Chinese Language Convo Club - Casual Chinese Speaking Practice

We're learning some cell phone related words today! I was realizing recently that I still struggle to say commonly used words like, "swipe left/swipe right" or "I have you on speaker", etc, and yet with our smart phones literally being next to us everywhere we go, I thought it was time to dig into some related expressions. Come join me as I learn all about smart phones in Chinese. emails us at: ch...

The Straw The Broke the Camel's Back: 压死骆驼的最后一根稻草 Dialogue: Vicky: 你知道吗？迈克马上要辞职了。 ( Nǐ zhīdào ma? Màikè'ěr mǎshàng yào cízhíle. ) Hey did you know that Mike's about to quit? Lindi: 我没听说呀，到底是怎么回事啊？我知道他不太喜欢他的工作，因为公司离他住的地方太远，而且他也常常抱怨说工作时间太长了。 (Wǒ méi tīng shuō ya, dàodǐ shì zěnme huí shì a? Wǒ zhīdào tā bù tài xǐhuān t...

Wrong Number Speech Training: 1. 男性： 我是前两天预约在周二早上去检查的小李。。。预约。。前两天。。。前两天预约。。。。在周二早上。。。。去检查。。去检查的小李。。。。。在周二早上去检查的小李。。。。。。前两天预约在周二早上去检查的小李。。。。。。。我是前两天预约在周二早上去检查的小李。。。。。。。。。。。 女性：你好！哪位？。。。。。。。。。。 男性： 我是前两天预约在周二早上去检查的小李。 2. 女...

Is today's protagonist Xiao Yang, a bit accident prone? Or did he get into a fight? In today's beginner level episode, we learn to ask certain questions such as "What happened (to your face)"? "What's the matter"? and responses that down-play it, like "Nothing" or "Nothing much". Today's key sentence structure is "Can you really (do this)..by (doing that)?" Thanks to Maayot.com for providing the s...

A former friend of the show, Kapa Zhao is back for a special episode about nearly being scammed. This one will be a great test for your listening comprehension, as we mostly speak Chinese throughout (stopping in just a few places for translation)

Vocabulary: 调整(Tiáozhěng) – to adjust 协调 (xiétiáo)– to coordinate (Taiwan style) 查看 (chákàn) – to examine, look over 素质 (sùzhì)– person of good character, a person who has inner quality, integrity 土生土长(tǔshēngtǔzhǎng) – born and raised 输入(shūrù) – to input 误打误撞(wù dǎ wù zhuàng) – accidentally, unintentionally 冒失(màoshī) (– (in this context) careless, but can also mean “rash, ab...

Lindi: 哎呀！ Vicky！ 昨天给你打了好几个电话。 你怎么没接啊？ Vicky：啊？哪个电话呀？我不知道是你打给我的。你什么时候打的？ Lindi：昨天晚上我的手机没电了，所以用了我老公的电话给你打了几次。 Vicky：哦！那是你的电话呀！我看到一个陌生的号码。然后我以为是骚扰电话，所我就没有接。 Lindi：这样子的！ Vicky： 是的。是的, 那我下一次把他的电话号码也存到我的手机里。 Lindi：好的！别忘了。 Vicky：好的，好的！...

Job Hunting Speech Training: 1. 简历。。。改。。改简历。。。在改简历。。。。我现在。。。我现在在改简历。。。。。还没有。。。还没有。我现在在改简历。。。。。。。。。。 女性：你开始找工作了吗？。。。。。。。。。 男性：还没有。我现在在改简历。 2. 女性：实习。。经历。。实习经历。。。。相关。。相关的实习经历。。。。。一些相关的实习经历。。。。。。 多写。。多写一些。。。。多写一些相关的实习经历。。。。...

Today we not only talk about what to say when congratulating someone on their new job, but also natural phrases for expressing thanks and excitement. Join us as we discuss the differences between different types of skills and how to use "录用” as opposed to another very similar word, ”雇佣“。 And you definitely don't want to miss hearing about Vicky's unforgettable interview experienc...

A: 我听说你的朋友在找工作。他的简历准备好了没有？ (Wǒ tīng shuō nǐ de péngyǒu zài zhǎo gōngzuò. Tā de jiǎnlì zhǔnbèi hǎole méiyǒu?) I heard your friend is looking for a job. Has he finished his resume? B：哎呀。。别提了。 我看了他的简历。。写得马马虎虎。 所以我们觉得他应该包装一下他的简历。( Āiyā.. Biétíle. Wǒ kànle tā de jiǎnlì.. Xiě dé mǎmǎhǔhǔ. Suǒyǐ wǒmen juédé tā yīnggāi bāozhuāng yīxià tā de...

