As those of you in the United States gear up to celebrate Thanksgiving, we're going to confuse things by skipping ahead to the next major holiday, with a newer holiday classic that happens to be one of Echo's favorite movies, and is known casually around the office as "the Citizen Cane of films Echo has actually seen." Fellow Orson Welles fans should please direct your outrage via email to Echo at the address below.In any event, if you've ever wondered what Echo's favorite movie is the game is now on... you've got a week to figure it out from listening to a small clip dubbed into mandarin. And we think you've got a decent chance at guessing. Our selection is at the elementary level in difficulty, so even if you're relatively new to Chinese we think you should have a healthy shot. So listen up, get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com and with a bit of luck you may even win a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese.

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With apologies to our friends in Jilin, the northeastern accent is totally ridiculous at times. Ever heard it? If you haven't you're in for a treat in this special listening test for advanced speakers. Take a listen to our situational dialogue and see how much you can pick up. If you're fluent in mandarin we think you'll be able to understand more than you think, and learn some northeastern slang in the process. And if you're not fluent yet, just check out our word by word annotated transcript. It'll bring you up to speed.

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We don't like to play favorites when it comes to our dialogues, but there's something charming about the performance Andy turns in today as a compulsive liar with an almost desperate need to be liked. He gives his character such enthusiastic and infectious likability we think it's easy to ignore the fact that nothing he says is even remotely close to being plausible. So we find this one charming anyway, and hope you like it too.As far as our subject matter goes, this podcast is inspired by the Pop Cap game of the same name, and is intended for anyone with a fair bit of mandarin under their belt who has ever been tasked with translating a John Carpenter film into Chinese. It is tragic that more textbooks don't teach vocabulary for describing the undead. While you may not use this at the office, it will surely be high frequency vocabulary on that fateful day the dead rise from their graves and shotgun prices go vertical. Best to prepare in advance.

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We haven't come out with a lesson for absolute beginners in a while, partially because whenever we start teaching something simple Brendan segues into a rambling discourse on character etymology and before we know it we've produced another graduate seminar about regional dialects in the Song dynasty. So today we slowed him down with an intentionally simple and very straightforward dialogue. This one teaches how to ask basic questions and tell others a bit about yourself.In fact, those of you without a graduate degree in linguistics will be pleased to hear that we even managed to restrain Brendan from using the word "copula" in this podcast. This was accomplished somewhat by the dialogue itself, but mostly by Echo, who threatened the use of physical force unless Brendan used "actual English real people understand." So if you're totally new to mandarin and afraid of our other lessons, fire up your iPod and check out this one, which makes the basics about as easy as they can get.

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As Napoleon once commented, "China is a sleeping giant. Let her sleep, for when she wakes she will truly rock." We may be paraphrasing slightly, but it's impossible to under-emphasize the passion with which Chinese youth have embraced the concept of the Western boy band. Truly the Middle Kingdom is a place where everything old is new again. Join us in this podcast and see for yourself.On a side note, we should mention that our dialogue this lesson is at the upper-end of our difficulty spectrum for the Elementary level. We were almost tempted to put it at the Intermediate level, but the vocabulary is still pretty basic and our sentences are still relatively simple. So don't worry if you find it more challenging than usual. Just add oil.

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Film Friday this week is brought to you by Brendan, David and Gail, Echo having been waylaid by a nasty cold. And the topic? Our clip this week has all the mandarin you'll need to warm the heart of someone special. It's all about love. So listen up and if you think you can identify our mystery film, be sure to write echo@popupchinese.com to be entered in our weekly draw for a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese.

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There are some words which are so powerful in mandarin, simply using them properly will cause any native speaker in hearing distance to cough up blood in shock and awe. So understand why we refer to this as the most dangerous lesson we've ever produced. It contains not one but three fatal phrases you won't find in any other textbook: ????, ???? and ???.If you've been tricked into thinking Chinese is a tremendously logical language, you may be surprised to learn that none of these expressions have anything to do with love. Join us in this podcast and we'll make it clear what they mean though. Just remember that with great power comes great responsibility and we completely disavow responsibility for the consequences if you detonate this stuff on live national television.

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We've run into a few people here whose approach to speaking Chinese is basically to fake it. Which is actually easier than it sounds. The key is really nodding ambiguously when spoken to and muttering the occasional "yes" just to keep things dynamic. For extra points keep your partner unclear whether you're really engaging in conversation with them or simply talking to yourself. And try to avoid buying things until the price comes down on its own.While the listening exercises on the HSK are pretty effective at weeding out people who don't actually understand Chinese, they're also quite challenging even for even serious students with considerably study time under their belt. In this practice HSK test, listen as we hear the first sentence in a brief conversation. Your challenge is to pick the only sensible response. These listening exercises move at a fast pace and do not repeat. So good luck!

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Our mystery movie this week came close to sweeping the Oscars a few years back, and if you've seen it we're pretty sure it made a deep impression on you. But can you guess the film from nothing more than a short clip entirely in mandarin? Our selection this week is around the Elementary level, but we're betting even advanced students haven't run into some of this vocab. So listen up and be sure to write echo@popupchinese.com if you think you can identify our mystery film.

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From a sickly childhood, Steven passed into a sickly adolescence. Phantom aches and pains constantly wracked the poor boy, much to the bafflement of the family doctor, who pronounced "nothing at all wrong with him physically." In fact, it wasn't until his first year away at university that his constitution seemed to pick up and his body threw off its shackles of ill-health.New to Popup Chinese? Our lessons at the Elementary level are designed for anyone who already knows the basics but is still working towards full comprehension of shorter sentences spoken at real speed. Our dialogues here are limited in length and our vocabulary is very high frequency. Exactly the stuff you need to build the bridge to greater fluency. So give us a listen. Feedback is always welcome at echo@popupchinese.com. Oh yeah, and skip the rice gruel too.

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The motive wouldn't be hard to establish: they all had it. But given the sheer number of beatings, shootings and stabbings the deceased had suffered in the course of a few minutes (including at least one attempted hanging), it was going to be thorny to prove who exactly laid the telling blow, and where, and with what.Our Chinese lesson for today is all about what happened the time we introduced our crew to a classic American board game of murder, mayhem and sleuthing. Fun and hijinks it was not. The rules took at least 10 minutes to explain to our baffled guests, and even then we don't think we properly handled many of their more philosophical objections, such as 9527's repeated insistence that we just "jail them all and forget about it."

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If you're new to Popup Chinese, welcome to Film Friday. Every week we pick a short clip from a Hollywood movie that's been dubbed into Chinese. If you can guess our mystery film from nothing more than its mandarin dub, write to echo@popupchinese.com and let her know what you think the film is. We pick a single winner every week and give them a free month of premium access here at Popup Chinese. This week it could be you!Note to Gang: this one is a lot harder than usual, but so many of you guessed our film last week we don't feel the least bit guilty about tossing you this intermediate to advanced clip. Good luck!

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It happens to the best of us. Even if your home or office is strategically located in the heart of Sichuan street, surrounded by a hundred different Chinese restaurants with upwards of a hundred different dishes each, there will come a point when your stomach rebels and your heart starts pining for simpler fare. Or maybe you'd kill for Chinese food but the only restaurant that delivers is the Korean one down the street.Almost miraculously, this lesson is useful in either situation. If you're totally new to mandarin, join us as we introduce the four tones, cover some basic words and phrases you can start using right away, and learn how to steer your fellow diners towards the kind of food you want to eat.

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Today's lesson is for elementary Chinese learners. In it we practice saying ten words and phrases, and eight sentences that all contain the character ?. We do this to highlight the tonal change that occurs when you pronounce this character next to another fourth tone character (hint: it changes to second tone). If you're relatively new to Chinese and have been struggling with picking up a natural intonation, this podcast can help.And if you're a premium subscriber we want to help you even more. Just visit our text page, dial our toll-free telephone number listed there and key in your PIN number when prompted. Then practice speaking these words and sentences (or just talk to us about anything else you'd like). Our system will forward your recording to a teacher who will get back to you in a day or two. And be careful too: we've included a couple of linguistic landmines in some of our sentences to test how good your listening skills really are....

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Our films for the last few weeks have been pretty difficult. So today we're taking a step back with a simpler dialogue that even relative newcomers to Chinese have a decent shot at guessing. Our mystery clip is from a film whose director has graced Film Friday before. And his work? A strange cross between an action adventure and a family comedy. We can't agree on whether it really succeeds.That said, if you think you can identify our mystery Hollywood film based on this short Chinese dub, write to Echo at echo@popupchinese.com and let her know. We'll pick a winner from the crowd and give them (you?) a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese. So good luck and happy guessing!

