ChinesePod - Intermediate

Shopping is an integral part of many a tourist's experience travelling. But what do you do when you don't know where to go to get your shopping fix, be it Gucci bags or local handicrafts? Check out today's ChinesePod lesson to learn how to ask your friendly concierge for directions to the local mall in Mandarin Chinese. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/1795

The clammy handshake... the subsequent perspiring flush of sweat, the blank mind run through the wringer as the suit across the desk shoots out a machine-gun-like barrage of blank-drawing interrogations. All that's missing are the torture devices and spotlight in your face. Do job interviews terrify you at the best of times? No longer! Because job interviews in Chinese are going to be a whiz, afte...

E-commerce is big in China. Not a day goes by at offices throughout the Middle Kingdom without someone receiving a package of something that they've bought online. And while toting your goodies home with you is okay, ordering stuff directly to your house by far the most convenient. But will you be home to receive it? In this lesson, someone tries to get their friend to receive their package for th...

In this lesson, we discuss going to see a SCARY movie and what other alternatives there may be. Join Jenny and Grace as they discuss going to see the new Jurassic Park 2. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/4092

Today people across America will be going to the polls to decide on a new president for the next four years. Will it be Obama or Romney? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, people across the world will be watching to see who will be leading this powerful nation in the future, and China is no exception. In this lesson, follow a news reporter as people on the street are interviewed about what they think...

Lending money to friends can be a risky business. They might be a good friend, but are they good with money? What's worse, how can you put pressure on a friend to pay you back? In this lesson, two friends discus how to get another friend to pay one of them back. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/2045

What do you do when your phone is dying and you don't have a charger? You have to ask to borrow one. Listen to Grace and Jenny as they search for a charger. Episode link: https://www.chinesepod.com/4085

Marriage in China is a serious business that involves more than just the complexities of love and interpersonal relationships. In a culture where family is highly revered, marrying someone means becoming part of the family. And this requires making commitments that are both spiritual and financial. For men marrying into the family, this means buying a house, which in a country undergoing a massive...

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