The Latest Mandarin Chinese Language Lessons
Excellent Materials for You to Learn Chinese Mandarin Language
Latest Lessons
书法 Advanced
作为一种艺术形式，相信无论是不是学中文的人，多少知道“书法”这个词儿，但可能很少人真正明白它作为一种实用性的活动，也就是写字，里头也包含了许许多多的文化意涵，中国人对于“字写得怎么样“是有种价值评断的，欢迎加入今天的讨论，也听听Fiona小时候，妈妈怎么要求她“写好字”。 Photo by Durán
calligraphy, writing, culture, complement
I Like Those Sweet Kind of Things Elementary
In this lesson, we teach you some excellent ways to say etcetera. We'll teach one, some formal ways, as well as some more colloquial ways. Finally, we'll learn to say what kind of food you like to eat.
video, food, desert, dessert
Crazy Expensive Tea! Upper Intermediate
We at ChinesePod love drinking tea, and often make trips to the tea shop to buy the leaves. Tea culture has thousands of years of tradition, and tea leaves can sell in the thousands of dollars. Listen to a dialogue as two friends discuss tea culture and some crazy expensive tea. Photo by rosipaw
tea, tea house, culture
How to Add a New Keyboard on iOS Intermediate
In this lesson, we teach you how to add new input methods on a cell phone when it's language is set to (simplified) Chinese. If you are learning a second language (like all of you guys), then adding a new keyboard is essential in order to chat with friends and practice your writing. In today's class, a student wants to add a Korean keyboard to their iOS device but doesn't know how. We will teach you the specific words on iOS when the device is set to Simplified and Traditional Chinese. If you know the steps on doing this for Android/Windows, it would be great if you could leave them in the comments below.
technology, language, iOS, Apple
NBA: 十八连胜 Advanced
在瞬息万变的球场上，谁也无法保证得胜，更何况是连胜十八场！这样的传奇，绝对是最好的谈资？还等什么，快来听听吧。 If you're interested in basketball and the NBA, this is the lesson for you. Photo by Wiki commons
basketball, sports
World Gourmand: A Foodie's Paradise Upper Intermediate
Warning! If you're hungry, it's best to eat something before taking this lesson because we're going to be discussing the wonderfully diverse cuisines of China. In this lesson, a friend discusses their new food channel which will travel around the different provinces of China and interview the chefs and discuss the delicious food. If you're a foodie like us folks at ChinesePod, you'll enjoy this lesson. Photo by Run Mizumushi-Kun
food, cuisine, China, travel, TV production, TV show
What Are You Doing After Class Elementary
In this video lesson, we teach you how to arrange to meet someone at a time and place. This is super useful and invaluable for scheduling meetings, dates, and events. In order to do this, we need to learn the 从... 到... (cóng... dào...) structure. This is used in the same way as "from... to..." in English, and can be used both for times and places. In this lesson, we focus on times, but if you want to learn more about places, we recommend you watch this lesson also. How Far From Here to There?
video, meeting, date, activities, time
Making Handmade Cards Intermediate
In this lesson, we take you into the art classroom and teach you how to make handmade cards. This is full of great instructional language (useful for following recipes or gym workouts), but also contains lots of specialized words from the art word. Join us as we make some cards using the wash painting technique.
art, school, students, classroom, design
80后: Born in the 80's Advanced
在一胎政策年代长大的中国孩子，从小得到家中所有的资源，看似占尽了便宜，但步入社会以后，面对与过去完全不同的竞争坏境，他们又有什么不为人知的心声呢？Listen as two friends discuss the consequences of growing up under the one-child policy and how it affected people once they finally entered society. Photo by Dan Moyle
politics, policy, children, parents
Relax! It's the Summer Vacation Upper Intermediate
After working hard all semester, it can be difficult to relax. Listen as two friends discuss the upcoming summer holiday. For one of them, it is a long overdue break. For the other, it seems like they're not looking forward to it one bit. Tune in to find out why. Photo by Nick Kenrick
holiday, vacation, school, university, stress
Investing in Prestigious Property (Bridge Lesson) Intermediate
In this bridge lesson, we discuss investment in property located near so-called "Prestigious Schools". In China, if you live in the vicinity of these good schools, your children automatically get accepted. Naturally, property prices skyrocket, and the wealthy get better chances to go to these schools.Listen to the lesson as we discuss this important topic, as well as some of the issues that can arise from this. Photo credit
bridge, bridge lesson, school, investment, property, children, money
As Soon as I Got Home, I Called! Elementary
The 一 … 就 pattern (yī … jiù) is super common in Chinese grammar and is used to say that two actions happened in quick succession. For example: "as soon as I got home, I called you", or "once I finished class, I began revising". In today's example, it's a bit of a lovers tiff, where the girlfriend is upset that the boyfriend didn't call her. However, he claims that as soon as he finished work, he called right away. You can also check out this Elementary lesson to see the yi...jiu pattern in use. Click here Photo by Alejandro Pinto
phone, grammar, video, dating, work, girlfriend, boyfriend
Why's It Called Duanwu Festival? Upper Intermediate
It's Dragon Boat Festival 2016, and if you're curious as to how it got it's Chinese name, or want to know some of the history behind it, check this lesson. For more about Dragon Boat Festival, watch our walking tour lesson with Fiona and Iona here. For a fun advanced video lesson all about Qu Yuan, check out our rendition of this legend here. Photo by Sam Sith
festivals, holiday, Dragon Boat Festival
Which Way to the Mall? Intermediate
You're travelling around a new city, but not sure how to get somewhere? Rather than whip out your phone and use expensive data roaming, why not ask a local and practice your Mandarin? In today's lesson, we take it a little further than the usual "turn left, turn right" instructions, and give you some slightly more complex phrases to learn. Photo by Vincent Albanese
directions, travel, maps
Is There Garlic in This? I'm Vegan! Elementary
Are you a vegetarian or perhaps a vegan? Do you struggle to explain yourself in China when ordering food? This lesson will get you ordering like a pro, and teach you different ways to say vegetarian in Chinese. For another video with more ways to say all kinds of vegetarian and vegan, check out Fiona on YouTubehere
video, vegetarian, vegan, diet, food, restaurant, Buddhism
外交辞令 4/4 (Diplomat Series) Advanced
在”外交系列“课程的最后一课，我们会听到各种不同的外交级别以及应用范围，有些词也许你并不陌生，或是听了这课以后，你会开始对这些词汇更加敏锐。 Photo by David Morris
diplomacy, presentation, public speaking, speech, video
A Boat Tour of the River Upper Intermediate
Join us on a boat tour down the Yellow River (Huáng Hé) as we discuss nature, poetry, and shopping with a best friend. Photo by Jody McIntyre
holiday, boat, river
AlphaGo versus Lee Sedol Intermediate
In March 2016, Google DeepMind developed a computer Go programme that beat professional "Go" player Lee Sedol multiple times in Seoul. The game Go is an abstract strategy board game for two players that originated in ancient China In this lesson, we discuss the future of artificial intelligence, and how we could all be controlled by machines in the near future or at least have very difficult games of Go. Photo by The Verge
technology, computers, games, future
How Much is that Check Shirt? Elementary
Have you ever tried to buy clothing but lacked the vocab to describe it fully?Learn some useful ways to describe different patterns and colors of clothing as well as useful phrases for buying things.
clothes, clothing, colors, shopping, video