Olle Linge, founder of Hacking Chinese, shares insights on learning tones, criticisms of traditional teaching methods, and the future of self-directed online language learning. The podcast also touches on the challenges faced in Chinese language education, the origins of the Hacking Chinese blog, the misteaching of the third tone, the decline in enrollment for Chinese studies courses, and the drawbacks of proficiency tests in formal education.

My eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook Links: Our Masterclasses on Sentence Mining & Tones Upcoming Mandarin Retreats Will's Youtube Channel -- One year ago I interviewed someone who totally transformed my perspective on learning Chinese and particularly reaching high levels in the spoken language. By now, listeners will be familiar with Will Hart, the Mandarin learning phenomenon who became incredibly fluent in Chinese within the space of just a year and a half.  Since I last interviewed Will here last year we’ve become friends and collaborated on a number of Mandarin learning projects. A few weeks ago he interviewed me on his YouTube channel in Chinese, which I reposted as an episode on this podcast.  I wanted to catch up with Will again to discuss what he’s been up to since the last time we spoke. In this episode Will tells us about how his learning methods have evolved over time. He also shares his experiences of immersing in Chinese both in the UK as well as on his first ever trip to China last month.

My eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook Links: Our blog: Imlearningmandarin.com Our immersive Mandarin learning retreats and masterclasses: mandarinretreat.com Jiaqi Laoshi's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themandarinstorm/ Jiaqi Laoshi's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@speakyourchinese The Mandarin Storm: https://beacons.ai/themandarinstorm -- When I think back to all the Chinese tutors I’ve had in the past, the best have without fail been people who have a passion for learning languages themselves. They draw on their own experiences of overcoming language learning challenges to help other learners acquire Chinese. My guest today is a perfect example of this. Jiaqi Laoshi is an Instagram superstar with over 85,000 followers who began teaching Chinese while living in Spain in 2020. She speaks fluent English and Spanish as well as her native Chinese and her engaging video clips have helped thousands of Mandarin learners around the world, providing them with comprehensible and compelling input. In this episode we explore her passion for languages, motivations for becoming a teacher and tips for learners looking to find engaging Chinese content appropriate to their level.

My eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook Links: Mandarin Retreat: https://mandarinretreat.com/ Will's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@will3267 I'm Learning Mandarin Blog: imlearningmandarin.com/ Our Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/imlearningmandarin -- This episode is a little bit different than usual. Instead of assuming my normal role of interviewer, on today’s show I’m taking the guest seat.   So I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed in Chinese on my friend Will Hart’s YouTube channel. We chatted about my Mandarin learning journey, the I’m Learning Mandarin blog as well as the Mandarin Retreat project. And with Will’s permission, I’m reposting the interview on today’s episode.  Will is very well known in the Chinese learning community for reaching a truly elite level of spoken Mandarin within an incredibly short space of time. Some listeners may recall I interviewed Will last year on this podcast to discuss his incredible story. If you haven’t heard that episode yet, I recommend you check it out.  I won’t deny it, making my YouTube debut in Chinese was nerve wracking. But I enjoyed it, and hope you will too listening to our conversation. I also thought it would be a good way of documenting my Chinese progress since I last recorded a podcast in Mandarin about nine months ago.

The I’m learning mandarin podcast, features stories, hot takes and considered opinions from the world’s leading linguists and successful mandarin learners. Each episode, we explore the most effective methods for studying mandarin and interview distinguished guests about their learning journey. Whether it’s tones, characters or listening comprehension or anything else you may be struggling with, the ultimate goal to help you learn how to learn Chinese. The I’m learning mandarin podcast is produced in partnership with mandarinretreat.com . Mandarin Retreat organise immersive language learning weekends and extended camps for Chinese learners in the UK and Europe. Check out their website for more details.

My eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook Links Mandarin Retreats: https://mandarinretreat.com/ I'm Learning Mandarin Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/imlearningmandarin My Roadmap to Mastering Chinese Tones: https://imlearningmandarin.com/2022/02/12/its-never-too-late-to-learn-chinese-tones-heres-how/ -- Hello and welcome to the I’m Learning Mandarin podcast. On today’s podcast we speak to a guest whose interest in Buddhism led him to begin self studying Chinese two years ago. However, after teaching himself to read the language he faced a common problem: speaking was still incredibly difficult. After years of delaying speaking and using input heavy methods he decided to start outputting and reached out to the I’m Learning Mandarin community for help and advice. Taking this step to work on his speaking led him to have an experience that would change his life forever.   

My eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook Links: mandarinretreat.com/ - For more information on immersive Chinese learning trips and summer camps for learners based in Europe. imlearningmandarin.com - for more blogs and podcasts on learning Chinese https://www.amazon.com/TPRS-Chinese-Characteristics-Terry-Waltz/dp/0692442901 - TPRS with Chinese Characteristics. -- Hello and welcome back to the I'm Learning Mandarin podcast! We're finally back after a several month hiatus. On today’s episode I speak to Pamela Rose an educator and Mandarin teacher with a fascinating background. Pamela grew up in New York, to a Chinese mother and an American father. She didn’t learn any Chinese in early childhood but as a teenager became fascinated by the language, as well as her cultural heritage. From there she embarked on a journey which would culminate in her not only becoming fluent in Chinese but also qualifying as a Mandarin teacher. Pamela’s teaching style is largely inspired by Stephen Krashen’s comprehensible input - which we’ve discussed a lot on this podcast before - as well as a method called  TPRS, which stands for Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling. In this podcast Pamela shares her story with us and explains how her experiences in the classroom, both as an instructor and  learner, have shaped her teaching approach and methods.  

My eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook Links: Mandarin Retreat Raffle: https://mandarinretreat.com/hc-raffle/ Refold Discord: https://community.refold.la/about-us/ Refold Website: https://refold.la/join/ On today’s podcast I speak to Ethan, the CEO of Refold, an immersion based language learning system that offers a guide and a community for learners who want to achieve language fluency. Refold was initially set up by Ethan together with Matt Vs Japan, who has appeared on this podcast before. Refold Chinese has its own Discord server which I recommend all Mandarin learners check out. The community is a great place to exchange tips, chat about language learning strategies and meet other Chinese enthusiasts. 

My eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook Today’s episode is a very special edition in which, for the first time ever, the discussion is recorded entirely in Mandarin Chinese.  For some background: Last Christmas I wrote a blog in which I set my new years’ resolution. And the goal for 2022 was to work hard on my speaking skills and get to a level within one year where I’d feel comfortable recording podcast discussions in fluent Mandarin. So after several months of hard work, I’m finally ready to post my first episode - and hopefully the first of many - in Chinese. I’m joined by my Chinese friend Katherine who is a keen language learner and a graduate in translation studies. She’s currently studying a masters in English literature while living in the UK.  A few months ago she came on the podcast to talk about Chinese polite culture and common attitudes Chinese people often have towards learners of Mandarin as a second language. Today we chat about all the ways ways in which Chinese politeness differs from British politeness based on Katherine's experience of living here for over a year.

Links: Join the raffle here: https://mandarinretreat.com/hc-raffle/ Hack Chinese: https://www.hackchinese.com/ My blog documenting my experience of joining a Mandarin Retreat: http://imlearningmandarin.com/2022/08/14/i-tasted-full-immersion-for-the-first-time-on-a-weekend-mandarin-retreat-and-you-can-too/ -- Regular listeners to this podcast will be aware that a common thread running through many of the topics we discuss here is how to create an optimal language learning environment while studying Mandarin from outside Chinese speaking countries.  So on today’s podcast I explore the topic of immersion with the founders of a groundbreaking new language learning initiative. It’s called Mandarin Retreat and it’s organisers Karl, Ryan and Esther (who are also regulars on this podcast) aim to enable Mandarin learners of all levels in the UK to replicate the experience of living in a totally Chinese speaking environment for an entire weekend. The immersive weekend trips take place in Scarborough in the north of England. Small groups of native Chinese speakers and Mandarin learners are brought together to enjoy a weekend of walks, eating and fun activities all 100% in Chinese.  I recently attended one of the first ever retreats and found it was a real boost to my spoken Mandarin. As I documented in a recent blog, it was the first time I’d ever gone a whole weekend entirely immersed in the language. By the end of it, my Chinese was noticeably more fluent than it had ever been before.  Now, Mandarin Retreat are partnering with the space repetition website HackChinese.com to host a raffle giving UK based Chinese learners the chance to win a free place on a weekend trip. For full details and to enter the raffle visit the link in the description: https://mandarinretreat.com/hc-raffle/