
child, tradition, culture
Making Plans for the Day Elementary
Most successful professionals are excellent planners, or at least have a responsible secretary to take care of all their scheduling needs! Learn how to delegate your scheduling duties to your underlings in Mandarin Chinese in today's ChinesePod lesson.
business, office, agenda, meeting, activities, time
Chinese Dialects (Part 1) Beijing Standard Time
We're drawing on a huge quantity of the ChinesePod staff to bring you a special pair of BST's focusing on Chinese dialects. Today's show focuses on dialects from Northern China. Some are more similar to Mandarin than others, but each one has an undeniably unique and interesting flavor. One disclaimer: this podcast is meant to give all of our subscribers a taste of some of the dialects present in China; you should in no way expect to come out of this podcast wholly proficient! Also, stay tuned for next week's BST which will cover Southern Chinese dialects.
local, dialect
Measure Words for Animals Qing Wen
We hope you like animals, because in today's lesson we'll be covering a lot of them along with their accompanying measure words. While one is quite a bit more ubiquitous than the others, some of the nuances may surprise you. As always, leave your comments and suggestions below, along with any of your favorite animals that we may have left out!
measure words, animals
Plane Ticket Refunds Intermediate
You may have buying an airplane ticket down pat, but what do you do when your itinerary suddenly changes? Tune in to today's lesson and get clued in on how to handle the (relatively) complex process of asking for and obtaining a refund.
travel, tickets, money, numbers