I'm Learning Mandarin

Want to transform your Chinese from mediocre to excellent within months? Join the I'm Learning Mandarin Gym and hire me as your one-to-one Personal Trainer: imlearningmandarin.com.gym

As an ILM podcast listener, you can get 50% off your ILM Gym subscription when you use this discount code at checkout (offer ends April 9th): IMLEARNINGMANDARINPOD

Join the I'm Learning Mandarin gym here: imlearningmandarin.com/gym

As an ILM podcast listener, you can get 50% off your ILM Gym subscription when you use this discount code at checkout (offer ends April 9th): IMLEARNINGMANDARINPOD

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On today’s episode I interview my student Lewys entirely in Mandarin Chinese.

Lewys is a 31 year-old accountant from wales who lives in the UK with his Chinese wife and young daughter.

You may remember him from an interview I recorded with him last summer in which we discussed the difficulties he’d faced learning the language.

At that point, Lewys had been learning Mandarin for around two years in order to communicate with his Chinese mother-in-law and extended family.

He’d tried most of the apps and classes everyone tries. But nothing really worked. Here’s a clip of what he sounded like at that time.

He was close to giving up. But instead, last year he contacted me for help after coming across the I'm Learning Mandarin blog.

And in today's episode I document his progress over 6 months on my coaching programme, supporting him to transform his spoken Mandarin.

If you’re impressed with the results that Lewys was able to achieve on my coaching programme while holding a full-time job and having a young child, then listen on.

Because today I’m announcing the launch of the I’m Learning Mandarin gym, enabling you to transform your spoken Mandarin from mediocrity to excellence within months, with me as your Personal Trainer.

When you sign up to the gym, you’ll benefit from an in-depth, structured study plan, one-to-one coaching sessions with me, homework exercises, regular feedback on your performance via voice recordings, and continuous support, ensuring you’re virtually guaranteed to exceed your Mandarin speaking goals.

Interested in finding out more? Go to imlearningmandarin.com/gym for all details and information about the programme or click the link in the description.

Links:

My blog: imlearningmandarin.com

Clare's page: https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/languages/staff/1258/prof-clare-wright

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On today’s episode, I interview a long-time member of the I’m Learning Mandarin community who also happens to be a Professor of Linguistics at the University of Leeds.

Professor Clare Wright has pioneered research into second language pedagogy, with a particular focus on Mandarin.

She is particularly interested in discovering why some learners on Mandarin courses seem to do so well at reaching communicative levels quickly while others lag behind.

I first met Clare in 2018 when she interviewed me for her research into what motivates Mandarin learners to study the language.

We’ve kept in touch ever since, and in this interview, we discussed what Mandarin learners and educators can learn from her research to improve their outcomes and reach their goals.

Asiaglot will take place on March 22-23 in Taipei. To get a third off tickets go to asiaglot.com and select the 'Early Bird Weekend Ticket' option. The use the following code at checkout:

IMLEARNINGMANDARIN800

My blog: imlearningmandarin.com

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Mandarin involves a lot of hard work and sometimes we can start to question whether it's worth the struggle. But staying the course and persevering through the hard times has enabled me to have all sorts of life experiences that I would otherwise never have had. Today I'm going to talk about four of the coolest experieces I've had that made it all feel worthwhile.

These might not mean much to anyone else, but they felt cool to me:1. Studying at NTU2. Leading Mandarin Retreats3. Being mistaken for a native speaker4. Giving Keynote Speeches

Check out the episode to hear more. And don't forget to subscribe on your favourite podcast provider!

Links:

imlearningmandarin.com

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In this episode, I reflect on the past year during which I've been coaching Mandarin learners from all around the world to nail their speaking goals.

I discuss four attitude shifts that I've identified help learners make swifter progress.

If you like this episode don't forget to subscribe.

Links:

Skritter: https://skritter.com/

I'm Learning Mandarin: imlearningmandarin.com

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Today on the podcast, I’m speaking with Jake Gill from Skritter, one of the most well-known apps for learning to write Chinese characters.

Skritter has been around for years, helping learners improve their handwriting and character recognition through a unique combination of spaced repetition and stroke-by-stroke feedback.

For many students, particularly those focused on writing, it’s an essential part of their study routine.

In this conversation, Jake shares his own experiences with learning Chinese including what it was like living in Taiwan and being one of the only non-native speakers taking a course in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language.

Links:

My Tones Mechanic newsletter: imlearningmandarin.com

Mandarin Companion: https://mandarincompanion.com/

Jared interviews me on his podcast: https://mandarincompanion.com/you-can-learn-chinese-podcast/63-the-truth-about-vocabulary/

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Today, I'm joined by a special guest on the podcast, Jared Turner from Mandarin Companion.

If you’re learning Chinese, you’ve probably heard of Mandarin Companion’s graded readers, which make it possible to read Mandarin from an elementary level.

I used them a lot in my own learning journey, and as I've written on my blog, they were a game-changer for me when it came to reading.

What makes this conversation extra special is that a few years ago, Jared actually had me on his podcast, the You Can Learn Chinese podcast, where we talked about my experiences learning Mandarin in lockdown.

Now, it's my turn to turn the tables and interview him!

We had a wide-ranging chat, covering how he got into learning Chinese, and why he decided to start the legendary Mandarin Companion graded reader series.

Links:

My Tones Mechanic newsletter: https://imlearningmandarin.com/

Ninchanese: https://ninchanese.com/

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On today's episode, I’m joined by Sarah Aberman, co-founder of Ninchanese, an app that makes learning Mandarin fun and accessible through gamified lessons and interactive tools.

We talk about her personal journey learning Mandarin and the inspiration behind creating Ninchanese.

Links:

Tones Mechanic Newsletter: imlearningmandarin.com

Dong Chinese: https://www.dong-chinese.com/

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On today's episode of I'm Learning Mandarin, I speak to Peter Olson, the founder of Dong Chinese.

Dong Chinese is an all-in-one Chinese learning app that enables learners to learn sentences in context using spaced repetition.

In the episode, we discuss Peter's own background. Peter was actually born in China before leaving at an early age without learning much of the language, before later moving back and rediscovering Mandarin in adulthood.

We also delve into how the challenges he faced early on as a learner shaped the approaches he developed when creating his app.

This includes some really helpful features, such as the handwriting practice tool that helps solidify memory and the comprehensible media selections that match learners to online Chinese content appropriate to their level.