You Can Learn Chinese

What does it take to go from barely speaking Chinese to giving a three-hour university presentation in Chinese? For William Whitaker, the journey was anything but planned, and when that intimidating presentation finally arrived, he wasn't even sure he could pull it off. William originally moved to Shenzhen, China, to pursue his passion for basketball, not to learn Chinese. After spending his f...

Ever feel confident speaking Chinese with your teacher or tutor, only to find yourself completely lost when you're with a group of native speakers? Why does your Chinese suddenly seem to fall apart? In this episode, Jared and John explore why group conversations present such a unique challenge for Chinese learners, even those with strong conversational skills. They uncover the "invisible...

Sharing a heater with the family dog during Chinese New Year. Sitting in the front seat of taxis to practice Chinese with the drivers. Rehearsing a speech in Chinese to thank her team at a store opening in Shenzhen. For Cassandre Egolf, learning Chinese has become inseparable from her life in China. Growing up in France, Cassandre heard plenty about China from her mother, an Air France flight atte...

In celebration of Teachers’ Day in China, Jared and John reflect on the teachers who have shaped their language-learning journeys and what actually makes a great teacher. They share stories of teachers who were hilarious, inspiring, technically brilliant, and sometimes simply there with the right advice at exactly the right moment. They also discuss the different strengths of native and non-native...

In a mildly confusing bit of podcast naming, Jared Turner sits down with comedian Turner Sparks.  Turner moved to China in 2004 to teach English, planning to stay for just one year. He ended up staying for twelve. In this episode of You Can Learn Chinese, Turner talks about learning Chinese out of necessity, from struggling through everyday conversations with almost no shared language to using Chi...

Jared and John discuss the frustrations faced by a learner who came to John for help—particularly with pinyin and distinguishing similar sounds in Chinese. They explore why learners often misapply English pronunciation rules to pinyin and how comprehensible input can help ease the learning curve. This episode serves as both a deep dive into the phonetic and perceptual challenges of learning Chines...

What does it mean to walk in the footsteps of an ancestor whose life connected China and America more than a century ago? In this episode, Ben Lee shares how moving to Wuhan in 1992 pushed him to learn Chinese for survival—and eventually led him back to a remarkable family legacy. His great-grandfather was part of the Qing Dynasty’s Chinese Educational Mission, became an early voice in Chinese Ame...

Whether you're planning your first trip to China or reminiscing about past adventures, Jared and John share why even a little Chinese can transform your experience, from connecting with locals through place names and ordering regional specialties to navigating trains, buses, and the occasional unexpected adventure. Along the way, they swap memorable stories of language mishaps, overnight train...

What happens when a childhood choice turns into a life-changing career change? In this episode, Jared talks with Jake Hines, an Australian content creator based in Xiamen, China, whose Chinese learning journey began in high school thanks to a nudge from his mom. After years working as an engineering project manager, Jake left his stable career during COVID to pursue a very different path: travelin...

Are you getting everything you can out of your Chinese lessons? Jared and John share practical strategies for multiplying the value of every class or tutoring session. You'll learn how to review lesson notes more effectively, identify the corrections that matter most, create better flashcards, and use recordings to improve your pronunciation and speaking ability.  They also show how modern AI...

When Emma first came to China for a two-month internship, she had no intention of learning Chinese. In fact, she had spent years telling herself she simply wasn't a "language person." But after returning to China a second time, a desire to communicate her strict vegan diet led her to begin studying Mandarin. What started as a practical goal soon became a transformative personal journey. In this ep...

Why do tones sometimes seem “good enough”… until they suddenly create complete chaos?  In this episode, Jared and John dive into one of the trickiest realities of learning Chinese: when small tone mistakes collide with low-context situations and produce surprisingly big misunderstandings.  Inspired by a real-life exchange student story in Shanghai, they share some hilarious examples of Chinese mix...

What happens when your reason for learning Chinese changes? In this interview, Jared talks with Anastasia Tulupova about her journey from a goal-driven teenager in Ukraine, determined to master the “hardest language in the world” and become a translator, to a Chinese teacher who now helps others learn more effectively. Along the way, she realized that the path she started on wasn’t the one she act...