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Why is it that despite the enormous variety in our personal experiences, we all end up having exactly the same conversation with cab drivers? You know the drill. Where are you from? Are you used to eating Chinese food? Can you use chopsticks? Like Chinese water torture, the deadening repetition invites psychological defense mechanisms just to cope, like inventing new personal histories for each encounter.But then, just when you're about to lose faith in humanity, you run into a cabbie who is interesting, quick on his feet, and brutally honest. Our Elementary lesson for today is about exactly this situation. Like a bracing dash of cold water, it refreshes and re-motivates. Give it a listen and see if it rings true for you too.

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Oh, have you heard the legend of the oPhone? It may seem naïve to raise our hopes again after the crushing disappointments that were the iFeng and Hi-Phone. Yet rumors from the interior are reaching us of a new mobile device that makes its Apple cousin seem almost diminutive by comparison. The words "hushed rapture" might best describe the attitude of our correspondents towards this device, which has a thirty hour battery, features too numerous to list and is rumored to verge on sentience itself.Join us in this podcast as we share our thoughts on China's much vaunted shanzhai competition to the iPhone. Our vocabulary and dialogue in this lesson are both on the easy side for an Intermediate lesson, but we make up for that with a grammar point that is fiendishly difficult. It centers on the slight difference in meaning between two eerily similar sentences: ??????? and ???????. Both are grammatically correct, but they actually mean different things.

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Join us as we celebrate a belated Oktoberfest with this podcast dedicated to the most popular domestic beer in China. And if you don't know this you pretty much owe it to yourself to listen, since it isn't what you think (Brendan is the only one we know who guessed correctly). Also because dropping this sort of trivia in casual conversation will help you come across as urbane, sophisticated and connected to the pulse of the Chinese consumer. Hello promotion!That said, since this is a Speaking Practice lesson, our primary focus is helping you get your tones right when ordering these beers. So if you're a beginner student, the first half of this podcast is designed for you. We focus on the tones and talk a bit about the different beers. If you're a more advanced student, hang in there until halfway through our lesson when we start putting these words into context, and pulling up lots of related vocab including the proper way to say 12-pack in Chinese.And if you're a premium subscriber? Click through to our text page and grab our toll-free telephone number and your personal identification code. Call us up and enter your personal code when prompted. Start recording yourself reciting the names of these brands (focus on the tones!), or repeat our sentences, or talk to us about something completely different. Our teachers will listen to everything you say and get back to you in a day or two with personal feedback. It's a very good thing.

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Each year, the Nobel Prize committee surveys the world and selects the best-of-the-best for prestige and public honor. And while there's always been controversy over some of the selections, there has never been quite as much controversy as this year, when the awards were surprised by "an unprecedentedly strong show by those Chinese upstarts," as one anonymous critic so ingloriously put it. From our vantage point in Beijing, we feel the criticisms are totally unfounded. Jealous bastards.

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Today we're pleased to support all you parents out there with a lesson that will teach you how to crush the hopes and dreams of your offspring with two simple words. Whether your child's interests lie in backyard construction, the sporting life, or more prosaic things like a chance to leave their room and enjoy their sixth birthday, this is your chance to put that foot down and establish some parental authority. Enjoy!

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It is April 1945. Although the United States is still months from bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the end of the Pacific War now seems inevitable, and the Japanese retreat across China is setting the stage for a return to full-blown civil war. In the north the Communists are extending their strategic grip across the countryside. Arrayed against them is the Kuomintang, propped up by the support of China's southern industrial base and Chiang Kaishek's largest international ally: the United States.Coming at a critical juncture in Chinese history, Mao's ruminations in "The Foolish Man and the Mountain" reveal a belief that a Communist victory was a historic certainty, despite a short-term material deficit and clear need to shore up consensus on post-war planning within the Party. As Mao made clear, what lay ahead for China was mass mobilization and war. But the fate of the world was less certain, and this speech gives a curious sense of an alternate history that may have been. In it Mao hints at a fascinating trump card he believed the Communists held which might have proved useful in levering the United States away from the Kuomintang. But exactly what was this trump card? And what happened to it?For answers to these questions and more, you'll have to click through to our text page and step back in time by reading this speech in its original Chinese. As with all of our short stories, we've annotated every single word in the text with a contextual definition: just mouseover any word for an instant popup containing its pronunciation and meaning. And if you have any other questions or thoughts, leave a comment in our discussion space below.

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How good are your listening skills? Find out with today's HSK listening test for beginner students. In this practice HSK test we give you fifteen simple statements with four possible replies each. Your challenge is to pick the most suitable answer based on what you heard.Want more than the podcast? Basic subscribers can download these test questions as part of our regular lesson transcripts. Premium subscribers have access to our online testing center. Not only is taking our tests online fast and convenient, but our system will remember the questions you get wrong so you can review them at your convenience later. If you're not yet a subscriber you're missing out on the best Chinese learning service online. Sign up today.

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For weeks our screenwriter had been haunted by dreams of gutters, drainage culverts and sewage pipes. His subconscious telling him something, but what? And then it clicked. Trapped in an intractable position, what his heroes needed more than anything was a maintenance tunnel. Everything needs maintenance, he thought, so why shouldn't there be a tunnel there? Toss in an extra janitor and no-one will ever think twice about it.All film buffs are invited to listen in to our movie-guessing show and see if you can identify our mystery Hollywood film from nothing more than a short clip dubbed into Chinese. Think you know the film? Write Echo at echo@popupchinese.com with your guess to be entered in a draw for a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival too!

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This lesson takes place in a doctor's office, and while we hope you won't have too many encounters with the Chinese medical system, it is one of the many places the words and phrases we teach in this podcast will come in useful. So if you're new to learning the Chinese language, put on your earphones and get listening. By the time this podcast is over, you'll know enough mandarin to ask how others are doing and be expert at pointing and complaining whenever someone else returns the courtesy.

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There was a deep silence after the sirens stopped blaring, and then chaos broke out. As the crew scuttled to the cargo bay, each couldn't help but wonder what had brought them to this point. Stranded light years from human settlement with nothing but their wits and a thin hull separating them from the vacuum outside. And then a comforting thought. At least they had the captain: he would know what to do.Think your Chinese is good? Join us in this Intermediate listening test as we push it to the limits. Listen to our short dialogue and then click through to our quiz page to test your comprehension. Who are the people in this scene? What exact problem do they have and how are they planning to solve it? If you can catch the answers by listening congratulations! If you have trouble, click through to our text section to consult our manually annotated transcript. Good luck!

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Our speaking practice lesson for today is all about tone sandhi, and particularly about how to properly pronounce the three-two combo of a dipping third tone followed up by a rising second tone. There is a particular way Chinese people pronounce this combination which actually makes the language easier to speak. Do you know the trick? Listen to our podcast if not and we'll let you in on a great secret for improving your fluency in mandarin.Since this is a speaking practice lesson, premium subscribers will find our toll-free telephone number and a personal PIN number listed on the text page. This is yet another chance to get personal feedback on your spoken Chinese! If you're a total beginner, we recommend you practice reading us the lesson vocabulary, paying special attention to the tone changes. More advanced learners are encouraged to try reading our sample sentences or composing their own stories to share. Whatever you record, our teachers will get back to you in a day or two with personal feedback on how you sound and suggestions on how to sound even better. Good luck!

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Notice that shark over there? That's right, our Elementary Chinese lesson for today is all about man-eating beasts of the deep. It is unapologetically inspired by Jaws III, and particularly that scene where the Great Whites start ramming the underwater observation tunnels at Seaworld to the shock and horror of the soon-to-be-eaten tourist hordes.Despite the fact that its dialogue was written by an eight year old, our podcast for today offers more than weeks of unrelenting nightmares for the discriminating Chinese student. In it we showcase all the mandarin you'll ever need to bluff your way through the Orient as a marine biologist. In addition, we also teach a valuable Machiavellian lesson on how to bend others to your will and coerce colleagues into risking life and limb through the steady application of negative rhetorical questions. Enjoy!

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Johns Hopkins University recently published a study that followed ten thousand subjects over a ten year period, and closely monitored the eating habits of its participants. Among the results? The experiment showed conclusively that those who dispose of leftover Chinese take-out within the week have longer lifespans, whiter teeth and fuller hair. The remainder suffered from chronic headaches, extreme sensitivity to sunlight and a predisposition to Kenny G's "Going Home".Even in the absence of rigorous scientific proof, at Popup Chinese we believe the anecdotal evidence is compelling enough. When you have a hankering for kung-pao chicken at four in the morning avoid the leftovers and order in fresh. Your body will thank you.

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Attention new recruits. After 84% of last year's class were caught crossing Customs and an additional 10% were found out while checking into their hotels, the Agency Directorate has ordered the commencement of emergency classes on basic spy decorum. Join us in this Elementary Chinese podcast as we cover the four elementary rules you need to know for how not to get caught.

