Mandarin Monkey Podcast

Is it rude to walk through a door without saying thank you? Would you tell a stranger how much you earn? And is it acceptable to tell someone they've put on weight?

Apparently, the answers depend on whether you're British or Taiwanese.

In Mandarin Monkey Podcast Episode 484, British husband Tom and Taiwanese wife Ula put 12 everyday social situations to the test, deciding whether they're RUDE, POLITE or completely NORMAL in their respective cultures.

From Taiwanese hospitality and British manners to taking your shoes off indoors, arguing over restaurant bills, refusing invitations and dealing with interfering parents, we discover just how differently two cultures can interpret the same behaviour.

Along the way, we get into British politeness, Taiwanese family expectations, awkward social encounters and the little cultural misunderstandings that come with being in a British-Taiwanese marriage.

Expect plenty of disagreement, a bit of British sarcasm and natural Mandarin Chinese conversation throughout.

What's considered rude in your country that would be normal somewhere else?

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Practise your Mandarin with our weekly challenges, explore our learning tools or book online Mandarin lessons with native Taiwanese teachers.

You can join our community even if you're not ready for lessons.

About the podcast

Mandarin Monkey is a bilingual Mandarin-English conversation podcast hosted by Tom and Ula. We explore Taiwan, British culture, family life and language learning through relaxed conversations in Mandarin Chinese and English.

Perfect for Mandarin learners looking for natural Chinese listening practice and anyone interested in Taiwanese culture.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After years of living in Taiwan and being married to a Taiwanese woman, how Taiwanese has Tom actually become? Ula puts her British husband through 12 everyday situations, from accepting gifts and getting sick to talking about money, feeding guests and surviving a 32°C Taiwanese summer.

Mandarin Monkey is a bilingual Mandarin-English podcast about language, culture, Taiwan, Britain and life in a cross-cultural family. If you’re learning Mandarin and want to practise with teachers from Taiwan, visit MandarinMonkey.com.

Visit Mandarin Monkey website: https://www.mandarinmonkey.com/podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Check out our website: https://www.mandarinmonkey.com/yt

What would happen if we combined the best parts of Taiwan and the UK into one perfect country? In this episode, we compare everyday life across healthcare, schools, food, transport, housing, parenting, safety and more, and for each one, we have to choose Taiwan or Britain.

Mandarin Monkey is a relaxed bilingual Mandarin-English podcast about language, culture, family and life between Taiwan and the UK. We naturally switch between Mandarin and English, so you can enjoy real conversation while getting more Mandarin exposure along the way.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom has a list of bizarre Mandarin words that even Ula doesn’t hear every day — from anatomy and chemicals to tools and completely ridiculous phrases.

How many can Ula guess? And more importantly… how many would you know?

Learn Mandarin with us at Mandarin Monkey 👇

https://www.mandarinmonkey.com/podcast

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Links:

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Use promoCode: MANDARINMONKEY

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   / @monkeyplaysmandarin  

Join learners from around the world for fun discussions, games, and real conversations in our Mandarin Hangouts.

Start speaking more Mandarrin today: https://mandarinmonkey.com/hangouts/

Description

What do your weird dreams actually mean? 😴💭

In Mandarin Monkey Podcast Episode 480, Ula and Tom get into a very random but surprisingly deep conversation about dreams, relationships, stress, sleep and teeth falling out...etc. All while naturally switching between Mandarin Chinese and English.

Ula talks about dreaming that Tom was with someone else… which leads us down a rabbit hole of whether cheating dreams actually mean anything. We also look at one of the most common dreams: your teeth falling out. Is it stress? Losing control? Getting older? Major changes in life? Or could it simply be because you’re grinding your teeth while you sleep?

We also chat about:

• Why English has overwhelmed and underwhelmed… but not “whelmed”

• Strange and useless vocabulary you learn in another language

• Trying to understand different British accents

• Sleep problems and ways people try to fall asleep

• Stress, confidence and body image

• Teeth grinding and sleep guards

• Moving countries and how big life changes affect you

• Parenting and trying to get medical appointments in the UK

• The big Mandarin Monkey website update 🎉

As always, this is a natural bilingual conversation with plenty of real Mandarin and English, random tangents and vocabulary you can pick up from context.

If you're learning Mandarin and want to get more comfortable understanding real spoken Chinese, listen along and see how much you can catch!

🐒 Want to practise speaking Mandarin with us?

Visit MandarinMonkey.com and book a free lesson.