What does it actually mean to be at a “level” in Chinese and why does moving up feel so slow? In this episode, Jared and John dig into the concept of leveling from both the perspective of the learner and from decades of experience in creating Chinese learning content. With John’s decades of experience building structured learning systems, from ChinesePod to Mandarin Companion, you’ll gain insight...

Most people struggle to find time to learn Chinese. Adam started learning it in the middle of one of the most intense study periods of his life, and kept going. A pre-med student at the University of Illinois, Adam didn’t begin with a clear plan or a class requirement. Instead, it started with curiosity: books on cross-cultural healthcare, exposure to Chinese classmates, and a growing realization...

How could learning Chinese shape your life? From meeting lifelong friends (and even a spouse!) to navigating life in China with the help of mentors, coworkers, and “ayi” caregivers, Jared and John share stories that highlight the human side of language learning. John reflects on his 25+ years in China, including how speaking Chinese led to deeper, more authentic relationships, and Jared shares unf...

Jade grew up knowing she was half Chinese, but without the language, family connection, or cultural context to understand what that really meant. In this deeply personal episode, she shares what it was like growing up mixed race in a mostly white community, carrying questions of identity, belonging, and cultural disconnection from an early age. Jade shares why learning Chinese became much more tha...

Should you learn Chinese by reading children’s books? It’s a common recommendation, but is it actually a good idea? In this episode, Jared and John unpack why kids’ books aren’t as “simple” as they seem. These books are written for native-speaking children who already have years of spoken fluency. They’re often read aloud by parents and packed with specialized vocabulary, proper nouns, literary la...

In this episode, Jared chats with Jack Mullinkosson, whose Chinese-learning journey runs from a Vice China documentary set… to living with a Chinese immigrant family in suburban California… to studying in Chengdu… and now biking from Chengdu to Hanoi. Jack got started the way many learners do: by feeling left out. On set, surrounded by Chinese speakers, he noticed how differently the foreigners wh...

Struggling with listening comprehension in Chinese? You're not alone—and this episode is here to help. Jared Turner and John Pasden dive into practical, tech-powered strategies for sharpening your Chinese listening skills using AI transcription tools and other smart resources. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to use AI tools to turn Chinese audio into transcripts you can study. Why listening...

in this episode, Jared sits down with Alexander Brose , President & CEO of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada, to trace his remarkable journey learning Chinese and how it shaped his life and career in unexpected ways. From his early years living in South Korea with his family, to choosing Mandarin over Cantonese at an international school in Hong Kong, Alex shares how Chinese g...

Is handwriting Chinese characters slowing you down? In today’s digital world, does it still make sense to focus on writing by hand or should you just type? In this episode, Jared and John dive deep into this hot-button issue for Chinese learners: handwriting vs. typing . Pulling insights from a research paper by Chinese Breeze creator Chengzhi Chu (储诚志), they explore how character instruction i...

What began as a teenage crush became a lifelong journey into Chinese for Matthew McGuire, an Australian creator and accent coach. In this episode, Jared sits down with Matthew to discuss how he learned Mandarin without textbooks, grammar drills, or writing practice. Instead, he immersed himself in love dramas, shadowed dialogue, and built a Chinese-speaking social circle. Matthew shares how his cu...

With AI advancing at lightning speed, many are wondering: Do I still need to learn Chinese? Jared and John say yes , and in this episode, they break down 10 ways your Chinese skills remain AI-proof. These are the kinds of things no app, bot, or translation tool can truly replace. Along the way, you'll hear stories about phone conversations that left taxi drivers in disbelief, the joy of readin...

In this episode, Jared sits down with Renata Mirkova , a Chinese language educator from the Czech Republic whose journey into Mandarin began not with a grand plan, but almost by accident. What started as a university entrance decision led her to master Chinese, live in China, and now teach both Czech and Chinese across cultural boundaries. Renata shares the unique challenges of learning Chinese in...