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.
Absolute Beginners - Middle-Child Syndrome
Feb 17, 2012
Show notes
Until the age of five, Simon had never known misery, his life being a series of happy discoveries, as the young boy discovered in turn the pleasures of self-locomotion, the power of speech, and eventually the joy of socializing with a group of well-adjusted peers in the local kindergarten. And yet these good times were not to last, as events beyond his control conspired to end this idyllic period of this life.Learning Chinese? Our Chinese podcast today is for absolute beginners to mandarin. In it we cover some useful words and phrases for talking to children, and learn the basics of how to make simple sentences using adjectives. By the end of this ten minute show, you'll also know how to use simple possessives to say that something is yours, or his, or hers.
Intermediate - The Satellite Conspiracy
Feb 14, 2012
Show notes
Although his vision was still clouded by the drugs in his system, James had enough sense to know he was in a scientific laboratory of sorts, or perhaps a telecommunications center. The distinct hum of an industrial-grade ventilation system and lack of any natural light suggested a deep subterranean lair or perhaps military-grade bunker. Yet it was not until his head began to clear and the room came into focus that the true peril of his situation became menacingly clear.
Elementary - The Great Wall of Music
Feb 07, 2012
Show notes
We're developing a conspiracy theory that the Great Wall was really designed to act as a two-way non-permeable culture membrane. Because while it manages to keep an enormous amount of foreign music from getting into China, it also tends to trap what little amount trickles in, amplifying seemingly random musicians into Asian megastars and ricocheting their work around the country until it pervades everything from banking telephone hotlines to railways to practically every handheld device with an audio-out function.
Absolute Beginners - The Beijing Accent and Standard Mandarin
Feb 01, 2012
Show notes
It's probably the biggest source of misinformation out there about the Chinese language, so today Echo and David take to our studio to chat about what exactly constitutes the difference between standard mandarin and the Beijing dialect. If you're totally new to Chinese, you can use this show to practice some key words in a way that will help you come across like a native speaker. And if you're a more advanced beginner, we also have some real Beijing slang in here we encourage you to throw into conversation to bewilder and amaze your landlords, friends and neighbors.Learning Chinese? Our podcast today is designed for absolute beginners to the Chinese language. What that means here at Popup Chinese is that even if you don't know any Chinese, you should find most of the materials covered totally accessible. We keep our discussion to high-frequency vocabulary, practice using words and phrases that you're actually going to use, and don't get into overly-complicated explanations that distract from having you talking in Chinese right away. So take a listen, and if you like what you hear, be sure to signup for a free account for much, much more.
Elementary - A Matter of Food Security
Jan 25, 2012
Show notes
It felt as though the household was passing through some horrible wartime rationing. Once a daily luxury, the mid-afternoon milking had become at first irregular before fading to an almost complete absence. Conferring on the crisis from the comfort of the third floor sun deck, Edmund and Susan decided that the time had passed for inaction. If they were not to live at the mercy of others for their basic food security, it would be necessary to root out their own reserves, however problematic that might be without opposable thumbs.Learning Chinese? Our elementary Chinese lesson for today covers the most native way Chinese people ask exasperated rhetorical questions, so that you can sound as world-weary as everyone else. Also in the mix: how to complain about Beijing's air quality and traffic problems and a cultural note on why no-one has their phones stolen in China. So if you're learning Chinese or just learning to get by in China, listen to our show and let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Intermediate - A Perversion of Justice
Jan 23, 2012
Show notes
It had been particularly dark that evening, which lent some credence to the claims of the parking lot attendants not to have seen the actual killing. But while the evidence against the main suspect was admittedly circumstantial, the drive to secure a conviction was shared at all levels of government, with it being quite clear to those in power that whoever killed Andrei Prodan had not only an uncommon viciousness, but a fundamental disregard for the institutions of public governance itself.
Intermediate - The Ultimatum
Jan 18, 2012
Show notes
The sales report was taking longer than Xiao Hong expected, which was surprising considering that sales were down two hundred percent in the quarter and there wasn't actually that much to write-up. Yet the document weighed on his mind, clouding his mid-morning QQ chats and distracting him during his pre-lunch sales meeting. Fortunately, the prospect of lunch with an old friend promised at least a brief respite from the dark clouds of work left undone.Learning Chinese? The stark terror the Chinese labor force seems to install in workers abroad is lost on us, if only because our limited experience suggests that not a terrible amount of work gets done in large Chinese organizations and nepotism rather than meritocracy is the overarching organizational principle. That said, in the event you've hired someone like this or are underpaid for the work you do, you should find this podcast useful: it's all about giving ultimatums in Chinese.
Advanced - Impressions of Sichuan
Jan 16, 2012
Show notes
Our collective vote for the most incomprehensible Chinese we've ever heard still goes to whatever that farmer selling miniature Terracotta statues was speaking the day we stopped by Qin Shihuang's tomb in Xi'an. And compared to that, the Sichuanese accent is delightful and funny and amazingly comprehensible. And it's actually so very *almost* mandarin that - had history turned but slightly differently in 1955 - we would all be speaking it today.Learning Chinese? Our advanced shows at Popup Chinese are entirely in native level Chinese. So you should be fluent at communicative Chinese if you hope to make much sense of them. And our show this time is all about the Sichuanese accent. We had a good time recording this show, so if you're looking to pass yourself off as a southwesterner or just want to pick up some Sichuanese slang to impress or confuse the relatives, take a listen. We hope you enjoy the show.
Absolute Beginners - A Trip to the Gym
Jan 11, 2012
Show notes
Surrounded by an objectively unpleasant mass of grunting, sweating fleshcakes, Hank's body resented his mind for its foolish attempt to impose such Spartan discipline on them both. And to have the gall to disguise it as self-improvement? Gone indeed were the halcyon days of 2011 with its late nights at the pub and mid-morning breakfasts, replaced with this daily hell of early-morning suffering and pain.Learning Chinese? Even if you're as generally slothful as some of us you'll still be able to get quite a bit out of this mandarin lesson for absolute beginners to the Chinese language. The reason is that while our dialogue centers around generally athletic behavior, what we focus on linguistically is talking about taking turns, and this is remarkably useful language regardless of whether you're pushing your body to the limits at a health club, or just buying another round of drinks for some friends.
Advanced - Horrors of the Chinese Rail System
Jan 09, 2012
Show notes
Now that Chinese New Years is barreling down on us like a t-shirt salesperson at the Great Wall, the thoughts of pretty much everyone throughout China are turning to the obvious question of the holidays: how on earth to get home. If you've ever experienced traveling during what the locals euphemistically refer to as the "Golden Week", you'll know what this involves. And if you've been lucky enough to avoid the spectacle, let our Chinese podcast for today provide the horrifying illumination.Learning Chinese? Our Chinese podcast for today isn't a lesson so much as a discussion aimed to provide advanced conversational listening practice. In the studio with Echo today are Gao and Tan, two younger actors on the Beijing scene who face the unpleasant prospect of figuring out how to get home. At least they're not from Xinjiang.
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