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Chinese Unfiltered
Chinese Unfiltered episodes
- EP28 What Chinese Say about The Odyssey | HSK 1-9 Listening Challenge
I watched "The Odyssey" in LA last week, then watched the viral interview with Christopher Nolan by the Chinese podcaster/political philosophy PhD candidate Zhong Shu. There is so much we can talk about the movie and the trending phrase "Odyssey Years" on Chinese social media.
π₯ Video version: https://youtu.be/bWNPkACYNk8
π Get video without subtitles and audio versions, plus a full transcript of Pinyin+Hanzi+English: https://ritachinese.com/chinese-unfiltered
ππ»ββοΈ Website: ritachinese.com
π₯ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RitaChinese
π¬ Instagram: instagram.com/rita_mandarin_chinese
20 min - EP27 From Laowai to Laoma Chris: How 2 months changed his life
"Chinese Unfiltered" podcast has a native-sounding Mandarin speaker today - Laoma Chris, FINALLY. We traced it back to the very beginning of his Chinese journey and how 2 months of special training changed his past 15 years, his work, his life, and his world.
π₯ Video version: https://youtu.be/-CjXwG-UQoA
π₯ Speak Mandarin that natives can understand effortlessly β https://findingyourmandarinvoice.com/ β Save $100 by April 30 β¬οΈ
π FREE 6-Step βMandarin Pronunciation Roadmapβ β https://ritachinese.com/roadmap?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video_description&utm_campaign=roadmap_launch&utm_content=from_laowai_to_laoma
π FREE 5-Day Mandarin Tones Course β https://findyourmandarintones.com/ 5 minutes a day. All four tones. In your own voice, in 5 days.
π Get video without subtitles and audio versions plus a full transcript of Pinyin+Hanzi+English: https://ritachinese.com/chinese-unfiltered
0:00 First impression of China and Mandarin
9:29 First 3 months of Mandarin class
14:33 The start of speaking fluency
19:09 The turning point of Laoma's Chinese
22:41 What actually changed
ππ»ββοΈ Website: ritachinese.com
π₯ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RitaChinese
π¬ Instagram: instagram.com/rita_mandarin_chinese
35 min - EP26 Why Young Chinese Turn to Religion and Fortune-Telling in 2026
Li Laoshi is back in my podcast after we celebrated the Chinese New Year in the US and in Europe, and we talked about a topic that we both are very passionate about - religions and beliefs. As a Chinese millennial and a Chinese Gen-Zer who grew up in different internet and social media eras, we had different observations about our own generations' spiritual lives. But we also both noticed a huge trend on Rednote, Weibo, as well as the real Chinese world:
00:00 Spiritual practices in TV shows and on Chinese social media
09:49 How and why young Chinese turn to religion
17:14 Li Laoshi's personal experience with Buddhism
π₯ Video version: https://youtu.be/N15pVDwwEsc
π Get video without subtitles and audio versions plus a full transcript of Pinyin+Hanzi+English: https://ritachinese.com/chinese-unfiltered
ππ»ββοΈ Website: ritachinese.com
π₯ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RitaChinese
π¬ Instagram: instagram.com/rita_mandarin_chinese
26 min - EP25 Why Chinese Natives Don't Understand Your Mandarin, According to Science (and HOW to Fix it)
Dr. Abner Zhang and I met at the CLTA annual meeting early this year and discussed his research on second-language phonetics and fluency during my visit to Middlebury College last month.
There is way too much conflicting information and advice, so we talk about intelligibility, comprehensibility, and accentedness, three key words and topics that have everything to do with Mandarin speaking and listening, along with a bunch of Second Language Learning research and real-life examples.
0:00 What intelligibility, comprehensibility, and accentedness mean to language learners
10:01 What language learners need to do based on two learning models
16:21 Can "context" fix everything?
18:25 Other factors impacting communication
23:09 Why you don't understand Chinese natives' Mandarin
π₯ Video version: https://youtu.be/ehwmXGiiP7M
π Get video without subtitles and audio versions plus a full transcript of Pinyin+Hanzi+English: https://ritachinese.com/chinese-unfiltered
ππ»ββοΈ Website: ritachinese.com
π₯ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RitaChinese
π¬ Instagram: instagram.com/rita_mandarin_chinese
30 min - EP24 Chinese Funeral Customs That SHOCKED Us
You don't really understand a culture until you know how the people face death (inside and outside the ceremony). I talked about the ceremony and some shocking customs with new guest Li Laoshi.
π₯ Video version: https://youtu.be/iM3dx5CMds8
π Get video without subtitles and audio versions plus a full transcript of Pinyin+Hanzi+English: https://ritachinese.com/chinese-unfiltered
ππ»ββοΈ Website: ritachinese.com
π₯ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RitaChinese
π¬ Instagram: instagram.com/rita_mandarin_chinese
36 min - EP23 Ivy League Professors Reveal TRAPS and HACKS of Learning Mandarin Chinese (Beginner to Advanced)
ζε们οΌε₯½δΉ δΈθ§οΌI did this interview with 9 brilliant Mandarin professors and educators back in May, when we were at the annual conference of the Chinese Language Teacher Association in NYC.
