Podcast discusses personal story of bullying in Chinese, encourages listeners to record in Chinese for speaking practice. Teacher shares tips on supporting students in language learning and building resilience.

Computer scientist Emmanuel Roche shares his 35-year journey learning Chinese, developing Full Chinese app for native-level proficiency. Discusses challenges in Chinese learning, importance of complete sentence understanding, benefits of sentence mining, and bridging academic-community gap for efficient language acquisition.

Peak Mandarin Newsletter: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook Transcript and translation: imlearningmandarin.com Recently I decided to commit to producing the I’m Learning Mandarin podcast once a week instead of fortnightly. The plan is to continue posting guest interviews and discussions about learning Mandarin once a fortnight. Then, in between each interview, I’ll post shorter episodes in which I speak in Mandarin about a topic. Today’s episode is the first one in the series of these Chinese monologues. In it, I speak about my experiences living in Taiwan last year and offer three things all learners should know before going to Taiwan to study Chinese.

Isaac Myers, a language teacher and podcast host, shares his incredible journey learning Mandarin while working at Google on speech recognition systems. He discusses the shift from traditional methods to immersive experiences and how engaging with enjoyable content can enhance language acquisition. Isaac also delves into the challenges adults face in overcoming identity barriers while learning a new language. Finally, he highlights the parallels between memorization in language learning and machine learning, providing unique insights for aspiring Mandarin speakers.

Get the full eBook for free here: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook -- One of the questions I've always been fascinated by and covered extensively on my podcast is: what do the most successful Chinese learners do differently from everyone else? Is their success purely down to talent or is there method behind the genius?My new eBook, Lessons from a Chinese Learning Phenomenon looks at this question through the case of Will Hart, a young British medical student who achieved what many linguists thought impossible. During lockdown, he reached a near-native level of spoken Mandarin within just 1.5 years.I got to know Will after watching him being interviewed in flawless Chinese on YouTube in 2022. I then interviewed him on this podcast and went on to collaborate with him on our series of Masterclasses, teaching intermediate students how to overcome specific obstacles on the journey to Chinese fluency. Based on extensive interviews and many hours spent in his company, I reveal exactly how he managed to reach such a high level so quickly. I also explain how, after years of failure, I put his methods into practice to become proficient in Chinese myself.And how you can too!The book comes with a foreword written by world-leading linguist and elite Mandarin speaker Professor Karen Chung of National Taiwan University. And in today's episode, Karen reads out the foreword in her own voice.

In this podcast, Ryan, a friend of the podcast, shares his journey from struggling with Chinese tones to mastering them. The episode introduces Peak Mandarin, a new platform offering masterclasses and online programs for Mandarin learners. Ryan emphasizes the importance of constructive criticism and daily practice in improving language skills, with a focus on mastering tones through feedback and effective learning techniques. The podcast highlights the transformation from struggling with tones to confidently identifying and pronouncing them, showcasing the value of resilience and hard work in language acquisition.

My eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook Links: My blog: https://imlearningmandarin.com/ Sara's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@sarajaaksola On today’s episode, I speak to Sara Jaaksola, A Ph.D. researcher and Chinese teacher originally from Finland Sara first moved to China in 2010 to study Mandarin, before deciding to settle there long-term. After working as a Chinese teacher for several years, she recently embarked on A Ph.D. program, researching Mandarin learners’ motivations for studying the language. Sara has loads of interesting insights from living, studying, and teaching in China for over ten years, as well as some great tips on staying motivated throughout the learning process that we can all learn from!

Educator Duncan Parrish discusses the historical evolution of language learning methods, drawing parallels between ancient and modern techniques. They explore ancient civilizations like Greece, Rome, and China, emphasizing the pedagogical value of memorization and recitation. The impact of technology on language learning, from printed press to the internet, is also highlighted, along with the shift towards more engaging methods like podcasts and AI tutors for the future. The podcast advocates for direct immersion in language contexts and innovative app-based methodologies for effective language acquisition.

My eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook Links: My blog: imlearningmandarin.com My Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/imlearningmandarin -- Most of my guests on this podcast have had experience and success in either learning Chinese, teaching Chinese or researching Chinese. Occasionally, I have the pleasure of interviewing people with experience of all three, my recent episode with Olle Linge being a perfect example. And today I have the pleasure of interviewing another such guest. Rob Neal from the UK works for the Swire Chinese Language Foundation, an organisation that funds the teaching of Chinese in British state schools. He has over 20 years of experience engaging with the Chinese language and recently completed his PHD at the University of Cambridge. His thesis asked a question that many learners and teachers have wondered about: how important is it for Mandarin learners to get the tones right? And his findings may surprise you.

My eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook Links: Mandarin Retreat: https://www.mandarinretreat.com/ Carolina's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolina-navarro-plata/?locale=es_ES Our Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/imlearningmandarin I'm Learning Mandarin blog: imlearningmandarin.com/ -- Today’s podcast episode is all about Carolina Navarro, a language educator from Spain whose Chinese learning adventures saw her overcome numerous cultural obstacles on the way to reaching professional proficiency in the language. Speaking of learning adventures, if you're a Chinese learner based in Europe, listen up! This year Mandarin Retreat are planning an awesome, fully immersive five day summer camp in the UK, packed with fun Chinese learning activities. And they want your input. In order to plan the best event we possibly can, we’re currently running a survey giving you the chance to register your interest and have your say on preferred dates, locations and activities: https://www.mandarinretreat.com/choose-your-dates Our last camp took place in Wales in August and saw learners flying in from three European countries to participate! Everyone had an awesome time learning Tai Chi, playing Mahjong, making Chinese dumplings, watching Mandarin movies and exploring the stunning countryside together, all under the guidance of professional tutors in a totally immersive Mandarin language environment (check out the photos!) Now back to today’s guest, Carolina. Carolina first went to China in 2010 where she worked and studied for the next few years, becoming fluent in Mandarin. After returning to Spain she put her Chinese skills to use working for the Confucius Institute for nine years.  Her current focus is on aiding learners in discovering their motivation for language acquisition. She conducts talks on language learning and assists families in comprehending and supporting their children's needs in learning Chinese.