In this lesson, Vicky and I discuss job hunting, in particular, updating a resume to reflect relevant work experience and internships. Join us as we talk about internships, resume writing (including the practice of "padding" one's resume) and work experience. Thanks to Maayot Daily Chinese Reading for providing the text for today's episode. Improve reading comprehension through stories and quizzes...

Today we have the dialogues and speech training parts from our previous 2 episodes: And All That Jazz & Music To Suit Your Mood. If you would like to hear the grammar and vocabulary explanations, please refer back to those episodes. If you're tuning in simply to listen to the dialogue and practice pronunciation, you're in the right place! And All That Jazz Speech Training: 1. 女性：我。。觉得。。...

In this episode, Vicky and I discuss more types of music, and what fits whenever we are in certain moods. We will be joined once again by jazz pianist and composer Sean Higgins at the end of this episode for another of his original songs and a quiz. If you're curious, please listen on... And to hear more music by Sean, please check out the links below: https://music.apple.com/us/album/shanghai-dec...

In today's minisode, we meet with a doctoral student of civil engineering at UNCC to discuss 2 new expressions about making plans: 边走边看 and 见机行事。。。 Useful words and phrases discussed in this episode: 土木 (Tǔmù)- Building, construction 土木工程(tǔmù gōngchéng) - Civil Engineering 大兴土木(dàxīngtǔmù) - （idiom）to be busy putting up buildings, to carry out large scale construction A: 我...

Jazz musician and composer Sean Higgins joins us today in a special episode about music. Listen in as we discuss Jazz and other popular music forms, in both China and beyond... (Sean Higgins Trio can be found through the following links:) https://music.apple.com/us/album/shanghai-decade/1330221513 https://open.spotify.com/album/7KUSrVWMDDPfy9T5LRsTHQ https://www.amazon.com/-/es/dp/B078PMNZ5D Vocab...

For the Chinese Script, PinYin, and English translations of these 2 episodes, please go to the original podcast. Here below, are the Speech Training Exercises: Love Brain: 1. 男性：网络热词。。。 恋爱脑。。。网络热词“恋爱脑”。。。。描述的。。。描述的是人。。。。一旦谈恋爱。。。。。 描述的是人一旦谈恋爱。。。。。。。。失去。。就失去了。。。正常思维。。。。就失去了正常思维。。。。。。。。现象。。。...

The story for our podcast today is one that we found online. It shares what can happen when the one you love, doesn't exactly love you back... Vocabulary: 1.某省 – Some province somewhere 2. 路费 – travel expenses 3. 嫌弃 – To dislike, to look down upon, to have a distaste for someone or something 4. 专科 – Technical Institute, Trade School, Junior College 5. 配不上 – To not be good enough for 6....

Happy Year of the Dragon! Vicky and I discuss the personality characteristics of those born under the dragon sign. Some useful words/phrases for today's minisode: 本命年 （běnmìngnián）- Basically, "Your Year" or "One's Own Year". If you were born in the year of the dragon, then you get to say the following: "今年是我的本命年" （Jīnnián shì wǒ de běnmìngnián）"This year is my year" - or "This is t...

We're back for another season of the Convo Club! To kick things off, since we are so close to Valentine's Day, we thought we'd start with something "love" related. Hope you enjoy it and learn some useful Chinese phrases. A big thanks to Maayot Daily Chinese Reading for today's text. Go to https://www.maayot.com/ for systematic Chinese lessons aimed at improving reading comprehension. https://open....

"Even if you paid me a million dollars, I still wouldn't..." is one way to translate 打死我也不.. (Dǎ sǐ wǒ yě bù..). Literally, "Beat me to death, I still wouldn't..." I was really tempted to say "I wouldn't be caught dead" is the closest translation, but as you will see in our discussion, there is a sight difference. Join us to learn a fun dramatic refusal in Chinese.

Minisode: Take Your Time 慢慢来 by Lindi P and Vicky Z

祝你们大家新年快乐！ Wishing all of you a Happy 2024. Some useful words and phrases used in this episode are the following: 计划清单(Jìhuà qīngdān) - List of Plans 愿望清单(yuànwàng qīngdān) - Wish List 元旦 (yuándàn) - The New Year (Western) 跨年夜(kuà nián yè) - New Year's Eve (Western) 新年(xīnnián) - New Year (can be used for both Chinese and Western New Year) 春节(chūnjié) - Chinese Spring Fe...

资深吃货 - Food Snob作为一个资深吃货。。。

Minisode: Road Rage 路怒症 by Lindi P and Vicky Z

Hey There! Vicky and I are taking a few weeks off during Christmas to travel (I'm heading to India ;) as well as to regroup. We will have a few minisodes for the next few weeks, and will be back with our full episodes around Chinese New Year of 2024. In the meantime, feel free to send us an email at: chineseconvoclub@gmail.com. You can request topics you'd like to see covered, ask about any past e...