Improving my Spoken Mandarin with the Traffic Light System
Towards the end of last year, I wrote a blog setting out my objective for 2022. In it I stated that by 2023 I hope to have developed enough confidence...
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Christmas Reflections & Ambitious New Year Goals
Reflecting on my progress over the past year I am left with a strange feeling. On the one hand, I believe my spoken proficiency, listening comprehensi...
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“Wow! Your Mandarin is Awesome!” Decoding Chinese Politeness (Podcast)
Anyone who has learned Mandarin will be familiar with how encouraging Chinese people tend to be towards those of us who take an interest in their lang...
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Benjamin Zephaniah on Learning Mandarin (Podcast)
For Today’s podcast, I had the honour of interviewing a very distinguished guest. Benjamin Zephaniah is best known as one of Britain’s favourite poets...
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Do You REALLY Need to Learn to Write Chinese Characters?
Learning to read and write Chinese characters is one of the most daunting challenges for Mandarin learners. But do you really need to learn to write C...
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Expectations Vs Reality of Learning Chinese (With Luke Truman)
On today's podcast, I discuss how expectations often differ from reality when learning Mandarin. My guest is YouTuber Luke Truman who has been documen...
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Leaning Chinese with Graded Readers (Podcast)
On today’s episode, I discuss a topic I have previously blogged about: graded readers. For those who aren’t familiar, graded readers are books intende...
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Don't Blame Native Speakers for Not Understanding You
I recently came across a video parodying a phenomenon allegedly encountered by many Japanese learners. The sketch (see below) involves a group of five...
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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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Key Predictors of Mandarin Success (Podcast)
On today’s episode, I discuss learning Mandarin with a man who has not only learned the language for himself, he’s also observed the trajectories of h...
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Three Ways Native Speakers React to Chinese Learners
Below is a video of me being interviewed in Mandarin on YouTuber Will Hart’s channel. Two years ago I hosted a party for the language exchange group I...
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Cracking the Intermediate Plateau (Podcast)
The I’m Learning Mandarin Podcast is now available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. As an intermediate Mandarin learner, one of the main challenges I fa...
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Can You Speak A Foreign Language With 400 Words?
Two years ago I had an experience which completely altered my perspective on language learning. I travelled to Taiwan for a three-week trip and quickl...
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Why I Don't Believe in Language Talent
Below is a video of me being interviewed in Mandarin on YouTuber Will Hart’s channel. I used to think there was such a thing as language talent. I use...
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Learning Mandarin in a Pandemic (Podcast)
The I'm Learning Mandarin Podcast is now available on Apple Podcasts as well as Spotify. The global pandemic has had a profound influence on the way w...
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Learning Characters with Hack Chinese (Podcast)
One of the most daunting aspects of learning Chinese is the sheer number of characters required for basic literacy. It’s estimated that comfortably re...
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Letting Go of Mandarin Learning Delusions
Around a year ago I fell into a common trap for Mandarin learners. I started to prematurely believe that I was on the verge of becoming “fluent” in th...
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This Tutor Almost Made Me Give Up Learning Chinese
Most of my experiences with Chinese tutors over the years have been excellent and I have benefited from their guidance immensely. However, a couple of...
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Immersion Vs Structured Learning (Podcast)
Anyone who studies a language has to combine a mixture of approaches that broadly fall into two categories: naturalistic and structured. Naturalistic...
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Reading Novels is the Best Mandarin Hack
Those of us learning Chinese from abroad often struggle to replicate the levels of immersion students based in China take for granted. This is especia...
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My Mandarin Methods & Resources (Video)
This week I was interviewed by Elle Lebel of the online language learning tool LingQ to discuss my resources and methods for learning Mandarin. The di...
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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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Using LingQ To Study Chinese
Over the years I have used several different language learning apps and websites. Out of all these online tools, LingQ has been the most beneficial to...
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How to Assess Your Chinese Level
Assessing your level of Chinese may sound simple but it is easier said than done. There is no objective test that can accurately measure your ability...
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