And tell us in the comments:

What’s the weirdest dream you’ve ever had? 👇

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Links:

✏️ Skritter - Learn to write Chinese

skritter.com?ref=mandarinmonkey

Use promoCode: MANDARINMONKEY

for 10% off everything

🐵 Learn Mandarin with us: https://mandarinmonkey.com/

🎮 Check out our Monkey Plays channel:

   / @monkeyplaysmandarin  

DESCRIPTION

A relaxing family holiday, with a fake heated swimming pool, terrifying castle stairs, a giant owl, raw beef and raw egg dish, indoor climbing, a former prison and roaring dinosaurs. What could possibly go wrong?

In episode 479 of the Mandarin Monkey Podcast, Tom and Ula chat naturally in Mandarin Chinese and English about their family trip to Shropshire. They share stories from Stokesay Castle, Shrewsbury Prison, a dinosaur park and an unforgettable bird-of-prey experience—while discussing parenting, fear of heights, theme parks and replacing the children’s screen time with Kindles.

This bilingual Chingish (Chinese+English) podcast is perfect for intermediate Mandarin learners who want to improve their listening skills through authentic, entertaining conversation.

In this episode:

🏡 Staying in a holiday cottage

🏰 Exploring castles and climbing terrifying stairs

🦉 Meeting giant owls and a golden eagle

🧗 Watching the children conquer their fear of heights

🍽️ Accidentally ordering raw beef

⛓️ Visiting Shrewsbury Prison

🦖 Surviving a rainy dinosaur park

📚 Replacing screen time with reading time

🎢 Debating whether Tom and Ula could survive a theme park

Listen, laugh and learn Mandarin naturally with Mandarin Monkey!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Links:

✏️ Skritter - Learn to write Chinese

skritter.com?ref=mandarinmonkey

Use promoCode: MANDARINMONKEY

for 10% off everything

🐵 Learn Mandarin with us: https://mandarinmonkey.com/

🎮 Check out our Monkey Plays channel:

   / @monkeyplaysmandarin  

❤️ Support Monkey Plays Patreon Page: https://patreon.com/monkeyplaysgames?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink

🗣️ Want more opportunities to speak Mandarin outside of lessons?

Join learners from around the world for fun discussions, games, and real conversations in our Mandarin Hangouts.

Start speaking more Mandarrin today: https://mandarinmonkey.com/hangouts/

Description:

Are you spending too much time studying Mandarin grammar instead of actually speaking Mandarin? 👀

In Episode 478 of the Mandarin Monkey Podcast, Ula and Tom talk about why grammar can sometimes become an excuse NOT to speak and why using Mandarin, making mistakes, repeating sentences and accepting how the language works can be much more useful for improving your communication.

Of course… this is Mandarin Monkey, so we also somehow end up talking about:

🥜 Where almond milk really comes from 😂

🦷 What toothpaste flavour should exist besides mint

🤔 Why Richard becomes “Dick” and Robert becomes “Bob”

🧪 Completely useless Mandarin chemical vocabulary

👓 A listener who built a smart-glasses app that displays Mandarin and English subtitles while listening to Mandarin Monkey

🧋 And a truly disgusting bubble tea video idea…

We also share an update about the brand-new Mandarin Monkey website we’ve been building, including a new credit system, learning tools, teacher feedback, homework, flashcards and more flexible lesson booking.

This is a natural Mandarin & English bilingual conversation for Mandarin learners who want to hear how Mandarin is actually used in relaxed, everyday conversation.

🎧 Listen, laugh, pick up some Mandarin and most importantly — USE IT!

🌐 Mandarin lessons & more: MandarinMonkey.com

📩 Listener emails: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Links:

✏️ Skritter - Learn to write Chinese

skritter.com?ref=mandarinmonkey

Use promoCode: MANDARINMONKEY

for 10% off everything

🐵 Learn Mandarin with us: https://mandarinmonkey.com/

🎮 Check out our Monkey Plays channel:

   / @monkeyplaysmandarin  

❤️ Support Monkey Plays Patreon Page: https://patreon.com/monkeyplaysgames?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink

🗣️ Want more opportunities to speak Mandarin outside of lessons?

Join learners from around the world for fun discussions, games, and real conversations in our Mandarin Hangouts.

Start speaking more Mandarrin today: https://mandarinmonkey.com/hangouts/

Description

This week, we’re looking back at our Isle of Wight hiking and camping adventure. A trip full of beautiful coastal walks, little discoveries, good food, sore legs, and plenty of memories.

