The most convenient way to learn Chinese the way it is actually spoken and used. Start with our basic lessons, and in no time you’ll be listening to music, watching films and television and engaging in the actual language. With free daily podcasts, a vibrant community, online study tools and much more, PopupChinese is the most powerful and personal way to learn mandarin.
Elementary - Box on Head
Sep 24, 2012
Show notes
You know the tin-foil hat wearing, conspiracy-paranoid crowd that started showing up almost overnight when X-Files became mainstream and that you'll still run into every now and again in the States, and especially if you live in San Francisco? Well... the good news is that China doesn't really have this kind of counterculture yet. The paranoid life is simpler here. More direct. And much less high-tech.Learning Chinese? The elementary level at Popup Chinese is where we get most of our grammar out-of-the-way, and today's lesson is no exception, focusing on what you'll come to know and love as the continuous aspect: the Chinese way of communicating than an action is ongoing. In this lesson we cover two common ways of doing this and talk about both the similarities and slight differences between these techniques. This is rarely taught in textbooks, but its the sort of thing that separates native speakers from second-language learners, so if you're working towards fluency be sure to give it a listen, and let us know what you think.
Intermediate - Corn Batman
Sep 19, 2012
Show notes
Bruce Wayne surveyed the hospital room where Gordon lay in babbling incoherence. The police commissioner had been delusional since being pulled from the Gotham sewers two days ago. And while the fallen officer could offer no words to explain his predicament, the keen eyes of his guest nonetheless understood. For lying on the table beside him were the remnants of a dinner too much for any man to bear: an untouched slab of beefsteak, a spoonful of mashed potatoes. And then the corn. Two pieces of corn on the cob, gnawed clean to the bone.Learning Chinese? We are working with industry contacts in Hollywood to bring a greater and better vision of The Dark Knight to Chinese cinemas, one with more corn and less Dickens. Shooting a film is a pretty big endeavor, but while we get it off the ground we are pleased to bring a double-header podcast to help share our vision of the film, and drum up support for what we think will be a much more ambitious and literary take on the Batman mythos.
Absolute Beginners - Lost in the Desert
Sep 17, 2012
Show notes
"There's no excuse to find oneself stuck in a desert these days," Philip muttered as he crested another dune. Between satellite positioning systems and cellular phones, it was practically impossible to get disconnected from society at all. So what were they doing trudging through what appeared to be the Sahara desert? The last few days may have been a bit muddled in his mind, but whatever the reason, Philip was pretty sure this was somehow James' fault. Whenever they got into a situation like this it was always James' fault....Learning Chinese? Our lesson today is intended for absolute beginners who are just starting to learn Chinese. This means that even if you don't know any mandarin, you'll still be able to make sense of this dialogue. And by the end of our ten minute lesson, you'll be able to use a simple sentence pattern to say or ask how much more of something is left, whether it be distance or time.
Intermediate - The Ayi Strikes Back
Sep 12, 2012
Show notes
Let us break from the tradition of language instruction and instead offer some practical home-cleaning tips for making the best of your time in China. First, we recommend buying separate mops for the washroom and the rest of your home. Having a third mop dedicated for kitchen use is advisable but not necessary. And don't forget to keep your cleaning rags out of the kitchen, and take care lest they get tossed into the wash with the rest of your clothing. Other than that, living in China is great.
Elementary - The Most Popular Lawyer in Hogtown
Sep 10, 2012
Show notes
After the scandalous acquittal of Nathan Darnell, Jeremy Harvale became one of the more sought-after solicitors in the city, his services in demand by everyone from white-collar criminals to gang leaders and hardened murderers. And while his popularity may not have reflected a vote of confidence in the ethics of the legal profession, it never helped to be too fastidious about morality when hundreds of thousands of dollars and years of personal freedom were on the line.Learning Chinese? Let us confess up-front that today's Elementary lesson is harder than most of the others at this level: our dialogue really pushes the limits of what we consider elementary. What we want you to take away from this show is much simpler though, being an easy way to transform fairly straightforward questions into skeptical expressions of doubt. This is an easy emotional twist that will make you sound a lot more fluent, so if you're learning Chinese, be sure to take a listen and then let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Elementary - Shopping with Naomi Klein
Sep 05, 2012
Show notes
After reading our declaration of solidarity with the workers of the world, Naomi Klein dropped by Popup Towers the other day for a solidarity march to Wangfujing, where we mobilized the masses in protest of oppressive capitalism in general, and the replacement of sensible, logo-free clothing with rhinestone-encrusted t-shirts and pleated stonewashed jeans in particular. And then we went shopping.Learning Chinese? Our elementary Chinese lesson is like most of the others at this level: it features a fast and colloquial dialogue that's representative of the sort of Chinese that is rarely featured in modern textbooks, but is the way people actually speak here in China. So if you haven't created an account at Popup Chinese yet, be sure to signup for a free account and get immediate access to not only this lesson, but our archive of literally thousands of other great shows to pull your Chinese up into fluency.
Intermediate - The French Revolution
Sep 03, 2012
Show notes
Lest there be any doubt to the French protestors who have taken to milling about outside Popup Towers, let it be known that - like Byron - our hearts stand firmly with your people, save in those edge cases where demonstrations of solidarity run up against our inveterate hatred of early-morning calisthenics and other forms of fascist reveille.And what is that mon ami, you are learning Chinese but tired of the oppressive pablum that constitutes most Chinese textbooks? Then shake off your shackles and liberate your mind with a free account here at Popup Chinese. We have well over a thousand shows in our free lesson archive, and you're welcome to listen to them all.
Advanced - Turtle in the Mud
Aug 27, 2012
Show notes
It turns out that our first mistake doing business in China was giving our hosts a gift of dessicated turtle bones wrapped in bamboo and silk. They were polite enough to accept our offering and one of the younger staffers even commented on how well preserved the carapace seemed to be, but we never did get that contract, and they stopped replying to our emails. Chalk it up to cultural differences.This is an advanced show,and it's a bit different from anything we've done to date. While we have a reading here that teaches some of the basics in parsing classical Chinese, our focus is more than just providing a resource for those interested in reading classical Chinese, since we also have the chance to highlight some of the debates that real Chinese people continue to have about traditional Chinese philosophy, and Zhuang Zi in particular.
Absolute Beginners - The Second Vaccination
Aug 23, 2012
Show notes
Learning Chinese? We've already had a few lessons about basic numbers in mandarin, so in today's show we take a step beyond that and talk about ordinals, or how to say that it is your first, second, third or four hundredth time doing something. The rules for doing this are much easier in Chinese than in English, so take a listen and in less than ten minutes you'll be well on your way to the elementary level, at least as far as numbers are concerned.
Elementary - Any Shanghai Restaurants Open Late?
Aug 20, 2012
Show notes
This introduction has zero bearing on our actual lesson, but considering the gravity of the subject matter, if you live in Shanghai please throw us a bone and tell us where on earth people go for late-night dining. The "Eat Drink Man Woman" diner on Tongren Lu used to be a great place with serviceable coffee and 24-hours of nutritious WIFI. But with that shut down it seems the entire city's late-night dining options are restricted to McDonalds, 永和大王 and 避风塘. Say it ain't so.
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