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You thought you could beat the lie detector, so focused on your breathing, sweaty palms pressed tight against the table. You stared straight ahead as the interrogator fired his questions off like clockwork. And then you started twitching. Once, twice, and the needles began to tick. What were you thinking trying to fool this accursed machine? You saw Steven Seagal do it in a movie once. But you're not Monsieur Seagal, and this is no film. Join us for Film Friday today as hosts Echo, David, and Brendan introduce a clip from a Hollywood movie dubbed into Chinese. And if you can guess the original film? Write Echo at echo@popupchinese.com and be entered into a draw for a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese. Important Disclosure: Steven Seagal is not in this movie.

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Our general standard for measuring podcast excellence is whether listening causes Gail to spit milk out her nose. By that standard we have a winner today. Which is good, because there's no easy way to describe what's in store for you otherwise. This lesson is a sequel to our previous podcast about a Gay Chinese Vampire. It continues our trend of producing the sorts of cutting-edge lessons you won't find in any traditional textbook.Since this podcast builds on the vocabulary we introduced in part one, if you haven't already checked out our preceding podcast you may want to take a listen to get up to speed. Otherwise, tune in as we charge headfirst into another messy romance replete with underwear models, strained friendships, and lots and lots of blood.

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As recovering narcoleptics, we know a thing or two about shunning daylight, sleeping in coffins and going straight for the jugular. Sadly, in many parts of the world people continue to harbor prejudices against the undead. And yet blood donations are at an all-time high. It's a crazy world, we know.Join us today as we strike out against this pervasive and insidious form of social discrimination. Bloody Mary has a more literal meaning here than you may be used to, but regardless of your taste in drinks we're sure you'll enjoy learning all the Chinese you'll ever need to know should you find yourself invited to an underground party in the French Concession, and have the opportunity to chat up that cute, pulseless waitress from the local cafe who's always sleeping on the job.

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You may have been surprised on arrival in Shanghai to learn that no-one actually speaks mandarin there. Sure, the locals may call their language Chinese, but it's a bit of a national in-joke at this point. After a few thousand years of frustrated attempts to get directions out of the Pudong New District, no-one else in the country believes them anymore. Which is why it's a good idea to pick up a little Shanghainese if you're planning to be in town. And that's where this podcast comes in.Most of our advanced shows are entirely in standard mandarin. In this one we use the standard dialect to teach some of the basics of the Shanghai dialect. Join us and in addition to showing the difference between standard mandarin and Shanghai-accented mandarin very clearly, we'll teach you some of the basic phrases you'll need know to lubricate your way through the Pearl of the Orient in the language she prefers to speak.

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We know you started making plans for a night out as soon as you saw us publish that lesson for Absolute Beginners this morning. Unfortunately for your social ambitions, we don't have a reputation as cruel mandarin taskmasters for nothing. Which is why in addition to our beginner podcast we've got this speaking practice lesson aimed at Elementary students and above: anyone who can be intentionally funny in Chinese.So call us up and tell us a joke. In order to get you in the mood, we've put together a quick podcast accompanying this lesson in which 9527 unleashes her devastating wit. Give it a listen and see if you can understand it, and if you don't have any better jokes of your own, feel free to steal it (the transcript is on the text page). Premium subscribers will find our toll-free telephone number and a personal PIN number listed on the text page. So call us up and record your joke when prompted. Our staff will listen in and get back to you later this week with personal feedback on your spoken Chinese.

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Our biological clock is a natural wonder. It tells us when to sleep, when to wake, and of course when to eat. So when the alarms start sounding and the hunger pangs strike, there's only one prudent course of action: start complaining as loudly as possible in the hope that someone will appear with food. It worked when you were a kid, right?If you are totally new to learning Chinese you are in the right place. Join us in this podcast and we'll teach you all the mandarin you'll ever need to know in order to make uncompromising demands on those around you. In this lesson we will teach you six easy adjectives and two simple verbs that will help you amaze others with your fluency, and might also get you fed in the process.

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"You think this is a memorable scene," David asked? There was a lingering skepticism in his voice, but no-one else in the studio had seen the film, or even entertained the thought of seeing it for that matter. Brendan stared numbly downwards, feeling it best not to point out that things were hinging on the same person whose home VHS collection centered on Ghostbusters II. And so there was silence for a moment before Anthony steeled himself for the hard sell. "I think so," he said. "It's definitely the only scene I remembered...."In this episode of Film Friday we present a film that might be easy or might be difficult. To be honest, we have absolutely no clue. What we do know is that there are enough clues scattered throughout our podcast that you might be able to put things together. And if you do, be sure to write Echo at echo@popupchinese.com. If you guess our mystery film correctly we'll enter you to win a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese or a sleek black t-shirt from our dwindling stockpiles. Good luck!

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At Popup Chinese we don't shy away from teaching the sort of mandarin you'll need to properly express feelings of lethargy and gluttony at four in the morning. So join us in this lesson as we review four intermediate constructions you can use to create sentences like, "I would rather order in McDonalds than move off this couch."On a related note, since we're sure some of you will think we're joking, we should stress that everything you'll hear in this podcast is completely true. Even down to the telephone number. Yes folks, as Yeats put it, "surely the Second Coming is at hand." We can't speak for the outer fringes of the Empire, but in Beijing it's not only possible to have a Big Mac delivered to you at four in the morning, it's considered a sign of social progress. We may never see daylight again.

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While you were cracking the spine on that Kangxi dictionary in grad school, your younger brother was hitting the gym. Twice a day even. So does it matter that he can't tell the difference between the first and fourth tone? Or straighten his arms? With his brawn and your brain the two of you are an unstoppable force for good. And you're getting filthy rich in the process too.That said, despite the fact that David spent a curious amount of time hunting down the photo accompanying this lesson, we're really not sure what to make of it. And we actually had a debate in house over whether it is inappropriately homophobic or homoerotic, which is something you'll have to decide. Brendan summarized our own feelings with his comment that, "I don't know what this dialogue is save strange...." So consider this a little gift from Popup Chinese: the best place online for learning Chinese and getting weirded out in the process.

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Our pinyin practice lesson for today focuses on one of the more challenging sounds in the Chinese language. And the reason English speakers have difficulty with it is fairly simple: there is no good English equivalent. Not that we could think of, at least.In an effort to help you hunt down this sound and overpower it though, in this podcast we review this sound in all of its strange tonal glory. We first go over the sound in all four tones, and then practice putting it into words and then sample sentences. If you made improving your pronunciation a part of your New Years resolutions way back in January, we think this will come in useful. Just speak along with Echo and disregard the crazy looks your coworkers give you: they're just jealous you're speaking Chinese.On a closing note, we've enabled our recording hotline for this lesson, so if you're a premium subscriber you're invited to call us using the custom PIN number that you'll find on this lesson's text page. Practice recording our words and sample sentences back for us and we'll have one of our teachers listen to it and get back to you with one-on-one feedback about your pronunciation.

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Developed over 5000 years of history, the traditional Chinese approach to sales involves deploying armies of salespeople to flank the merchandise, and opening a single cashier three floors away to ring up sales. Stamped receipts issued by this critical employee can hypothetically be exchanged for the actual product, although we've never heard of anyone successfully completing the transaction.Perhaps times are changing though. Along with efforts to lure the few remaining foreign factories into central Hunan, the Chinese Government has recently begun a program to encourage the import of advanced western sales techniques. Key among these is the classic upsell, whose sudden emergence this summer has turned it into the latest marketing craze to hit the streets of Beijing. Join us in this podcast and we'll introduce it to you.

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Brendan has been indulging in French New Wave cinema lately, stirring up outrage around our office with outlandish claims that Truffaut could trounce Cocteau in hand-to-hand combat. We try not to let these aesthetic differences boil over into this podcast though, which revolves around fighting of an entirely different nature. This film clip here is fairly difficult to guess, so listen carefully. But if you think you know our mystery film get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese.

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In this podcast Echo, Liu and 9527 hit our studio for a show about Saturday morning cartoons in China. And if you think they're going to chat about Superfriends or Rocket Robin Hood you're sadly mistaken. Not only is there no English in today's show, there are no non-Asian shows either. So even if you're an advanced student you may want to click through to our vocabulary section to familiarize yourself with the subject matter before listening.Why cartoons? The catalyst for this has been some good news for Liu, who just picked up a job doing voice acting for the new animated edition of The Monkey King set for release later this year. Congratulations Liu. We fully expect everyone in mainland China to know you as "that guy from Popup Chinese" in a couple of years, but don't let that go to your head....

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One of the advantages we've found to operating out of Beijing is our ability to engage in the sort of scientific research frowned upon in much of the civilized world. Far from the oversight of university ethics committees, we carve our own way through pressing moral dilemmas, such as whether to unleash the results of our research into what is unquestionably the worst joke in all China.When we tested this on our crew in Beijing, the results were pretty bad. "That's the worst joke I've ever heard," Echo groaned before losing consciousness. Apple was knocked to the floor and later hospitalized with minor intestinal discomfort. So consider yourself warned. This podcast is dangerous. On the other hand, if you're starting to learn mandarin it is exactly the sort of risk you need to run if you want to get fluent. And how bad can a joke be anyway?

