Chinese Language Convo Club - Casual Chinese Speaking Practice

In our most recent short video, Vicky takes us to explore some of the highlights of New York City. Come along with us as we take in the sights of The Big Apple, all in Chinese.

"见怪不怪" (Upper Intermediate) —a dialogue about adapting to unusual phenomena, such as colleagues wearing slippers in the office. Includes example sentences for practice. Dialogue: A：你看，那个新同事居然在办公室里穿拖鞋！ (A: Nǐ kàn, nàgè xīn tóngshì jūrán zài bàngōngshì lǐ chuān tuōxié! ) A: Look, the new guy is wearing slippers in the office! B：哎，见怪不怪了，现在很多人工作时都喜欢随意些。...

Dialogue: #1 小明 (Xiǎo Míng): 今天我准备去跑步，天气很好。(Jīntiān wǒ zhǔnbèi qù pǎobù, tiānqì hěn hǎo.) 小丽 (Xiǎo Lì): 可是偏偏下雨了，真不巧。(Kěshì piānpiān xiàyǔle, zhēn bù qiǎo.) 小明 (Xiǎo Míng): 我也没想到，真是的！(Wǒ yě méi xiǎngdào, zhēn shì de!) 小丽 (Xiǎo Lì): 偏偏遇到这种情况，真是倒霉。(Piānpiān yù dào zhè zhǒng qíngkuàng, zhēn shì dǎoméi.) The expression 偏偏 is used to express so...

This week, my friend Giacobbe joins me all way the from Bangkok, Thailand to discuss practical ways to master a new language. A great lesson for anyone needing a little inspiration to persevere on your language learning journey while hopefully getting a few fresh ideas. Btw, this is my first attempt at speaking only Chinese so please forgive the potential roughness of this episode (I did cheat her...

In this week's minisode, Vicky and I have some beef with each other. How exactly would you say that in Chinese? Listen in to find out :)

Chef Wang Makes Steamed Buns with Shrimp: 哈喽，大家好，我是王刚。本期视频为大家带来一道特色菜: 馒头炸虾球。首先，我们把大虾去头，从背部切开，去掉虾线和虾壳，然后加入食用盐和柠檬汁，将虾肉腌制十分钟。下一步，我们准备一个白馒头，将馒头切成大小均匀的小粒备用，然后将腌制好的大虾先粘上淀粉，然后再裹上蛋液，最后再均匀的裹上馒头粒，再用手轻轻的压紧。锅中油温烧至六成热的时候下入馒头虾，开中小火炸至五分钟...

甲：你在吃什么？真让人眼馋啊！ Nǐ zài chī shénme? Zhēn ràng rén yǎnchán a! Person A: What are you eating? It really makes my mouth water! 乙：是我自己做的馒头炸虾球。第一次做的，结果还不错。 Shì wǒ zìjǐ zuò de mántou zhà xiā qiú. Dì yī cì zuò de, jiéguǒ hái búcuò. Person B: It’s mantou fried shrimp balls that I made myself. It’s my first time making them, and they turned out pretty good. 甲：是吗...

We watch a Chinese cooking video and try to follow along—spoiler: it’s harder than it looks! Learn tasty new vocabulary, hear real kitchen phrases in Mandarin, and pick up expressions you can use next time you cook (or pretend to). Brought to you by YouTube's Chef Wang. 食用 Edible, to use for food 腌制 Marinate 均匀 Uniform, evenly 粒 （量词）Small piece, pieces 备用 For Future Use 粘 To Glue...

Mistakes happen — but in Chinese, there’s a perfect phrase for turning failures into wisdom: “吃一堑长一智.” Join us as we break down its meaning, share real-life examples, and show you how to use this saying naturally in conversation. A: 你上次被骗的事还记得吗？ Nǐ shàng cì bèi piàn de shì hái jì de ma? Do you remember the time you got scammed? B: 当然记得！吃一堑长一智嘛。那次之后，我可长记性了...

