Chris Foley’s Mandarin Speaking Journey: Mission Accomplished!
One year ago, Chris Foley set himself a challenge to transform his Mandarin and achieve a standard Mandarin accent in time for his Chinese wedding cer…
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Learner Stories
Real journeys from beginner to fluent — case studies and personal diaries.
36 posts
Can a Busy Dad Learn Mandarin in Just One Year?
--- Over the last 12 months, busy Welsh accountant and father to a young daughter, Lewys Thomas, has been working to improve his Mandarin speaking ski…
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Chris’s Diary Month 8 & 9: Untangling the Tongue Twisters
Chris Foley has set himself a challenge to improve his tone pronunciation, and achieve a standard Mandarin accent in time for his Chinese wedding cere…
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Chris's Diary Month 7: Dialing in the Tones and Preparing for New Challenges
Chris Foley has set himself a challenge to improve his pronunciation and achieve a standard Mandarin accent in time for his Chinese wedding ceremony.…
Read more Chris's Mandarin Diary Month 6: My First Chinese Interview (Video)
Chris Foley has set himself a challenge to improve his tone pronunciation and achieve a standard Mandarin accent in time for his Chinese wedding cerem…
Read more Chris Foley’s Mandarin Speaking Journey: Months 4 & 5
Chris Foley has set himself a challenge to improve his tone pronunciation, and achieve a standard Mandarin accent in time for his Chinese wedding cere…
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Lewys's 6-Month Transformation to Conversational Mandarin (Video)
Over the last six months, Welsh accountant and father Lewys Thomas has been working to improve his Mandarin speaking skills with I'm Learning Mandarin…
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How my Student Founded Asia's Hottest Languages Conference (Podcast)
This podcast is available on Apple and Spotify A few months ago I interviewed Philipp Marxen on the podcast about his Anki challenge for learning Mand…
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My Four Coolest Mandarin Learning Moments (Podcast)
This podcast is available on Apple and Spotify Mandarin involves a lot of hard work and sometimes we can start to question whether it's worth the stru…
Read more Chris Foley's Mandarin Speaking Diary: My Immersive Trip to China (Month 3)
Chris Foley has set himself a challenge to improve his tone pronunciation, and achieve a standard Mandarin accent in time for his Chinese wedding cere…
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How Jake Gill from Skritter Learned Chinese
This podcast is available on Apple and Spotify Today on the podcast, I’m speaking with Jake Gill from Skritter, one of the most well-known apps for le…
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Chris Foley's Mandarin Speaking Journey: Month 2
Chris Foley has set himself a challenge to improve his tone pronunciation, and achieve a standard Mandarin accent in time for his Chinese wedding cere…
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Interview with Karen Cheuk from Happy Mandarin
This podcast is available on Apple and Spotify Today's guest is Karen Cheuk, an inspiring educator behind Happy Mandarin, an organization that helps c…
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Can I sharpen my tones and speak in a standard Mandarin accent in time for my wedding?
Chris Foley has set himself a challenge to improve his tone pronunciation, and achieve a standard Mandarin accent in time for his Chinese wedding cere…
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Learning Chinese with Amanda Miss Panda (Podcast)
This podcast is available on Apple and Spotify Welcome to the podcast! Today's guest is Amanda, better known as "Miss Panda," a renowned expert in Man…
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Maintaining your Mandarin Skills Outside China: Interview with Jorrit (Podcast)
This podcast is available on Apple and Spotify In this episode, I have the pleasure of chatting with Jorrit, a Dutch blogger and the creator of the Ka…
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How Joshua Lykes is Learning Chinese Through AI (Podcast)
This podcast is available on Apple, Spotify and Google On today’s episode, I interview Joshua Lykes, an up-and-coming YouTuber whose recent videos on…
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Have You Had a Chinese Learning Wet Fish Moment?
This podcast is available on Apple, Spotify and Google In my first few years of learning Chinese, there were many occasions when I'd suddenly be made…
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From Mandarin Learner to Teacher & Instagram Star (Podcast)
This podcast is available on Apple, Spotify and Google On today’s episode, I speak to Kristen, a Mandarin speaker and teacher from Canada. Kristen has…
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Insights from a Lifelong Mandarin Learner (Podcast)
This podcast is available on Apple, Spotify and Google My guest on today’s podcast can trace his Mandarin learning journey all the way back to the 198…
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Channeling Jealousy into Curiosity is the Key to Mandarin Progress (Podcast)
This podcast is available on Apple, Spotify and Google On today’s podcast episode, I have a really insightful chat with one of my students on my coach…
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Language exchange app leads composer to Chinese speaking breakthrough (Podcast)
This podcast is available on Apple, Spotify and Google Recently on the I’m Learning Mandarin podcast, I’ve had the fortune of interviewing a number of…
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From Zero to Fluent in Two Years. I'm Learning Mandarin Listener Nails Spoken Mandarin (Podcast)
This podcast is available on Apple, Spotify and Google Hello and welcome to another episode of the I’m Learning Mandarin podcast. On today’s podcast,…
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How this Deaf Mandarin Learner Perfected Chinese Tones (Podcast)
This episode is available to listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. On today’s podcast, I speak to James Wong, a commercial model and…
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Learn Chinese With Instagram Star Jiaqi Laoshi (Podcast)
(This podcast is available on Apple, Spotify and Google) When I think back to all the Chinese tutors I’ve had in the past, the best have without fail…
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I was Interviewed in Chinese by Language Learning Phenomenon Will Hart for his YouTube Channel! (Video)
Recently my friend Will Hart (whose incredible Mandarin learning journey was previously documented in this blog and on my podcast) invited me to go on…
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How Overcoming Chinese Speaking Fears Led to a Life Changing Experience (Podcast)
(This podcast is available on Spotify and Apple.) A few weeks ago a message appeared on the I’m Learning Mandarin Facebook group addressed to me from…
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How this Learner Fulfilled her Ambition of Becoming a Chinese Teacher (Podcast)
(This podcast is available on Apple and Spotify) Welcome back to another episode of the I’m Learning Mandarin Podcast. It’s been a while since I recor…
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I Recorded My First Ever Podcast in Mandarin Chinese! 中式礼貌和英式礼貌有什么区别？
This podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Anchor. Please subscribe on your favoured podcast provider and leave a review. Today’s episod…
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How This Medical Student Became Totally Fluent in Chinese Within One Year While Living in the UK (Podcast)
This podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Anchor. Please subscribe on your favoured podcast provider and leave a review. On today’…
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Guest Post: Learning Chinese Taught Me To Be Comfortable Making A Fool Of Myself
Many Chinese learners feel embarrassed when speaking the language in front of others and are afraid of being judged negatively for making mistakes. In…
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Mastering Chinese Listening with Lei Lei (Podcast)
This podcast is also available on Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. My guest on this episode is Lei Lei, a blogger and Mandarin Chinese learner who writes…
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Expectations Vs Reality of Learning Chinese (With Luke Truman)
This podcast is also available on Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. On today's podcast, I discuss how expectations often differ from reality when learning…
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Learning Chinese While Dreaming
A little over a year ago I had an experience which led me to become interested in the role of dreams in language learning. It was during lockdown and…
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My Chinese Learning Podcast Interview
Recently I went on the excellent You Can Learn Chinese podcast where I was interviewed about my motivations for learning Mandarin as well as my tips f…
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Leaving the Classroom: Self Studying my Way to Chinese Fluency
Below is a video of me being interviewed in Mandarin on YouTuber Will Hart's channel. A little over two years ago I wrote a blog documenting my experi…
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