Best 普通话，中文，学习，语言 Podcasts (2025)

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How a linguist would learn a new language 16:28

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1y ago16:28

16:28

Send us a text In this final episode of ‘Will I ever learn Chinese’ I discuss how I would approach learning a new language in future, outlining the techniques, materials and approaches for different languages of the world. Then, I reflect back on my own learning of Chinese and what I would do differently. How would I advise other people to learn Ch…

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Language learning methods and approaches 20:25

1y ago20:25

20:25

Send us a text We’re coming to the end of the first series of ‘Will I ever learn Chinese’. In these last two episodes, I am looking at language learning techniques and summarise my process of learning Chinese. In this episode, I’m looking at different approaches to teaching and learning languages and how these have changed over time. I’m looking at…

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Language learning and linguistic fieldwork: the excitement of the puzzle 19:26

1y ago19:26

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Send us a text I love puzzles, be it crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles or the puzzle that is learning or analysing another language. My PhD thesis, for example, is a grammatical description of the small Amazonian indigenous language Mosetén. I was working with speakers of the language to record and then analyse the language and its structures. Duri…

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Linguistic relativity: thinking differently in Chinese 14:02

1y ago14:02

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Send us a text I’m always amazed by how similar the languages of the world are when I’m learning a new language. Languages are able to express the same concepts, often in strikingly similar ways. The apparent differences in lexicon, grammar, sound and so on, that are so obvious, are often far less stark below the surface. Yet, those subtle differen…

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Speaking Chinese in China: the real deal! 17:32

1y ago17:32

17:32

Send us a text In this episode I’m talking about traveling to China for the first time and using my newly acquired language in the real world. Wherever I travel, I like to be able to speak at least a little bit of the local language and communicate with locals and to make my own arrangements. Being able to speak more than rudimentary Chinese was ke…

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Researching Chinese 22:01

1y ago22:01

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Send us a text Learning Chinese gave me a new understanding of language acquisition, and a new direction for my research. By going through the process myself, I experienced the mechanisms of language learning subjectively, with my own feelings and experiences. I found topics I wanted to study in more detail, objectively and using robust research me…

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Language immersion and conforming in another language 26:28

1y ago26:28

26:28

Send us a text In this episode I reflect on my immersive learning approach, surrounding myself by the language and using the language in a lot of different environments. Immersion made a big difference to my learning, it helped me ‘see’ myself as a part of the language community, partaking in everyday life in Chinese, without being in China. What t…

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Language attrition: the other side of the coin 17:28

1y ago17:28

17:28

Send us a text When looking at language acquisition and learning, we rarely consider the other side of the coin: language attrition. This means a language is disappearing, the speaker can’t speak it as well as before. The speech becomes slow and less complex. Attrition happens, and when a language, even a first language, is spoken less, there are s…

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How much Chinese did I learn in a year? 16:02

1y ago16:02

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Send us a text During the first few months of learning Chinese, I wanted to turn my learning into an experiment: how much Chinese would I be able to learn in a year? This motivated me greatly, but of course I did not stop after a year. But where was I, a year into studying Chinese in a highly immersed way? I was able to speak quite a lot, more than…

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Artificial intelligence for language learners 13:21

1y ago13:21

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Send us a text A hot topic in second language learning and teaching circles, artificial intelligence proved to be a game-changer for my learning of Chinese. I suddenly had that ‘friend’ who would happily correct my writing. The results were not always perfect, but usually passable. Then, I realised that I could ask questions about expressions I had…

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Accent and dialect 18:52

1y ago18:52

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Send us a text In this episode I’m looking at accent and dialect. Many learners have a distinct foreign accent. Is that inevitable, or are their ways to work on your accent (and if so, is it necessary)? I’m talking about various techniques, such as shadowing and working on individual sounds, as well as how sounds that initially seem familiar may be…

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Free-styling it 11:52

1y ago11:52

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Send us a text My spoken Chinese was getting more and more ‘fluent’, in that I could have uninterrupted conversations in real life, using my online conversation lessons with teachers to iron out any issues in my pronunciation and expression. All of a sudden, Chinese just ‘clicked’. I could watch a video and would suddenly understand everything that…

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Working with Chinese teachers 15:39

1y ago15:39

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Send us a text This episode is about me, finally, finding teachers to Chinese. At first I was learning in a vacuum at home, building confidence in understanding the language, but now that I had taken the plunge and had started to speak to others, I wanted to work on my conversation skills, because… well, they needed quite a lot of work. Working wit…

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Finding Chinese speakers 17:10

1y ago17:10

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Send us a text In this episode I’m finally taking the plunge, looking for more speakers of Chinese to talk to. I’m considering tandem language exchange programmes and finding Chinese friends, eventually finding a group dedicated to learners and speakers of Chinese in my town. Joining the group was fun, especially just relaxing and chatting away in …

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What does 'fluent' mean? 13:56

1y ago13:56

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Send us a text Would I ever be able to speak Chinese fluently, and what would that mean? I had reached a stage where I was starting to speak more coherently, but on some days it felt like I was not able to speak at all. Crucially, my speaking lagged well behind my understanding and I would often have to stop to search for words when speaking. What …