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Remember the time your former boss accidentally shredded years of customer records? Join us in today's episode and learn the perfect word to describe what happens when you get the short end of the stick. We have a harder film clip than usual, but there are enough hints strewn around we think you can figure things out. So good luck and get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com if you think you can identify our mystery film.

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Growing weary of Lassie bounding into your bedroom at the very break of dawn, his innocent eyes beaming with the delight of another day? Join us in this podcast as we reveal an age-old Chinese technique for breaking your pets of their infectious enthusiasm for life. In addition to covering some unexpected vocabulary, in this addictive podcast we also highlight three common sentence patterns you'll hear all the time.

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Sadly, our clip for today has nothing to do with James Thurber's hilarious short story of the same name. It also has nothing to do with Brad Pitt, even though you might hear his name in the dialogue. It does take us back in time though, and shares a close connection with China by way of Disney's recent Kungfu Panda. So take a listen and write to echo@popupchinese.com if you can identify our mystery film for this week. A great prize awaits our winner.

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Conan trembled as the invigilator continued with the HSK. His was the code of force, yet there was nothing to smash here and no-one to bruise. And as the test wore on his headband seemed to tighten until his temples burned under the strain. "Test make head hurt," he finally moaned as his outer vision failed. And then the room plunged into darkness and the Great Warrior was no more.Our sample HSK exam for today is an Intermediate listening test, and we hope you do better than Conan did. Our questions can be found both on the quiz page, as well as in the podcast and transcripts which accompany this lesson. Test yourself online, or download the materials and study offline at your leisure. Good luck!

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Before you came to China, you may have thought the point of telephone banking was to save everyone a bit of time and money. Banks could avoid paying for a full teller while you could conduct your business a bit more efficiently, right? Now you know the truth. In China automated banking is less a service and more an attempt to figure out how badly you really want your money.Since this is a podcast about robots, we asked Brendan and Echo to liven things up a bit with some exciting banking stories. But they failed. Miserably. So if you're looking for exciting yarns of financial adventure you'll have to go elsewhere. But if you want to learn some useful vocabulary that will serve you well the next time you're engaged in repetitive number crunching or feel like ripping someone's head off, this is exactly the podcast you need.

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Our lesson today focuses on tone sandhi, and particularly the change we make in the pronunciation of two third tone characters when we put them together. You're probably already aware that in these situations our first third tone character morphs into the second tone. But have you had much chance to practice? And has anyone ever given you feedback on how you sound?This is the first speaking lesson we've ever done that comes with a dedicated podcast. We suggest listening to it first, and then working through our generative fix for extra practice. When you're ready click through to our text page, where you will find our toll-free telephone number listed in the side column along with your PIN number for this lesson. Call us, make a recording, and you can expect to hear back from us in a day or two. Good luck!

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Your internship at Greater Henan Sewage not exactly what you had in mind when you signed up for a summer in China? If you think you've got it rough there, try volunteering for the job in this week's clip. Or better yet, try to figure out what job this actually is. Identifying our mystery film should be a real challenge even for those of you with excellent Chinese, so we have an excellent prize for the winner. Be sure to get your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win.

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Our final passage from Dream of the Red Chamber picks up with Zhen Shiyin struggling to make ends meet as a farmer. With his daughter kidnapped, and his fortune and estate having literally gone up in smoke, Zhen ekes out a pitiful existence under the contempt and exploitation of his father-in-law. His former life of wealth and literary pleasure has vanished, replaced with abject poverty and toil.The former official's spirits and health sink as his financial state worsens, and his relationship with his father-in-law frays. Then one day he meets a lame monk who sings a seemingly meaningless song. Hidden in the rhyming nonsense is a message about the vanity of human existence. All men seek to be as good as the Gods, but fall short because there is so much of this world they find it hard to do without. Yet death claims all alike. Zhen echoes the words of the monk with a poetic reply that chronicles his own tragedy and emphasizes the vicissitudes of fortune and life. He then abandons his former life to live as a vagrant Buddhist.One of the truly amazing things about Dream of the Red Chamber is the way it switches so seamlessly between personal tragedy and epic narrative. We have such a transition here as Zhen Shiyin leaves the stage and our attention shifts to his wife and her two remaining serving girls. Powerless and impoverished, the three women pass their days with piecemeal work until the new county magistrate passes through their village years later and summons them for questioning. What new misfortune will befall them, and why, the author asks, promising answers at the start of the second chapter.On a final note, as we have before, we strongly encourage readers of our short stories to enable the extra notes section in their popups. It is especially important in this story as Cao Xueqin frequently refers to people by reference to the objects associated with them, such as caps and scepters for officials. This is why we provide translations of many of the more difficult sentences in select popups, along with explanations of particularly tricky words. If you're reading our annotated version and have not yet enabled these extra notes, you're missing out on a huge amount of the value in this annotated edition, and robbing yourself of much of the pleasure in the story too. So do yourself a favor and turn them on!

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Ever wanted to be that guy? You know the one we're talking about. The world is his oyster. And when he goes to the bar he gets served in seconds. No waiting around while the wait staff check the ice levels again. Just exceptional service. And the tips? "Not for you, sir," they say with a nod of the head. "We're just happy to be of service."Join us in this lesson and we'll teach you the magic word that will jump you to the head of the queue while the rest of your foreign brethren stare glumly at the bar. And for extra good measure, we'll also teach you three important grammar points you'll need to know to pass for native. The most important is the difference between ?, ??, and ??. Only one can be used in a standalone sentence, but which one and why?

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Blithely ignoring the fact it's nowhere near Father's Day, let us address a more pressing question several of you have asked via email: yes, one of our male voice actors goes by the English name Bunny. We did a double-take the first time we heard it too: such is life in China, and you'll just have to get used to it.Moving on to more practical matters, we think you'll find this lesson fiendishly difficult, since it's probably the most difficult lesson we've released at this level to date. We still think it's worth getting through for a simple reason though: it will teach you how to answer a question with another question, a tremendously useful stonewalling tactic for when you're dealing with the Entry/Exit bureau and have a visa that expired several months ago.

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We screened this film for our crew earlier in the week and were surprised how well it stood up. The only touchy point came when our hero whipped out his Motorola, at which point the Chinese Commentariat couldn't keep from remarking on the sheer size of his mobile behometh. So cherish what you've got, because time flies. And if you know this movie get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com too.

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We believe our voice actors for this lesson must have had horrible memories of music lessons as a child. Nonetheless, the more musically inclined among you may wish to join us as we cover some useful vocabulary for impressing friends and intimidating rivals at KTV showdowns. In addition to the sexy new lingo, we also pay a brief visit to our old friend ?, whose occasional lack of clarity should be par for the course at this point.

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Everything is coming up flowers and chocolate in our episode of Film Friday this week. That's right - after an onslaught of action and science fiction films - we've finally settled on a romantic comedy. But which one? Our clip this week is more difficult than last week's, but we think Intermediate students have a good chance. So listen up, and if you think you know which film our clip is from get your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month of Premium access at Popup Chinese.

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If you had known what was going on behind that door, you would never have opened it. We trust you there, but also caught the whole encounter on tape and feel that sharing it really is for the greater good. In addition to helping teach the Chinese word for hello, your awkward performance last week offers a perfect chance to teach the English speaking world a few simple euphemisms for dating that everyone needs to know to avoid having their own foot-in-mouth situations. Thanks for understanding....

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One of our ulterior motives with this entire podcasting business is getting famous and good-looking Chinese celebrities into our recording studios (yes, we take requests). Which is how we're able to bring you this recording starring one of the more recognizable celebrities you're likely to encounter in China. Although she may not be Cecilia Cheung, if you've been in China for a while we're pretty sure you'll recognize her....In this listening test your challenge is to listen to our recording once and then click through to our quiz section to gauge your comprehension of the story you've heard and the language it uses. If you run into any problems, we've prepared our regular annotated version of the text with mouseover popups.

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In this week's episode of Film Friday, we explore the unplumbed depths of Anthony's childhood video collection and uncover a "masterpiece of 20th century cinema" as he persists in calling it despite all evidence to the contrary. There are a lot of clues lurking in the Chinese dub to this film, so give it a listen. And if you think you can identify our mystery movie from this short clip, get your guesses into echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win premium swag from all of us here in Beijing. Good luck!

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We've heard there's a crumbling yellow list posted on the wall of the State Department's China Room warning its newly recruited analysts of signs they may have gone native and should seek professional help. Number six on that list is apparently ordering a second bowl of rice with dinner.Depending on how long you've been in China, you're probably either shaking your head in disbelief at the mere possibility, or nodding your head in solemn agreement, because sometimes one bowl of rice just isn't enough. Which is why we're pleased to present you with information on the latest Chinese diet craze. In addition to helping keep the pounds off, this minor adjustment to your dining habits will keep you employable by the US government. Listen in for the details.

