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Learn Chinese Insights
Learn Chinese Insights episodes
- Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 040: Ed Gonzalez
Watch this episode on youtube
In this episode, I interview Ed Gonzalez, a Mexican-Canadian restaurant owner in Taipei, Taiwan.
Listen to this episode to find out:
– What brought Eddy to Taiwan?
– About his initial journey learning Chinese– His experience after briefly goes to Chinese school– How he has benefitted from learning zhuyin / bo-po-mo-fo– The benefit of being able to speak Chinese in Taiwan– About Eddy’s podcast and how that helps him learn Chinese– How he learned slang Chinese that isn’t taught in textbooks– How he has fun with Chinese and how he uses it in public settings– The technology he finds helpful for translating Chinese– How he learns Chinese from reading subtitles– What he would have done differently if he could go back and learn Chinese againFollow Eddy on his podcast or visit his restaurant.
23 min - Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 039: Caleb Shetland
In this episode, I interview Caleb Shetland, an American now working in Taipei as a firmware engineer.
Listen to find out:
– His experience learning Chinese at a US college
– What approach he wishes he had used instead, to learn characters– When he realized that learning Mandarin would be useful for his engineering career– How he thinks Mandarin compares in difficulty versus other languages– His experience traveling overseas for the first time to Beijing– His experience as a foreign student at a Chinese campus– His struggle trying to find a job as an expat engineer in Taiwan– His initial experience working in an office environment in Taiwan– What it was like being the only foreigner in a large multi-national company– The benefit of being a foreign engineer in Taiwan– The demand for expats in the local tech industry– The importance of co-ops and internships29 min - Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 038: Alex Trup
In this episode I interview Alex Trup, a Brit now working in Digital Marketing in Taipei, Taiwan.
Listen to find out:
– About his experience learning Chinese in the UK
– How he went from China to Taiwan– His experience as a foreigner in a Taiwanese working environment– Why he likes Taipei compared to other cities he’s lived in– His experience as a new father in a mixed cultural relationship– His approach to raising his child in a bilingual environment– What he would have done differently if he was to learn Chinese from the start– His advice for a westerner looking for a job in Taiwan or China– How he got the job at his current company as one of its first expat hires27 min - Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 037: XiaoFei
In this episode I interview Xiao Fei, an American blogger now living in Taiwan.
Listen to find out:
– His experience trying to get a degree at a local Taiwanese university
– Why he switched out of the Chinese program to an English one– His experience living in China– Why he finds his current university program more manageable– How and why he started a blog about waterfalls in Taiwan (Facebook)– His long term plans in Taiwan– What he would do differently if he was to learn Chinese again– Why he thinks writing is a valuable skill to learn– Why he’s proud of his sloppy writing– His opinion on telling jokes in Chinese35 min - Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 036: Keoni Everington
In this episode I interview Keoni Everington, an American now working in the media business in Taiwan.
Listen to find out:
– What got him interested in learning Chinese 20 years ago
– What it was like learning Chinese in Ohio– How he benefited from guanxi early on– What it was like moving from Ohio to Beijing in 1994– How he overcame the difficult living conditions back then– All the different jobs he had along the way, and how he progressed through them– His secret to getting jobs that he may not be directly qualified for– The advantages and disadvantages between working for Chinese companies versus western ones– What he wishes he had done differently career wise– What he recommends more foreigners do to expand their career paths– An alternate approach you could use to work at a specific company30 min - Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 035: Scott Faul
In this episode I interview Scott Faul, an American now living in Taiwan.
Listen to find out:
– What got him interested in learning Chinese, while in the US
– His experience studying Chinese in Taiwan, while working on the side– How he used the Chinese he had learned, while working in the US– The benefits he found for being able to speak Chinese, while looking for work– His experience living in Beijing for 10 years– The difference he found in culture between China and Taiwan– The difference in accents and slang he experienced between Taipei and Beijing– What he would have done differently regarding learning Chinese– Why he switched from business to doing a masters in translation– What his career plans in translation are currently– The difference in business culture in China / Taiwan versus in America– How negotiations are handled differently in China / Taiwan versus out west30 min - Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 034: Aaron Simmons
In this episode I interview Aaron Simmons, an American Professional Development Coach. He is the founder of Diversify International and Multi-Lingual Story Corner.
Listen to find out:
– What got him interested in Chinese culture and language in the first place, while studying in the US
– Why he chose a more challenging route to learning Chinese– What his experience was living in China while in an intensive program learning Chinese– Why he moved from China to Taiwan– How he got his first job managing a school– What he found unique about managing local Taiwanese employees– How he had to change his management style to adapt to local culture– How he adapted to becoming a consultant– How he improved his Chinese skills as a result– Why he decided to start his own consulting company– How he found new clients– How he adapted from simplified Chinese characters to traditional ones– What the biggest challenge he had adapting to Chinese in Taiwan was26 min - Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 033: Alex Barker
In this episode, I interview Alex Barker, an American consultant about his experience learning Chinese
Listen to this episode to find out:
– How Alex got interested in learning Chinese in America
– His experience in an American college class learning Chinese– Why he didn’t make as much progress in Chinese as he wanted to– His experience taking a university class in Chinese in Taiwan– His experience working as an intern at the American Chamber of Commerce– Why he found it useful to have Mandarin ability on his resume– Why he feels there are multiple levels of Mandarin ability– His experience with personal relationships that only use Chinese– What he would do differently if he had to study Chinese again– Why he would encourage students in school to choose Chinese as a second language– What advice he would give to students learning Chinese in a non Chinese speaking area– How he recommends people learn colloquial Chinese– What threw him off about speaking Chinese in Taiwan versus in Beijing– His experience being on Taiwanese game shows21 min - Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 032: Adriana Estrada
In this episode I interview Adriana Estrada from Guatemala, who has lived in Taiwan for the past 7 years, completing her undergraduate and master’s degree during that time.
Listen to find out:
– What brought Adriana to Taiwan in the first place
– What advantages she brings to the work place over local Taiwanese– What types of companies she’s looking to work at– Her experience completing an engineering degree in Chinese– Why she chose Taiwan to do her degree in– Why she’s glad she did her degree in Chinese and the approach she took– Why other students come to Taiwan, but don’t learn as much Chinese as they should– Why she feels most learning of Chinese is done outside of the classroom– Why she feels getting a degree in Taiwan isn’t for everyone– What aspects of culture shock she’s experienced in Taiwan versus Guatemala– Her experience dating Taiwanese men– Whether she’s affected by the amount of Taiwanese used by locals– Her opinion on the different food options available22 min - Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 031: Nick Howard
In this episode, I interview Nick Howard, an American who has been living in Taiwan for the past 9 years.
Listen to find out:
– What brought him to Taiwan in the first place
– How he moved up from teaching at a cram school to teach at a university– The process he went through learning Chinese– Why learning Chinese was a priority for him– Why he switched from learning in class to learning on his own– How he transitioned from teaching to consulting– Why he started a co-working space (Facebook)– What he would recommend for expats wanting to switch from teaching to a different career path– Why he recommends living in a smaller town, for those wanting to improve their Chinese and understanding of local culture– How Taiwanese is used locally versus Mandarin– How he’s been able to get along with his wife’s Taiwanese family20 min
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