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 - The Advertising Age
May 12, 2009
Show notes
While the usual suspects spend billions on branding campaigns in China, it's often smaller companies with more forceful sales messages that capture our hard-earned yuan. In our lesson for today Popup Chinese is proud to present a short advert for no-name cola that mascarades as instructional dialogue. And for extra inundate-the-listener goodness, we're pleased to introduce our latest jingle too. We hope you like them both.
Elementary - Mother's Day
May 11, 2009
Show notes
Assuming your mother doesn't speak mandarin, our podcast is not going to help you cope with the fallout of having forgotten to call her yesterday. But maybe you also forgot to say something nice to your mother-in-law and your significant other is busy doing damage control. So bear with us here. In this podcast we teach you the easiest way to tell someone you simply forgot. And since that's pretty easy, we also cover the basics of using Chinese prepositions.
Intermediate - Safari
May 05, 2009
Show notes
Harold's obsession with the veldt had become all-consuming. For weeks it had even crept into his dreams, the images so real they would linger after he woke, tinting his waking life with their savage beauty. He could see it now: the wild African grasses, the giraffes, zebras, hippopotami and then the lion, the most majestic game of all. And soon it would all be his. Soon he would be on safari.
Absolute Beginners - Watership Down
May 04, 2009
Show notes
When Hazel returned hours later, he found Fiver, Bigwig and the rest of his lagomorphic comrades shivering in the dew-drenched gulley at meadow's edge. "I've never seen anything quite like it," he finally offered, suddenly aware of exactly how much time had passed since he left to scout out the new warren. "I don't think they're dangerous," he added with a small belch, "although they're not much like the folks back home...."In our podcast for today Popup Chinese offers yet another take on a Western literary classic. In this case we Sinocize Richard Adams' Watership Down. Listen in if you're curious what life is like for Chinese rabbits, or just want to learn how to use simple adjectives in conversation.
Elementary - A Visit to the Dry Cleaners
Apr 30, 2009
Show notes
Dating a fashion designer, or just want your shirt starched? Consider yourself in luck: our lesson for today takes place in a dry cleaning store and goes over all the vocab you'll need to start scintillating conversations about pants with anyone who will listen. Designed for early elementary students, this podcast will teach you how to get your dry cleaning done in mandarin, and share a critical trick you can use to avoid being given someone else's clothing.
Advanced - The Art World
Apr 30, 2009
Show notes
Later this evening we'll be publishing an Elementary podcast that will help some of us figure out how to get our clothes back from the dry cleaners. In the meantime, more advanced students are encouraged to check out our latest advanced listening test. In this short dialogue, learn what happens when art meets commerce, Beijing-style. Listen once, and then test your comprehension by clicking through to our quiz section. The entire dialogue is annotated on our text page in case you need help deciphering it.
Intermediate - The Future Tense
Apr 27, 2009
Show notes
After the Great Internet collapse of 2020, a weary world will turn back to the technology of a simpler age: pneumatic tubes. Large tubes and small tubes will snake across the continents and even unto the depths of the oceans. Information will travel across our world at the speed of compressed air, soaring even to the heavens themselves through a special pneumatic tube China will build to connect earth with its first geosynchronous space colony.Not exactly what you expected of the Future? In this podcast we review five of the most common ways to put your sentences and thoughts in the future tense. Because you can't change the future unless you know how to express it properly. Or maybe you can, but you should still know this stuff by now.
Advanced - Buying a House in Beijing
Apr 26, 2009
Show notes
It's been a while since we've forced our podcasters into the studio for a Chinese-only recording. That drought ends today as our resident Beijing-expert Baifan returns to share news of his decision to purchase a home, a revelation that sparks an in-depth discussion about real estate with Echo and Apple. If you're an advanced student looking for listening practice, join us for a revealing look at the local housing market. Our executive summary: location is key and the best time to purchase may be late this year or early next.
Absolute Beginners - Pinyin Practice: ri
Apr 22, 2009
Show notes
Our podcast for today is the first show in a new series we're launching to teach proper Chinese pronunciation. In these podcasts we will review sounds that many non-native speakers have trouble with, and share some hard-learned tips and tricks on how to make yourself sound more like a native speaker. And our target for this first show is one of the most commonly mispronounced words in the Chinese language.We've intentionally designed this podcast to be short and tightly focused with maximum word and phrase repetition. If you're new to Chinese, we'd encourage you to be an active participant in the recording, and speak along with Echo and Brendan (you will learn faster!). And, as always, we'd love to have your thoughts and feedback on the new show. If you've got ideas on the new show, why not let Echo know what you think by sending her an email at echo@popupchinese.com?
Elementary - Technical Assistance
Apr 20, 2009
Show notes
We've seen things you people wouldn't believe. An infestation of QQ chat programs so thick and furious they set a motherboard on fire, download managers that corrupt all they touch like the grim reapers of the software world. We have seen virii blossom across networks like flowers of death. And if ye still be so foolhardy as to bring your Windows laptop to China knowing this we will just suggest a simple rule: never let anyone else touch it. The taskbar you save may be your own.
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