Mandarin From the Ground Up

10 ~ I got it! 我知道了！

In this lesson, I talk a little about discovering the unique logic of a new language. In the dialogue, Ah-Ming (阿明) and Xiao-Li (小李) decide to break the law. One of my

Daily Practice Session - Lesson 09

After you've listened to Lesson 9, use this track to reinforce what you've learned with short listening and speaking practice sessions every day over the following week.

09 ~ Aren't you going to drive? 不是你要開的嗎？

This dialogue reinforces a lot of words and phrases you already know, which just a few new ones. In this dialogue, 小李 and 阿明 are talking about going to have some food, an

Daily Practice Session - Lesson 08

After you've listened to Lesson 8, use this track to reinforce what you've learned with short listening and speaking practice sessions every day over the following week.

08 ~ What's your favorite food? 你最喜歡吃什麼？

In this lesson, we'll talk about the single most important thing you should be doing for your spoken Mandarin. We'll also learn how to talk about food, and how to make pl

Daily Practice Session - Lesson 07

Dialogue transcript L: 你今天也在咖啡店？M: 對啊L: 但是，今天的咖啡店跟昨天的不一樣M: 對，你看： 今天的咖啡店有貓咪！L: 為什麼？M: 沒有為什麼啊L: 為什麼你每天都去咖啡店？M: 你問我為什麼... L: 為什麼你可以每天出去，但我每天要待在家裡？！M: 這個嘛... L: 為什麼？！你跟我說！M:

07 ~ You ask me why... 你問我為什麼...

In this lesson, you'll learn how to identify and produce the four main tones in spoken Mandarin, and some essential COVID-19 vocabulary to help you talk about your situat

Daily Practice Session - Lesson 06

Dialogue transcript:  M: 嘿，你今天好嗎？L: 我今天還OK啊，你呢？你在哪裡啊？M: 我在咖啡店，你看L: 喔！很漂亮！M: 對啊L: 你在喝咖啡嗎？M: 還沒，等一下L: 你在等咖啡？M: 對啊，我還在等L: 欸！有東西來了！M：喔對！（謝謝）我的咖啡來了！L: 好喝嗎？M: 等一下！我還沒喝... 喔！好喝

06 ~ I'm still waiting

In this lesson, you'll learn how to talk about things that haven't happened yet. Learning how to say familiar words in another language, it's easy to get the impression

Daily Practice Session - Lesson 05

Dialogue transcript M: 喂？你聽得到嗎？L: 我聽得到！你呢？你聽得到嗎？M: 有，我聽得到L: 那，我們開始說中文吧！M: 呃。。。我們在說中文啊L: 喔，對了，哈哈。嘿，你在喝東西嗎？M: 有啊，我在喝東西L: 你在喝什麼？M: 我在喝咖啡。你喜歡咖啡嗎？L: 我還好，我喜歡喝茶M: 你現在在喝茶嗎？L: 有！

05 ~ Can you hear me?

In this lesson, you'll learn how to have a successful video call, and how to talk about what you're drinking, and what you like. It's tempting to focus on all the thing

Daily Practice Session - Lesson 04

About learning Chinese characters Teaching Chinese characters is outside the scope of this podcast, but if you are learning Chinese characters with another course or met

04 ~ Who are you again?

The contents of this episode are pretty standard fare for a language learner, or anyone else for that matter: What's your name? Nice to meet you. Do you have an English n

Daily Practice Session - Lesson 03

About learning Chinese characters Teaching Chinese characters is outside the scope of this podcast, but if you are learning Chinese characters through another course or m

03 ~ Where are you again?

A big part of being able to speak naturally and fluently is being able to convince yourself on some level that you're actually from the same place as other native speaker

Daily Practice Session - Lesson 02

About learning Chinese characters Teaching Chinese characters is outside the scope of this podcast, but if you are learning Chinese characters through another course or m

02 ~ It's OK to feel tired.

It's OK to feel tired sometimes, and acknowledging it is part of staying motivated. In this episode, you'll learn how to ask and talk about feelings, especially that feel

Daily Practice Session - Lesson 01

Learning to recognize and speak the sounds of another language is a form of exercise, and it requires repetition. By listening to -- and repeating -- the same dialogue ev

01 ~ Listen, can you speak Chinese?

In our very first lesson, we'll get you started speaking useful Mandarin right away. You'll learn how to say whether or not you can speak Chinese, and we'll start buildin

Trailer: Learning Mandarin like a native speaker

Nothing stands in the way of you getting fluent in Mandarin. Billions have managed it. So why does it seem so hard? In less than three minutes, I'll explain how you can