John and Jared talk about three types of research-backed strategies and tips you can employ to improve your listening skills, specifically in the areas where you struggle.  Guest interview is with Gabrielle Barnett from Jamaica, whose quest to learn Chinese has opened doors and taken her around the world, far beyond anything she could have imagined.  Links from the episode:Intelligibility of normal speech I: Global and fine-grained acoustic-phonetic talker characteristics (research paper, PDF format)Chinese Pronunciation Wiki: Pinyin Chart, Pinyin “Gotchas”When a Window is a Door (Sinosplice) Thanks for listening to the podcast! Please write John and Jared a review on Apple Podcasts and they’ll give you a shout-out! They are also taking questions from listeners. If you have a question, reach them at feedback@mandarincompanion.com. Follow them on Facebook and catch their latest Chinese-learning memes on Instagram. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.