Learn Chinese Insights

By Chinese Track

Insights from non native Chinese speakers on how they learned Mandarin and what they are doing with it now.... more

4.7

33 ratings

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FAQs about Learn Chinese Insights:

How many episodes does Learn Chinese Insights have?

The podcast currently has 50 episodes available.

Learn Chinese Insights episodes:

June 16, 2024British Chef details how she self taught herself Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan.
British Chef Amy Rattinger details why she came to Taiwan and the process she used to self teach herself Mandarin Chinese on the way to starting two restaurants in Taipei.
Listen to find out:
What brought her to Taiwan
Why she began learning Mandarin Chinese
Her initial approach to learning Chinese
How she self taught herself Chinese characters
Her process for learning new vocabulary
Her approach to Chinese tones
The benefits to speaking Chinese in Taiwan
How she transitioned from teaching English to opening a restaurant
Cultural differences between Taiwanese employees and British ones
How to get direct feedback from Chinese staff
Why your Chinese tutor needs to be direct with you
What she would have done differently regarding learning Chinese
The post British Chef details how she self taught herself Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan. appeared first on Chinese Track.
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20min
June 10, 2024Why many language teachers fail at teaching Mandarin Chinese [Podcast Interview]
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American Jenna Cody details how she learned Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese, while living in Taiwan and why she feels many teachers and language schools fail at teaching Mandarin Chinese.
Listen to find out:
What brought her to Asia
How she initially learned Chinese in China
How she resumed learning Chinese in Taiwan
Why she didn’t like her first language schools
Her self study process to learn Chinese
The problem with most language teaching systems
How her Chinese benefits her in daily life in Taiwan
Her current jobs in Taiwan
What career advice she has for expats in Taiwan
Why she started learning the Taiwanese language
The resources she uses to learn Taiwanese
How the romanization and tones work in Taiwanese
The reaction she gets in public from speaking Taiwanese
How Taiwanese people mix Taiwanese and Mandarin
What she would have done differently if she were to start learning again
What she recommends students look for in a teacher
How she practices reading
How flashcard systems can be beneficial
The post Why many language teachers fail at teaching Mandarin Chinese [Podcast Interview] appeared first on Chinese Track.
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33min
May 28, 2024Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 048: Ron
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In this interview, Ron Hanson from New Zealand details the steps he took to learn Mandarin Chinese to allow him to research topics to write on for his magazine: www.whitefungus.com Listen to find out:
What brought him to Taiwan
How he first started learning Chinese
Why he decided to learn Chinese characters
Why he feels learning Chinese characters are important
His character learning process at school
His process for researching in Chinese
His process for learning new vocabulary
Why learning Chinese is like learning Shakespeare
How he uses the Pleco Chinese dictionary app
How he feels about having a western accent when speaking Chinese
The benefits he gets from speaking Chinese
What he does to progress towards Chinese fluency
The trouble with learning Chinese handwriting
What he wishes he’d done differently when learning Chinese
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 048: Ron appeared first on Chinese Track.
...more
26min
May 12, 2024Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 047: Anthony
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In this podcast episode, Canadian Anthony Van Dyck details the steps he took to self teach himself Mandarin Chinese, which enabled him to branch out from teaching English and climb the corporate ladder all the way to COO of an energy company in Taiwan.
Listen to find out:
What brought him to Taiwan
What it was like living in Chiayi in the 80s
His first words in Mandarin
How he learned Bopomofo (zhuyin fuhao)
What business culture was like in rural Taiwan
Distinguishing between Taiwanese Mandarin and standard Chinese
Learning to count in Chinese
Learning Chinese from movies
Learning Chinese from love songs
Making friends with Taiwanese
Learning Chinese from the iPhone
Learning Chinese on the job
How speaking Chinese got him promoted
His Chinese phone hotline story
How he switched career paths
Why CVs aren’t good enough to get a job
Raising bilingual kids in Taiwan
Education in Taiwan
The problem with education in Taiwan
Why expats should learn Chinese
The benefit of an Master’s degree
A useful idiom to learn
How to develop your social environment in Taiwan
How to learn new idioms
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 047: Anthony appeared first on Chinese Track.
...more
36min
April 29, 2024Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 046: Karen
In this episode, I interview Karen Chung, an American who has lived in Taiwan for 40 years.
Watch on YouTube
Listen to find out:
