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 - Just this one....
Nov 29, 2010
Show notes
On entering the Chinese bazaar, Jake had been intent on purchasing a t-shirt, or perhaps a long-sleeved shirt. He had wanted something adorned with Chinese characters to commemorate his trip. Which raised the question of how exactly he had ended up in this state: arms stretched full of imitation Prada bags, Timberland jackets and pashmina shawls and his wallet considerably lighter than when he left the hotel.Suffice it to say that learning how to say no is an important skill in China. There are a few ways of accomplishing this though, and in today's Chinese lesson we cover one of the less obvious. Instead of just coming right out with a refusal, we teach you to emphasize only the item you want. "It's this one," you'll say, "exactly this one." This is a polite way to control the conversation while making sure you're understood. And it can come in especially useful when you're shopping. Good luck!
Elementary - Schrodinger's Home
Nov 24, 2010
Show notes
Our dialogue in this lesson is much easier than the quantum theory of superposition. It's so easy we almost made this an Absolute Beginner lesson in fact, save for that very last line. So if you're an Elementary student consider today's lesson a brief respite from our usual regime of grueling lessons designed to separate you from your sanity.
Elementary - Encino Man meets American Pie
Nov 22, 2010
Show notes
A lot of people learning Chinese develop the mistaken impression that the language has developed in isolation from other major world languages. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. As with our dialogue for today, the Chinese language borrows freely from wherever it can find inspiration. So join Brendan and Echo for a podcast that reviews a few Chinese loanwords you already know, and explains the origins of some you may never have suspected. And - yes - also stars Brendan Fraser.
Intermediate - Raising a Pirate Crew
Nov 18, 2010
Show notes
Raising a pirate crew in China is harder than you think. Despite the allure of life on the high seas, many Chinese workers now forgo seafaring opportunities that fail to provide unemployment insurance and other social benefits. While many adventurers have thus drifted into more clerical work, there remains a group of the chronically underemployed that are still willing to work long hours for low pay and zero benefits. In our Intermediate Chinese lesson for today, we share tips on how to motivate these souls for a life of adventure. Also... the future aspect.
Intermediate - The Spanish Main
Nov 16, 2010
Show notes
Jack tilted his face upwards to savor the warm rays of the setting sun. For the past year, the most dreaded pirate in all of the Caribbean had struggled to find his way back to this desolate place, a small island reef hidden deep in the Spanish Main. A year had passed since Jack had been forced to bury his plunder here after a pitched sea battle with the Spanish Navy that had decimated his crew and forced him to flee for safety in his fastest corsair.And his return had been far from easy. Jack had spent months trapped in the summer doldrums, and then months more cut by frigid winter gales as coal supplies fell low and murmurs of mutiny spread through his crew. And yet here he stood at last - vindicated - with only a few feet of sand between him and the greatest cache of pirate gold that ever was and evermore will be.
Advanced - Pet Ownership in China
Nov 14, 2010
Show notes
Echo was pretty sure she was a dog person, and still insists she's going to raise a Golden Lab someday ("and the larger the better"). But her animosity to cats crumbled when Squeak showed up, and wormed his way into her affections with a prolonged licking session. Gail - on the other hand - has always been something of a cat person. So it isn't a surprise she's raising one either. Or that they settled on this topic for today's podcast.If you're capable of listening to Chinese at native speed and have a thing for cats too, join us in this Chinese podcast for advanced listeners. In it, Echo and Gail talk about their experiences as cat owners in Beijing. And on a side topic, this editor will admit to being impressed that cats in Beijing know how to play fetch and seem to enjoy it immensely. We're not sure if this is a sign of end times, but consider yourself warned.
Absolute Beginners - What Time Is It?
Nov 10, 2010
Show notes
There are two kinds of people for whom this lesson is overkill: those of you who have watches you check regularly, and those of you who are relatively punctual by nature. For the rest of us, it's useful to be able to find out what time it is in China. And so in this lesson we focus on learning how to ask this question in Chinese. We'll leave perfecting the look of stunned amazement you'll offer on hearing you're late up to you.Want more? In addition to learning how to ask what time it is, this Chinese podcast also covers a few simple numbers so that you can understand the answer you get. We also touch briefly on why the past tense is not always the past tense.
Elementary - Feeling Thirsty?
Nov 09, 2010
Show notes
Henry was certain the locals didn't like him. There wasn't anything specific that gave him this impression, just the lingering feeling he had been under constant and malevolent surveillance since arriving in China. At his hotel, the desk clerk was always a bit too effusive in greeting, as if calling attention to his arrival, while the hotel porter would always be fumbling around in the hallway whenever he entered or left his room. The maid service ran with military efficiency. And then there were the taxi drivers....Even walking down streets alone, Henry would feel himself being watched. The merchants would be polite enough to his face, but he'd turn around occasionally to find several them staring at him with expressions of curious distaste. Whatever the cause of this, Henry promised himself this was the last time he would ever vacation in Sanya.
Intermediate - Upholding Community Standards
Nov 03, 2010
Show notes
At Popup Chinese, we're keenly aware of our responsibility for upholding community standards. And we're animal lovers too. Which is why if you're an intermediate student learning Chinese you can't go wrong by listening to this podcast. In it, we cover some essential vocabulary for extracting things from your pets, along with a more advanced adverb that you can use to add a sense of righteousness to the entire endeavor.
Elementary - Pirate Jack
Nov 01, 2010
Show notes
Back when we were in college, no-one thought twice about Jack's accent or the beady glint in his eye. The pre-med students kept pretty much to themselves anyway, and were considered an insular lot by the rest of us. Looking back, the only sign something was really different about Jack might have been the time he and a few resident neurologists destroyed a local pub which refused to serve them rum. So... I suppose you can say I'm a bit surprised by what Jack's made of himself.In this Chinese lesson, we bring a taste of the high seas to Popup Chinese. So hail all scurvy knaves, because this lesson has all the mandarin ye be needing to sack and pillage your way through the South China Seas. In additional a healthy dose of high frequency pirate vocab, this lesson also introduces a Chinese grammar point that will help you express surprise and amazement at the perils of a life on the sea.
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