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 Conducted an Experiment to See if I Could Overcome Chinese Accent Fossilisation. Here are the Results
Over the past few years, I've been conducting an experiment on myself to see whether it's possible to undo deeply entrenched Chinese pronunciation mis...
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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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Can You Learn Mandarin From Outside Chinese Speaking Countries? Yes, Here’s Why
Ask someone who has never learned a foreign language to fluency what they imagine the best way to do so might be and many will reply: “Go and live in...
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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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You Don’t Understand Everything In Your Native Language. Stop Trying To Do So In Chinese
One of my most misguided thought patterns when learning Chinese involved the belief that my ultimate goal must be to understand everything. This was t...
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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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Why I Never Use The CEFR Framework to Measure my Chinese Proficiency
Last week I started a discussion thread on the LingQ open forum in which I expressed my surprise at how popular the CEFR (Common European Framework of...
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Why Most Language Proficiency Exams are a Pointless Waste of Your Time
Recently I tweeted out the following message concerning language exams, generating a fair amount of discussion and agreement among fellow learners. I’...
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Four Ways ChatGPT Can Give Your Chinese a Huge Boost
Since ChatGPT became publicly available last November it has allegedly grown in popularity at a faster rate than any other online app or service in th...
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The Valuable Lesson I Learned Buying Snacks at Taiwan's Night Markets
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been travelling around Taiwan, visiting various towns and cities in the south of the country. As I wrote previousl...
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Four Things I’ve Learned From My First Week Living in Taiwan
Last week I moved to Taiwan to travel and study Chinese for six months. Although I have been to Taipei before, this is my first time doing so as a Man...
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2023 Chinese Learning Plans: I'm Moving to Taiwan!
Over the past few weeks, I haven’t posted quite as often as previously. There are two main reasons for this. The first is that I was struggling with m...
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The Beginner's Guide To Surviving a Weekend of Total Chinese Immersion
Lingo Geek is a language blogger, teacher and volunteer at Mandarin Retreat, organising immersive weekend trips for Chinese learners in the UK. In thi...
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Refold: Making Immersive Language Learning Mainstream (Podcast)
On to today’s podcast! On today's episode, I speak to Ethan, the CEO of Refold, an immersion-based language learning system that offers a guide and a...
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Opinion: No, Professor Krashen, the Perfect Accent Is NOT Already Within You
Just over a year ago, I attended an online networking conference for Mandarin enthusiasts. The event was run by the Confucius Institute and provided a...
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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？
Please subscribe on your favoured podcast provider and leave a review. Today’s episode is a very special edition in which, for the first time ever, th...
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Your Ultimate Guide to Mastering Chinese Listening in Five Steps
Of the four core language learning skills - listening, reading, speaking and writing - I've found listening to be the toughest to crack. For long peri...
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Four Myths About Learning Chinese Debunked
1. You Need to Go to China to Learn Chinese When I first started learning Chinese teachers and fellow learners often told me the only way I could poss...
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Tolerating Ambiguity: How to Cope With Not Understanding Chinese (Podcast)
New language learners often find it difficult to cope with the experience of not understanding. We’re used to being in situations in our native langua...
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How To Make the Most of Your Language Exchange Partnerships
In this post blogger and teacher Lingo Geek draws on his personal experience to offer four tips for using language exchange apps and developing learni...
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How to Overcome the Problem of Chinese Tones (Podcast)
Please subscribe on your favoured podcast provider and leave a review. If you ask any Mandarin learner which aspect of the language they find most cha...
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Four Things to Look For in a Good Chinese Tutor (and What to Avoid)
Searching for a Chinese tutor online can be a headache. Whilst there are plenty of online apps and websites pairing language learners with tutors it c...
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Does Stephen Krashen's Input Hypothesis & Comprehensible Input Work for Learning Mandarin Chinese?
Professor Stephen Krashen has arguably had more of an impact in the field of modern language education than any other academic linguist. His Input Hyp...
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