Vicky is back and very shortly we'll be making some new podcast episodes. Until then we'd like to share with you some of the places Vicky went to during her trip, one of which was Barcelona, Spain. In this video, she is showing us the views at the Sagrada Family Basilica, one of Spain's most iconic buildings. To view on YouTube, copy/paste the link below: https://youtube.com/shorts/J8k...

Restaurant Review: 今天来打卡的这家金春禧，专做经典传统鲁菜，走进大厅就可以看到明亮的落地窗，窗外可以看到大海，海景的座位都是需要提前预定的，水饺是这里的特色，口味种类也很多，各种海鲜馅料，都是当天调制，现包现煮，糖醋鱼是特色，酸甜的汤汁，肉质细腻，蟹黄干捞粉丝煲也特别入味，喜欢吃鲁菜的朋友可以去试一下. Jīntiān lái dǎkǎ de zhè jiā JīnChūnXǐ, zhuān zuò jīngdiǎn chuántǒng lǔ cài. Zǒu jìn dàtīng jiù...

Join me and my good friend and guest host Kapa Zhao, as we talk about what a restaurant review might say if the dishes don’t quite live up to one’s expectations. Vocabulary: ​ 正宗 ( zhèngzōng)– Authentic ​ 特意(tèyì) - For a special purpose, specially ​ 枣庄辣子鸡(zǎozhuāng làzǐ jī)– Zao Zhuang Spicy Chicken ​ 新疆大盘鸡(xīnjiāng dàpán jī) – XinJiang Big Plate Chicken ​ 竟然(jìngrán) – To go so f...

To watch this video on Youtube, follow the link below: https://youtu.be/DKDNrLaL3Sg 几周前，我和我的朋友Max看了一篇关于金春禧的好评。下周，我的好朋友Kapa Zhao和我将讨论一篇负面评论，这篇评论是由一位没有得到他所期望的客户写的。与此同时，Vicky也去了一趟青岛，亲自去参观了这家历史悠久的餐厅，决定自己做出判断。你怎么看呢？根据我们的第一次评论和你看到的内容，如果你有机会到青岛，中国，你会考虑去这家餐厅...

幸灾乐祸 (Xìng zāi lè huò) Lindi: 你听说了吗？小李失业了。(Nǐ tīng shuōle ma? Xiǎo lǐ shīyèle.) Have you heard? Xiao Li lost his job. Vicky: 是啊，我知道。其实我觉得他有点活该。(Shì a, wǒ zhīdào. Qíshí wǒ juédé tā yǒudiǎn huógāi.) Yes I know. Actually I think he deserves it. Lindi: 你怎么会这么说？(Nǐ zěnme huì zhème shuō?) How can you say that? Vicky: 他总是看别人不顺眼，现在轮到他了，幸灾乐祸嘛...

In this episode, we take a real review we found on a Chinese website and break it down word by word—so you can learn how to describe food, setting and atmosphere, like a native speaker. Join my friend and Chinese teacher Max, as she walks us through a this review written about a restaurant in QingDao called Jin Chun Xi. Vocab: 1. 鲁菜 – Shandong Cuisine 2. 落地窗 – Floor to ceiling windows 3. 馅料...

What does it mean when someone says a place or person is “小资”? In this episode, we break down this nuanced phrase and explore how it’s used to describe a certain type of urban, cultured lifestyle—sometimes elegant, sometimes a little pretentious. Perfect for learners looking to understand modern Mandarin culture and tone. 对话： Vicky – 我昨天晚上去了一家新的酒吧，很有小资情调。(Wǒ zuótiān wǎnsh...

Frozen Video Call: 小明: 你今天干什么了？。。。(Xiǎomíng: Nǐ jīntiān gān shén me le?) What did you do today? 小丽。。。。。 小明：嘿。。你能听得见我吗？(Hēi.. Nǐ néng tīng dé jiàn wǒ ma?) Hey..Can you hear me? 小丽: 。。嗯。我现在能听见了，但是你的画面卡住了。(Xiǎo lì:Ǹg. Wǒ xiànzài néng tīngjiànle, dànshì nǐ de huàmiàn kǎ zhùle.) Uhh..I can hear you now, but your picture is frozen. 小明: 哦，不好...

