Links: Follow this episode along with a Chinese transcript and translation: imlearningmandarin.com My free Mandarin learning eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook -- One of the most rewarding parts of running this podcast and creating Mandarin-learning content is receiving messages from learners whose lives have been changed in profound ways after taking our learning advice. Recently this podcast has featured several of these inspiring stories, and today’s episode features another one. A few weeks ago, Peak Mandarin Co-founder Will Hart and I received an email from a Pharmacy student based in Liverpool called Simon Griffiths. Simon had just finished reading my eBook, Lessons from a Chinese Learning Phenomenon – in which I unpack Chinese learning phenomenon, Will Hart’s, incredible story of Mandarin mastery – and wanted to get in touch to express his gratitude. After reading Simon’s email, Will and I reached out to him, asking if he’d be interested in recording a podcast in Chinese about his inspiring story. So on today’s episode, we hear Simon tell his story in his own Mandarin words, including his advice on how to get hooked on Chinese learning. As usual, if you like this podcast please don’t forget to hit the subscribe button on your favoured podcast provider. And if you’re interested in recording your own podcast in Chinese please get in touch by emailing info@peakmandarin.com and I’ll be happy to support you through the process.

My free Mandarin learning eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook My Mandarin learning blog: imlearningmandarin.com Our Peak Mandarin Masterclasses: https://www.peakmandarin.com/masterclass -- Hello and welcome back to the I’m Learning Mandarin podcast.  On today’s episode, I have a really insightful chat with one of our Peak Mandarin students, Lewys Thomas.  Lewys has been learning Chinese for a few years but recently realised despite getting a tonne of input his speaking wasn’t improving.  After coming across my blog, he reached out for help and is now thankfully well on track to acing his speaking goals.  One of the most interesting things to come out of my conversation with Lewys was his admission that when he first saw a video of me speaking fluent Chinese, he felt a pang of jealousy, like I was doing something that was beyond his abilities.  But what he’s since been able to do is to channel that jealousy into something much more productive: curiousity.  And after becoming curious and opening his mind to learning about how we became fluent in Chinese, he began putting these methods into practice himself and things really started changing for Lewys.  So we get into all of that later in the interview but to start with, I began by asking Lewys how his Chinese learning journey all started. 

Links: My free Mandarin learning eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook Karl's Mandarin Mosaic App: https://mandarinmosaic.com/ Episode transcript and translation: imlearningmandarin.com -- On today’s I’m Learning Mandarin podcast episode, app developer Karl Baker gives us his five top tips for mining Chinese sentences. Karl began learning Mandarin several years ago as a way of communicating with his Chinese wife’s family and he’s previously written for the I’m Learning Mandarin blog about using sentence mining to improve his speaking skills. Recently, he’s started developing a new app called Mandarin Mosaic which is designed to facilitate the sentence mining process. As usual, you can follow along with a Chinese transcript below. If you’re interested in recording your own short episode in Mandarin, please get in touch at info@peakmandarin.com and I’ll be happy to support you through the development, production, and recording process. Finally, if you like this podcast please don’t forget to leave a review or five-star rating on your preferred podcast provider!

Links: My free eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook My Blog: imlearningmandarin.com Daniel's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@DanielLeoSimpson -- Recently on the I’m Learning Mandarin podcast, I’ve had the fortune of interviewing a number of fascinating learners in our community.  And today’s guest is a perfect example of this. Daniel Leo Simpson is a composer from the US whose music has been played by orchestras around the world.  Daniel began learning Chinese as a hobby a few years ago and recently turned his attention to developing his speaking confidence.  He approached us for help with this, completing all our Peak Mandarin Masterclasses teaching our best methods for learning to speak Chinese fluently.  It was during one Masterclass in particular, that Daniel learned about a language exchange app called Hello Talk.  And as you’ll soon hear, this was somewhat of a Eureka moment for Daniel. He started using the app regularly to meet native Chinese speakers and got in the rhythm of speaking Chinese every day, all of which, combined with the methods he learned in the Masterclass has propelled his speaking confidence to new heights.  Before we got into discussing these recent game-changing experiences, I began by asking Daniel about his background as a musician and composer and how this influenced his interest in languages. 

