Steven's Language Vlog Podcast

Episode 69! We take a look at what it's like to fly long haul from Beijing to Vancouver, including some of the issues that can happen along the way.  Next, once landed, what's it like to acclimatize to new surroundings? Is it easy? And how do you beat jet lag... is it even possible? And what are the plans for the next few months? Is it back to China or to stay in Canada? --- Check out our IELTS To...

Episode 68!  Just in time for the holidays and the end of the semester, we take a look at the semester that was, and the year that was, at the university level here in China. What went wrong? What went right? What could we do better? And just how much can you prepare for a class? --- DOWNLOAD IELTS Top 10 TIPS HERE! Don't forget to join our newsletter as we send out useful tips and resources every...

Episode SIX SEVEN! We promise we won't even touch on that... in this episode. Instead, it's exam time and the students are struggling, not just to find the energy to keep going, but to understand why they can do so well in an exam only to break down when trying to speak for real. What gives? We'll look at some of the possible reasons for this occurence and what to do about it.  Further, we take a...

Episode 66! In this episode we discuss the effectiveness of subject-specific language learning. Does it work better than a more generalized approach to learning a language? Many language learning APPs and books as well as many language classes are general in nature, that is, they don't focus on any ONE topic, opting, instead, for a more broader apporach to a variety of topics. But is this better t...

Episode 65! In this episode we discuss the pros and cons of using children's books to learn another language as an adult. No doubt you've heard from others that you need to read a lot in order to build up your vocabulary, but what are you supposed to read? Some materials made for older language learners are too difficult and so students are often guided to pick up a children's book in the language...

  Episode 64! Who Gets to Choose What's Worth Learning? As Beijing's weather turns colder, we tackle a fundamental question that emerged from a recent university class: Who should decide what students study in a language classroom? The teacher? The students? The administration? In this episode, we explore the difference between what's fun, what's necessary, and what's boring but inevitable in lang...

Episode 63! Recorded at the end of October, this episode reflects on how the semester is going, especially given a recent exchange with my manager. In brief, two suggestions: Plays games with the students Move the students to the front of the classroom. All good in theory, but this is a university class of 40 students... for academic writing. This follows a comment by one of my students that I'm o...

Episode 62!   Liaozhai ZhiYi and the Chinese ghost story. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Tales_from_a_Chinese_Studio   Strangles Tales as told through the centuries, what are they, who are they about and where can you find them? And how much Chinese do you need to know to read them?   Translated as "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" and was written / compiled by Pu Songlin, a government...

Episode 61! Answering the question: Why did I come to China? (Part 2) Was it because of a job? The money? A girl?  What are some things to think about if YOU want to move overseas? Do you have to teach English or can you do something else? And how much language do you need to learn to live in another country? Do you need to live there to become fluent? Membership program: https://buymeacoffee.com/...

The Beijing autumn is in full swing! It's the most colourful time of the year! Citations, referencing and the idea of academic honesty. What are they? Why are they important? And do you do them properly? What's it like to visit Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China? How do you get there? What do you need to do? What do you do there? And how long should you stay? How much Chinese do you need to surviv...

China's on its Golden Week break, seven days of no work… but two need to be made up. Why is it like this and what is there to do? Would you dare go anywhere if you know 10,000 other people were doing the same? Tiananmen, the Great Wall, or even Hangzhou's West Lake will ALL be crowded. On the AI bandwagon, and is it necessary? What are the tools being used these days and how can they help? Do you...

Episode 58! APP building begins! Let's see where this goes? Have some tasks to complete for the weekend, but this course only lasts one month so gotta get them done. Working on a "to do list" agent, multi agents, language agents, all sorts of agents. We will share these once they are out! Chinese vs Western Literature. Had a bit of a sitdown with one of the graduate students on campus to get his t...

SLV Episode 57 Bus adventures! how was it and why did you do it? From Changping to Shuangjing and back again, will be posting this to YouTube. Enjoy your freedom! Enjoy your boredom! It'll change! Life goes fast! Working on citations and referencing in class… honestly no idea how to make this more interesting for the students. All of the punctuation and abbreviations, etc. Ouch. My admiration cont...

