Learn Chinese Insights Podcast: Recent Episodes
Chinese Learn Online
Insights from non native Chinese speakers on how they learned Mandarin and what they are doing with it now.
British Chef Amy Rattinger details why she came to Taiwan and the process she used to self teach herself Mandarin Chinese on the way to starting two restaurants in Taipei.
Listen to find out:
- What brought her to Taiwan
- Why she began learning Mandarin Chinese
- Her initial approach to learning Chinese
- How she self taught herself Chinese characters
- Her process for learning new vocabulary
- Her approach to Chinese tones
- The benefits to speaking Chinese in Taiwan
- How she transitioned from teaching English to opening a restaurant
- Cultural differences between Taiwanese employees and British ones
- How to get direct feedback from Chinese staff
- Why your Chinese tutor needs to be direct with you
- What she would have done differently regarding learning Chinese
The post British Chef details how she self taught herself Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan. appeared first on Chinese Track.
Watch on youtube
American Jenna Cody details how she learned Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese, while living in Taiwan and why she feels many teachers and language schools fail at teaching Mandarin Chinese.
Listen to find out:
- What brought her to Asia
- How she initially learned Chinese in China
- How she resumed learning Chinese in Taiwan
- Why she didn’t like her first language schools
- Her self study process to learn Chinese
- The problem with most language teaching systems
- How her Chinese benefits her in daily life in Taiwan
- Her current jobs in Taiwan
- What career advice she has for expats in Taiwan
- Why she started learning the Taiwanese language
- The resources she uses to learn Taiwanese
- How the romanization and tones work in Taiwanese
- The reaction she gets in public from speaking Taiwanese
- How Taiwanese people mix Taiwanese and Mandarin
- What she would have done differently if she were to start learning again
- What she recommends students look for in a teacher
- How she practices reading
- How flashcard systems can be beneficial
The post Why many language teachers fail at teaching Mandarin Chinese [Podcast Interview] appeared first on Chinese Track.
Watch on YouTube
In this interview, Ron Hanson from New Zealand details the steps he took to learn Mandarin Chinese to allow him to research topics to write on for his magazine: www.whitefungus.com Listen to find out:
- What brought him to Taiwan
- How he first started learning Chinese
- Why he decided to learn Chinese characters
- Why he feels learning Chinese characters are important
- His character learning process at school
- His process for researching in Chinese
- His process for learning new vocabulary
- Why learning Chinese is like learning Shakespeare
- How he uses the Pleco Chinese dictionary app
- How he feels about having a western accent when speaking Chinese
- The benefits he gets from speaking Chinese
- What he does to progress towards Chinese fluency
- The trouble with learning Chinese handwriting
- What he wishes he’d done differently when learning Chinese
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 048: Ron appeared first on Chinese Track.
Watch on Youtube
In this podcast episode, Canadian Anthony Van Dyck details the steps he took to self teach himself Mandarin Chinese, which enabled him to branch out from teaching English and climb the corporate ladder all the way to COO of an energy company in Taiwan.
Listen to find out:
- What brought him to Taiwan
- What it was like living in Chiayi in the 80s
- His first words in Mandarin
- How he learned Bopomofo (zhuyin fuhao)
- What business culture was like in rural Taiwan
- Distinguishing between Taiwanese Mandarin and standard Chinese
- Learning to count in Chinese
- Learning Chinese from movies
- Learning Chinese from love songs
- Making friends with Taiwanese
- Learning Chinese from the iPhone
- Learning Chinese on the job
- How speaking Chinese got him promoted
- His Chinese phone hotline story
- How he switched career paths
- Why CVs aren’t good enough to get a job
- Raising bilingual kids in Taiwan
- Education in Taiwan
- The problem with education in Taiwan
- Why expats should learn Chinese
- The benefit of an Master’s degree
- A useful idiom to learn
- How to develop your social environment in Taiwan
- How to learn new idioms
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 047: Anthony appeared first on Chinese Track.
