136 episodes
You Can Learn Chinese Jared Turner
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- Education
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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Learn HOW to learn Chinese with hosts Jared Turner and John Pasden. You will learn tips, strategies, and insights so you can supercharge your language learning. You will also be inspired by guest interviews with people from all over the world who have learned Chinese.
Both Jared and John both learned Chinese, lived in China for many years, and have worked with learners all over the world and understand the unique challenges that Chinese learners face. They stay at the forefront of language learning research and methods and bring that to listeners everywhere.
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Raising Bilingual Children: Sunny's Story and Strategies from Spot of Sunshine Chinese
Dive into the world of raising bilingual children with Sunny from Spot of Sunshine Chinese. In a chat with Jared, Sunny shares her journey from Taiwan to the suburbs of Chicago, discussing the challenges and triumphs of maintaining language and cultural connections.
She offers tips and expert advice on effective strategies for parents raising bilingual children, emphasizing the importance of motivation, comprehensible input, and creating an immersive environment at home. Tune in to discover Sunny's insights and learn how to support your child's bilingual development.
Links from the episode:
Sunny at Spot of Sunshine Chinese | Instagram and Website
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Motivation and the Influence of Cultural Attitudes on Learning
Jared and John delve into research discussing the crucial role of attitudes and preconceptions of a culture towards learning its language. They explore the many facets of this issue, including how the current state of China’s political relations impacts language learning in the West.
Links from the episode:
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Send us a message | Mandarin Companion feedback form -
From American Football to Chinese Films: The Journey of Matt William Knowles
Jared Turner interviews Matt William Knowles, a former college football player, who turned an unfortunate event into a remarkable life-changing adventure in China. After a career-ending injury left him uncertain about his future, Matt took a volunteer teaching position in one of China's most impoverished regions, Guizhou Province. Here, Matt found himself in a remote town far removed from the comforts and familiarity of his South Carolina home. Without any knowledge of Chinese, he faced the challenge of communicating with his students and the local community, sparking his dedication to mastering Chinese.
Matt's story is not just about language learning; it's a tale of personal resilience and transformation. He shares how immersing himself in the culture and the language reshaped his identity and life's direction, leading him from the classroom to unexpected fame on Chinese television and stages. This inspiring story shows that with enough determination, you can turn even the most daunting setbacks into new pathways of success and fulfillment.
Tune in to hear how Matt's unique experiences in China taught him not just a new language but opened doors to a world of new opportunities and self-discovery.
Links from the episode:
Matt William Knowles | Personal website
Mandarin Companion graded readers
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The Frustrated Learner and the Sound of Progress
Hosts Jared and John discuss the frustrations of a learner who came to John for help, particularly with pinyin and differentiation of similar sounds in Chinese. They explore why learners often misapply English pronunciation rules to pinyin and how comprehensible input can ease the learning curve. This episode is not just a deep dive into the phonetic and perceptual aspects of learning Chinese; it's also a heartening reminder that while the journey to fluency can be fraught with frustration, tailored strategies and persistent effort can lead to meaningful progress.
Links from the episode:
Character Play in Chinese | Sinosplice
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Finding Your Voice in Chinese: Happi's Multilingual Melody
Driven by her love for Asian cultures, anime, and K-pop, Happi (from Happi Across Cultures) has learned Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Starting with friendships with exchange students, she went on to double major in Chinese and Japanese including studying abroad in Tokyo and Shanghai where she deeply engaged with the local culture. An accomplished singer, her story takes a viral turn when she sings at a concert with the famous Chinese singer, Joker Xue ( 薛之谦 Xuē Zhīqiān), showcasing the incredible opportunities that arise from language learning. For an inspiring tale of cultural immersion, language mastery, and musical collaboration, tune into this episode and follow Happi's ongoing journey on social media.
Links from the episode:
Happi’s viral duet with Joker Xue | Instagram | Weibo
Happi @ Instagram | Weibo | Douyin
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Japanese and Chinese: Unraveling the Differences of Two Ancient Tongues
Dive into the fascinating world of East Asian languages with hosts Jared Turner and John Pasden. Whether you're navigating the tonal waves of Chinese or untangling the polite intricacies of Japanese, this episode offers a deep dive into the nuances, challenges, and delights of learning these two rich languages. They also discuss invaluable resources for learners and the global implications of the Chinese diaspora versus Japanese homogeneity.
If you've ever pondered the complexities of learning Japanese or Chinese or are simply fascinated by the cultures behind these languages, this episode is a must-listen.
Links from the episode:
Language Power Struggles | Sinosplice.com
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Customer Reviews
Would give 50 stars if I could!
I studied Chinese three decades (!) ago, and for a number of reasons didn’t continue. John’s and Jared’s podcast inspired me to finally pick it up again after endlessly saying to myself “oh, I wish I could...”.
I love the show; it’s substantive and practical, while at the same time being fun and encouraging. There are many episodes I’ll go back to for the sheer joy, and also for the fantastic and interesting guests.
I highly recommend the graded readers as well. I bought ‘Women Shi Pengyou Ma?’, which although tough at first (because I’d forgotten so much) provided a chance to just buckle down and read — and plenty of occasion to slap my own forehead for forgetting what that character meant that I just looked up...
Great work guys; so grateful for what you do!!!
You can definitely learn Chinese - and this podcast is great motivation
I started listening to this podcast in June, after having started my mandarin learning journey in January through the YouTube project “Challenge Yourself” where my friend and I travelled to China with one goal: Find out how much Chinese you can learn through 3 months of intensive studying. We didn’t just do this for the sake of finding out though. Since we both did an internship in Suzhou last year we had been discussing how we could possibly get started learning Chinese. And then a chance arose. The 3 months were quite obviously disrupted quite a bit due to COVID-19, but we made it through by adapting all the time, and ultimately we ended up in Taiwan and were able to complete our 3 months, even though it went differently than we could have expected.
I was a bit worried that my motivation to keep studying Chinese would drop after I returned home and resumed university - however, it continued, and I kept studying vocabulary after I came home. However, when I discovered Mandarin Companion through this podcast I got even more motivated and efficient with my studying by starting to read graded readers and receive comprehensible input. This stuff rocks! The feeling of reading your first book entirely in Chinese is amazing and extremely motivating! I started by reading the breakthrough level book “我们是朋友吗?” and breezed right through it - then I moved on to a Level 1 reader and found this to be the perfect level for me. And right now I have just received the rest of the level 1 and level 2 books from Amazon as I wanted to read them physically rather than as e-books which sometimes feels a bit like cheating. I love reading a bit of Chinese every day, and I can feel that it does so much for my level.
I hope to go back to China as soon as the world clears up a bit from COVID and have some more 1 to 1 classes while living in a Chinese speaking environment, but for now, reading graded readers from Mandarin Companion is a great way to keep improving and maintaining my level until I have the chance to visit China again.
As for the podcast itself - Jared and John are great, and it is that sort of podcast where you just feel that you are friends with the hosts even though you don’t know them. Furthermore, it is always super inspiring and I always feel even more motivated having listened to it. I look forward to listening to the latest episode every time it comes out!
Best regards from Denmark,
Mikkel // 子杰
Feel free to check me and my friend’s project out on YouTube at “Challenge Yourself”