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 - The Sauce
Mar 09, 2011
Show notes
If you've just stumbled up from our Chinese lessons for absolute beginners and have emerged blinking and stunned into the light of our elementary series... this is probably not the podcast for you. Mostly because it's tough, although possibly also because of the bad memories it might dredge up of your best friend's BBQ party in grade three.That said, if you feel up for a challenge and are working to push your way towards the Intermediate level, you'll find this Chinese lesson well worth your time. In addition to a very natural and fast-paced dialogue, we've got two grammar points that are actually pretty subtle, all about minor changes you can make to sentence patterns you already know to change the emotion you're communicating. This is the sort of Chinese that will help you move from just speaking Chinese to actually communicating in it. Good luck!
Absolute Beginners - Ordering Pizza
Mar 07, 2011
Show notes
If you ask most foreigners for random trivia about Tianjin, they'll probably mention the foreign concessions, or Herbert Hoover fighting in the streets during the Boxer Rebellion, or the pivotal role the city played in the student protests during the May Fourth Movement. What you won't hear is anyone rave about the pizza....So let's note that if you've stumbled into Tianjin and are looking for a nice place to have lunch, this lesson is going to be totally useless to you unless you've "gone native" and have a thing for fruit and pak-choi smothered in a loving serving of ketchup and served up on toast. We give the city full points for trying, but you should probably hold off on practicing this vocab until you're in either Beijing or Shanghai, where it will come in really useful.
Elementary - Anyone Seen My Boyfriend?
Mar 03, 2011
Show notes
You have to be kidding me, baby! I couldn't have even started to imagine that you two were an item. I mean... the matching clothing is sort of strange now that you mention it, but it isn't exactly out there for two friends to own the same Alanis Morissette hoodie. Just think about it - you only need ten people in the same room before there's a seventy percent chance two of them share the same birthday. I read that on the Internet.Learning Chinese? Let's just be honest and admit that there are some situations in which expressing disbelief in English can be convoluted and difficult. Fortunately, these are exactly the times you need to switch to Chinese, where adding a single word to the start of any sentence is all that's required to throw reasonable doubt on even the most incontrovertible facts.
Intermediate - A National Crisis
Mar 01, 2011
Show notes
Zhongnanhai's natural beauty was little comfort to Luo Heping, a mid-level cadre whose thoughts for the past month had involved only the disaster playing out before him in slow motion. For despite the ambitious projections in the latest Five Year Plan, all evidence suggested provincial statistics were over-inflated and actual production was stagnant. Which made it likely that soon... very soon... China would hit a breaking point that might threaten the very existence of the state.Learning Chinese? If you're able to follow most conversations, but still get lost on occasion watching television and listening to the radio then our intermediate podcasts are right for you. At this difficulty level we focus on broadening vocabulary and mastering more advanced grammar structures you won't hear every day. Students looking for easier lessons are encouraged to check out our archives of beginner and elementary Chinese lessons.
Advanced - Weight-Loss in China
Feb 24, 2011
Show notes
"Maybe life in college was a bit... excessive," Yue Yue recalls. And so begins our lurid expose of weight loss practices in China. If you're an advanced speaker looking for native-speed listening practice, join Gail and her friends today as they take to our studio to talk about what has and has not worked for them in the past. This is the podcast for anyone working to break into the Chinese media business or just just feeling bloated after a successful New Years!
Intermediate - Lead Poisoning
Feb 22, 2011
Show notes
Remember that time your assistant plagiarized his report straight off the Internet and then stared at you uncomprehendingly when told this was unprofessional? Then there are the people who interrupt private conversations between you and your friends to ask them if you can understand Chinese (since it sounds like they're speaking to you in Chinese). Or consider the cab drivers we've had who have gotten lost while trying to find Tiananmen Square. Or pretty much the entire population of Shanghai....After a certain amount of time in China, you'll get inured to people behaving illogically. But if you find yourself wondering whether you're going crazy in the meantime, we're here to report that your sanity is probably still intact. Chances are you're just coming into contact with the consequences of widespread environmental problems. And beyond the language mentioned in this podcast, our best advice for dealing with it is to keep your guard up and don't live on the ground floor....
Absolute Beginners - Memories of Echo's Childhood
Feb 16, 2011
Show notes
The consensus among Echo's peers was that grade one was the worst for everyone involved: the students, the teachers and the janitorial staff. So while a lot of people romanticize the Chinese education system, this lesson is our way of encouraging everyone to loosen up a bit. Because when you have to go....Learning Chinese? Although we've been producing Chinese lessons for over two years now, it came as a shock when we realized we hadn't actually done a lesson on common classroom words and phrases. The language that you'll hear and use in the classroom starting from your first class. Which is the reason for this podcast. If you're starting to learn Chinese in a traditional classroom, take a listen and pick up some critical vocabulary you can use to make yourself understood to the teacher, not to mention demand periodic access to restroom facilities.
Elementary - Back to Work
Feb 12, 2011
Show notes
We hate to break the news, but your Chinese teachers have been lying to you. And not just one of them, but the entire teaching establishment from Professor Wang down. You see, remember in freshman year when your teacher told you to negate verbs in Chinese by sticking 不 in front of them in the present tense and 没 in front of them in the past tense. They may have been following orders, but they left something out. Something sinister and unpredictable and crazy....Today is the day this conspiracy ends, as we break the silence with a lesson on one of the most bizarre verbs to grace the Chinese language. Because - yes - there is actually a verb out there you can negate with 没 in the present tense and 不 in the past tense (or vice versa). And once you know? We encourage you to be insufferably pedantic and bring this up every chance you get.
Intermediate - Buried in the Garden
Feb 09, 2011
Show notes
Before we get to our Chinese lesson for today, let us admit that it differs from its predecessors in one important way. Put simply, in response to the rising cost of bread and air in Beijing, our engineering team has been forced to make minor changes to our recording format which lower expenses while increasing staff efficiency. These changes are subtle and should not be noticeable to most listeners.With that out of the way, what can be said about this lesson that the word "masterpiece" fails to cover? In addition to a native-level dialogue filled with suspense, this podcast contains exactly the sort of advanced language point that will have native Chinese speakers scrambling over themselves in praise of your eloquence. So listen up for a podcast drenched with sex, murder and one of the only Chinese adverbs you can use to start a sentence....
Elementary - The Northeastern Girl
Feb 02, 2011
Show notes
We know a lot of you love Northeastern China. Harbin is a great city, and we've heard excellent things about Shenyang too. So let's balance our dialogue right up front by admitting all the benefits the area has to offer: some of the best food and most open-hearted people in China. That said, they do speak funny sometimes....Our dialogue today is short and totally unscripted. It's not a story or scene so much as an outtake. But it's also a good launching point for talking a bit about the stereotypical northeastern accent. This is a podcast about how emphasizing particular words can change the way you're perceived, and also about a common verb complement you can use to add a sense of urgency and surprise to your sentences.
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