In this episode, I interview Karen Chung, an American who has lived in Taiwan for 40 years.
Watch on YouTube
Listen to find out:
- What brought her to Taiwan
- What Taiwan was like in the 70s
- Why studying in university is not enough to learn Chinese
- What mistakes she made in Chinese early on
- Why she began to worry about her English level, more than her Chinese
- Her experience teaching Chinese at the University of Hawaii
- The number one mistake foreigners make when learning Chinese
- The proper way to learn Chinese tones
- The importance of using proper tones beyond just being understood
- Her experience learning characters
- Why she prefers pinyin over zhuyin
- Common mistakes that foreigners make when learning Chinese
- What she recommends you do with your teacher / language exchange partner
- The benefits of being able to speak Chinese at a higher level
- Her advice on raising kids in Taiwan
- Her advice on improving English education in Taiwan
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 046: Karen appeared first on Chinese Track.
Watch on youtube
Interview with Adam Bell, an American, on his journey to Mandarin Chinese fluency in Taiwan.
Listen to hear:
- What brought him to Taiwan
- His experiences studying Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan
- How he created an immersion culture for himself in Taiwan
- How he transitioned from studying Chinese to working full-time in a Taiwanese company
- His approach to learning technical vocabulary for his job
- The benefits of immersion and using Mandarin in daily life
- What he would do differently if he had to learn Chinese from scratch
- Adam’s involvement in stand-up comedy in Mandarin
- Raising a bilingual child in a mixed-language household
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 045: Adam appeared first on Chinese Track.
Watch on youtube
In this episode, I interview Jamie Rufe, an American now living in Taiwan.
Jamie tells us:
– What brought him to Taiwan
– Why he started learning Mandarin Chinese
– What career opportunities being able to speak Chinese got him
– The one habit that was instrumental to his Chinese progress
– The approach he recommends new Chinese learners take
– His experience working in a Chinese factory
– His recommendations for foreigners looking for a career path in Taiwan or China
– What he recommends over Stephen Krashen’s comprehensible input approach
– How AI can dramatically speed up learning Chinese
– Why he recommends that new students forego learning Chinese characters in the beginning
– How even English teachers can improve their prospects by improving their Chinese
– How to find jobs in Taiwanese and Chinese companies
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 044: Jamie appeared first on Chinese Track.
Watch on youtube.
In this episode, we interview Lamin, who moved from Gambia to Taiwan. Listen to find out:
– What brought him to Taiwan?
– What prompted him to stay in Taiwan?
– How he began learning Chinese
– When his Chinese really started to improve
– How he learned Chinese from friends
– How he made lots of local friends
– How he started learning characters
– How he started practicing writing characters
– Why he doesn’t like to be pressured
– The benefits of being able to speak Chinese
– The benefits of bopomofo (zhuyin)
– How his youtube channel helps him learn Chinese
– What he would do differently if he was to start learning Chinese again
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 043: Lamin appeared first on Chinese Track.
Watch on youtube
Interview with Fraser Stewart on how he developed his Chinese to near native level over his past 11 years in Taiwan.
Listen to find out:
– What made Fraser choose Taiwan?
– When he first learned Chinese
– His approach learning Chinese
– How learning to read and write helps with speaking
– Was there any difficulty moving from simplified to traditional characters
– His approach to learn to write Chinese characters
– How he learned tones in Chinese
– How Chinese helps him in day to day life
– What he would do differently regarding learning Chinese
– His contact with the most famous foreigner in China
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 042: Fraser Stewart appeared first on Chinese Track.
Watch this episode on youtube
In this episode, I interview Michael Gordon, a Canadian living in Taiwan.
Listen to find out:
– What made Michael choose Taiwan?
