Geopats Abroad : Chats with expats, immigrants, and locals

By Stephanie Fuccio | Expat of 20+ yearsSociety & Culture Education Personal Journals Places & Travel Language Learning

Geopats Abroad : Chats with expats, immigrants, and locals episodes

May 23, 2019 When a British Chinese Learner and a Chinese English Learner Compare Notes: S3E1
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This is our first group chat about Simplified Mandarin Chinese. In this episode we have Yifei, a Chinese college student in Shanghai and Phil from episode 2 fame (he's British), who is a Master's student and also works in Shanghai. They share their own language learning stories, their successes and challenges in an open, blunt and friendly group conversation.
Original recording date: June 29, 2018
🌍 Tools & resources for living, traveling, and working abroad: https://geopatsabroad.substack.com/p/living-abroad-resources
🛍️ Geopats Abroad Stationary Store: https://geopatsabroad-shop.fourthwall.com/en-eur?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=geopats_shop&utm_content=episode_description
🛠️ Podcast & creator tools I use: https://podcaststeph.substack.com/p/podcast-tools-i-use
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geopatsabroad/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnfWdoMjmqpcbULZw-hVgew

1 hr 37 min
May 09, 2019 Living in China as a Finnish Student: Learning Mandarin Through Immersion: S2E16
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In this episode we chat with Lotta, a Finnish college student who lived in Shanghai, China between High School and University. During part of that time she took intensive Chinese language courses. Lotta has continued with her Chinese language learning even after returning to Finland by using TV shows and other media until she can take more language classes at her university.
Original publication date: May 7, 2019
🌍 Tools & resources for living, traveling, and working abroad: https://geopatsabroad.substack.com/p/living-abroad-resources
🛍️ Geopats Abroad Stationary Store: https://geopatsabroad-shop.fourthwall.com/en-eur?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=geopats_shop&utm_content=episode_description
🛠️ Podcast & creator tools I use: https://podcaststeph.substack.com/p/podcast-tools-i-use
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geopatsabroad/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnfWdoMjmqpcbULZw-hVgew

1 hr 9 min
April 25, 2019 From TEFL to Podcasting: American Steph on Life Abroad and Reinvention: S2E15
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This episode is about half of a conversation that Matthew Boyle of Legendary Language Learner YouTube channel and I had about language teaching, content creation and the intersection between the two.
Original publication date: March 24, 2022
🌍 Tools & resources for living, traveling, and working abroad: https://geopatsabroad.substack.com/p/living-abroad-resources
🛍️ Geopats Abroad Stationary Store: https://geopatsabroad-shop.fourthwall.com/en-eur?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=geopats_shop&utm_content=episode_description
🛠️ Podcast & creator tools I use: https://podcaststeph.substack.com/p/podcast-tools-i-use
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geopatsabroad/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnfWdoMjmqpcbULZw-hVgew

31 min
April 16, 2019 Language: Thinking Of Languages As Family Members with American Polyglot Taylor
In this episode, we talk to Taylor, an American Marketing Professional who grew up with a strong language learning curiosity. Mandarin Chinese was one of her first language loves and one that she has kept in contact with. I am using people analogies because Taylor used them in the interview and it is simply a brilliant way to see the time, energy and commitment that it takes not only to learn a language but to maintain it over the years as well.
🤸🏽Music from
Damon Castillo (earlier episodes): https://www.damoncastillo.com/
and
Key Frame Audio (more recent eps) :https://keyframeaudio.com/

Top 3 services that have help me while living in different countries (mostly for Americans): Affiliate links so I'll get a small commission.

🔥 Traveling Mailbox: scan/forward postal service for Americans. It's saved me time, money and headaches.
https://travelingmailbox.com/geopats/?ref=3422

🔥Chase Sapphire Credit Card: annual fee, NO currency conversion fee. Used this in many countries globally.
https://www.referyourchasecard.com/19Q/MDNYO68N38

🔥 Stackry: Shop in the U.S. and have the items shipped internationally.
https://www.stackry.com/register?referral=7118738
1 hr 32 min
April 11, 2019 Linguist David Moser on the Connection Between Jazz and Language: S2E14
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How much overlap is there between music and language? Sinologist, Linguist, Jazz Pianist & returning Geopat Podcast Guest, David Moser, joins us again for a dive into this question.
Original publication date: March 13, 2020
🌍 Tools & resources for living, traveling, and working abroad: https://geopatsabroad.substack.com/p/living-abroad-resources
🛍️ Geopats Abroad Stationary Store: https://geopatsabroad-shop.fourthwall.com/en-eur?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=geopats_shop&utm_content=episode_description
🛠️ Podcast & creator tools I use: https://podcaststeph.substack.com/p/podcast-tools-i-use
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geopatsabroad/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnfWdoMjmqpcbULZw-hVgew

