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 - Drinks with the In-Laws
Oct 17, 2011
Show notes
Mike's relations with Julie's family had been poor for as long as he could remember, but this evening felt different. Perhaps it was the beer, or perhaps it was discovering how much he had in common with her older brother. But regardless of the cause, as the evening and drinks wore on Michael felt as if a weight had been lifted. While he still might not see eye-to-eye with his new family on politics, at least he was starting to feel like less of an outsider.Learning Chinese? The bad news is that we can't really help you handle your in-laws. Or perhaps we can help you figure out what to call them. And actually being fluent in Chinese might help you handle their deadpan jokes about murdering the foreigner in his sleep. But beyond the basics, you're pretty much on your own. Still... why not take a listen to our latest intermediate Chinese podcast? And be sure to signup for your free account with us if you haven't yet.
Intermediate - The Famous Detective MacGregor
Oct 11, 2011
Show notes
It doesn't take much exposure to Chinese television to realize CCTV's recipe for juicing the ratings of any show: adding mandarin-speaking foreigners. And while we're always happy to see our compatriots getting paid by the Chinese government for a change, we'll be the first to admit that the mandarin fluency of many of our aspiring Western thespians leaves a considerable amount to be desired, at least in terms of communicating more subtle details as character motivations, emotional sincerity and overarching plot.Learning Chinese? In this podcast, join our crew as we walk through the climactic scene from a recent CCTV production featuring everyone's favorite mandarin-speaking Scots detective... as heard by its Chinese audience. And once we're finished with that, keep listening as we offer up a quick cheater's guide to a Chinese genre that's equally impenetrable to the rest of the world. Soon you too can impress your friends with eerie foreknowledge about the plots of Chinese television shows you've never seen before and are unlikely to ever see again.
Absolute Beginners - Casual Greetings in Chinese
Oct 09, 2011
Show notes
What do native Chinese speakers say when they greet each other? You may be surprised to learn it isn't the standard "hello" you'll find taught in most textbooks. And that's why we've devoted this podcast to casual greetings in mandarin. So regardless of whether you're just starting to learn Chinese or have been working towards fluency for a while, join us in this Chinese podcast as we cover the language native Chinese speakers actually use when they want to say hello.
Elementary - Emergency Evacuation
Oct 05, 2011
Show notes
The arrival of the National Guard had done little to turn the tide at Wilmer Creek, where an unrelenting onslaught by the undead had pitched friend against friend, and neighbour against reanimated neighbour in a frenetic battle for control of the town. But even as the military struggled to reassure citizens that the situation was under control, a fresh offensive broke through the downtown blockade and routed the defense forces. It was time to evacuate.Note: this Chinese podcast is all about prepositions in Chinese. Now since it's a bit hard to make this sort of thing sound sexy all by itself, just imagine yourself on a yacht in the Mediterranean surrounded by twenty or so of the most attractive linguists you can picture, all of whom are desperate for factually accurate information about Chinese grammar. Now picture yourself casually dropping the word "coverb" into this volatile mix and knowing what it means....
Advanced - CCTV Sports Network
Oct 04, 2011
Show notes
The Chairman of CCTV Sports threw the latest ratings report on his desk with a sense of frustration. Despite the enormous sums CCTV was investing in live sports coverage, none of their events seemed to be resonating with mainstream Chinese audience. And while it was true the domestic sports market was still immature, the lack of any traction among male sports fans was a real problem for the program. Now was clearly the time for a change in approach to the network's sports coverage, but what were the options?Note: if you're listening to our advanced shows you should already speak relatively fluently and be looking for a challenge, which is why we've pushed today's advanced listening to unprecedented levels of difficulty. More than a native-level conversation, this listening test features rapid-fire mandarin sportscasting that is almost like the real thing, except for... well... we'll let you figure that out. So take a listen, and good luck on the test.
