You Can Learn Chinese

By Jared Turner, John Pasden

Society & Culture Education Places & Travel

What's You Can Learn Chinese about?

For everyone who is trying to learn Chinese or reaching for the next level, you came to the right place! Hosts Jared Turner and John Pasden bring you this new podcast series to discuss everything learning Chinese. Together they started the Mandarin Companion graded reader series and have spent countless years in Chinese education. You'll find helpful information, inspiring stories, and practical guidance on your journey of learning Chinese. You can do this!
Visit www.MandarinCompanion.com for more information.

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LAST EPISODE

#40 How to Set Goals for Le...

07.13.2020

John and Jared discuss how to set language learning goals, with concrete ideas on how to break them down into achievable chunks and avoiding the trap of “I want to be fluent enough to read a Chinese newspaper”. Guest interview ...

You Can Learn Chinese episodes:

07.13.2020 #40 How to Set Goals for Learning Chinese John and Jared discuss how to set language learning goals, with concrete ideas on how to break them down into achievable chunks and avoiding the trap of “I want to be fluent enough to read a Chinese newspaper”. Guest interview ...
06.29.2020 #39 The Future of Learning Chinese In this special episode, guest interview is with expert Chinese teacher trainer and innovator, Terry Waltz. She’s a renegade in the Chinese language of community, championing the cause of comprehensible input. John and Jared break down her interview and talk ...
06.15.2020 #38 How Much Mandarin Do You Need To Speak? John and Jared break down what it’s going to take if you want to get conversational in Chinese both in terms of the number of words and which ones are the most necessary. Guest interview is with Finlay Davidson, who ...
06.01.2020 #37 Chinese Homestay Censorship Vampires Guest interview is with John Gordon, a longtime resident of Beijing who went from English education to starring in a Children’s TV show in China. John and Jared then discuss his story and explore the value of homestays, navigating Chinese ...
05.18.2020 #36 How To Find The Perfect Tutor How can you be sure to find a good Chinese tutor? John and Jared give you tips on how to identify a tutor who can help you take your Chinese to the next level. Guest interview is with Lucy Jak-Lax, ...
05.04.2020 #35 Don't Be the Girl with the Name Radiohead What is in a name? John and Jared deconstruct names in Chinese and how to pick a good one. Guest interview is with Millie Potter who during a study abroad in China, took the path less traveled and found a ...
04.20.2020 #34 Pronouncing Chinese Confidently This episode kicks off interviewing Jason Schuurman, an American who has spent a third of his life immersed in Chinese culture and having a blast while doing it. Later, John and Jared unpack Jason’s tips for pronouncing Chinese confidently and ...
04.06.2020 #33 Writing Chinese: How to Build Your Skills John and Jared discuss how you can develop mad Chinese writing skills, complete with very practical activities to build those skills, either with others or by yourself. Guest interview is with Shannon Kennedy, an extraordinary polyglot whose love of Chinese ...
03.23.2020 #32 COVID-19: A Tale of Two Cities With an on-the-ground perspective in China and the US, John and Jared have an insightful talk about the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the globe. John is based in Shanghai and Jared in the USA with family and neighbors who have come ...
03.09.2020 #31 Extensive Reading and the Path to Fluency John and Jared discuss everything you wanted to know about extensive reading but were afraid to ask. If you want to accelerate your path to Chinese fluency, this episode is for you. Guest interview is with Mariano Millet, an Argentinian ...
02.24.2020 #30 Second Language or Foreign Language: What Type of Learner Are You? In this episode, John and I talk about the difference between learning Chinese as a second language vs. learning as a foreign language and how the difference insidiously impacts learning all over the world. Guest interview is with Christophe Boulet, ...
02.10.2020 #29 How to Pass the HSK and AP Chinese Tests Are you looking to pass the HSK or AP Chinese test? Jared talks with Grant Brown, an expert on test prep. Grant tells us the key reasons people fail, and the secrets to passing. This is advice you won’t hear ...
01.27.2020 #28 A Method to Remember Thousands of Characters Do you find it hard to remember characters? In this episode, John and Jared discuss a method that has delivered results time and time again. Guest interview is with Chris Max, a famous Chinese-language YouTuber that you may not have ...
01.13.2020 #27 Can You Learn Chinese from a Textbook? John and Jared discuss why textbooks should only take up 25% of your time when learning Chinese and how to spend the other 75%. Guest interview is with Jeff Lindsay, a long-time resident of Shanghai whose love for Chinese and ...
12.29.2019 #26 End of Year Special In this special episode, John and Jared revisit the top 10 YCLC podcasts of the year. If you’re new to the podcast, you’ll find out what you might have missed! Plus a special two truths and a lie, featuring LeBron ...
12.16.2019 #25 Christmas in China 圣诞节快乐! This is our special Christmas episode! John and Jared discuss Christmas is like in China, Christmas words in Chinese, and they even have a “name that tune” for some Chinese Christmas carols. Guest interview is with Mervyn Cooke, a ...
12.02.2019 #24 The 4 Types of Tone Mistakes John and Jared discuss the 4 types of mistakes learners make with tones. If you’re trying to up your tone game, then this is for you. Guest interview is with China-based English teacher trainer Mathew Armstrong. He tells us his ...
