Tips and Strategies about the Chinese Language and Culture
In this post I offer some data, a little rant, and then three stories all meant to encourage us lǎowài-s 老外 not to give up on listening comprehension. I’m often asked, “Is it harder for you to learn Chinese or for Continue reading Out of the Blue Vocab Trap
I’m very excited to write about what I consider the coolest new listening and vocab resource on the Internet: FluentU The approach is brilliant in its simplicity: take authentic Chinese videos from YouTube (movie trailers, news stories, music videos, sit Continue reading FluentU – My Review
One of the first things I noticed upon returning to the USA after my first year in China was: Wow! I can understand strangers’ conversations! Many of my English major students get discouraged when they sat in front of Continue reading Eavesdropping is Too Hard
If you’ve ever ridden on a gōngjiāo chē 公交车 in China, you’ve heard some variation on these announcements. Even though the audio quality of my cheapo, shānzhài 山寨 MP3 recorder is horrendous, the idea here is: One way to improve Continue reading Stuff You Might Be Hearing: On the Bus
Alright, pretend when you read the upcoming pinyin you’re really listening to a shopkeeper in Guangzhou. I was shopping for Shèngdàn lǐwù 圣诞礼物 in a big shopping mall in Guangzhou. I found a little silk scarf I was considering and Continue reading Free Gifts
Every time I use the China Construction Bank ATM, the lady inside the speaker shouts instructions to me. If you’re hearing the same thing, we might as well understand what she’s saying. Download the MP3 Transcript 1. qǐng qǔ xiànjīn Continue reading Stuff You Might Be Hearing: ATMs
Here’s a pinyin transcript of a recent conversation with a little boy at my favorite jiǎozi 饺子 restaurant. I’ll give you the hanzi and English in a moment, but first try to figure out what was going on just from Continue reading How Old Are You on Mars?
One of the main challenges to learning Chinese is the homonym minefield you have to navigate for listening comprehension (mostly due to the tones). If you’re in a real biāozhǔn 标准 Mandarin area, there are 2 kinds of problems that Continue reading I Work in a Trash Dump
If you’re watching the Olympics in China (as I am) here are some words that come up all the time on the TV that you might as well know (if you don’t already). It’s so hard to use the TV Continue reading Stuff You Might Be Hearing: Olympics TV
There are various reasons why listening comprehension in Chinese is difficult. In addition to those máfan tones, a homonym minefield, and countless regional accent variations, it’s also important to know Chinese has reductions. Much in the same way English has Continue reading Reductions: Missing Sounds