45 min
March 21, 2019 Yunus Emre Karasakal: Black Belt on Language, Time, and Culture in Turkey and China: S2E13
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This week due to an evil head cold I have something different for you. This mini language episode includes:-a personal German language update (get ready to cringe) and-an unpublished language snippet from a previous interview with Yunus from September 2019.
Original publication date: February 14, 2020
🌍 Tools & resources for living, traveling, and working abroad: https://geopatsabroad.substack.com/p/living-abroad-resources
🛍️ Geopats Abroad Stationary Store: https://geopatsabroad-shop.fourthwall.com/en-eur?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=geopats_shop&utm_content=episode_description
🛠️ Podcast & creator tools I use: https://podcaststeph.substack.com/p/podcast-tools-i-use
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geopatsabroad/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnfWdoMjmqpcbULZw-hVgew

11 min
March 07, 2019 Linguist David Moser on the Language Wars Behind Modern Chinese: S2E12
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Can the making of a language be a riveting story?

Yes, yes, and according to Sinologist, Linguist, Jazz Pianist & returning David Moser has thoughts on this idea.
Original publication date: December 6, 2019
🌍 Tools & resources for living, traveling, and working abroad: https://geopatsabroad.substack.com/p/living-abroad-resources
🛍️ Geopats Abroad Stationary Store: https://geopatsabroad-shop.fourthwall.com/en-eur?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=geopats_shop&utm_content=episode_description
🛠️ Podcast & creator tools I use: https://podcaststeph.substack.com/p/podcast-tools-i-use
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geopatsabroad/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnfWdoMjmqpcbULZw-hVgew

48 min
February 21, 2019 From Southern California to Beijing: Learning Mandarin and Interpreting at the Olympics: S2E11
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Have you ever had to create your own path to succeed at something? That is exactly what Venture Capitalist did to become fluent in Mandarin Chinese. In fact, he was so successful at it that he ended up being the Lead Interpreter for the Beijing Olympics in 2008 in China. This is a 2 part interview about his amazing language learning story.
Ryan Shuken: https://twitter.com/Rshuken
Original publication date: November 17, 2019
🌍 Tools & resources for living, traveling, and working abroad: https://geopatsabroad.substack.com/p/living-abroad-resources
🛍️ Geopats Abroad Stationary Store: https://geopatsabroad-shop.fourthwall.com/en-eur?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=geopats_shop&utm_content=episode_description
🛠️ Podcast & creator tools I use: https://podcaststeph.substack.com/p/podcast-tools-i-use
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geopatsabroad/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnfWdoMjmqpcbULZw-hVgew

