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.
Intermediate - Chinese Drinking Games
Nov 28, 2011
Show notes
Since there are doubtless schoolchildren reading this, let us paint a picture for you: you've just arrived in China after a series of adventures in Southeast Asia and - hungry after the eight hour cargo flight from Nepal - head out to a local canteen to grab some dinner before heading back to your hotel. You've barely walked in when a small gang of local thugs saunters over to size you up. "A foreigner," the leader smirks, "I guess it's about time to see how much milk your stomach can handle...."Learning Chinese? It doesn't take much experience socializing with almost anyone in China (but perhaps especially northern China) to realize that basically every social event is an opportunity to put this lesson into practice. Birthdays, weddings, and even official work dinners are opportunities for shared dairy consumption with your fellow Chinese friends and coworkers. In this Chinese podcast, we help you figure out what is going on. Just be careful not to die from excessive lactose consumption.
Elementary - Opportunity Knocks
Nov 23, 2011
Show notes
Now that our strategic T-shirt reserves are nearly depleted, we're having to stop with the blatant bribery and lean more towards intimidation and suggestion when it comes to making new friends. Occasionally this means implanting a subliminal message in one of our podcasts, such as - say - encouraging those of you with a bit of spare time to go door to door to help spread word.And on the education front? In addition to covering some useful vocabulary we throw at the kids in our neighborhood whenever they come into sight, our Chinese podcast today covers five critical verbs you can use to describe the act of paying attention to someone or something, or - as is probably more the case - just ignoring them completely. And for bonus points, we'll even teach you the magical phrase you need to tell other people to mind their own business. Life is good.
Absolute Beginners - Get in Line
Nov 14, 2011
Show notes
You know those stories about people lining up for hours at the Mac Store in Palo Alto? Or camping out overnight to get tickets to a movie premiere? Turns out that it doesn't tend to happen in China for a fairly simple reason: waiting in line is still something of a foreign concept in most of the country. We don't know if it's because Chinese people are on average too polite to call out people who cut in line, but as far as many people are concerned, why join the end when you can just gravitate to somewhere down front and eventually push your way in?Learning Chinese? Our Chinese podcast for today is designed for absolute beginners to the Chinese language. Our podcast centers on a dialogue that is fast but fairly short. Following a quick walk-through, Echo and David go on to talk about how to make forceful suggestions in Chinese, the sort of thing you might find useful the next time someone tries to cut into line ahead of you....
Intermediate - The Unsuccessful Journey
Nov 09, 2011
Show notes
Perhaps you've read Tom Friedman's paean to China's high-speed rail technology? Up until the damn things started smashing into each other, China had a fairly successful history of developing high-speed trains. But you don't hear so much about them these days.
Advanced - Donald Trump
Nov 07, 2011
Show notes
When Brendan heard Echo and Sylvia were doing this podcast, he affected the motion of someone rolling over in a grave. But his complaints didn't stop the juggernaut that is this podcast, because despite Trump's bearish and often aggressive comments on China, the rest of us consider his show a must-see guilty pleasure, one that has somewhat amazingly survived replication by hordes of reality television programmers in China.Learning Chinese and new to Popup Chinese? This is an advanced Chinese podcast, so unless you can follow a mandarin-only discussion it is going to be above your level. But if you're an advanced student, and especially if you do business in China or are involved with media take a listen. Our discussion starts with Trump and heads to politics before turning to the dismal state of reality television in China. It's unfeigned, and will give you the inside scoop on what all those Chinese tourists standing outside Trump Tower really know about the man inside.
Elementary - The Marriage of True Minds
Oct 31, 2011
Show notes
Now that you're getting married it's time for a short digression. Assuming you're like most people who've clawed their way to some modicum of Chinese competence through traditional language schools, you've likely been taught that 了 indicates past tense and that 过 indicates past tense too. Oddly, an astounding number of people never get past this. We've even run into intermediate and advanced students with a decent feel for mandarin who can't explain the difference between these two simple particles.So in the spirit of striking a blow for clarity and setting-things-straight-once-and-for-all, this is the lesson where Echo and Brendan wade into the morass of aspectual particles and set things right. So if you've ever been confused by the difference between the two or are just looking for a quick refresher, listen to this free Chinese podcast, and enlightenment will dawn.
Intermediate - Dwarf Net Epoch Park
Oct 25, 2011
Show notes
The containment system had been designed by the greatest minds in the country. Keeping the animals in their pens were twin layers of barbed wire fencing with enough electricity surging through them to stun a herd of elephants. Cognizant of the dangers of reliance on the public grid, the park was powered by an off-grid system with enough reserve battery charge to keep the park operational for a week in the event of national disaster. Practically every potential security weakness had been rigorously guarded against, save for one....
Elementary - The Art of the Paraphrase
Oct 24, 2011
Show notes
If you've spent much time in traditional Chinese classes, you've likely had that moment of frustration shortly after arriving in China when you realize your textbooks have been lying to you, or at least featuring a more Panglossian form of mandarin than seems to be spoken by anyone you've met. And that not only do Chinese people rarely speak in formal prose, but a disappointingly small number seem to spend weekends climbing the Great Wall or exploring tea plantations.We feel your pain, which is why our Chinese podcast for today is about a casual way to answer questions that most textbooks ignore, and some even get factually wrong. This is a common pattern you'll hear people use whenever they want to describe where something is or say where they got it. So if you're learning Chinese, spend ten minutes with us today and by the time we're done, we guarantee your mandarin will sound a lot more natural and genuine than the way you've most likely been speaking it before.
Advanced - The End of the World
Oct 20, 2011
Show notes
Shortly after the tsunamis wiped out the coasts, those inland were blindsided by solar flares, floods, landslides and volcanic eruptions. Within months the sky had blackened and from the pre-crash population only a handful of survivors remained, living mostly in fortified underground bunkers cut off from each other and the outside world. Theirs was a world of terror and crushing loneliness. And this Chinese podcast is their story.
Absolute Beginners - Book Smarts
Oct 18, 2011
Show notes
We know that many of you admire Brendan and Echo for their uncanny ability to make mandarin accessible without reducing it to baby-talk. But what you may not realize is that central to this is a hard-fought policy we created of not letting Brendan discuss Chinese grammar until the Elementary level. And this is more than a matter of keeping things easy: it's a defensive mechanism to prevent our ten minute podcasts from growing into half hour Odysseys which require serious editing work to get useable.That said, there are times when Brendan is right and we've got to just throw some grammar your way. And this podcast is one of those times, because we want to introduce the continuous aspect: how to describe an action that is ongoing in Chinese. But even if you hate grammar, you should listen in because we'll temper the book smarts with the perfect excuse for getting out of conversation. So take a listen. And if you have any questions or comments? Leave a post in our discussion section, or write us anytime at echo@popupchinese.com.
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