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Revision time and starting to speak 'for real' 25:15

1y ago25:15

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Send us a text In this episode I explain how I initially learnt and revised vocabulary, and how I prepared for the next stage of my learning journey: speaking for real. Well, I had a number of attempts at trying to speak for real and not really succeeding at first. Eventually, I decided to speak Chinese to my ever-so-patient cat and tried out AI pr…

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Intermediate Chinese: all those wonderful tools! 38:12

1y ago38:12

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Send us a text In this episode I explore how I honed my different Chinese language skills: understanding, speaking, reading and writing. I look at all those wonderful tools, most of which are free, that are available to the intermediate learner. In my own learning, Chinese podcasts for learners, as well as Chinese television dramas started to play …

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HSK: to test or not? 23:12

1y ago23:12

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Send us a text In this episode I'm looking at language tests and certificates. Would that be a goal for me, and which test should I aim for? Would preparing for a test really motivate me? I try to find ways to make my language learning at the intermediate stage fun and greatly motivating. Looking at implicit and explicit learning, I investigate the…

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How do you write a text message in Chinese? 21:26

1y ago21:26

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Send us a text How do you even write Chinese text messages when you don't have a keyboard with 5000 or more characters? In this episode I look at ways in which Chinese is used today, and at some of the changes to the written language within the last 100 years. Is the traditional Chinese writing system really more beautiful than the simplified syste…

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The Chinese writing system 14:29

1y ago14:29

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Send us a text In this episode I'm looking at the history of the Chinese writing system and why it is so successful that it is still used today. In my own learning, once I knew enough characters and had built up a basic understanding of how the system worked, I was suddenly able to decipher the words (and characters) I came across for the first tim…

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Making sense of the chaos 21:32

1y ago21:32

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Send us a text Chinese has many homophones: words that sound the same. And when you are only just entering the intermediate stage and are still not very confident when it comes to the different 'tones', there are even more such homophones. What can the learner do to make sense of the chaos? And, what even is a word in Chinese? Support the show…

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Chinese, my escape from reality 16:23

1y ago16:23

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Send us a text In this episode I describe how learning Chinese became my treasured escape from reality. I wanted to tell everyone about my new language and also start speaking Chinese with real people, but I was still not very proficient, despite my efforts. Also, I was reluctant to use the language in a professional setting, reflecting on my exper…

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Learning to write Chinese characters 14:45

1y ago14:45

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Send us a text When I realised that learning to read and write Chinese characters would help me in my learning, I started to add a writing app to my repertoire of learning methods. Suddenly the characters started to make sense and I saw a pattern behind the apparent randomness. Aside from writing, I also started to hone my listening and speaking sk…

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Making learning Chinese fun 29:12

1y ago29:12

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Send us a text Do people really have different learning preferences, and how do you go about finding yours? In this episode I reflect on my language learning back at school, which, mildly put, was a disaster. Not only did my English teacher state that I had no 'talent' for languages, but languages were also my least favourite subject, which was ref…

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Reflecting on my learning and fine-tuning my learning approach 21:31

1y ago21:31

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Send us a text I look at how Chinese is different from the other languages I speak, and how I was dealing with this difficulty. Also, after the first few weeks of learning Chinese, I noticed that I was missing something and that I was getting quite confused at times. Would I be able to keep up my motivation for learning? What would it take? Support…

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Do we really need to learn explicit grammar rules? 37:43

1y ago37:43

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Send us a text Children learn their first language without looking up any grammar rules, so why can't adults do the same? In this episode look at how the grammars of the world's languages differ. Having previously worked on "grammar" and even written a grammatical description of an Amazonian language, Mosetén, I decided to study Chinese without lea…

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Finding the right method to learn Chinese 26:08

1y ago26:08

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Send us a text Once I had decided to learn Chinese, I needed to find the right method to do so. In this episode I describe my thought-process and why started with an app that was entirely in Chinese, without any translation. Support the showBy Jeanette Sakel

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What is Chinese and is it difficult to learn? 10:49

1y ago10:49

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Send us a text In this episode I look at what the term 'Chinese' refers to. Mandarin? Cantonese? Why are there so many different terms for Chinese in Chinese itself? I try to investigate whether Chinese is difficult to learn. Well, apparently it is, because everyone keeps telling me so! But is it really? Is my learning doomed right from the start? …

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Do age and talent affect language learning? 22:16

1y ago22:16

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Send us a text Would a 49-year-old even be able to learn a new language? Spoiler alter: yes! But why are people different in their language-learning success? What affects language learning? In this episode I compare how children learn their first language and second language acquisition and I look at the different factors behind language-learning s…

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Introduction: why I started learning Chinese 15:22

1y ago15:22

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Send us a text Hi, I’m Jeanette Sakel and I’m a professor of Language and Linguistics. I’m an avid language learner... or at least used to be, until I settled into a permanent teaching post, had a kid and somehow did not have the time or inclination to learn languages for a number of years. But this changed about a year and a half ago, when, pretty…