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You never know who's been in that taxi before, and China is a place where it pays to play it safe. So join us in this podcast as we review a couple of standard precautions you should take before getting into any foreign vehicle. Because you never know when you're going to get hit by a bus. When you're just sitting there. Not moving. At a traffic light.

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As you step out your front door in the morning to go to work, the same as you would on any other day, something seems off. Could it be the fruit vendor floating down the alley? Or the cat drifting past the front gate of your apartment? Listen in to this Intermediate podcast for a short briefer on what mother nature has in store for Shanghai. Suffice it to say that things will continue to be hot and wet.

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Our film clip for this week is surprisingly topical, and probably a bit more difficult than you may be used to. It also has a number of revealing clues though, and once you identify it we think you'll know why we picked it. So take a listen and if you think you know our mystery film get your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win free week of premium access to Popup Chinese.

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Those of us living in Beijing occasionally hear tales of the strange lands and barbarous customs that exist beyond the third ring road. Visitors to our studios bring whispers and rumors of yet wilder places that stretch off in the lands beyond the fourth. And beyond them? Few have seen the savage mystery of Greater Hebei and returned to tell the tale. We know of only one, and his name is Frank Fradella.

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Beijing has a lot of stray cats. Which translates into a lot of stray kittens. They are small, cute and usually covered with mud. And should you run into one while out on a date, you're likely to witness something along the lines of what happens in our lesson for today. So listen up and be prepared for the next time savage cuteness intrudes on your love life.

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Did you know the average person spends two to three years of their life sitting on the toilet? It goes without saying that most of this time is not spent productively, which is why we're pleased to share this listening test with you today. In it we offer up a life-saving secret that will help free up some of your time for more important things like studying Chinese.Office visitors please note: in response to the growing popularity of this technique among staff, we have implemented draconian controls on office washroom usage. You are encouraged to bring your own toiletries.

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In this podcast we'll teach you a respectful form of address you can use to refer cab drivers, serving staff and martial arts instructors. We'll also teach you left from right, and share some tips on how to make the best use of your newest language partner (the cab driver). And as icing on the cake, Brendan and Anthony share some of their taxi stories from the wilds of Zhengzhou and Harbin, known collectively in these parts as "the interior".

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In today's lesson we return with another outburst of marital dischord, and a dialogue that falls somewhere around the upper boundary of our Elementary series. The mandarin here will come at you fast and furious as our voice actors tear into each other at full speed and sometimes even yell over each other - just like a real argument.If you find yourself despairing of the speed, take a deep breath though. With the exception of a single idiom, our vocabulary is relatively basic. And in addition to all the screaming and melodrama you can handle in a Monday podcast, this podcast covers a very useful way and relatively basic way to express the Future Tense. This is the powerful ?... ? construct, which you'll be using all the time.

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Our selection for this week has inspired an awful lot of terrible cinema, which might explain Echo's reluctance to watch it. But the rest of us consider it an outstanding example of its genre, and we're pretty sure you'll come down on our side. So give a listen and join Brendan and Echo for our weekly film guessing game. And for some extra fun we're joined in the studio by Anthony, who will be spending the summer with us up in Beijing. Good luck!

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As our first chapter winds to a close, tragedy finally strikes and our story swings into action. It is the night of the Lantern Festival when Zhen Shiyin invites Jia Yucun to his home for a night of revelry. The two men drink late into the evening, when Jia Yucun lets slip of his ambition for wealth and power through a poem that alludes to the rising moon. A sympathetic character, Zhen Shiyin gives the itinerant scholar the funding to travel to the Imperial capital and try his hand taking the official exam.And then tragedy strikes. You'll have to read the story yourself for the full details. And we won't divulge more than say that the ominous prophecies made earlier in this chapter reach fruition in a series of devastating calamities that bring death and destruction in their wake. Our narrative swings into high action, and our prologue moves towards a close. And the tone for the rest of the novel is set.If you've been reading Dream of the Red Chamber along with us from the start, you should be heartened to hear we're almost at the conclusion of the first chapter. And if you haven't yet, we would strongly encourage you to visit your vocabulary page and enable the display of extra notes in your popups. Just click the appropriate checkbox in the right-hand column. For all of our passages, we've stuck a lot of extra information regarding the symbolism, homophonic allusions, translations and cultural notes. If you're not reading these you may miss the underlying meaning of the story. In cases where word usage is somewhat antiquated, we often provide the more contemporary word in our notes space.Dream of the Red Chamber is a piece of literature that makes the Chinese language worth knowing all by itself. We hope our annotated edition gives you the pleasure in reading that it gives us in preparing.

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We sent our troops into the studio with a simple request for vintage science fiction, but it wasn't until we conscripted the duck they began to get the picture. So listen up if you're a fan of imaginative and futuristic stories. In addition to covering critical everyday vocabulary like "photon cannon", our podcast contains some revelations about Echo's film preferences that may shock and amaze....

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More tragic words have never been spoken. Two hours ago you were enjoying the best spicy chicken this side of Chongqing. Now your lunch is having the last laugh. You make eye contact with the man squatting next to you, and notice that his eyes, too, are filled with quiet despair. Listen to our podcast today and learn the magic words we hope you will never have to hear.

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Our film this week is such a classic that Brendan, Echo and and David have all seen it. Which means no more pithy commentary from the gallery. And we have some educational substance to our podcast today too, as our clip inadvertently highlights three completely different words for expressing hope. So listen in, try to guess our mystery film, and get your guesses to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month of premium access and a sexy Popup Chinese t-shirt. Good luck!

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You'd have thought we'd have stopped with the child labor jokes after that kerfuffle at the UNESCO conference in Hangzhou. Remember the one? It was the time our ragtag band of Artful Dodgers picked the crowd clean while providing an occasionally accurate interpretation service to the assembled delegates.We've since gone generally legit with our use of underaged staffers, but as our pack of 8 year old programmers can attest, there remain many benefits to hiring young. In addition to asking fewer questions about labor rights, children eat less, learn faster and are more easily indoctrinated into online personality cults. Nothing is ever perfect though. Which is why this podcast offers practical advice on what you'll need to say in Chinese when things just don't work out.

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We've all been in this sordid situation. Your date was a wild success and you've come back home for a nightcap. But just as you step to the door you reach into your pocket and find something wrong: it has been picked clean. But by whom? Was it your surly waiter? The child selling roses who snaked after you down the street, pulling at your arm? The shifty group of ragged layabouts who operated that makeshift coat-check outside the restaurant?Whoever the culprit, it seems you will now be spending the rest of your evening walking around looking for an open locksmith. So fire up your iPod and tune in to this podcast for all the language you'll need to get things fixed. Or at least all the language you'll need to complain about your lost keys to anyone who will listen, locksmith included.

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This week Film Friday charts unfamiliar territory with a classic film suffering from a not-so-classic Chinese translation. That's the only explanation we can offer for the bit about the fishing pond, anyway. So get ready for a challenge. And if you do recognize our film from its Chinese dub be sure to get your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a sleek black Popup Chinese t-shirt, the hottest unisex garment this side of Dyykan-Kyshtak.

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On occasion, our shameless sense of self-promotion here at Popup Chinese rubs up against unforgiving reality. This is a podcast about one of these occasions. More importantly, it is also a lesson on how to talk about clothing. The words we'll cover are critical to know whether you're buying clothes, selling clothes, or telling the naked kid running around outside to go and put some on for a change.

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Whenever someone visits our office and asks how we get such natural dialogues we just smile. The truth is that podcasting in China is a ruthless business and the use of force is occasionally necessary. And so we bring you this podcast in the spirit of sharing some advanced podcasting tips. Listen in for a great Chinese lesson, along with practical suggestions on coaxing productivity from a recalcitrant recording crew when you're seriously behind schedule and need the next six months of material finished by sundown.

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In this episode of Film Friday we're joined by a special guest fresh from the hinterlands of Zhengzhou. In addition to giving us the lowdown on the Henan squat, Anthony helps us introduce a film we're pretty sure you've seen. And there's more reason than ever to write echo@popupchinese.com with your guess. In addition to the international accolades that come from winning Film Friday, our prize this week includes a sleek, black and very, very sexy Popup Chinese t-shirt, mailed right to your doorstep.

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In this podcast we hear a tragic tale of a homicidal non-cooling appliance. This lesson also marks another experiment with our recording format: rather than focus on the dialogue here we focus on the theme: heating and air conditioning. As such, we review the core nouns, adjectives and verbs related to this central theme. If you learn well by practicing grouped words together, this is the podcast for you. Take a listen and let us know if we should produce more of these.

