ChinesePod - Intermediate

There's nothing like a little bait and switch to get those customers coming. This tactic works the world over, and China is no exception. Make sure you don't get taken for a ride, and make sure you let them no you're no fool...in Mandarin Chinese. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/0322

Writing Chinese Characters shouldn't be overwhelming! In this video, we break down the key characters found in the intermediate lesson The New Co-Worker. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/4078

A special podcast today. We listen in on an interview about a very interesting aspect of coming of age in China--going on the school field trip to the countryside to study agricultural life. Listen in to this Mandarin Chinese interview with our very own Ziheng, (you may recognize him from his previous acting roles here at ChinesePod) as he shares his very unique, and often humorous, thoughts on th...

Likely many a laowai has dreamed about how much dosh one could make taking chicken feet from the States and importing them to China--but just how does the whole import/export biz work? We know, and you could as well, in a matter of about 14 minutes. In this podcast, learn to talk business in Mandarin Chinese. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/0319

While chatting with your friends in Chinese, job discussion will surely be a popular topic, especially if someone has just changed jobs. Learn how to give a (diplomatic) answer to some of the more common questions about your new occupation. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/1852

Are you pouring over your accumulated mountain of Chinese-learning books, now wearing a set of prescription glasses due to Chinese character eye-strain, and dreaming of latin-based languages and the sun-drenched beaches that oft go along with them? This is no time for regrets! This is a lesson to validate Mandarin Chinese-learners everywhere, reaffirming that we made the right decision in taking o...

For foreigners, the road of Chinese learning is paved with mistakes and misinterpretations. In this lesson, we hear the tragically funny story of a foreigner who finds himself inconvenienced by the many meanings of the word 'convenient' (方便). Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/2039

The lunar calendar is decidedly important in China as it determines the date of various holidays like Chinese New Year and the Dragon Boat Festival, but did you know that birthdays on the lunar calendar are also treated with great importance? How do you choose which one to celebrate? Learn about birthdays on the solar and lunar calendar in today's Intermediate lesson! Episode link: https://www.chi...

The experienced traveler knows that planning is everything. In this lesson, someone plans a trip to Yunnan and asks for advice on how to find information about traveling, while also revealing something about himself. Maybe too much... Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/2041

Not that your ayi is a bad ayi, but her opinion that towels can be thrown in with your suit is one that will not change. We highly suggest being able to make a trip to the dry cleaner’s yourself, lest you be strangely comfy in an Italian-cum-cotton look. In this podcast, learn to discuss the mundane yet oh-so-important aspects of a trip to the dry cleaner’s, using Mandarin Chinese. Episode link: h...

Do you know how to express that you can't get through to someone's cell phone? Or that someone's cell phone appears to be off? Learn the Chinese for these important phrases, and also learn about how much trouble you can get into for befalling these technical issues. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/1781

Some contacts of ours (ex-girlfriends and cops) are writing with reports of unseasonably hot weather in Beijing. We like getting these emails, partly because it's nice to keep in touch with old flames, and partly out of schadenfreude. But warmer weather isn't just a Beijing phenomenon, and there's a lot of talk about global warming in urban Chinese society these days. Here's a podcast about how to...

John was emphatic when he claimed that “someone being naughty” was a listener suggestion. So we’ll (roll our eyes) trust him, just this once, and let it air. So, per (unnamed listener), here is a Mandarin Chinese lesson on a Parent-Teacher meeting about someone’s little Johnny or Sally acting up in class. Be sure and listen for John’s giggles when Jenny calls him the aforementioned. Episode link:...

In this day and age, you won't be studying Chinese for long at all before you need to start talking about websites. In this basic lesson, learn the words for website, website address, and even "dot com" in Chinese. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/1748

It is a dark and stormy night. You see a woman kneeling on asphalt, her tears staining a rusted hulk of twisted metal. A man stands to one side, head averted, face flushed. Sirens wail in the distance. This is a scene of desolation and despair. They are two people, alone in a hostile world. Desperately, terribly alone. Surrounded only by night, the rain, a circle of fifty bystanders and two street...

In 2005, Americans adopted 7,906 children from China (highest of any country). So a conversation between a Chinese lady and a “laowai” who recently adopted might be of interest. And we’re all about being interesting. In this podcast, learn to speak in Mandarin Chinese about some of the formalities and procedures involved in adopting a Chinese baby. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/0284

We've all been in this situation... two people agree to meet at a certain time, but one person calls to say she'll be late. And then calls again to say she'll be later. (And then you start to wonder if she's going to make it at all.) Learn the essential Chinese in this lesson. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/1714

It's been a bad day: a misfiled report at work, a burgeoning head cold, and a drawn out fight with the missus that ended only when the phone line went dead (thank heavens.) You arrive home, eager to forget your troubles with a luke-warm bottle of beer. And that's when you discover that your home no longer exists per se, although they might keep the outer wall as a support strut for the new Olympic...

Admit it – you feel bad walking by the park every morning and seeing them twist and turn with the grace of a Beijing acrobat. So how about we teach you how to talk about the age old exercise of Tai Chi so that you can join in (seeing how that’s really the reason you moved here). In this podcast, learn to talk about the different aspects of Tai Chi in Mandarin Chinese. Episode link: https://www.chi...

There are many reasons to believe that someone may not have received your email. Whether you're a conspiracy theorist or simply need to remind a technology-challenged co-worker, this Chinese lesson will equip you to ask someone if he got your email. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/1705

It has been said that gambling in China is a bit of a, shall we say, national pastime. Is the stock market is a form of gambling? The Chinese stock markets are now soaring to unprecedented and precarious heights. You do the math... and listen to this Mandarin Chinese lesson on playing the stock market in China. (insider tip: sell. sell. sell.) Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/0526

You can change it to RMB, but not back unless you have a form and oh, by the way… where’s your red book, visa, and passport? Wrong line – it’s that one, but take another number and wait here. No, there, sorry, we don’t do it at this branch… Exhausting to read? Try hearing it in Mandarin. Fortunately, we’ve been through it so you don’t have to. Listen to this podcast to learn all about banking in M...

Now, we all know when we get the flu, there’s nothing we like more than to do a little whining about it. In this podcast you will learn how to tell someone who cares about your sore throat and headache, using Mandarin Chinese. And when you do, there will be no shortage of friends sure to want to bring you some nice Chinese medicine. Open up! Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/1688

Divorce and child custody is becoming a more common topic of conversation in China in recent years. In this podcast, listen in as one divorcé talks about the issues that inevitably come along with divorce when children are involved--child custody and support payments, and learn how to talk about these issues in Mandarin Chinese. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/0520

Ken and co. can tell you all about their Shanghai (tarmac for 3 hours) to Beijing (except that they never actually touched down) back to Shanghai (tarmac for another 3 hours) experience when you come and see us, but to tide you over, this podcast gives you a Mandarin Chinese lesson on some things you might hear pre-transit. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/0238