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Intermediate - Harry Potter #8
Dec 29, 2010
Show notes
Our Chinese lesson for today dredges up memories of that time we bought a copy of The Matrix Reloaded from a DVD vendor on the streets of Beijing. "This is absolutely the real thing," he swore up and down, "it came straight from Shenzhen yesterday...." And so we bought it and soon found ourselves watching a handicam-rip of Johnny Mnemonic with a near-incomprehensible Chinese dub. The scene with the talking dolphin was particularly humiliating for all involved.And while there is unlikely to be another movie as bad as Johnny Mnemonic in the near future, China is in Harry Potter mode again and expectations are high for the final film. Operating under the principle that anything goes in this country, in this podcast we talk a bit about the piracy industry in China, review some Chinese DVD-related vocabulary and share a quick language tip on coded signals you really need to back away from the merchandise.
Absolute Beginners - A Guide to Supportive Parenting
Dec 27, 2010
Show notes
Children need to be nurtured and loved. So be sure to talk to them and ask questions. Show genuine concern and engagement for best results: how was your day; have you been having troubles at school lately; is there anything we should talk about? While this might seem strange behavior at first, in time you will grow accustomed to this sort of conversation and may even be able to engage with your children while mentally occupied elsewhere.While we usually avoid talking about grammar at the absolute beginner level, sometimes there is a dialogue that demands it. This podcast is one of them. It may be a bit tough if you're totally new to Chinese, but it covers a key point that you'll use all the time. So take a listen. And if you have any questions, contact us anytime either via email, or by leaving a comment in our discussion section below.
Intermediate - The Criminal Mastermind
Dec 22, 2010
Show notes
The plan had been executed with military precision. It had taken a mere ten seconds from the first volley of gunfire until the point when the bank customers were under control, huddled on the floor in shock with their hands held over their heads. Another two minutes and the bank vaults were swept clean and the masked men out the door, the entire robbery finished minutes before the police were even aware of it.
Elementary - Getting Out of Bed
Dec 20, 2010
Show notes
Consider this Chinese lesson an intervention. We know it can be rough giving orders to people in China, and it's an open question of whether anyone is even listening, but then consider it from their perspective and imagine how rough it must be to hear pretty much every single foreigner in China mangle the grammar needed to make a simple request. No wonder they want to sleep in.So while we know this Chinese lesson won't apply to most of the old-timers here at Popup Chinese, the rest of you need to pull yourselves into shape and get up to the Intermediate level where we are all natural leaders! So join Echo and Brendan in today's podcast as they cover four key ways to tell others they need to do something, and point out the single-biggest mistake that everyone makes when they're just getting started.
Intermediate - Future X-Cops
Dec 16, 2010
Show notes
When the definitive history of Hong Kong science fiction is finally compiled, we believe there will be one man whose films will soar above those of his contemporaries like a robotic policeman on a computer-generated hoverbike. We speak of course of the incomparable Andy Lau, whose masterpiece "Future X-Cops" is hands down the best Hong Kong science fiction film we have seen in the last few months, if not the last year.While we know that some of you old-timers at Popup Chinese might be dubious about this claim, to you skeptics we have two simple requests: first, prepare for this podcast by getting some popcorn and plunking down to watch the movie trailer we've linked to above; second, keep an open mind throughout this podcast as Echo talks about how delightful Andy Lau made her last birthday and in which a few other points of interest are made for the sake of including some educational content.
Intermediate - The Disease Podcast
Dec 14, 2010
Show notes
We were brainstorming for a catchy title. "Why not call it the disease podcast," Echo suggested walking in the room. And as much of a downer as her suggestion was, it made sense, and brought up an interesting question we are now exploring: just how morbid can we make our Chinese lessons? Is there a limit before we sink into absurdity.That said, we do consider this a useful Chinese lesson. In addition to covering a ton of medical terminology that you'll probably end up using (but hopefully not having), today's podcast also covers three ways to say "from the looks of it", the last of which is virtually guaranteed to win you an international peace prize if you are caught using it within earshot of the Chinese government. So listen up and let us know what you think. We hope you like it.
Absolute Beginners - The Mysterious Woman
Dec 13, 2010
Show notes
The Cold War that had been simmering between our staff for months finally came to a head as Gail put down the phone. "Our Chinese lessons aren't easy enough," she leveled an icy glare at Brendan, who slipped his copy of "Quotations from Mencius" into his knapsack in furtive response. "We need a Chinese lesson that is so dead simple," she continued, "that even someone who can't even find China on a map can learn some of the basics of the Chinese language."And that's how all the fun ended here at Popup Chinese, at least for this lesson. This week we've followed the advice of our "student-friendly" teacher Gail, which means our popular fun-with-Tang-Dynasty-etymology and how-did-the-Manchu-say-that podcast segments are gone, replaced with a highly-repetitive beginner lesson that will teach how you to ask who people are, and learn to understand the answers. This is a very simple lesson for anyone just starting to learn mandarin and looking for an easy way to fluency. So enjoy it while you can. The etymology can wait for another few days.
Elementary - Wall Street II
Dec 07, 2010
Show notes
Our contacts at Maggie's tell us that when Oliver Stone put the finishing touches on the script that would become Wall Street II, he was somewhat drunk and equally distracted by the local nightlife. We're not sure that Zhang Yimou has the same excuse though, which raises the possibility that China and the West have somehow become locked in a game of cultural brinkmanship just to see who will blink first.That said, even if you've been avoiding Chinese cinemas, our focus in today's podcast should still be useful. So join us for a fast-moving dialogue that reveals our underlying despair at the state of the world, but reviews a useful measure word for talking about the number of times you have done something from start to finish. This is a simple but elegant way to add more nuance to your spoken Chinese. We hope it comes in useful.
Intermediate - Mountaineering
Dec 06, 2010
Show notes
Although Captain Thrift's choice of ascents was unorthodox, there was no denying his skill nor the team's spectacular progress. Decisions that might have seemed rash to a more conservative climber paid off time and time again as his small team pulled itself up the sheer cliffs of Mount Rakaposhi in record time. And yet the frenzied pace of their assault was taking an unmistakable physical and mental toll on the team.For who could keep up such a blistering pace? At twenty thousand feet, heavily reliant on oxygen tanks and with a near-vertical climb to the summit scheduled for the next morning, Julie and Chad were on the brink of physical collapse, wishing for nothing more than a quick meal and then plunge into the forgiving arms of sleep.
Intermediate - Unleashing the Cougar
Dec 01, 2010
Show notes
The cougar (a.k.a. catamount, panther or mountain lion) is a large, solitary beast found throughout the Americas. Exhibiting the greatest range of any mammal in the Western Hemisphere, the cougar is fiercely independent and an unmatched predator, stalking smaller beasts for pleasure as much as for food.In our Chinese lesson for today, Echo and Brendan take to the studio with a mission: preventing you from sounding like a confused and distracted high-schooler the next time you want to give someone a compliment. So join us as we cover a number of intermediate adjectives you can call on whenever you want to sound particularly complimentary, or are just tired of calling everything and everyone "good-looking".
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