Why does Mandarin feel easy when you’re listening…

but impossible the moment a real person speaks?

In this mailbag episode, we answer real listener questions about learning Mandarin in the real world.

Textbooks vs real speech. Tones. Confidence. Speaking to in-laws. And why your brain sometimes just shuts down.

We talk about:

• Why textbooks teach words nobody actually says
• Whether tones really matter (and why)
• Freezing when speaking to native speakers
• Speaking Mandarin with your partner’s parents
• Why some days you feel fluent and others you forget everything
• Mainland Chinese vs Taiwanese Mandarin

If you’ve ever thought, “Is it just me?”

…it isn’t.

00:00 Welcome & what this episode is

03:10 Why textbooks don’t sound like real people

11:45 Speaking Mandarin with your partner’s parents

23:40 “I understand podcasts but not real people”

33:10 Do tones really matter?

41:45 Why some days Mandarin feels impossible

52:30 Mainland Chinese vs Taiwanese Mandarin

59:10 Final thoughts & how to keep improving

01:02:30 How to support Mandarin Monkey

🎧 Support the podcast: https://patreon.com/mandarinmonkey

📚 Book lessons: https://mandarinmonkey.com

👥 Join Mandarin Monkey Hangouts on Patreon

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