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Ever smashed your finger in a car door and found yourself at a loss for words? In this podcast we'll teach you how to swear in Chinese using a relatively low-level Chinese swear word. If you haven't run into it before, the word we'll introduce is basically the equivalent of damn in English. If you or your conversation partners are offended easily you may want to skip this one for one of our more family friendly podcasts. Swearing is a sensitive topic, but it's critical to know how socially appropriate various expressions really are, and understand when escalating is considered crude. Many second language learners have real problems expressing their anger in socially appropriate ways, and jump to extremely offensive language in response to slight provocation. If you are one of them, this podcast is for you. And since proper escalation is key, we also cover some alternate ways to sound more forceful without crossing the line to explicit obscenity.

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In today's episode of Film Friday we showcase yet another Hollywood blockbuster as it ended up dubbed in Chinese. Those of you who've been asking for harder clips will like this one. The language is more difficult all-around, while Echo and Brendan clam up almost completely on the clue front. So good luck with our guessing game and be sure to write Echo at echo@popupchinese.com if you think you know which film this is.

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Our selection for today is "Autumn in the Ancient Capital" (????) a short piece of non-fiction written by Yu Dafu (???, 1895-1945) that describes the author's love for autumn in Beijing. This story is often taught in creative writing classes, and what's notable about it is the way it describes Beijing in intimate detail. Part of the story's seduction might be due to its wonderful use of adjectives, particularly as verb complements. Internalize this and watch the quality of your own writing spike upwards.As for the subject matter? A quick office poll confirms that late autumn is our preferred time of year around here. There's something special about a quiet walk through the hutongs on those near-winter days when your breath almost hangs in the air and Beijing becomes like a city out of time.

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The general sentiment among the crew was turning sour as the HSK infestation wormed its way into the Enterprise's fourth warp engine. The latest estimates predicted the starship's last containment field would breach within the hour, an engineering failure which promised to expose the ship's increasingly sullen crew to an unpleasant dose of rapid decompression.Had their years of adventuring truly come down to this, this quiet death by ideograph? Spock stared glumly at the ceiling trying to recall the difference between an aspectual and modal particle. After his attempts to find a Chinese speaking member of the crew had failed, the Vulcan had turned philosophical. Others were less complacent. "We need to prepare a solid defense to this blood-sucking test," Kirk muttered, firing up his laptop.

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Our podcast for today is our second show in a new series we're launching to teach proper Chinese pronunciation. Our focus today is on a common problem a lot of learners have when they're new to mandarin: differentiating the sound "zi" from its aspirated rival "ci". Today we're going to clear this up once and for all.And attention listeners: management is fully aware that Brendan's pronunciation of the letter zed in this podcast does not conform to international Canadian phonetic standards. We apologize for this oversight, and wish to assure you we have already commenced mandatory remedial training. Even if the continued references to "zee" (zed) may confuse, we hope you still find this a useful podcast for mastering proper pronunciation in Chinese.

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Today we bring you yet another overlooked perspective on a great historical event. We don't want to say too much more because this is a listening test and part of the goal here is for you to figure out what is going on yourself. So give this podcast a listen and then click through to our online quiz to test your listening comprehension. It may not be as easy as you think.

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In this age of Global Warming, our imperiled avian friends from the deep south are crying out for succor. And no-where is their plight getting a warmer reception than with our very own Tiansen.If you're an old hand at Popup Chinese, you might consider this dialogue simpler than our usual intermediate fare. But it really isn't. What you should be listening for are the departures we take from technically correct pronunciation and grammar. You may not have internalized or even noticed these tricks to date, but if you start using them you'll come across as much more fluent than your peers. Because part of sounding like a native speaker is knowing exactly when and how to bend the rules....

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While the usual suspects spend billions on branding campaigns in China, it's often smaller companies with more forceful sales messages that capture our hard-earned yuan. In our lesson for today Popup Chinese is proud to present a short advert for no-name cola that mascarades as instructional dialogue. And for extra inundate-the-listener goodness, we're pleased to introduce our latest jingle too. We hope you like them both.

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Assuming your mother doesn't speak mandarin, our podcast is not going to help you cope with the fallout of having forgotten to call her yesterday. But maybe you also forgot to say something nice to your mother-in-law and your significant other is busy doing damage control. So bear with us here. In this podcast we teach you the easiest way to tell someone you simply forgot. And since that's pretty easy, we also cover the basics of using Chinese prepositions.

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After a couple of you commented that our previous graphic for Film Friday looked unintelligible, we've swapped it out for our sexy new graphic. And with it we have a sexy new film as well. The language here is a bit more technical than usual, but if you understand it we think you've got an excellent shot at guessing the film. Get your answers in to echo@popupchinese.com as usual for a chance to win big.On a side note, if you're in Beijing this Sunday afternoon and are looking for some conversational practice, we'll be hosting a free practice session at the Three Trees cafe on Nanluoguxiang from 1:00pm to 3:00pm starting this Sunday. You are cordially invited to drop by. For questions or to get more specific directions, email Echo or call us at 13581709309.

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Harold's obsession with the veldt had become all-consuming. For weeks it had even crept into his dreams, the images so real they would linger after he woke, tinting his waking life with their savage beauty. He could see it now: the wild African grasses, the giraffes, zebras, hippopotami and then the lion, the most majestic game of all. And soon it would all be his. Soon he would be on safari.

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When Hazel returned hours later, he found Fiver, Bigwig and the rest of his lagomorphic comrades shivering in the dew-drenched gulley at meadow's edge. "I've never seen anything quite like it," he finally offered, suddenly aware of exactly how much time had passed since he left to scout out the new warren. "I don't think they're dangerous," he added with a small belch, "although they're not much like the folks back home...."In our podcast for today Popup Chinese offers yet another take on a Western literary classic. In this case we Sinocize Richard Adams' Watership Down. Listen in if you're curious what life is like for Chinese rabbits, or just want to learn how to use simple adjectives in conversation.

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A smart man knows which way the wind is blowing. In today's podcast, we cover an idiom that will blow the socks off your Chinese conversation partners guaranteed. And we'll also spill the beans about who exactly is the villain in our weekly Film Friday sessions. It's not who you think! So join us for our weekly film-guessing game, and if you think you know which movie this is, write us at echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese.

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Dating a fashion designer, or just want your shirt starched? Consider yourself in luck: our lesson for today takes place in a dry cleaning store and goes over all the vocab you'll need to start scintillating conversations about pants with anyone who will listen. Designed for early elementary students, this podcast will teach you how to get your dry cleaning done in mandarin, and share a critical trick you can use to avoid being given someone else's clothing.

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Later this evening we'll be publishing an Elementary podcast that will help some of us figure out how to get our clothes back from the dry cleaners. In the meantime, more advanced students are encouraged to check out our latest advanced listening test. In this short dialogue, learn what happens when art meets commerce, Beijing-style. Listen once, and then test your comprehension by clicking through to our quiz section. The entire dialogue is annotated on our text page in case you need help deciphering it.

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After the Great Internet collapse of 2020, a weary world will turn back to the technology of a simpler age: pneumatic tubes. Large tubes and small tubes will snake across the continents and even unto the depths of the oceans. Information will travel across our world at the speed of compressed air, soaring even to the heavens themselves through a special pneumatic tube China will build to connect earth with its first geosynchronous space colony.Not exactly what you expected of the Future? In this podcast we review five of the most common ways to put your sentences and thoughts in the future tense. Because you can't change the future unless you know how to express it properly. Or maybe you can, but you should still know this stuff by now.

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It's been a while since we've forced our podcasters into the studio for a Chinese-only recording. That drought ends today as our resident Beijing-expert Baifan returns to share news of his decision to purchase a home, a revelation that sparks an in-depth discussion about real estate with Echo and Apple. If you're an advanced student looking for listening practice, join us for a revealing look at the local housing market. Our executive summary: location is key and the best time to purchase may be late this year or early next.

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Your collective success with the space dog film made a deep impression on us, which is why you're getting today's relic. We were amazed to find this on Youku in the first place, and then doubly surprised to discover the Chinese soundtrack. One additional hint: the section of the dialogue we've bleeped out contains the actual name of the film. So good luck, and if you recognize our mystery movie get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win big.

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Our podcast for today is the first show in a new series we're launching to teach proper Chinese pronunciation. In these podcasts we will review sounds that many non-native speakers have trouble with, and share some hard-learned tips and tricks on how to make yourself sound more like a native speaker. And our target for this first show is one of the most commonly mispronounced words in the Chinese language.We've intentionally designed this podcast to be short and tightly focused with maximum word and phrase repetition. If you're new to Chinese, we'd encourage you to be an active participant in the recording, and speak along with Echo and Brendan (you will learn faster!). And, as always, we'd love to have your thoughts and feedback on the new show. If you've got ideas on the new show, why not let Echo know what you think by sending her an email at echo@popupchinese.com?

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We've seen things you people wouldn't believe. An infestation of QQ chat programs so thick and furious they set a motherboard on fire, download managers that corrupt all they touch like the grim reapers of the software world. We have seen virii blossom across networks like flowers of death. And if ye still be so foolhardy as to bring your Windows laptop to China knowing this we will just suggest a simple rule: never let anyone else touch it. The taskbar you save may be your own.

