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 - The Gossip Mongers
Apr 17, 2013
Show notes
Our new Ayi is great, except for her propensity to gossip. We'll tell her things like what we had for breakfast or how much sleep we got the night before, and the next thing you know she's shared that on Weibo and Facebook and then we're getting inbound telephone calls from strangers in Henan with occasionally useful but somewhat overfamiliar advice. Truth be told, we're not sure exactly how to deal with it, since she does a really good job otherwise.Learning Chinese? In this lesson, we cover an incredibly useful expression that is unfairly ignored by textbooks worldwide. And in the process, we try to illustrate one of the nicest things about learning mandarin: the looser grammatical structure makes many Chinese expressions more flexible and universally applicable than their English counterparts.
Advanced - Richard III
Apr 15, 2013
Show notes
People often ask us how we get such great voice acting, as if there were a secret we could simply put into words. Whereas the truth is that acting is a form of Zen, and it takes years to develop a sensitivity to the art. For us a key part was spending our formative years at the Central Academy of Drama. And as much as it pains us to admit now that we are trained thespians, we'd never even heard of the Bard before attending that venerable institute. In those days, as our teachers would often tell us, truly we were green as lettuce.Learning Chinese? This lesson is mostly just fun listening practice, but if you're looking for a challenging way to build from it, spend a few minutes on our associated vocabulary list and quiz, which will test you on how well you can recognize famous quotes from Shakespeare... translated into Chinese. This ends up being harder than you think, although it may help to note that we've only used one selection per play.
Elementary - To Catch a Thief
Apr 02, 2013
Show notes
When Detective Smith started his slow climb up the professional ladder, his unorthodox crime-fighting techniques and obsession with furniture made him a laughingstock to the local criminal underclass, as well as many of his more conventional colleagues. Yet his persistent and creative efforts to clean up the city would eventually earn him the grudging admiration of even his most vocal foe, and lead to a sea change in policing techniques nationwide.Learning Chinese? This is among the more difficult of our Elementary lessons, but if you're working towards understanding television and radio in China you should find it useful: the conversation is natural and reflects the sort of Chinese you'll hear every day in real media. So give it a listen and let us know what you think by email at service@popupchinese.com or in the comments section below.
Advanced - Leaving Beijing
Mar 25, 2013
Show notes
If this show is a bit introspective, that's because the "at what cost" question has been a recurring theme of late in our conversations with colleagues and friends. For some the decision to move on is about money and lifestyle, while for others it is just time to do something different. What do we think about this? What do you think about this? If you understand native-level Chinese and are looking for listening practice, why not join us for this advanced show and let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Intermediate - Brownie Cake
Mar 18, 2013
Show notes
Factional alliances had been coalescing for months, for as the availability of work narrowed, it was obvious to all that sacrifices would simply have to be made. And so it was that Popup Towers became a place of whispers and sideways glances among the voice acting team, as a hundred secret alliances blossomed and then withered overnight. And then there was the baking....Learning Chinese? At the Intermediate level we try to present genuine Chinese dialogues prepared and presented without concerns over reducing the difficulty or sculpting the language spoken to make it easier for beginners. This means you get fully natural Chinese passages in speed, tempo as well as emotion. And once you can follow along at this level, you should be ready to step up to both native media as well as our more advanced shows.
Elementary - Under Pressure
Mar 11, 2013
Show notes
It's been an adjustment having a new roommate here at Popup Towers. We chat a bit at breakfast and dinner, but he mostly keeps to himself, working and studying in his room rather than the common areas. But it isn't like he's a social recluse or anything. Far from it. He has plans to go far, as we know all too well.
Advanced - Beijing Air Pollution
Mar 05, 2013
Show notes
Our advanced podcast for today is a show Echo and Sylvia recorded about the air pollution in Beijing. What's it like living in a city where you can't breathe? How do Chinese people cope and what are people doing to solve the problem or deal with it? If you're an advanced Chinese student looking for some upper-level language practice, join us for today's show and let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Intermediate - The Glory of Imperial Russia
Feb 28, 2013
Show notes
It had been a winter of great discord, with even Russia's wealthiest cities stalked by a sweeping tide of violent bolshevism. And yet how far the Tsar's summer home seemed from all this blood, as the rich strolled on the warm grass oblivious to the death fast approaching. And even now was their blindness anything but the arrogance of the Imperial throne, and characteristic of this age of contradictions?Learning Chinese? Our lesson for today is inspired by several of the Russian television series we've seen imported into China over the years, and dedicated to anyone who has ever watched a full episode of these imported soap operas, or even just stumbled across the name of the Russian Foreign Minister when working through the news. Because you're not alone to find eight-character foreign names excruciatingly difficult to pronounce.
Elementary - A Bad China Day
Feb 25, 2013
Show notes
Sometimes life in China doesn't make much sense. Which is why we'd like to introduce your head to this concrete wall now while everyone is still being sociable. We think you should get to know each other, and learn a bit about your hobbies and special interests, because you'll be running into each other fairly often now that you're in town. And can you use chopsticks? Yeah? Just checking.
Intermediate - We can remember it for you wholesale
Feb 18, 2013
Show notes
We've been trying to keep our feature film project under wraps and don't want to do the whole Kickstarter thing, but if anyone knows the Spielberg brothers tell them to answer our emails, because we only need a bit of cash to start shooting at this point and the story basically sells itself. I mean... if someone else made this movie, we would probably see it a couple of times in the theater at least. Multiply that by the number of people in China and you'll have a sense of what this can mean.The concept? We're working from an original script, but imagine something like Inception except on Mars and with a spy angle as well. And we don't even need to cast: we've already got provisional commitments from Kate Bekinsale, Anne Hathaway and David Tennant. Granted, not everyone has signed on paper yet, but as soon as they see our concept art it'll be impossible to pry the pens from their fingers. And since everyone will be speaking Chinese, Steven will finally have a shot at that Best Foreign Language Oscar.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
Stay Connected
