Popup Chinese

We're taking a new approach to our Advanced series with this lesson, so let us know what you think. Instead of a Chinese-only discussion on a more general topic, we've got an in-depth bilingual discussion about what everyone in Beijing is talking about: the new television series of Dream of the Red Chamber. If you're not up on the latest gossip surrounding this production, join us as we complain about the bad casting, director scandals, atrocius haircuts and everything else your coworkers are griping about around the watercooler.

In addition to the regular gossip though, we also talk a bit about the book itself. Even if you've never read Dream of the Red Chamber, by the end of this podcast you'll be able to talk knowledgeably not only about what actually happens in the book, but also what should have happened. We gave Brendan and Echo free rein to complain about who was supposed to end up with whom, who was supposed to die unhappily in chapter nine, and all of the other secrets revealed in one of the most critical passages in the book: the revelation of fates in the chapter five dream sequence. If you want the book in a nutshell, this is it.

Navigate the reincarnated Popup Chinese archives, including the original customized word-to-word transcripts for this and every other lesson as PDF files:

Reincarnated Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese

Reincarnated Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese

It was strange that the headmaster had arranged their tour for the weekend. While it hadn't struck Monica as odd previously, now that they were walking through campus, the choice of days seemed peculiar. For despite the fact it was a sunny October afternoon, the school grounds were almost deserted. Save for the occasional schoolboy slouching home in the distance, there was nothing to be seen suggesting she and her husband were touring the most renowned international school in Beijing. Or any other school for that matter. And then they entered the buttery....
If you're living the expat life in China, you're doubtless familiar with the hordes of international schools scrambling over each other to educate your brood. Since you may not be intimately familiar with what a Chinese education involves, in this podcast we strip away the mystery and show you how the education system really works in China. And in the process, we illuminate a subtle difference between two very similar words that intermediate Chinese learners mix up all the time. So listen up and we hope you enjoy the show.

Navigate the reincarnated Popup Chinese archives, including the original customized word-to-word transcripts for this and every other lesson as PDF files:

Reincarnated Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese

Reincarnated Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese

There are plenty of Chinese textbooks that claim to teach basic Chinese but are in fact utterly useless in everyday situations like the one we found ourselves in about a month ago, when our new colleague Nicole arrived back from lunch slightly the worse for the wear....

Nicole had just crossed the threshold and was bending over to take off her shoes when Echo, having successfully maneuvered herself behind the coffee table, finally broke the ice. "Did you have a good lunch," she asked? "Oh lunch," Nicole faltered. "I almost forgot all about that in the excitement...."

Navigate the reincarnated Popup Chinese archives, including the original customized word-to-word transcripts for this and every other lesson as PDF files:

Reincarnated Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese

Reincarnated Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese

We know what you're thinking: how did I ever get to such an advanced level in Chinese without learning the words for narcolepsy or hangglider? This is admittedly an oversight on your part, but it's also one no-one need ever know about. Unlike many of our other advanced podcasts, today's lesson is built around a dialogue. And this dialogue will drill these words so deeply into your inner cortex you'll forget there was ever a day you weren't comfortable talking about neural disorders and extreme sports in Chinese.

Navigate the reincarnated Popup Chinese archives, including the original customized word-to-word transcripts for this and every other lesson as PDF files:

Reincarnated Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese

Reincarnated Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese

Our lesson for today is an advanced listening test. And while it's quite difficult, if you've seen Reservoir Dogs, the setup should be familiar. Minutes after a botched and bloddy robbery, the gang regroups in an abandoned warehouse outside town. But who is responsible for the carnage, and how do their tensions play out? Find out the answers in our action-packed listening test for today. Just listen to our test recording a single time and then head over to our quiz section to test your comprehension.

Navigate the reincarnated Popup Chinese archives, including the original customized word-to-word transcripts for this and every other lesson as PDF files:

Reincarnated Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese

Reincarnated Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese

This is not a lesson about the disappointment we felt on buying a copy of The Matrix Reloaded at our local DVD store back in 2003 only to end up watching a pirated copy of Johnny Mnemonic (the dolphin scene was especially excruciating the second time around). But it's pretty close. Because sometimes you'll find a good movie, only to find it completely unwatchable because the subtitles are all in Russian.