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Several of you did it, and we feel both proud and slightly discomfited at your success identifying our clip from Space Buddies last week. That was a hardball - a mandarin dub of a film about puppies in space. And so while congratulations are definitely in order, you'll understand why we went with a more conventional selection this week. If you've seen the film this clip is from, we're betting you enjoyed it. Because everyone loves a heartwarming family comedy....

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In our last installment of Dream of the Red Chamber, Zhen Shiyin received an ominous prophecy warning him of onrushing calamity but was promptly distracted by the arrival of Jia Yucun, an itinerant scholar whom he invited to his private study for an afternoon of leisure. Today our story continues as Zhen Shiyin is called away to see an important guest. He leaves Jia Yucun in his study, where the impoverished scholar shortly falls in love with one of the serving girls in the Zhen household.This sixth section of China's greatest literary masterpiece is an interlude of sorts. The text is easier to read and is essentially narrative. Nonetheless, we learn a great deal about Jia Yucun and his fierce ambition, especially from the analogies and metaphors in the poems he writes, which are dense and literary and filled with classical allusions. Subscribers should be sure to enable the extra notes section in your popups and more detailed explanations of these references will magically appear in your popups.And so our passage closes with the advent of the Mid-Autumn festival, a happy occasion when friends and family gather for wine and song, but also a date we have been told will bring down a terrible calamity of fire and death. But how and for whom? You'll have to read on to discover more....

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As far as Chinese learning podcasts go, our lesson for today is special even by our admittedly awesome standards for insanely creative and non-boring content. Just be warned that if you ever used China Telecom's PHS service, listening to this might be enough to induce traumatic flashbacks. What's that you say? You don't remember that striking advance in mobile technology? Count yourself lucky.

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In today's podcast we teach you everything you need to know to make a sizable withdrawal from a Chinese bank.

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None of us had heard of this film until last night. After just a few minutes though, we were positive it was the perfect selection for this week's Hollywood guessing game. So listen in and see if you can guess our surprise film from nothing more than its Chinese soundtrack. And if you can, get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month-long premium subscription to Popup Chinese, where we make learning mandarin fun and easy.

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"How do you say, 'the Woz' in Chinese?" Brendan asked. Inspiration had struck and he was sitting in the corner scribbling away furiously at an idea for a dialogue. "I don't think that's Elementary," Dave chimed in, but I'd guess it would be Wo-ze or something. Check the dictionary."And so it began. In this Elementary lesson we'll teach you how to say Apple computer in Chinese, and review a number of adjectives that are useful for describing laptop computers like the Mac Air. Then Brendan spends some valuable on-air time prostrating himself before the mighty Gods of Cupertino. Because revolutionizing the user interface is worth a podcast, right?

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At Popup Chinese we are strong supporters of science. Which is why our Intermediate podcast for today teaches a turn of phrase we think you'll find particularly useful the next time you're writing an academic grant proposal, updating colleagues on your post-doc, or reanimating Tom Hanks in your secret basement lab.

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There are some words you'll never learn in a traditional classroom, and plunger is one of them. Which is where Popup Chinese comes in. Because when the day comes you have a genuine sewage emergency, the last thing you're going to want to do is bring your dictionary into the fray. So join us in this podcast as we plumb the depths of toilet humor with a podcast that is quite literally the filthiest thing we've ever recorded.

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In this podcast we'll teach you how to say happy birthday. That said, this isn't a lesson so much as an excuse to crow about the birthday of our very own superstar podcaster Echo. Later this evening those of us here in Beijing will stagger out and celebrate in true Chinese style with unholy amounts of cake, KTV, liquor and Xinjiang food, not necessarily in that order. We'll also be force-feeding Apple cake as well, since it was her birthday recently too. Happy Birthday!

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With less than 24 hours before the deadline, Susan drifted in a bubble of lightheaded fatigue as she continued pecking away at her two-hundred page manuscript. She had been working sixteen hour days for the last week and was starting to despair of ever finishing this project, let alone finishing it on time. And her condition must have been obvious, because when she looked up Bryan had materialized over her looking seriously concerned.In today's podcast, listen to a conversation between Susan and Bryan and learn how to form simple questions in Chinese using adjectives. Are you busy? Are you tired? Then answer these questions. The sentence patterns and vocabulary we teach are core building blocks for mandarin fluency, so listen up, practice our dialogue as it plays along, and you'll be speaking better Chinese in about five minutes.

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Revenge is a dish best served cold, and without any incriminating evidence linking you to the crime. That's why the heads of major criminal syndicates have to be a bit circumspect in making certain requests, and it's why we return to our mob series today with an update on the dealings of the Beijing demi-monde. In this episode, join us as our mob boss is seized with a terrible hunger which can be sated only through violence.Our dialogue today is on the easier side for an Intermediate lesson, but don't be deceived. We have some non-obvious and non-trivial grammar tucked away here that you really need to know. So listen in and soon you'll be adept at turning adjectives into verbs, and at asking for people's heads on plates. But only figuratively, of course.

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If you've ever been through the gauntlet of ordering dinner in China, you'll know that picking your way through a menu (while avoiding the tripe) can be a challenge at the best of times. What you may not have been expecting is the added pressure of having nearly half the serving staff hover over your shoulder while you decide.This podcast goes out to all those Chinese learners among us who prefer the sullen and unresponsive service of the average American diner. You can use the words and phrases we'll teach today whenever you want the waitress to leave you alone for a few minutes while you figure out what you want to eat. This is very useful stuff. And when you're done listening, you've got a great excuse to head out for dinner and put it all into practice. Bon appétit!

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Apple's college romances were something of a secret when she started working with us here at Popup Chinese. Like many who've been through the ups and downs of perilous love affairs, she'd just sigh philosophically when asked. "They didn't work out," was all we would get. And then she'd be back at her work after a moment of wistful introspection.Suffice it to say, we were all in the dark about her turbulent wartime record until earlier this week when we stumbled across this recording, left accidentally on an office computer. Although fragmentary and incomplete, this recording hints at some of the veiled emotional pain we've seen flash across her face on occasion. The end of some relationships, it seems, is more painful than those of others.

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Thailand was warm, hospitable and overrun with brazen hussies. It was the perfect destination for her deadbeat lout of a spouse, thought Mary Lincoln, as the two of them rolled slowly towards Wat Mahathat wrapped in the sort of stifling heat that can only be experienced in a low-end tourist bus on a hot summer day. Sitting by her right shoulder, her husband was eagerly snapping photographs of the passing scenery.Over the last four days the prospect of a divorce had assumed a looming certainty in her mind. For it had been a terrible vacation. First there was the airport attendant, then the cleaning staff at the hotel. Then the tour guide, the lawyer they had met over brunch, and finally the woman who ran the juice-press outside their hotel. All told, Mark was like a man out of control. Things were severalfold worse than they had been on their last disastrous trip to Canada, Mary decided. She had had enough.

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Life in China is tough for recent university graduates, especially those seeking work in major cities like Shanghai. While living expenses keep rising and housing prices are off-the-charts compared to local wages, pressure from China's rural labor force has kept compensation low, especially for women. It isn't uncommon for recent graduates to find themselves earning just over 2000 RMB a month in positions that fail to provide social insurance or other forms of support like subsidized housing.Consequently, it isn't surprising that so many single children with working parents have simply shunned the job market. And while not needing to work makes life easier in the short run, it puts a huge strain on their relationships and long-term independence. In our listening test for today we look at the toll this sort of thing takes on a previously healthy relationship. So listen up, take our quiz to measure your listening comprehension and then consult our annotated transcript in case you missed any details. We think you'll learn something now.

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Our fifth selection from Dream of the Red Chamber brings us more than halfway through the first chapter of this stunning masterpiece. If you're new to the story, catch up from the very beginning. As with our previous annotated passages, our goal is to let you read and understand the original and unedited Qing-era story. Just roll your mouse over the text for manually-edited popups that explain the exact meaning of each word along with commentary on the finer points of the novel itself.In this passage we leave the mystical world and return to Suzhou where we find Zhen Shiyin waking from a strange dream on a hot summer's afternoon. With the Lantern Festival approaching, Zhen carries his baby daughter to the gates of his compound to see the festivities in the streets. He there encounters two crazy monks who deliver a tragic prophecy in the form of a four-line poem. A warning about the vanity of the human world, their message is laden with images of destruction and death. Read it carefully, for the passage also contains clues about the fates of both father and daughter.Although Zhen Shiyin is jarred by the encounter, his mood turns for the better on meeting Jia Yucun, an itinerant scholar on his way to Beijing where he plans to sit for the Imperial Exam. Zhen invites Jia into his study for an afternoon of leisure, before the arrival of a more prominent guest demands his attention and he departs. And thus is our story set in motion, as the narrative shifts away from the fantastic and dreamlike prologue and turns towards social issues of power, politics and wealth in Qing-era China.There are a few things of significance in this section. Our first prophetic poem is noteworthy on its own (read with our extra notes enabled for more detailed commentary). Also pay attention to the class issues hinted at in Jia Yucun's family background. In case you haven't noticed yet, the first chapter of Dream of the Red Chamber is in many ways a microcosm of the novel as a whole. We see the transience of the mortal world reflected in the stories of ruined families which ascend to wealth and power, and wealthy ones whose fortunes quite literally go up in smoke. In all of these small details author Cao Xueqin is setting the stage for the tragic story of our protagonist in the chapters still to come.