Elementary - Mid-Autumn Depression
Oct 03, 2011
Show notes
Wang Ziqian contemplated the ceiling from within his cocoon of self-imposed isolation. For the past week our voice actor had remained in his room, substituting regular work for sleep, sleep and more sleep. And the more he withdrew from the world, the stronger his urge to continue doing so. In fact, why not simply spend the rest of his life in bed? Even a week in this seemed by far preferable to leaving the comfort of his room.Learning Chinese? We'll admit that this is probably the wrong week to have a podcast about inclement weather, given that either nature or the cloud-seeding arm of the Beijing municipal government has given us fantastic weather for the National Day holidays. But no matter! And in addition to complaints about the weather, we're also going to cover a critical grammar point about how to talk about the duration of events in both positive and negative sentences. This is essential knowledge for anyone learning Chinese, so if you're working towards fluency be sure to listen.
Intermediate - Doctor Himmel's Laboratory
Sep 28, 2011
Show notes
The opening door spilled the children into the musty atmosphere of an underground research laboratory. Myriad scientific tracts with names like "Principles of Rocketry" and "Race for the Atom" filled the shelves, packed tightly between strange tanks and tubes filled with oddly-colored liquids. And yet what caught both of their eyes was something more sinister: an old newspaper spread open on the central worktable, a steel dagger plunged in anger through the dated headline.Learning Chinese? Mandarin may not have been a critical asset in 1945, but the world is changing and who knows where danger will rear its head next. So if you've already pushed your mandarin to the conversational level, listen to our intermediate Chinese podcast for today, which will get you to the point where you too can thwart renegade threats to international peace and stability, not to mention deal with the more eccentric members of your family.
Absolute Beginners - Impromptu Home Renovation
Sep 26, 2011
Show notes
Hank had spent the morning preparing for their evening dinner party. And while the dining room had definitely improved from his attention, the living room was perhaps slightly the worse for it. For while the odds of one of their guests fatally tripping over the missing floorboard was quite small, it was admittedly greater than zero. Which was why Hank decided it was time for a trip to the hardware store. If he was lucky he could get everything fixed before anyone noticed the four foot gap.Learning Chinese? Our Chinese podcast for today is designed for absolute beginners to the Chinese language. So even if you've never spoken a word of mandarin before, we know you'll feel comfortable listening to our latest radio show. And by the time you're done? You'll be fluent enough to ward off all those pesky inquiries from friends and family concerned about the hardware bills and all that time you've been spending in the basement.
Intermediate - The Dinner Party
Sep 21, 2011
Show notes
Rachael wondered what she could possibly bring as a gift to the dinner party. When her ex-roommate had left the United States several years ago no-one could have predicted that living abroad would change her so completely. Yet now that Sylvia had returned home, her lifestyle and tastes were so different from what they had previously been that even her closest friends like Rachael felt baffled by the transformation. Reflecting on the difficulty of picking gifts for an enigma, Rachael decided that the safest gift was probably a simple bottle of wine.Learning Chinese? The first thing you'll realize about our intermediate Chinese podcast for today is that it features one of the longest dialogues we've done at this level. That said, while the conversation is fast and moves quickly, it's otherwise fairly representative of the difficulty level you'll find at in our intermediate Chinese lessons. So if you're new to Popup Chinese and have a year or two of mandarin under your belt check this out and see how much you understand. And if it's too easy or too difficult for you, just visit our Chinese lesson archive and find something more your level.
Elementary - Running with Scissors
Sep 19, 2011
Show notes
Zoe bit her lip and watched the clock. It had now been forty minutes since her boyfriend disappeared uptown to fetch art supplies, and with him stuck in traffic on the way back each minute that passed was progressively unbearable. As the minute hand swept past the four o'clock mark, she realized it was now less than an hour before the courier would stop accepting overnight shipments. And with a giant stack of paper that still required swift cutting before she could send off her art project, time was of the absolute essence....
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