So our Chinese lesson for today is about living with disappointment, but only in part. It's also about learning different ways to ask simple questions, so if you're sick of ending every question with the sound "ma", you're going to love what we do today. So go ahead and make some popcorn and hit play. You'll be an elementary student in no-time, and will have some popcorn in the meanwhile. Try doing that in a physical classroom.

Navigate the reincarnated Popup Chinese archives, including the original customized word-to-word transcripts for this and every other lesson as PDF files:

Reincarnated Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese

Reincarnated Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese

"But the Chinese language doesn't have an alphabet," the perspicacious listener might ask, "why on earth does China need an alphabet song?" Which is a good question, and one we studiously avoided asking ourselves after forcing our voice actors to record the song behind this lesson.

You see... while Chinese may not exactly have a traditional western alphabet, we wanted to give you the next best thing: a musical extravaganza guaranteed to help you remember Chinese numbers for years to come. And for your extra pleasure, we're enabling our speaking practice hotline for this lesson as well. If you're a premium subscriber, give us a call on our telephone hotline and give us your own attempt to put these numbers to music. As you'll hear, you can't do much worse than our native Chinese speakers.

Navigate the reincarnated Popup Chinese archives, including the original customized word-to-word transcripts for this and every other lesson as PDF files:

Reincarnated Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese

Reincarnated Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese

"Is Echo really sleeping?" Apple had to raise her voice to overpower the sound of Pierce Brosnan's distant crooning. A moment later as the chorus to Super Trouper kicked in, she tossed down her pen and turned to face the rest of us. "Honestly," she said in her best no-nonsense voice, "I'm finding it hard to concentrate with all of this Greek music...."

The constant presence in our Popup Chinese headquarters these last few weeks has been the soundtrack to Mamma Mia. After stumbling across the Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan version of the famous ABBA musical, Echo has had the music on constantly. And the musical has found its way into everything we've done, including today's lesson for Absolute Beginners. So join us as we share an effective strategy for avoiding work in China. Use this whenever you need to take the afternoon off to catch a broadway show.

Navigate the reincarnated Popup Chinese archives, including the original customized word-to-word transcripts for this and every other lesson as PDF files:

Reincarnated Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese

Reincarnated Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese

Trips to Hong Kong, Singapore and across the mainland are a mainstay of life for most foreign professionals in Asia. Couple that with the fact that many of the best jobs for mandarin-speaking expats are with smaller and mid-sized firms, and you've got a recipe for the need to work on the go. Say goodbye to life in a cubicle and hello to rushing to find a power outlet in rural Guangxi in order to make your conference call on Skype.

If you do business in Asia but are just learning to speak Chinese, join us in this lesson as we teach you how to ask for an electrical outlet for your laptop or phone. In addition to our regular Chinese podcast, we've also enabled our Speaking Practice hotline for today's lesson. If you're a premium subscriber, grab your personal ID number on our text page along with our telephone hotline number. Give us a call and practice reading the dialogue and vocabulary to us (add your own commentary, of course) and we'll get back to you in a day with personal feedback on how you sound.

Navigate the reincarnated Popup Chinese archives, including the original customized word-to-word transcripts for this and every other lesson as PDF files:

Reincarnated Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese

Reincarnated Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese

As Alex struggled to finish his thesis in the only Internet cafe still open in this part of Wuhan, he quietly prayed the air would clear as the evening wore on and the local chain-smoking Counterstrike guild closed shop for the night. By one o'clock, however, the omnipresent haze of smoke had settled into more-or-less permanent stormclouds over a growing mass of players who if anything were more animated than ever before.

It took another hour for the full horrific truth to hit Alex. Staggering to the service counter to stock up on caffeine, he noticed a small sign perched on the desk advertising a significant discount for overnight users. His non-stop smoking, terrorist-killing and expletive-shouting neighbors were here for the long-haul. And not only would they be playing through his morning deadline, they would be paying significantly less for the privilege too.

Navigate the reincarnated Popup Chinese archives, including the original customized word-to-word transcripts for this and every other lesson as PDF files:

Reincarnated Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese — Popup Chinese

Reincarnated Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese — Popup Cantonese