Links: My Mandarin learning eBook Chinese Transcript & translation: imlearningmandarin.com A few weeks ago, I received a message from an I'm Learning Mandarin listener from the US called Jered. Jered was responding to my callout inviting listeners to produce their own short podcast episodes in Chinese, with my support. Jered is an accomplished technologist who recently moved to Taiwan to start a new venture. And he was keen to set himself the challenge of recording a podcast in Mandarin as a way of honing his speaking skills. So in today's episode, we'll hear Jered talk all about his Mandarin learning experiences and explain how speaking from early on in his studies helped him make swift progress. As usual, you can follow along with a Chinese transcript below. If you're interested in recording your own short episode in Chinese, please get in touch at info@peakmandarin.com and I'll be happy to support you through the development, production, and recording process. Finally, if you like this podcast please don't forget to leave a review or five-star rating on your preferred podcast provider.

Links: To get updates on future Peak Mandarin live Q&A events subscribe to our free newsletter. Follow this podcast along with a Chinese transcript on imlearningmandarin.com -- If you’ve listened to this podcast for long, you’ll know that our purpose here is to support learners like you to achieve your Mandarin-speaking goals. So on today’s podcast episode, I’m broadcasting a live Q&A session I recently hosted together with fluent Mandarin speaker and YouTuber, Will Hart. The session covered the best ways to go about practicing Mandarin speaking and was hosted for subscribers to our Peak Mandarin newsletter, giving learners a chance to put their questions to us directly and seek our advice. We had a lively and interesting discussion covering a range of questions, from how to structure language exchange sessions to how to use sentence mining to improve your speaking. This event was part of a series of monthly live Q&A series we’re hosting as part of our Peak Mandarin project. Whether you’re an intermediate or beginner learner, Will and I were in the same place not so long ago. And our goal now is to use our knowledge and experience to help you structure your Mandarin learning as effectively as possible and avoid falling into some of the same pitfalls we did! So if you’re interested in attending future discussions and taking part in similar Q&A discussions with Will and me in the future, sign up for our free newsletter and we’ll send you emails about all our events. Now let’s get into the Q&A!

Links: My free Mandarin learning eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook Chinese transcript and translation: imlearningmandarin.com Clement's Twitter: https://x.com/cjpgverrier -- On today’s podcast, I broadcast the first of what I hope will be many Chinese monologues submitted by listeners to this podcast. Today’s recording is by Clement, an I’m Learning Mandarin listener from France who lives in Taiwan. He talks us through his fascinating Chinese learning experiences. I first met Clement in Taiwan a year ago after he attended a group language exchange session I organised. He’s since gone on to use many of the methods we recommend on this podcast, including sentence mining and tone training and, as you’ll soon hear, has achieved an outstanding level of pronunciation and spoken fluency within just two years of learning. As usual, you can find a Chinese transcript for this episode along with an English translation on imlearningmandarin.com If you like this episode please don’t forget to leave a five-star rating on your favoured podcast provider. And if you’re listening on Apple Podcasts you can also leave a review. Now over to Clement!

My Free Mandarin Learning eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook My Chinese learning Blog: imlearningmandarin.com James's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jameswonglife James's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JamesWongLife/videos -- On today’s podcast, I speak to James Wong, a commercial model and influencer from the UK who has an incredible story of overcoming adversity to become fluent in Chinese. James’ dad is from Hong Kong but moved to the UK as a child. James was raised monolingual in English but as an adult decided to explore his heritage by taking on Chinese languages. He moved to Taiwan to study Mandarin a few years ago and has lived there ever since. His Chinese learning journey would eventually see him reach a high level in spoken Mandarin, master the tones, and even take part in several televised interviews in Taiwan. These achievements were made all the more remarkable by the fact that James has severe hearing loss. I began by asking James about his mixed heritage background and early exposure to Chinese language and culture growing up.

My free Mandarin learning ebook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook Follow this Chinese podcast along with a transcript and translation: imlearningmandarin.com -- In today’s episode, I talk about the recent history of Chinese attitudes towards foreigners speaking Mandarin and how this differs from the English-speaking world. It’s always struck me that the way Chinese people react to foreigners speaking their language can have a major impact on our learning journey. On the one hand, it feels nice to be showered with praised as a beginner for saying a few basic words. But on the other hand, this can get old quickly. And the culture of treating foreign Chinese speaking as an entertainment spectacle, with international Chinese speaking competitions broadcast on TV to a whole nation can seem odd for learners who’ve never encountered it before. So today I discuss the origins of these attitudes and the reasons why Chinese people tend to react the way they do when they hear non-native speakers speak Mandarin.

David Moser, an Associate Professor, shares his journey to fluency in Chinese, becoming a TV star in China. He discusses the challenges of learning Chinese in a humorous blog post. The podcast explores his transition from academia to TV, censored comedy skits, and techniques for improving spoken Chinese skills.