What brought her to Taiwan
What Taiwan was like in the 70s
Why studying in university is not enough to learn Chinese
What mistakes she made in Chinese early on
Why she began to worry about her English level, more than her Chinese
Her experience teaching Chinese at the University of Hawaii
The number one mistake foreigners make when learning Chinese
The proper way to learn Chinese tones
The importance of using proper tones beyond just being understood
Her experience learning characters
Why she prefers pinyin over zhuyin
Common mistakes that foreigners make when learning Chinese
What she recommends you do with your teacher / language exchange partner
The benefits of being able to speak Chinese at a higher level
Her advice on raising kids in Taiwan
Her advice on improving English education in Taiwan
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 046: Karen appeared first on Chinese Track.
...more
29min
April 22, 2024Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 045: Adam
Watch on youtube
Interview with Adam Bell, an American, on his journey to Mandarin Chinese fluency in Taiwan.
Listen to hear:
What brought him to Taiwan
His experiences studying Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan
How he created an immersion culture for himself in Taiwan
How he transitioned from studying Chinese to working full-time in a Taiwanese company
His approach to learning technical vocabulary for his job
The benefits of immersion and using Mandarin in daily life
What he would do differently if he had to learn Chinese from scratch
Adam’s involvement in stand-up comedy in Mandarin
Raising a bilingual child in a mixed-language household
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 045: Adam appeared first on Chinese Track.
...more
18min
April 15, 2024 Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 044: Jamie
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In this episode, I interview Jamie Rufe, an American now living in Taiwan.
Jamie tells us:
– What brought him to Taiwan
– Why he started learning Mandarin Chinese
– What career opportunities being able to speak Chinese got him
– The one habit that was instrumental to his Chinese progress
– The approach he recommends new Chinese learners take
– His experience working in a Chinese factory
– His recommendations for foreigners looking for a career path in Taiwan or China
– What he recommends over Stephen Krashen’s comprehensible input approach
– How AI can dramatically speed up learning Chinese
– Why he recommends that new students forego learning Chinese characters in the beginning
– How even English teachers can improve their prospects by improving their Chinese
– How to find jobs in Taiwanese and Chinese companies
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 044: Jamie appeared first on Chinese Track.
...more
30min
April 08, 2024 Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 043: Lamin
Watch on youtube.
In this episode, we interview Lamin, who moved from Gambia to Taiwan. Listen to find out:
– What brought him to Taiwan?
– What prompted him to stay in Taiwan?
– How he began learning Chinese
– When his Chinese really started to improve
– How he learned Chinese from friends
– How he made lots of local friends
– How he started learning characters
– How he started practicing writing characters
– Why he doesn’t like to be pressured
– The benefits of being able to speak Chinese
– The benefits of bopomofo (zhuyin)
– How his youtube channel helps him learn Chinese
– What he would do differently if he was to start learning Chinese again
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 043: Lamin appeared first on Chinese Track.
...more
18min
April 03, 2024 Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 042: Fraser Stewart
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Interview with Fraser Stewart on how he developed his Chinese to near native level over his past 11 years in Taiwan.
Listen to find out:
– What made Fraser choose Taiwan?
– When he first learned Chinese
– His approach learning Chinese
– How learning to read and write helps with speaking
– Was there any difficulty moving from simplified to traditional characters
– His approach to learn to write Chinese characters
– How he learned tones in Chinese
– How Chinese helps him in day to day life
– What he would do differently regarding learning Chinese
– His contact with the most famous foreigner in China
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 042: Fraser Stewart appeared first on Chinese Track.
...more
23min
March 27, 2024 Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 041: Michael Gordon
Watch this episode on youtube
In this episode, I interview Michael Gordon, a Canadian living in Taiwan.
Listen to find out:
– What made Michael choose Taiwan?
– When he first learned Chinese
– How he used Chinese in Canada
– How he adapted to Chinese in Taiwan
– How his Chinese level has changed over the years
– How technology has helped with using Chinese
– How being able to speak Chinese has helped in daily life
– How his kids deal with local school
– What he would do differently regarding learning Chinese
– What he could do to improve his Chinese further
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 041: Michael Gordon appeared first on Chinese Track.
...more
13min

FAQs about Learn Chinese Insights:

How many episodes does Learn Chinese Insights have?

The podcast currently has 50 episodes available.