π‘These most knowledgeable and experienced Chinese teachers shared their thoughts and tips on beginner, intermediate, and advanced learning processes, based on their decades of teaching experience with hundreds, if not thousands, of Mandarin learners.
00:00 - Who are you?
01:08 - What can a beginner do in 1 year of learning?
03:36 - Beginner learning traps
04:37 - What can an intermediate student do in the 3rd year of learning?
05:53 - Intermediate learning traps
09:29 - What is an advanced learner like?
11:07 - Advanced learners got traps, too?
13:09 - The most common Chinese pronunciation/tone traps
15:23 - Grammar traps from beginners to advanced learners
19:07 - Two learning hacks for self-taught Mandarin learners?
π₯ Video version: https://youtu.be/eF571hdSiCY
π Get video without subtitles and audio versions plus a full transcript of Pinyin+Hanzi+English: https://ritachinese.com/chinese-unfiltered
ππ»ββοΈ Website: ritachinese.com
π₯ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RitaChinese
π¬ Instagram: instagram.com/rita_mandarin_chinese
26 min - EP22 Polyglot AI Expert: Why Humans STILL Need to Learn a Second Language Ourselves
Marko is an experienced language learner and a former AI professional. We talked about whether he uses AI tools to learn languages himself, his suggestions for Mandarin learners, and if learning a second language is worth the time and effort when AI can do all translations better nowadays.
π₯ Video version: https://youtu.be/MjJe1dv7QBE
π Support the podcast and get full transcripts of Pinyin+Hanzi+English: https://ritachinese.com/chinese-unfiltered
ππ»ββοΈ Website: ritachinese.com
π₯ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RitaChinese
π¬ Instagram: instagram.com/rita_mandarin_chinese
00:00 - How Marko would use AI to learn Mandarin
03:36 - What translation AI can't do
05:31 - How learning languages changed Marko
11:55 - Why we need to learn a second language more than ever
20 min - EP21 Polyglot AI Expert Reveals Why You Shouldn't Use AI Tools to Learn Chinese
π Marko is back in my interviews! He is a great Mandarin speaker, a mathematician, and a former AI software engineer. Our talk on learning Chinese with AI tools actually started with the feature of Mandarin Chinese which used to be the biggest challenge in machine learning. More importantly, what problems or pitfalls can it cause when you use AI tools to learn Chinese?
π₯ Video version: https://youtu.be/mo-vbN74wMk
π Get video without subtitles and audio versions plus a full transcript of Pinyin+Hanzi+English: https://ritachinese.com/chinese-unfiltered
ππ»ββοΈ Website: ritachinese.com
π₯ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RitaChinese
π¬ Instagram: instagram.com/rita_mandarin_chinese
00:00 - The feature of Chinese language that causes machine learning problems
09:25 - What can Mandarin teachers and learners learn from machine learning?
14:40 - The difference between experts and students when using AI tools
20:31 - What you shouldn't use ChatGPT to do when learning Chinese
24 min - EP20 How to Raise (Chinese-Speaking) Bilingual Children WITHOUT Language Environment
It's challenging to raise a baby, and it's even more difficult to raise a bilingual child if there is no target language environment. So many overseas Chinese friends have asked me "how can I keep my kid motivated to speak Chinese," and Cindy is definitely the most experienced Chinese teacher who can answer this question!
π₯ Video version: https://youtu.be/Clj0onMMRAE
π Get video without subtitles and audio versions plus a full transcript of Pinyin+Hanzi+English: https://ritachinese.com/chinese-unfiltered
ππ»ββοΈ Website: ritachinese.com
π₯ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RitaChinese
π¬ Instagram: instagram.com/rita_mandarin_chinese
0:00 Parents' different expectations for kids' Chinese learning
4:51 How to keep kids motivated to use Chinese
13:27 What changes when kids are older
15:29 Can adults learn Chinese like kids?
21 min - EP19 Experts Reveal How Kids Learn Chinese DIFFERENTLY from Adults
The differences and similarities between kids and adults learning Chinese are always topics that interest me a lot, and I finally invited the best person to talk about them with! Cindy Huang is the founder and CEO of one of the best Chinese immersive schools in Washington, D.C.: www.chiachinese.com Chia Chinese Learning Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chia_chinese_learning/
π₯ Video version: https://youtu.be/uWbqtLchLO0
π Get video without subtitles and audio versions plus a full transcript of Pinyin+Hanzi+English: https://ritachinese.com/chinese-unfiltered
ππ»ββοΈ Website: ritachinese.com
π₯ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@RitaChinese
π¬ Instagram: instagram.com/rita_mandarin_chinese
0:00 Why we both quit full-time jobs and start our own schools
6:23 How kids learn Chinese before 7 years old
13:27 What changes when kids are older
17:07 Teach kids Pinyin and Hanzi (differently from adults)
23:53 Differences and similarities between kids and adults learning pronunciation
33 min
About Chinese Unfiltered
From the publisher's feed
Mandarin teacher and entrepreneur Rita, aka Fan Laoshi, and her native Chinese friends chat about everything related to modern Chinese people's lives and beyond.