– When he first learned Chinese
– How he used Chinese in Canada
– How he adapted to Chinese in Taiwan
– How his Chinese level has changed over the years
– How technology has helped with using Chinese
– How being able to speak Chinese has helped in daily life
– How his kids deal with local school
– What he would do differently regarding learning Chinese
– What he could do to improve his Chinese further
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 041: Michael Gordon appeared first on Chinese Track.
Watch this episode on youtube
In this episode, I interview Ed Gonzalez, a Mexican-Canadian restaurant owner in Taipei, Taiwan.
Listen to this episode to find out:
– What brought Eddy to Taiwan?
– About his initial journey learning Chinese
– His experience after briefly goes to Chinese school
– How he has benefitted from learning zhuyin / bo-po-mo-fo
– The benefit of being able to speak Chinese in Taiwan
– About Eddy’s podcast and how that helps him learn Chinese
– How he learned slang Chinese that isn’t taught in textbooks
– How he has fun with Chinese and how he uses it in public settings
– The technology he finds helpful for translating Chinese
– How he learns Chinese from reading subtitles
– What he would have done differently if he could go back and learn Chinese again
Follow Eddy on his podcast or visit his restaurant.
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 040: Ed Gonzalez appeared first on Chinese Track.
In this episode, I interview Caleb Shetland, an American now working in Taipei as a firmware engineer. Listen to find out: - His experience learning Chinese at a US college – What approach he wishes he had used instead, to learn characters – When he realized that learning Mandarin would be useful for his engineering career – […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 039: Caleb Shetland appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode I interview Alex Trup, a Brit now working in Digital Marketing in Taipei, Taiwan. Listen to find out: - About his experience learning Chinese in the UK – How he went from China to Taiwan – His experience as a foreigner in a Taiwanese working environment – Why he likes Taipei compared to […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 038: Alex Trup appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode I interview Xiao Fei, an American blogger now living in Taiwan. Listen to find out: - His experience trying to get a degree at a local Taiwanese university – Why he switched out of the Chinese program to an English one – His experience living in China – Why he finds his current […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 037: XiaoFei appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode I interview Keoni Everington, an American now working in the media business in Taiwan. Listen to find out: - What got him interested in learning Chinese 20 years ago – What it was like learning Chinese in Ohio – How he benefited from guanxi early on – What it was like moving from […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 036: Keoni Everington appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode I interview Scott Faul, an American now living in Taiwan. Listen to find out: - What got him interested in learning Chinese, while in the US – His experience studying Chinese in Taiwan, while working on the side – How he used the Chinese he had learned, while working in the US […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 035: Scott Faul appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode I interview Aaron Simmons, an American Professional Development Coach. He is the founder of Diversify International and Multi-Lingual Story Corner. Listen to find out: - What got him interested in Chinese culture and language in the first place, while studying in the US – Why he chose a more challenging route to learning […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 034: Aaron Simmons appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode, I interview Alex Barker, an American consultant about his experience learning Chinese Listen to this episode to find out: - How Alex got interested in learning Chinese in America – His experience in an American college class learning Chinese – Why he didn’t make as much progress in Chinese as he wanted […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 033: Alex Barker appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode I interview Adriana Estrada from Guatemala, who has lived in Taiwan for the past 7 years, completing her undergraduate and master’s degree during that time. Listen to find out: - What brought Adriana to Taiwan in the first place – What advantages she brings to the work place over local Taiwanese – […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 032: Adriana Estrada appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode, I interview Nick Howard, an American who has been living in Taiwan for the past 9 years. Listen to find out: - What brought him to Taiwan in the first place – How he moved up from teaching at a cram school to teach at a university – The process he went […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 031: Nick Howard appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode I interview Derek McCracken, an American who has been living in Taiwan for 7 years. Listen to find out: - What brought Derek to Asia and specifically Taiwan – How he started teaching English, while looking for other opportunities – How he started his first business in Taiwan – How he compares […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 030: Derek McCracken appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode, I actually interview… myself! Well not, really. I invited CLO user Joe Cooperman to interview me on my motivation for coming to Taiwan and starting this course teaching fellow expats how to speak Mandarin. Listen to find out: - Why Joe uses CLO – What brought me to Taiwan – What problem […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 029: Adam Menon appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In Part 2 of this episode, we continue our interview with American businessman Steve Iglehart. Listen to find out: - How he moved on to the skin care market – What his biggest challenge was in this market – The intense process of training salespeople to use his product – How he learned to read […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 028: Steve Iglehart appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