我们今天讨论一下关于怎么样更好的开视频会议，能吸引人们来参加视频会议的时候，多一些讨论并且提出问题. Today we will be talking about how to have more interactive online meetings - a rebroadcast of a favorite episode Vicky and I recorded early on. If you like this one, pls check out The Zoom Meeting Disaster, which delves a bit deeper into what can go wrong when online meetings get hacked. Email us a...

措手不及 小李：你听说了吗？公司要裁员！(Xiǎo Lǐ: Nǐ tīng shuōle ma? Gōngsī yào cáiyuán!) Have you heard? The company’s about to go through lay-offs. 小张：真的？我完全措手不及！(Xiǎo Zhāng: Zhēn de? Wǒ wánquán cuòshǒubùjí! ) Really? I was totally unaware! 小李：是啊，昨天还正常开会，今天就来了这个消息。(Shì a, zuótiān hái zhèngcháng kāihuì, jīntiān jiù láile zhège xiāoxī.) Yes, just yesterday we h...

*There was a small mistake which I didn't catch until after posting this episode. We had changed the script from 你的画面停住了 to 你的画面卡住了， the difference being along the lines of .."your video (or picture) has stopped" v/s "your picture is frozen". Both can be used in Chinese, but we liked 卡住了 a bit better. We reached out to our voice actors and had them re-record this small part in th...

We are taking some time away for the holidays, but have a few things to share in the interim. In this short video, Vicky takes us with her on a winter's day walk on the beach near Qing Dao. 这是一个温暖的冬日的午后。 让我们一起去青岛的海边走一走， 看一看沙滩上有没有人。 大家都在做一些什么呢？ Zhè shì yīgè wēnnuǎn de dōngrì de wǔhòu. Ràng wǒmen yīqǐ qù qīngdǎo dì hǎibiān zǒu yī zǒu, kàn yī kàn shāt...

Come exploring as Vicky takes us on a walk along the charming and historic street known as Silver Fish Lane. We'll see historic old homes, a few shops and cafes, and get a brief glimpse of the lives of QingDao's past fishermen in the Silver Fish Museum. We will be returning soon with new podcast episodes. Below is the video transcript including PinYin: To watch our video on YouTube, please follow...

Wishing all of you a safe and Happy Holidays! Vicky is in China for the holidays and sharing with us some videos of her adventures in Qing Dao. We're taking this time to regroup and plan future episodes, but will be back again soon. Until then please enjoy our short videos. We'll see you again in the new year! To view on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2_IXUydR0l0 The transcript for this video is below:...

A：你昨天为什么没来上课？ Nǐ zuótiān wèishéme méi lái shàngkè? Why didn’t you come to class yesterday? B：我感冒了。。头很疼。 Wǒ gǎnmàole.. Tóu hěn téng. I caught a cold..my head hurts A：那你怎么不告诉老师呢？ Nà nǐ zěnme bù gàosù lǎoshī ne? Why didn’t you tell the teacher? B：我怕老师会说我不认真。 Wǒ pà lǎoshī huì shuō wǒ bù rènzhēn. I was afraid the teacher would say I’m slacking off. A：如果...

If like so many of us, you happen to have a bad case of "foot in the mouth" disease, then this short episode is for you :) Enjoy! A： 今天的面试怎么样？(Jīntiān de miànshì zěnme yàng? How did the interview go today? B：哎。。别提了。。我总是说话不经大脑。有不小心把面试 官给得罪了。估计没希望了。。 (Āi.. Biétíle.. Wǒ zǒng shì shuōhuà bù jīng dànǎo. Yǒu bù xiǎoxīn bǎ miànshì guān gěi dé zuìle. Gūjì...