48 min
February 07, 2019Linguist David Moser: How He Learned Chinese and Built a Life in China: S2E10
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Learning Mandarin Chinese with Pleco and digital dictionaries is radically easier than it was a generation ago, but many learners still spend too much time on Chinese characters, radicals, and handwriting before they can actually speak and understand Mandarin. David Moser, longtime Mandarin educator, translator, and author of A Billion Voices, explains what modern learners should prioritize instead, including speaking and listening, Mandarin grammar, and context.
A Billion Voices: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/29501533-a-billion-voices
What You’ll Learn About Learning Mandarin Chinese, Pleco, and Fluency
How Pleco changed learning Mandarin Chinese
Why speaking and listening should come before Chinese handwriting
How radicals affect Chinese character learning
Why Chinese character phonetics don’t always match modern pronunciation
How Mandarin grammar expresses time without English-style verb tense
Why Mandarin relies so heavily on context
How Mandarin pronouns differ from English
How Pleco and Digital Dictionaries Changed Learning Mandarin Chinese
Moser began teaching himself Mandarin around 1986 using John DeFrancis textbooks, Chinese friends, and homemade phrase books. After about a year and a half, he could hold basic conversations and understand enough Chinese structure to work through unfamiliar sentences.
That foundation took him to Peking University, where he helped check the Chinese translation of Douglas Hofstadter’s Gödel, Escher, Bach. With no digital tools, he worked through handwritten Chinese manuscripts using the English original as a guide.
How Chinese Dictionaries Worked Before Pleco
Looking up a Chinese character once meant identifying its radical, counting strokes, finding the correct dictionary section, and searching the entries. Moser remembers spending several minutes on a single word and calls dictionary lookup almost “a whole course in itself.”
While reading Qian Zhongshu’s Fortress Besieged, he penciled definitions onto nearly every page so he wouldn’t have to search for the same words again. He jokingly calls the annotated book his “non-computer Pleco.”
Modern learners can now touch a character and get its pronunciation and meaning instantly. Radicals, handwriting, and character history can still matter, but beginners no longer need to master them before using Mandarin.
Why Mandarin Speaking and Listening Should Come Before Chinese Handwriting
Moser sees a problem when Chinese teaching treats characters as if they are the language itself. He considers speaking and listening the core language skills and points out that people can speak excellent Mandarin without writing it well.
Once learners know a word’s sound, meaning, and use, they can attach the written form to knowledge they already have. Digital tools let learners spend more time communicating instead of fighting with dictionary mechanics.
How Mandarin Chinese Grammar Uses Context Instead of English-Style Verb Tense
Chinese doesn’t mark tense on verbs in the same way English does, relying more on aspect and context. Learners often add information Mandarin doesn’t require because English has trained them to expect it.
That can make Chinese sentences feel incomplete to English speakers even when native speakers already have the information they need from context.
How Mandarin Chinese Pronouns Differ From English
Spoken tā can mean he, she, or it. Moser remembers conversations about an incoming professor where people discussed when tā would arrive and who would meet tā at the airport without specifying gender.
Mandarin distinguishes 哥哥, older brother, from 弟弟, younger brother, while English usually says only brother. Each language trains speakers to expect different information.
For Moser, that was part of Mandarin’s appeal from the beginning. He didn’t just want to use Chinese. He wanted to understand what it might be like to “think in Chinese.”
Original publication date: October 4, 2019
🌍 Tools & resources for living, traveling, and working abroad: https://geopatsabroad.substack.com/p/living-abroad-resources
🛍️ Geopats Abroad Stationary Store: https://geopatsabroad-shop.fourthwall.com/en-eur?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=geopats_shop&utm_content=episode_description
🛠️ Podcast & creator tools I use: https://podcaststeph.substack.com/p/podcast-tools-i-use
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geopatsabroad/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnfWdoMjmqpcbULZw-hVgew
43 min
January 24, 2019Learning Mandarin Chinese: How ThomReads Uses Instagram to Stay Consistent: S2E9
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Learning Mandarin Chinese takes more than memorizing vocabulary: sentences, Chinese characters, immersion, HSK preparation, and changing study methods all shape practical fluency. After years of studying Mandarin in France and Taiwan, Tom discovered something unexpected: Chinese was easier for him than the European languages he'd studied.
His experience shows what HSK scores miss about real-world ability and why study methods need to change as Mandarin advances.
ThomReads on IG: https://www.instagram.com/thomreads/?hl=en
What You’ll Learn About Learning Mandarin Chinese, HSK, and Chinese Characters
Why Mandarin Chinese can feel easier than European languages
Why learning Mandarin sentences matters more than vocabulary alone
How simplified and traditional Chinese affect learners
What studying Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan teaches you
What HSK tests measure about Mandarin fluency
How to stay motivated learning Mandarin long term
Why Mandarin Chinese Can Feel Easier Than European Languages
Tom started learning Mandarin at 15 after wanting to study Japanese. Within about two weeks, he was hooked by how different Chinese looked and sounded from the European languages he knew.
He eventually decided Mandarin was easier for him than French. Chinese removed grammatical gender and much of the verb conjugation he associated with French, while characters, tones, and pronunciation gave him different challenges.
How Studying Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan Changes the Way You Learn
Tom arrived in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, knowing about 400 Chinese words and having studied simplified characters. Shortly before leaving France, he discovered Taiwan used traditional Chinese.
He later switched back to simplified Chinese for university, then encountered traditional characters again through classical Chinese. Taiwan also showed him that Mandarin expressions and pronunciation change depending on where you are.
Why Learning Mandarin Sentences Matters More Than Vocabulary Alone
Knowing hundreds of Chinese words didn't mean Tom knew how to use them. In Taiwan, he sometimes found himself saying individual words and hoping people understood.
He now believes beginners should learn useful sentences earlier instead of focusing too heavily on isolated vocabulary. Short examples helped him understand how Chinese words function together.
How Visual Learners Can Remember Chinese Characters
Tom remembers colorful vocabulary covering his elementary-school classroom walls and believes those experiences shaped his visual memory.
That memory suited Chinese characters. He wrote them repeatedly and sometimes found that looking at a new word for a couple of minutes was enough to remember it.
What HSK Tests Measure About Mandarin Chinese Fluency
Tom passed the paper version of HSK 4 and was later encouraged to prepare for HSK 6. He became skeptical that an HSK score alone reflects real-world Mandarin ability.
He described parts of the exam as a “guessing game” because vocabulary and test strategy can help eliminate answers. HSK measures reading, listening, and writing, while speaking is assessed separately through HSKK.
How Advanced Mandarin Learners Change Their Study Methods
After seven or eight years of Chinese, Tom needed new ways to keep difficult material enjoyable. Although he hadn't used flashcards much before, he started using Anki while completing a master’s degree in Chinese studies.
He also used other languages and Chinese TV as breaks from formal Mandarin study. As his Chinese became more advanced, his learning methods changed too.
How to Stay Motivated When Learning Mandarin Chinese Long Term
Tom returns to his Studygram posts when he feels unmotivated or procrastinates.
Seeing weeks of completed work gives him evidence of his progress and motivates him to continue. His experience shows that long-term Mandarin learning isn't about finding one perfect method, but changing your approach as your skills and challenges change.
Original publication date: August 8, 2019
🌍 Tools & resources for living, traveling, and working abroad: https://geopatsabroad.substack.com/p/living-abroad-resources
🛍️ Geopats Abroad Stationary Store: https://geopatsabroad-shop.fourthwall.com/en-eur?utm_source=buzzsprout&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=geopats_shop&utm_content=episode_description
🛠️ Podcast & creator tools I use: https://podcaststeph.substack.com/p/podcast-tools-i-use
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geopatsabroad/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnfWdoMjmqpcbULZw-hVgew
1 hr 4 min