We talk about walking from Yarmouth towards Totland, exploring The Needles, camping by the sea, enjoying cups of tea along the way, discovering new places, and figuring out what kind of travelling and hiking we actually enjoy most.

Some highlights from the trip:

🥾 Beautiful walks through forests, fields and along the coast

🌊 Visiting The Needles and enjoying the amazing sea views

🏕️ Camping in different parts of the Isle of Wight

☕ Making tea during our hikes

🍦 Stopping for ice cream after a long walk

🐄 Meeting some very curious cows along the way

🚲 Talking about trying electric bikes for our next adventure

❤️ And deciding that we’d definitely like to visit the Isle of Wight again

Of course, there were a few challenges too! Heavy backpacks, tired feet and figuring out the best way to travel. But overall it was such a fun experience and we learned a lot about how we’d plan our next adventure.

As always, we naturally switch between Mandarin Chinese and English while chatting about travel, British life, relationships, language and everyday experiences.

If you’re learning Mandarin and want to hear relaxed, natural Chinese and English conversation, come hang out with us!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Links:

✏️ Skritter - Learn to write Chinese

skritter.com?ref=mandarinmonkey

Use promoCode: MANDARINMONKEY

for 10% off everything

🐵 Learn Mandarin with us: https://mandarinmonkey.com/

🎮 Check out our Monkey Plays channel:

   / @monkeyplaysmandarin  

❤️ Support Monkey Plays Patreon Page: https://patreon.com/monkeyplaysgames?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink

🗣️ Want more opportunities to speak Mandarin outside of lessons?

Join learners from around the world for fun discussions, games, and real conversations in our Mandarin Hangouts.

Start speaking more Mandarrin today: https://mandarinmonkey.com/hangouts/

Description:

How much money is enough? And what’s the point of saving if you never actually enjoy it?

In Episode 476 of the Mandarin Monkey Podcast, we get into money, rainy-day savings, financial freedom, lifestyle creep, travelling, helping your parents, creating memories for your kids, and what being “wealthy” actually means.

Then the conversation moves into something even deeper: where is home when you’ve lived between different countries and cultures for years?

We talk about Taiwan vs the UK, feeling like you belong somewhere, how living abroad changes you, raising multicultural kids, and whether sending the kids to Taiwan for Mandarin immersion could help bring their Chinese back.

As always, it’s a naturally bilingual English + Mandarin conversation, real-life Mandarin listening practice without the textbook conversations.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Links

✏️ Skritter - Learn to write Chinese

skritter.com?ref=mandarinmonkey

Use promoCode: MANDARINMONKEY

for 10% off everything

🐵 Learn Mandarin with us: https://mandarinmonkey.com/

🎮 Check out our Monkey Plays channel:

   / @monkeyplaysmandarin  

❤️ Support Monkey Plays Patreon Page: https://patreon.com/monkeyplaysgames?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink

🗣️ Want more opportunities to speak Mandarin outside of lessons?

Join learners from around the world for fun discussions, games, and real conversations in our Mandarin Hangouts.

Start speaking more Mandarrin today: https://mandarinmonkey.com/hangouts/

Description

Why do children get such long summer holidays?

How are working parents supposed to survive them?

In Mandarin Monkey Podcast Episode 475, Ula and Tom discuss the challenges of working from home while the children are off school, the history behind the six-week summer break, and how school holidays compare across the UK, Taiwan, Japan, Europe and the United States.

They also talk about education pressure, SATs and GCSEs, choosing useful subjects, changing careers later in life, and why it is never too late to learn new skills.

Plus, could spending the summer at a Mandarin camp in Taiwan help bilingual children improve their Mandarin? Ula and Tom explore Taiwanese summer camps, overseas Chinese programmes and the possibility of working remotely from Taiwan while the kids learn Mandarin.

You’ll also hear their favourite language-learning strategy: when you don’t know a word, find another way to communicate your meaning!

Topics in this episode include:

🇬🇧 Summer holidays and parenting in the UK

🇹🇼 Taiwanese summer camps for overseas children

📚 Education pressure, SATs and GCSEs

💼 Changing careers and learning new skills

🏠 Working from home with children

🗣️ Mandarin communication strategies

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Raising bilingual children

✈️ Spending the summer in Taiwan

Mandarin Monkey is a bilingual Mandarin Chinese and English podcast for learners who want to improve their listening skills through natural, entertaining conversations about language, culture, parenting and everyday life.

Comment below: How do you survive over the summer holiday?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.