Steve Iglehart is an American businessman from San Francisco who has been living in Taiwan for almost 30 years. Listen to this episode to find out: - What made Steve want to learn Chinese – Why he chose to come to Taiwan – His first moments in Taiwan, looking for a Chinese school – Why […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 027: Steve Iglehart appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
Keiran is a Canadian living in Taiwan, now working in the bicycle industry. Listen to this episode to find out: - What brought Keiran to Taiwan in the first place – How he began learning Chinese initially – What he didn’t like about his first school – How he found people to practice his Chinese […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 026: Keiran appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode, I interview Ross Darrell Feingold, an American now working as a senior advisor at the DC International Advisory, a law firm in Taipei, Taiwan. Listen to this episode to find out: - What made Ross focus on learning Mandarin Chinese 20 years ago – What a one year intensive Mandarin learning program in Singapore […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 025: Ross appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this interview, I interview Jon Renzella, an American artist now living in Taichung, Taiwan. Listen to this episode to find out: - What brought Jon to Taiwan in the first place – Why he wanted to live in a place that didn’t speak English – How he began learning Chinese without any formal classes – His […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 024: Jon appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode I interview Alex Wagner, who now runs a pizza shop at a local Taiwanese night market. Listen to find out: - What brought Alex to Taiwan in the first place – How he transitioned from teaching to selling pizza – His process starting the business – How the night market business works […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 023: Alex appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode, I interview “Bear” – originally from Scandinavia, now working in China. Listen to find out: - What brought him to China in the first place – His initial hardships in China – Why he felt he wasn’t capable of learning Chinese in the beginning – Why he didn’t make progress learning initially, and […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 022: Bear appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode, I continue the interview I did with Shaun Bettinson, where he discusses his “I love Taiwan” project. Listen to find out: - How this project got started. – How he launched his initial promotional video - The Project Website - How he was able to promote it – How he won a Guinness […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 021: I love Taiwan appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode, I interview Shaun Bettinson, a Brit who now lives in Taichung, Taiwan. Listen to find out: - What brought Shaun to Taiwan initially – Where he learned his initial Chinese – What he didn’t like about his first group class – What he liked about his next teacher – What he recommends you […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 020: Shaun Bettinson appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode, I interview Davide Saccon, an Italian now living in Qingdong, China. Listen to find out: - How he learned “street” Chinese in Italy – What brought him to China after that – Why the Chinese he had learned before wasn’t as useful in smaller Chinese villages – How he used the Chinese he […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 019: Davide Saccon appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode, I interview Ethan Feig, an American now working in a trade company in Taichung, Taiwan. Listen to this episode to find out: - What brought Ethan to Taiwan at age 18 – How Taiwan differed from his prior expectations – How he learned Chinese from a fellow expat, and how that approach […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 018: Ethan Feig appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode, we welcome back Wesley (from our last episode) to share some of the more fascinating aspects of the Chinese language including: - How abbreviations work in Chinese (and how they differ from English) – Why Chinese can’t be the next global language – Why understanding Chinese culture is so important to understanding […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 017: Wesley Insights appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode, I interview Wesley. He’s an American, with degrees in Chinese and translation. Listen to this episode to find out: How Wesley got interested in Chinese in the first place. How he found Chinese easier to learn as a second language than Spanish. What his teacher did to significantly increase his interest in […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 016: Wesley Holzer appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