About Geopats Abroad : Chats with expats, immigrants, and locals

From the publisher's feed

Geopats Abroad is about what helps us feel grounded while in our life abroad.

For eight years of my serial expat life, I interviewed people about…

the things that helped them understand, adjust to, and feel more connected to the places they were living.

The original Geopats Abroad podcast ended in 2022, but the conversations still hold up.

Living Abroad, Culture, Identity, and Belonging

In these conversations, you’ll find stories from expats, immigrants, international students, long-term travelers, and people whose lives don’t fit neatly into one place.

The driving force of the podcast is my own curiosity and desire to connect with other internationals globally. This isn’t just an audio project, a podcast, a YouTube channel, an Instagram profile, a Stationary Store or a Substack. It’s a very personal project. It’s part of who I am and who I was while recording these conversations.

Some episodes are practical. Others are deeply personal. Most explore the small and big things that help us make sense of a new place and feel more at home in it.

What Geopats Abroad Explores

Each season of Geopats Abroad approaches getting comfortable in our new places from a different angle.

Season 1: Guests looked back at something they had written during an earlier period of living abroad, including emails, blog posts, and social media posts, and reflected on how they saw that experience differently later.

Seasons 2 and 3: Language learning. Season 2 focused on foreigners learning Mandarin Chinese, while Season 3 featured native Chinese speakers talking about learning English and other languages.

Seasons 4 and 5: Online communities that helped people feel more connected and at home in a new place.

Season 6: Books that helped people understand the places they were living in.

Season 7: Conversations about learning languages other than Chinese.

Season 8: Coffee and the role it can play in connecting to a place.

Season 9: Podcasting globally: how it’s similar and different. And of course, how it can connect us to each other in our new culture.

Season 10: A mixed season covering music, photography, returning home, and other parts of life abroad.

Season 11: Immigrant kids who later became expats, exploring how growing up between cultures shaped the way they experienced living abroad as adults.

About Stephanie Fuccio: Serial Expat Since 2003

I’m Stephanie Fuccio. I’ve mostly been living and working outside the U.S. since 2003 and have lived in Asia, Latin America, and Europe during this time.

My own experiences with culture shock, identity, belonging, language, and building a life abroad shaped many of the questions behind Geopats Abroad.

The podcast grew from my curiosity about what helps people feel grounded in a new place, how we build connection far from where we started, and how living abroad changes the way we understand home, culture, identity, and ourselves.

Geopats is my ongoing archive of those conversations

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Geopats Abroad : Chats with expats, immigrants, and locals

Geopats Abroad : Chats with expats, immigrants, and locals episodes

About Geopats Abroad : Chats with expats, immigrants, and locals