11.18.2019 #23 Pinyin Over Characters: the Crippling Crutch John and Jared discuss why pinyin over Chinese characters is detrimental to your learning and what you can do instead. Guest interview is with Kwadwo [QUĀY.jo] Sampani-Kessi, the founder of Elementary Chinese, a popular YouTube and Instagram channel for learning ...
11.04.2019 #22 Going from "Learning to Read" to "Reading to Learn" John and Jared discuss some of the latest research about how we learn to read in Chinese, plus two raves that will take your Chinese learning up a notch. Guest interview is with Reuven Lerner, a software developer who began ...
10.21.2019 #21 How Important is Chinese Culture When Learning Chinese? John and Jared talk about the connection between culture and language and answer the question, do you need to understand the culture to speak Chinese? Guest interview is with Imron Alston, a Chinese speaking, juggling, unicycle riding software developer and ...
10.07.2019 #20 Confessions of a Chinese Language Teacher Special guest host Diane Neubauer, a Chinese teacher, to discuss the latest Chinese learning methods, what it’s like to be a Chinese teacher, and the intersection between culture and language.
09.23.2019 #19 How to Find Your Motivation Jared and John discuss the importance of and how to develop motivation in learning Chinese. Guest interview with Theresa Munford from the UK and started learning Chinese after the Cultural Revolution.
09.09.2019 #18 The Controversy Between Simplified and Traditional Characters Explained John and Jared discuss the controversial subject of simplified vs traditional characters. Guest interview with Phil Crimmins, professional drummer and founder of Mandarin Blueprint.
08.26.2019 #17 Bridging the Gap to Higher Levels John and Jared talk about how to bridge the gap from intermediate to advanced Chinese. Guest interview with Rakesh who started learning Chinese when dated a Chinese girl.
08.12.2019 #16 How to Build Listening Skills John and Jared discuss a learner who says he can speak, read, and write, but can’t understand spoken Mandarin. Guest interview with Liz Hanlon who works for a major Chinese textbook publisher.
07.29.2019 #15 Steven Kaufmann “The Linguist” Interview John and Jared discuss grammar and the best ways to learn it. Special interview with famous polyglot Steve Kaufmann “The Linguist” who speaks nearly two dozen languages including Chinese.
07.15.2019 #14 How to Pronounce Like a Pro Jared and John discuss give you tips on how to pronounce Chinese like a pro. Guest interview with Shang Zhu Zhang, who forgot Chinese when she moved to Canada as a young girl and later learned it as an adult.
07.01.2019 #13 The Four Keys to Learning Chinese You Need to Know Jared and John discuss four keys you need to know to not only spot a good program, but to optimize your Chinese learning. Guest interview with Daniel Keefe and how after 15 years in China, he finally learned Chinese and ...
06.16.2019 #12 Knowledge vs Proficiency You may know a lot of Chinese, but are you proficient in it? John and Jared discuss this issue and offer advice on how to balance the two. Guest interview is with actor and playwright Elyse Ribbons.
06.03.2019 #11 How to Build Reading Fluency What makes a fluent reader? John and Jared go through scientific research that helps us to understand the keys to reading fluently. Guest interview is with Ola Jagielska.
05.20.2019 #10 The Stages of Learning Chinese Review of the 2019 National Chinese Language Conference and discussion about the stages of learning Chinese. Guest interview with John D’Andrea, Chinese teacher who began learning Chinese in the 70’s.
05.06.2019 #9 Skritter CEO Jacob Gill Interview Jared & John field a question from a listener about Chinese linguistics. Guest interview with Jacob Gill, CEO of Skritter.
04.22.2019 #8 Tones, Music, and Confidence Jared & John discuss everything you wanted to know about tones but were afraid to ask. Guest interview with the legendary Dr. David Moser, Chinese professor, author, Chinese language performer, and media commentator.
04.08.2019 #7 The Myth of Learning Chinese Like a Child Jared & John talk about the myth of adults learning Chinese like a child, fake graded readers, and the mystique of the Chinese typewriter (yes, it’s a real thing). Guest interview with Matt McGill, star actor on the popular YouTube ...
03.25.2019 #6 Chinese Immersion: The Home Version This episode is all about how to immerse yourself in the language without having to travel half way around the world. Get the scoop on reading, movies, music, and trick to help you create that immersive environment. Guest interview with ...
03.11.2019 #5 Writing Characters: Is It Worth Your Time? Are kids books in Chinese good for us to learn Chinese? What about books with pinyin over Chinese characters? Should I spent time learning to hand write characters? And what about Stephen Colbert's Chinese pronunciation? Find the answers to all ...
02.25.2019 #4 Chinese Language Power Struggles When you want to speak Chinese but the other person wants to speak English, Chinese accents (really interesting), and why some schools miss out on the learners perspective. Special interview Kerric Knowles and his struggles and triumphs studying Chinese at ...
02.07.2019 #3 Chinese Dual Immersion: It's Been Going On Longer Than You Think Find how John's Chinese became so good. What about all of these Chinese immersion schools? Caitlin Lee graduated from such a program over ten years ago and it will make you wish you learned Chinese like this!
02.07.2019 #2 Why Chinese is Taught the Way It Is Find out why Chinese is taught the way it is. Guest interview with Josh Campbell, a public relations executive in China.
02.04.2019 #1 Introduction Get to know your hosts Jared Turner and John Pasden and what the podcast IS and is NOT about.