Episode 56! Changes in China! No more paper tickets! How important are these anyway?! Didn't go to the Coffee Show this year, it cost 10 RMB! Australian videos done, where to next? -Dubai? Canada? 14 more weeks! Who's counting!? -time is flying! And Apple is releasing Airpods with built in translation?! Membership program: https://buymeacoffee.com/stevenslanguagevlog Contact: stevenslanguagechanne...

Wanted to shoot this outside but then remembered why: mosquitoes. And heat and humidity. New week and we're back to school! How is it so far? What's it like and what will we do? -Neat classroom with screens all over the place -Argumentative Essays -Citations and references Useful resources: Goodnotes 6, Local Send, ViiTor Translate, Y2Doc The last of the Australian videos! The Great Ocean Road and...

Episode 54! Welcome TikTokers! Been active there as of late. New platform to teach on? And what am I hearing people need help on? -Reading and listening (practice dictations - USE THIS PODCAST!!) -Speaking -Not too much for Writing ( HERE ) -A lot of people are using Cathoven AI -Common Errors HERE   Live streams and fluency practice, is making videos a good way to learn? -This is something I've b...

Episode 53! Saw Dead to Rights (南京照相馆). Heartbreaking. Lots of people die. About the Japanese invasion of Nanjing and how the atrocities were documented. During the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, postman A Chang posed as a photo developer, helping Japanese forces while secretly sheltering Chinese refugees. He later risked his life evacuating them and revealing evidence of the atrocities. -One interes...

Episode 52 already! LIVE STREAM walk n talk! Let's do this again! What did we see? Question: just what do you have to see when you're travelling? IELTS Top 10 and FAQ: FREE DOWNLOAD! All over on BMAC: Top 10: buymeacoffee.com/stevenslanguagevlog/e/441366 FAQ: buymeacoffee.com/stevenslanguagevlog/e/444905 Looking to the future: what if I started a business instead? Oh and a bonus! And what is gerry...

Episode 51! Not as hot, but still humid here in Beijing. Lots of rain and lots of warnings to stay away from the forests, etc. More Australian videos! A couple more to go! Should we try an ASMR video? (ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response)). Then on more Chinese videos that we have ready and waiting. Let's talk about AI and Language Learning! Our recent live stream. Summary and example promp...

With Episode 50 we're back into the groove and thinking about just what makes a book worth saving? Shot from the second floor of the Victoria State Library, we could see that some books were off limits to touch. Why is that and who makes the choice? Next, looking at the new Huawei (really expensive!) Matebook Fold: a dual touch screen tablet and laptop combination complete with breakaway QWERTY ke...

In episode 49 includes a look at the last of the Changping videos Looking at some Chinese Study Resources (download here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dftK4HdrZ6dB6UAUpu8-9FfNcu9s7-r_13JAcfzENr4/edit?usp=sharing) . List includes: (HSK Textbooks, Chinese Grammar Wiki, HSK Reading, Ankiweb/Ankidroid, DuChinese, iTalki. HelloTalk / Tandem, MDBG Dictionary, Chinesepod). A note on AI Agents and...

Settling back into Beijing's heat and humidity, in Episode 48 we talk a little bit about our recent trip to Australia and the respoting of one of our videos. We also discuss a common problem with no apparent solution: dealing with the sock that gets stuck in the side-loading washing machine. A re-visit to the campus cafeteria for 麻辣香锅, a type of spicy hot pot. And, a return to our own language...

Episode 47 has use returning to our regular schedule. In this episode we talk a little bit about how our social habits change as we change, but do they need to? What do you miss most when you're overseas? Is it the food? The people? The fragrances? What are some of the changes we saw occur in our recent travels? And what is the latest on the power bank dilemma here in China? What is a dummy check...

After two weeks in Australia, we're back in Beijing for Episode 46 of the Language Vlog Podcast.  In this episode we talk a little bit about what the trip was like, what we saw and what we missed. This episode follows along with this week's newsletter which you can read here . Major highlights included: Sydney: Harbour Bridge, Opera House, The Rocks, Hyde Park Barracks, St. Mary's Cathedral, Austr...

In Episode 45, we're hitting on a topic that we've covered a little bit before: the relevance of university degress. If you saw someone struggling with their studies, would you encourage them to struggle on through or give up and go find something else to do, such as a job? We also talk about what it takes to renew a work residence permit here Beijing. The work residence allows you to stay in the...