I'm Learning Mandarin

Links: Mandarin Blueprint: https://www.mandarinblueprint.com/ My blog: imlearningmandarin.com -- On today’s episode, I interview Phil Crimmins. Phil is one of the two minds behind Mandarin Blueprint, a Mandarin learning course with over 4000 videos taking learners step-by-step all the way to Mandarin proficiency. Phil's journey with Mandarin is fascinating. He graduated from Sichuan University in China with a bachelor's degree in the Chinese language. But he left unsatisfied with the traditional methods of learning Chinese he'd been exposed to. So together with his business partner Luke, they created Mandarin Blueprint. Before exploring how the blueprint works and the thinking that went behind it, I was keen to find out more about Phil’s personal experiences of learning Mandarin.

Links:Amanda's website: ⁠https://www.misspandachinese.com/about/⁠Let's Learn Chinese with Miss Panda album: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7glqGNHQOnHMV7pNKbMTSU⁠My website: ⁠imlearningmandarin.com⁠--Welcome to the podcast! Today's guest is Amanda, better known as ⁠"Miss Panda,"⁠ a renowned expert in Mandarin language instruction.Amanda boasts over 30 years of experience teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) and Mandarin Chinese.She's also a published author, consultant, and the creative force behind the popular ⁠"Let's Learn Mandarin Chinese with Miss Panda!" ⁠album, which has helped introduce Mandarin Chinese to a global audience.Throughout her career, Amanda has made significant contributions to the field of language acquisition, presenting her insights at conferences worldwide. Her dedication extends beyond the classroom; she actively assists various educational institutions in developing their Chinese language and culture programs.In this episode, we'll explore Amanda's inspiring journey as a Mandarin teacher, her innovative teaching methods, and the impact she's had on countless language learners. I began by asking her how that journey all began.

Links: Jorrit's Kaohongshu blog: https://kaohongshu.blog/about/ My free eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook My blog: imlearningmandarin.com -- In this episode, I have the pleasure of chatting with Jorrit, a Dutch blogger and the creator of the Kaohongshu website, about his Mandarin learning journey. Jorrit opens up about learning the language, living in China, and the challenges of maintaining his abilities after returning to a non-Chinese-speaking environment. We also explore the story behind his Kaohongshu blog and his mission to inspire and help others in their language-learning journeys.

Links: Bryce's website: https://www.brycehedstrom.com My free Mandarin Learning eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook -- On today’s episode, I interview Bryce Hedstrom – an award-winning teacher trainer in northern Colorado. Bryce has a varied and fascinating history in language learning and teaching, graduating in Spanish before teaching the language in public schools and at the college level for 30 years. He’s worked with clients in the business world, including Fortune 500 corporations and has received multiple awards for his work implementing methods for language instruction that centre around comprehensible input and storytelling. Moreover, as we’ll soon discover, he’s taken an interest in learning Mandarin, applying similar methods to those that were so effective in his teaching career. With so much to cover in this interview, it was hard to know where to start. So I began by asking Bryce how his fascination with languages all began.

Links: Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/b9PAyKwT9p Our Peak Mandarin Masterpack for learning Chinese: https://www.peakmandarin.com/masterclass Will's Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@willhartmandarin/videos -- In this episode, I share our special live q&a session with Will Hart, co-founder of Peak Mandarin. Will should need no introduction to readers of this blog. Two years ago he burst on the Mandarin learning scene when videos of him speaking flawless Chinese after learning for less than two years went viral on YouTube. In the q&a, Will took live questions from the audience in our Discord Server on all things Mandarin learning. Questions ranged from Will’s thoughts on Comprehensible Input to how he went about learning characters.

Links: Peak Mandarin Discord Server: https://discord.gg/b9PAyKwT9p Your ultimate guide to Mastering Chinese tones -- In this episode, we’re diving into one of the most challenging parts of learning Mandarin: mastering tricky tone pairs. I’ll walk you through four of the most commonly mispronounced tone combinations and explain how to get them right.

In this episode, we bring you the recording of our October 20th session where we tackled questions on how to fix your tones. If you're looking to improve your tones but aren't sure how, this discussion is packed with insights from me, as well as server moderator, Jered. Tune in to hear valuable tips, expert advice, and answers to your questions from the live audience. Perfect for anyone looking to level up their tones! Interested in joining more live sessions like this? Join our Discord server on this link: https://discord.gg/b9PAyKwT9p

Links: Peak Mandarin Discord Server: https://discord.gg/b9PAyKwT9p -- In this episode, I dive into one of the most common questions Mandarin learners face: Do you really need to memorise the tones for every new word? Drawing from my personal journey of learning Mandarin and my experiences coaching other learners on my Pronunciation Academy, I discuss the challenges many learners encounter with tone memorisation. I’ll share tips on memorising tones and learning to produce them accurately.

Links: Peak Mandarin Discord: https://discord.gg/b9PAyKwT9p -- In a recent episode, we announced the launch of our Peak Mandarin Discord Server. In just over a week we’ve seen the server grow into a thriving hub with nearly 200 learners supporting each other to ace their Mandarin-speaking goals. And in today’s episode you’ll hear our first-ever live Q&A hosted in the server last Sunday, covering how to practice speaking at an early stage of your learning. Joining me on the q&a panel were Peak Mandarin server moderators, Jered and Lewys, who’ve each been leaning Mandarin for around two years and focussed heavily on speaking during that time. We had some great questions covering how to find opportunities to speak and get feedback from native speakers early on, in a way that’s effective and stress-free.

Links: Peak Mandarin Discord server: https://discord.gg/BtT6t7fK Interview with Karen Chung: https://imlearningmandarin.com/2022/06/26/how-to-achieve-a-near-native-chinese-accent-with-professor-karen-chung-podcast/ My free Mandarin learning eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook -- Recently a member of our Peak Mandarin Discord server posted a short clip of a native Mandarin speaker saying a sentence in mid-conversation at full-blown speed. The sentence was: 这么复杂的东西怎么学得会啊不可能的嘛对吧。Zhème fùzá de dōngxī zěnme xué de huì a bù kěnéng de ma duì ba. Something this complicated, how could I possibly learn it? It's impossible, right? The challenge was laid out for members of the server to mimic the sentence and post their attempts on the thread to receive feedback from other learners. So I decided to deploy the methods I often use to mimic native speech and give it a go. In this episode I’m going to break down step by step how I went from struggling to keep up to being able to deliver the sentence with natural rhythm and accurate tones at lightning speed. A word of caution, this sentence was particularly challenging, so if you don’t have much experience mimicking Mandarin, it’s advisable to start with something shorter and much slower.