Dominic is from Oregon, USA, and now lives in Taichung, Taiwan with his wife and 3 year old twins. Listen to this episode to find out: - What made Dominic move to China at the tender age of 16 – What it was like as a teenager living in China – Why he lost a […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 015: Dominic Cope appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
Priya is originally from India, but has now lived in Taiwan for 27 years. She works as a simultaneous interpreter. Listen to this episode to find out: - What brought Priya to Taiwan in the first place – Her initial impressions of Taiwan – How she began learning Chinese and what approach they took – […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 012: Priya Lalwani Purswaney appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
Jason has lived in Taichung, Taiwan for the past 4 years, after previously doing a stint in China. Listen to this episode to find out: - What brought Jason to China in the first place. - How he practiced learning Chinese before moving to China. - The benefits of learning Chinese from a native English speaker, […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 011: Jason Schuurman appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
Cheryl has been in Taiwan for 26 years and has worked as a tour guide, translator and author. Listen to this episode to find out: - What brought Cheryl to Taiwan in the first place – Why she recommends Taiwan as a place to learn Mandarin – The advantage to learning phonetic symbols (zhuyin) along […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 010: Cheryl Robbins appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
Max works as a Chinese interpreter in Australia. Listen to this episode to find out: The difference between translating and interpreting How the free interpreting service works in Australia The disadvantage of relying on an interpreter versus learning the local language yourself How it was like to grow up with Chinese ethnicity in an English […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 009: Max appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
Rob Kilpatrick teaches English in Taiwan, where he’s lived in the past 11 years. Listen to this podcast to find out: What made him choose Taiwan over other countries What gave him his initial motivation to learn Chinese How he was able to integrate the Chinese he was learning in class into his day to […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 008: Rob Kilpatrick appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode, I interview Malachi McGee. Malachi originally came to Taiwan 7 years ago as a Mormon Missionary. Listen on to find out: Why Malachi decided to stay on in Taiwan even after his missionary term was up About the Missionary Training Center program’s intensive Mandarin course Why he decided to stay on in […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 007: Malachi McGee appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode, I interview Todd Blackhurst. Todd moved to Taiwan from Texas with his wife and 3 teenagers in 2013. Listen to find out: What promoted Todd to move his whole family to Taiwan How he prepared for the big move The adjustments for the kids, now living in Taiwan The comparisons between the […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 006: Todd Blackhurst appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode, I interview Brad Sapp. Brad spent 13 years in China working in trade companies in Beijing and Qingdao. He currently lives in Toronto, where he continues to actively engage with Chinese clients. Listen to this podcast to learn: - How Brad landed up in China – His approach to learning Chinese – […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 005: Brad Saap appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode, I interview Edward Greve. Edward is an American who has lived in Taiwan for the past 8 years. He initially started as an English teacher and is now doing a master’s degree in Applied Linguistics. Listen to find out: What brought Edward to Taiwan in the first place What process he took […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 004: Edward Greve appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode, I interview Aaron Posehn. He’s a Canadian, with a degree in Asian studies, who moved to Taiwan to work as an editor. Listen to find out: How Aaron got interested in Chinese culture What it was like to be the only non Asian in a Chinese class of 300 About his first […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 003: Aaron Posehn appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this episode, I interview Elias Ek. Elias is from Sweden, but has lived in Taiwan for the past 25 years, where he runs his own company, Enspyre. Listen to find out about: Elias’ first encounter in Chinese in Taiwan His first job in Taiwan Experience of working as a foreigner in a Taiwanese company […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 002: Elias Ek appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.
In this first episode of the new Learn Chinese Insights Podcast, I interview Joe Westerhof. Joe came to Taiwan 17+ years ago from Michigan, US. He initially began teaching English but now works in a trading company in Taichung, doing import / exports. In this episode, you will find out: What brought Joe to Taiwan […]
The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 001: Joe Westerhof appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.