Learn Chinese Insights

In this episode, I interview Shaun Bettinson, a Brit who now lives in Taichung, Taiwan.

Listen to find out:

- What brought Shaun to Taiwan initially

- Where he learned his initial Chinese

- What he didn't like about his first group class

- What he liked about his next teacher

- What he recommends you look for in a private teacher

- What kind of effort he put in to learn Chinese outside of class

- What benefits he found from being able to speak Chinese

- How he transitioned from teaching into an alternate career path

- How his Chinese helped him in his new position

- What advice he'd give to someone wanting to switch from teaching to a different career path

In this episode, I interview Davide Saccon, an Italian now living in Qingdong, China.

Listen to find out:

- How he learned "street" Chinese in Italy

- What brought him to China after that

- Why the Chinese he had learned before wasn't as useful in smaller Chinese villages

- How he used the Chinese he had learned to land his first job in China

- Why it was much harder to learn Chinese outside of China than in China

- What cultural differences he noticed between working in China versus Europe

- How compensation affects motivation with Chinese workers

- How he manages language and communication with his Chinese wife

- Why he had to change the language approach he used with his kids

- The language approach he finds works best with kids from mixed language couples

- The problem he found with the local education system for kids, and what solution they found for it

In this episode, I interview Ethan Feig, an American now working in a trade company in Taichung, Taiwan.

Listen to this episode to find out:

- What brought Ethan to Taiwan at age 18

- How Taiwan differed from his prior expectations

- How he learned Chinese from a fellow expat, and how that approach compared to his Taiwanese teacher

- How he maintained his Chinese listening and comprehension skills while back in the US for 2 years

- How he transitioned from teaching English into other work

-  About the work culture at his current company

- What advice he has for others wanting to work in non teaching careers in Taiwan

In this episode, we welcome back Wesley (from our last episode) to share some of the more fascinating aspects of the Chinese language including:

- How abbreviations work in Chinese (and how they differ from English)

- Why Chinese can't be the next global language

- Why understanding Chinese culture is so important to understanding Chinese

- The actual meaning of "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon"

- How chengyus are formed, used and developed

- Sarcasm in Chinese culture and how it's used

- How he learns and uses chengyus, and how this differs from how native speakers learn them

- Why accents in Chinese don't matter

- Why Chinese TV has Chinese subtitles

- How the writing system of dialects like Taiwanese has evolved

- The multiple ways that dialects can be subtitled

- "False friends" in Chinese

- How colors in Chinese are used differently than they are in English

- Why language learning is a series of plateaus with no distinct peak

In this episode, I interview Wesley. He's an American, with degrees in Chinese and translation.

Listen to this episode to find out:

How Wesley got interested in Chinese in the first place.

How he found Chinese easier to learn as a second language than Spanish.

What his teacher did to significantly increase his interest in learning Chinese.

Why it's important to learn the whole culture rather than just the language.

What aspect of Chinese drove his main interest in the language.

His biggest struggle learning Chinese in LA.

What his best decision was, regarding learning Chinese.

What he learned on the street that they don't teach in textbooks.

What he learned from taking a degree in translation.

Why he learned more from his grad school classmates than from local friends.

What happens to foreigners as they live in Taiwan / China for an extended period.

The difference in culture working for a Taiwanese run company.

Why you also need to maintain your English, while living in a foreign country.

The benefits and limitations of having a local partner, with regards to improving your Chinese.

Dominic is from Oregon, USA, and now lives in Taichung, Taiwan with his wife and twin daughters. Listen to this episode to find out:

- What made Dominic move to China at the tender age of 16

- What it was like as a teenager living in China

- Why he lost a lot of weight while living in China

- What aspect of being a foreigner in China was the biggest cultural shock to him

- What brought him to Taiwan a couple of years later

- The biggest differences he noticed between Kunming, China and Taiwan

- What it was like to take a university degree in Chinese with local Taiwanese students

- How he transitioned from teaching English to his current position as Project Manager for a US Tech company

- His advice for people wanting to transition into a different career path in Taiwan / China

- How he uses Chinese in his daily life

- His approach to language with his Taiwanese wife and his kids

- Why he changed his language approach with his kids

- His thoughts on educating his kids at this young age

In part 2 of our interview with Austin Yoder, he tells us about his work at the Foundation for Talented Youth - fostering entrepreneurship in Taiwan.

Austin is an American who has lived in Hong Kong, Indonesia and now in Taiwan. He now runs two companies including tearroir and Foundation for Talented Youth. Listen to this episode to find out:

- Why he chose to live in Taiwan

- What it was like growing up as an American in Hong Kong.

- What it's like going to an international school

- His experience taking a degree in Chinese from an American university

- How he started his first business in Taiwan

- His recommendation for how to register a business in Taiwan

- How he went about finding local clients

- About the tea culture in Taiwan and how it's bought and sold

We will wrap up the interview in our next episode.

Priya is originally from India, but has now lived in Taiwan for 27 years. She works as a simultaneous interpreter. Listen to this episode to find out:

- What brought Priya to Taiwan in the first place

- Her initial impressions of Taiwan

- How she began learning Chinese and what approach they took

- Why she recommends an intensive approach to learning Chinese

- Why she thinks knowing Indian languages like Hindi helps in learning Mandarin

- Which sounds in Chinese she finds many English speakers have trouble pronouncing

- How she transitioned into working as a translator / interpreter

- Why she prefers interpreting over translating work

- How preparation for interpreting works

- The various types of translating options available, and the skills required for each

- Consecutive, whispering / simultaneous without equipment, simultaneous with equipment

- How interpreting is done for more niche languages (relay interpreting)

- The process that goes through translating sentence by sentence

- Why she recommends putting kids through the local education system up to Grade 3 or so before switching to an international system

- When she recommends learning to write characters and when it isn't

- Why she recommends Hindi speakers (Indians) learn using zhuyin (bo po mo fo) over pinyin

Jason has lived in Taichung, Taiwan for the past 4 years, after previously doing a stint in China. Listen to this episode to find out:

- What brought Jason to China in the first place.

- How he practiced learning Chinese before moving to China.

- The benefits of learning Chinese from a native English speaker, and what to look for

- How he compares interacting in Chinese in China versus Taiwan

- How he compared living in Nanjing versus Shanghai

- What prompted him to move from China to Taiwan

- His thoughts on traditional classroom learning versus modern methods

- His thoughts on learning to type versus learning to read.

- His approach to learning to read while learning to speak

- How he received a scholarship to learn Chinese in Taiwan (and what key approach he used)

- The differences between Chinese and Taiwanese people

- His communication approach with his Taiwanese wife