Popup Chinese

If this week's clip doesn't get you in the mood to toss out that Chinese dictionary and start blowing things up nothing will. There may not be much in the dialogue itself that gives away this film, but the nuance and tone of our selection is very indicative of its source, and the translation is really top notch. So take a listen, see if you can identify our mystery film: The Guns of Navarone (1961)

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Now that you've mastered the giddy highs of the first tone, it's time to move onto something a bit more challenging: tone number two. Despite the fact that many people maul the second tone (relax, you won't), the basics are pretty simple: just start near the middle of your vocal range and head up until you pass out, glass breaks, or you're mauled by a pack of dogs.
We recommend listening to our podcast first and then heading to the vocabulary page to listen to and practice our new words in isolation. When you're ready to move forward, step into the text section, where we combine our new words with some of the material we learned in our lesson on the first tone, to make a number of sentences you can use right away. Cumulative and progressive lessons? Huzzah!

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Your company is finally making a significant push onto the Chinese mainland. There are several options under consideration by the board: partnering with a local firm, looking for an acquisition, or creating a local team under your supervision to execute a winning strategy.
With your track record and local contacts, you are the strongest advocate of option three, and have spent weeks laying the groundwork for tomorrow's meeting. And now the time is almost upon you. It's midnight the night before your presentation and you've just polished off your slides for the board. The text and pictures are perfect: compelling, attractive. They make the decision obvious. And so after giving it one final look, you move your mouse up to the save button and.... in less than the time it takes you to think "autosave is unreliable", the screen turns black.
This has happened before, but never quite like this: for somewhere deep inside your computer, you can hear a faint sizzling sound.

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You'd be forgiven for thinking this movie was about those blue elves running all over your television on Sunday morning. But you wouldn't be too far off. Our selection for this week is an extended meditation on what it means to be human. That be said, we do learn a bit about the Smurfs this week and find out why the name Gargamel makes a lot more sense in Chinese than English: A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

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Not too far from where you're melting in the summer heat, you can see a bus wrapped snugly like a fat Buddha in a nest of minivans and three-wheeled rickshaws. Further ahead, taxi drivers have clambered onto the sidewalk in the frustrated hope of escape. You secretly wonder if your own driver will show such initiative should the opportunity arise.
Why is traffic so terrible? Is there an accident ahead, or is this just another day in China? Find out for yourself in this week's Advanced listening test. To take the test, just listen to our short podcast, and then head over to the quiz section to test your comprehension. A fully annotated transcript with our classic Chinese popups is available for you to check your answers against afterwards. Questions are also welcome in the discussion section below.

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In today's podcast we throw three regional dialects into one big party mix, and end up with something that reminds us a lot of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, missing only the violent cage matches, roaming bands of desert orphans, and classic Tina Turner 80's soundtrack. Our podcast also has more Wu dialect and less Mel Gibson than you might otherwise expect.
OK. So we might be stretching the comparison a bit, but if you're looking for interesting Chinese-only listening material that will prove useful should you ever find yourself in a post-apocalyptic world run by Wu speakers, this is pretty much the perfect podcast for you (de lei). So take it to the gym, listen in on your way to work, or just leave it lying around to impress your monolingual friends and colleagues.

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Today we give you the keys to the Middle Kingdom, in the form of two magical sounds that will amaze and baffle your conversation partners in turn. Used with judicious moderation, this disyllabic incantation will let others know you're doing just fine, and there's no problem whatsoever. Used maliciously, it can buy you enough time for a quick getaway on whatever rustabout Soviet construction equipment happens to be nearby. Not that we're advocating theft. Seriously.

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This week Film Friday takes a break from showcasing famous scenes you probably remember in order to present you with this utterly forgettable one. As Brendan comments, this conversation probably doesn't spring to mind when you think of the movie it comes from. But why not? When your lead actors are getting shot, stabbed, dragged behind cars and flung into exploding slag pits, sometimes your script screams out for the services of a doctor. Or at least someone with a pair of pliers and a mother's touch: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

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If the tones are giving you trouble, our series explaining them tone-by-tone should be useful. In this crowded podcast Brendan, David, Echo and Bunny start from the absolute basics with tone number one. This is the high and flat tone that establishes the upper range of your pitch, so you'll need to get your voice up there and keep it there (ideally without the reedy warbling).
Don't let the first tone intimidate you. In this podcast we start by introducing some critical everyday words that all use the first tone, and then start packing them into practice sentences. Brendan and David also pass along on some tricks on getting the pronunciation right, gathered over many years at great cost to personal dignity.

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You may have been wondering what was the better long-term investment in college: finance or foreign languages? Before the Lehman Brothers imploded late last month, we believe they answered that question with an emergency call to the China Investment Corporation seeking several billion dollars in emergency capital injections.
In today's podcast, we indulge in a bit of schadenfreude by way of dramatic re-enactment. And though the economic news out West may be dismal, there's never been a better time to learn Chinese. The economy here is growing at near double-digits and is expected to stay strong even in the face of a global slowdown. China is already shifting from being an export-led economy to a mixed economy with a strong consumer market and a vibrant financial services sector. This means more demand for fluent foreign speakers in the high-value international service sector.

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