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 - A Late Night in the Studio
Apr 20, 2010
Show notes
We usually hold our Chinese recording sessions on Wednesday evenings. Most of them go pretty smoothly, and even accounting for 9527's periodic laughter flame-outs, recording times have tended downwards over the last year or so. That said, there are always exceptions to a trend and this lesson is all about one of them. We started recording this lesson at seven o'clock in the evening and didn't finish until nearly midnight. Listen up and you'll know who to blame.Warning: there's some Chinese profanity in this lesson. This language isn't considered particularly strong by northern standards, but you'll raise eyebrows if you actively use this stuff further south. So use this language at your discretion, and don't be afraid to mutter.
Absolute Beginners - Office Pleasantries
Apr 19, 2010
Show notes
The infamously reclusive Teddy Wang, tycoon of the Orient and Time Magazine's "China Entrepreneur" five years running, had fallen into seclusion. From his estate on one of the outlying Hong Kong islands, the dashing young businessman had taken to conducting business exclusively through his timid assistant Roger, a meekrat of a man who spent his days shuffling papers for the reclusive industrial magnate. And yet despite their mutual dependence no-one had ever seen the two of them together at the same time....Join us in today's Chinese lesson as we cover a few useful phrases and pleasantries you can use right away in business meetings. Even if you can't conduct a whole meeting in Chinese (yet), once you're done with this lesson you'll know how to give face to your Chinese guest by inviting them to come in and sit down. We've also enabled our Speaking Practice hotline for this lesson, so if you're a premium subscriber don't forget to give us a call and get one-on-one feedback on your pronunciation.
Intermediate - The Family Secret
Apr 13, 2010
Show notes
It had taken months of therapy for the patient to share her innermost secret. "You were right to come here," the psychiatrist said as they shared the breakthrough, "and I long suspected that your problem was related to your father." The doctor then paused, pen frozen in mid-air above a black leather notebook. "Of course," she added at last, "at least your case isn't as bad as that of my last patient...."Are you an intermediate mandarin student? Join us in this podcast for a Chinese lesson all about the shameful secrets that can break family relationships. In addition to a fast-moving and entertaining dialogue, this lesson also teaches the difference between two conjunctions with almost identical meanings, but slightly different emotional weights. Learn to use them correctly and you'll impress the hell out of your psychiatrist, we promise.
Elementary - Have another cup of coffee?
Apr 11, 2010
Show notes
Symptoms of excessive caffeine intake include restlessness, insomnia, gastrointestinal discomfort, cardiac arrhythmia and random muscle twitching. Yet insufficient caffeine intake leads directly to mental and physical sluggishness, and is strongly correlated with a tendency among staff to miss project deadlines and blow sales leads.Employers in the United States typically walk this fine line by promoting self-medication through free soda kitchens. As staff in China are rarely accustomed to this sort of perk, once you've begun hiring you will need to be more proactive about medicating your employees. But how aggressive should you be? Is the drip really necessary? Join us in this podcast as we share some more subtle techniques we use at Popup Chinese to keep staff working far longer than is reasonable without the need for constant injections.
Advanced - The Warehouse Scene
Apr 06, 2010
Show notes
Our lesson for today is an advanced listening test. And while it's quite difficult, if you've seen Reservoir Dogs, the setup should be familiar. Minutes after a botched and bloddy robbery, the gang regroups in an abandoned warehouse outside town. But who is responsible for the carnage, and how do their tensions play out? Find out the answers in our action-packed listening test for today. Just listen to our test recording a single time and then head over to our quiz section to test your comprehension.
Elementary - You know why I like Popup Chinese?
Apr 05, 2010
Show notes
We love our staff and they love us too (especially the children, bless their souls). Which is why we were mystified when the Labor Relations Board approached us with outrageous allegations of unpaid overtime and that old story about us locking staff in the studio while we retreated to our executive yacht. It was lunch people... everyone is supposed to go out for lunch!In any event, seeing that the government has formally launched an investigation into human rights abuses in the construction of our new office space, we've decided to go on a public relations offensive. And we're starting with this podcast, in which we showcase some of the best and brightest actors in the Beijing arts scene going on the record about why they love working for us. And we didn't even have to script this! Hot damn this is good stuff.
Absolute Beginners - Who Stole My Subtitles
Apr 01, 2010
Show notes
This is not a lesson about the disappointment we felt on buying a copy of The Matrix Reloaded at our local DVD store back in 2003 only to end up watching a pirated copy of Johnny Mnemonic (the dolphin scene was especially excruciating the second time around). But it's pretty close. Because sometimes you'll find a good movie, only to find it completely unwatchable because the subtitles are all in Russian.So our Chinese lesson for today is about living with disappointment, but only in part. It's also about learning different ways to ask simple questions, so if you're sick of ending every question with the sound "ma", you're going to love what we do today. So go ahead and make some popcorn and hit play. You'll be an elementary student in no-time, and will have some popcorn in the meanwhile. Try doing that in a physical classroom.
Elementary - The Chinese Earthquake
Mar 30, 2010
Show notes
We asked for an elementary lesson filled with drama and terror. "Picture yourselves at the epicenter of a massive earthquake," David requested. "Give us something with tension and danger," Echo added, "with lots of buildings shaking and all that jazz." Our voice actors nodded gravely. Then they gave us this....
Intermediate - The Young Inventor, Part II
Mar 29, 2010
Show notes
After your son has pumped five hundred volts of current through your chest, it may be time for a little parental intervention. Is it really necessary for him to replicate the work of Nicolas Tesla in your family basement? As our own parents repeatedly reminded us growing up: high-energy experiments belong in the classroom, not the bedroom.If you're an intermediate student in the Chinese language, join us for this lesson in the mysteries of science. In addition to a pro-science dialogue dedicated to Nicolas Tesla, this lesson reviews common units of measurement and how to use them in Chinese sentences. This is critical vocabulary to know regardless of whether you are conducting wireless electricity, building secret underwater laboratories, or simply reanimating dead lab assistants.
Intermediate - The Young Inventor
Mar 25, 2010
Show notes
Our forays into the hard sciences have been mercifully brief to date, a phenomenon caused partly by fear and partly by memories of high school chemistry class. In today's Chinese lesson we delve more deeply into the natural sciences though with a Chinese lesson about key warning signs that someone you love may be considering a career in them. In addition to some life-saving tips on intervening, we also teach a number of Chinese words that are useful for describing industrial accidents.The dialogue in this lesson is a bit on the easier side of our other Intermediate materials, but our vocabulary and sample sentences make up for this in difficulty. If you're an intermediate learner, we think you'll enjoy this podcast. So join us and be sure to let us know what you think by leaving a comment on the site or writing Echo anytime at echo@popupchinese.com.
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