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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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
– How he thinks Mandarin compares in difficulty versus other languages
– His experience traveling overseas for the first time to Beijing
– His experience as a foreign student at a Chinese campus
– His struggle trying to find a job as an expat engineer in Taiwan
– His initial experience working in an office environment in Taiwan
– What it was like being the only foreigner in a large multi-national company
– The benefit of being a foreign engineer in Taiwan
– The demand for expats in the local tech industry
– The importance of co-ops and internships

The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 039: Caleb Shetland appeared first on Chinese Track.

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 other cities he’s lived in
– His experience as a new father in a mixed cultural relationship
– His approach to raising his child in a bilingual environment
– What he would have done differently if he was to learn Chinese from the start
– His advice for a westerner looking for a job in Taiwan or China
– How he got the job at his current company as one of its first expat hires

The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 038: Alex Trup appeared first on Chinese Track.

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 university program more manageable
– How and why he started a blog about waterfalls in Taiwan (Facebook)
– His long term plans in Taiwan
– What he would do differently if he was to learn Chinese again
– Why he thinks writing is a valuable skill to learn
– Why he’s proud of his sloppy writing
– His opinion on telling jokes in Chinese

The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 037: XiaoFei appeared first on Chinese Track.