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Our selection for this week is an institution of a film, especially if you're from anywhere near the area Brendan grew up. Sadly, despite its critical and popular acclaim, not even this surprising gem can survive the onslaught of Star Wars anecdotes that begins shortly into the second half of this podcast, which includes Echo confusing Jedi muppets with Chinese breakfast foods among other things. If you stay on topic and recognize our mystery film, though, get your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free premium subscription to the best Chinese learning site: Popup Chinese.

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Today we delve into the messy end of a typical Chinese break-up. Despite the fact that it sounds a lot like one of Echo's Korean soap operas, this podcast has been inspired by real-life events. We have stories involving Hong Kong art smugglers, knifed fruit and death threats. We're sure you've got stories too: when you come to Beijing look us up and we'll swap them over a beer or two.All that said, we were a bit torn about how to classify today's lesson. The Chinese in this podcast is more difficult than in our typical Elementary lesson, but also easier than our average Intermediate. We finally settled on Elementary as the vocabulary covers family relationships, pets and children. This is relatively basic stuff, but don't worry if you find it a bit challenging given the emotions involved, and the fact that plates are probably being flung through the air during the dialogue.

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The medical establishment is slowly coming around to an incontrovertible fact: Popup Chinese subscribers are better looking, smarter, thinner and generally cooler people than the rest of the population. That's what our recent t-shirt promotion suggested at least, and while correlation isn't exactly causation, it's close enough that we can all feel good about ourselves.Which is why in this podcast we engage in some experimental and entirely unapologetic brand promotion. "I don't get it," Gail said after listening to this podcast, mere seconds before pulling out her credit card and ordering a subscription. If you also like what you hear and are looking to mix-up your own workout routine, we'd encourage you to take out one as well. Cutting the fat and keeping the Popup is healthy advice. Just ask your doctor.

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Interested in a career with the Triads? Join us today as we teach the core vocabulary you'll need to launch your career with the Chinese mob. Whether you're rooting out moles, sending people to sleep with the fishes, smuggling opium or managing a gang of surly enforcers from Guangzhou, Popup Chinese is committed to helping you communicate ambiguous hit orders in fluent mandarin without awkward pauses, malapropisms or other linguistic gaffes.

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Join us this week for a special edition of Film Friday starring our friend and special guest star Frank Fradella. We had a great time in the studio recording this and think you'll enjoy it too. And in addition to great podcasters, our movie this week is also top-notch: a cross between the Smurfs and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. So listen up, and if you think you can identify the movie get your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese.

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It is our fate at Popup Chinese to be surrounded by beautiful and talented men and women. So it isn't any surprise that our camera gets whipped out on occasion and we all indulge in The Deuce. You want in the picture too? Join us today as we learn the basics of telling left from right and counting to three. Because you're a beautiful person and we're glad to have you around.

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Our advanced listening test for today is entirely spontaneous: something we caught on tape almost accidentally when Apple and Kang were fooling around in the studio. While the vocabulary itself is not terribly demanding, the recording is fast-paced and somewhat unforgiving. There's a lot here: if you can keep up try paying attention to the way emotions are expressed, especially exasperation.There are a few things worth noting grammatically, such as the repeated, instinctive reliance on ?? when stringing together complex sentences. Also the phrasing for expressing insistence in the first sentence. As with our other listening tests, we recommend listening to the recording once through before taking our quiz. Once you know what you've missed you can listen again while reading our annotated transcript for instant enlightenment.

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"How hot do you like it," he had asked, which was how they ended up in the latest Sichuan restaurant to open in downtown Paris. The setting was a coy pairing of Continental elegance and Oriental exoticism. And it would have made for a perfect date except for some unspoken fear that flitted in the air around them, like the shadow from a bird of prey circling far above.When the waiter appeared with the menu, her date had simply passed it to her and turned his attention to the nearby Seine, the last rays of the setting sun disappearing over the Île de la Cité, and the few couples winding their ways home through the cobbled streets. Had something in their relationship changed? Was he disinterested, or simply distracted? Deborah was on the verge of broaching the question when their server reappeared and her date snapped to attention. It was time to order.

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His Youku mug spurned by the masses, Brendan showed up at our studios last night with this clip brimming with chengyu, historical allusions and entirely inappropriate airport terminology. Listen up and we think you'll be enlightened. We suspect Imron will get this from the first character, but for the rest of you, if you think you can identify our mystery film get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese. No more mugs though.

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Our title isn't meant to be cruel, but running the poverty gauntlet gets old fast, which might be why some of the harshest comments we've heard about the homeless have come from Chinese friends and students. Nonetheless, while we recommend ignoring the professional beggars, it's a good habit to keep some change in your pocket and dispense with it liberally when you meet someone in real need. It's also important to keep the pickpockets at bay, so in this podcast we teach you how.

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The creak of the door stirred Tuan Tuan from the depths of his slumber. It was eleven o'clock, and Yuan Yuan, who had been sleeping peacefully in the thicket beside him, growled quietly at the disruption. On this they could agree: what fools they had for keepers! The great beast briefly entertained the thought of shifting to express his displeasure at the intrusion, but natural lethargy and his ongoing digestive battle with the the previous evening's bamboo won out. He remained prone.Nonetheless, the giant panda did keep a groggy eye on the two figures who had emerged into his dwelling, huffing and puffing in their white gowns as they wheeled in what appeared to be a giant black box. Disappointment settled in his heart at seeing this most unimaginative of gifts, until it occurred to him that perhaps this too would be filled with bamboo. There was always room for more bamboo.

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Look on the bright side of being bedridden: you'll have a lot more time to study Chinese. The doctors say the scars will probably heal too. In a few years you probably won't even notice them yourself. The important thing is really keeping this sort of thing in perspective.

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One of the nice things about the Chinese film industry is that it makes you a lot more tolerant of films that plummeted off track abroad after being panned by critics. Our selection for today is one of these: hardly the sort of film you write home about, but still an entertaining two hours with some gorgeous cinematography. Or that's David's opinion at least. Neither Echo nor Brendan have seen this one, which might be why they spend a lot of time talking about anything but the film: China's environmental problems, how to get your online video fix and much more.As always, we're offering a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese to one lucky listener. If you can guess our mystery film from the short clip presented here, get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com. Good luck.

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The Lusitania story was my thing. I pitched it to Warner Brothers with a star-crossed lovers theme back in the day when Internet access was still dial-up. They signed on for financing but the project sank when Brad and Julia bailed. Which is really too bad because it would have been a smash at the box office. There was even a subplot about a secret treasure - that's why the Germans sunk the boat, didn't you know?Anyway, I moved to Britain after the dot-com bust and started writing this book. Mostly for my kids, but maybe other people will like it. I don't usually share details about my work with strangers, but the plot is brilliant - the sort of thing that'll get kids excited about reading again. Why don't you take a look at the first few chapters? Then we can grab coffee and go over the whole thing later.Note: Today we are pleased to bring you an intermediate listening exercise. Listen to the podcast and then test your listening comprehension with our quick quiz. If you have any questions, ask them below or check out annotated transcript on the text tab.

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Trapped on the roof and under fire from the encroaching Triads, our intrepid hero whips out his Hello Moto and speed dials our leading lady, who guns her Porche faster down the Second Ring Road in answer. "I'll be down in a minute," he says cooly before stepping off the parapet and plunging a few stories in a matter of seconds.We will be the first to admit that life in Beijing is much like the movies. Except in real life our leading lady is Apple, and she's a bit more difficult to contact than you'd expect. In this podcast, culled from our real-life experience, we'll teach you the basics of telephone etiquette. Or the basics of repeatedly asking for someone until either you or they hang up in frustration.

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At Popup Chinese we call films as we see them. And in this podcast that means a split down gender lines. You can side with Echo and consider this a stirring tale of individualism. Or you can side with the rest of us. Whichever way you lean, if you recognize the film from our mystery clip be sure to get your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese.

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We have good news for gourmands. When it comes to ordering food in China, you're on a level playing field with the most famous Sinologists. Want to know how John Fairbank and John DeFrancis ordered beef noodles back in the day, or how Victor Mair gets his chicken and peanuts to this very day?The secret is that no matter how high-class the restaurant, China is a country where you can still get away with pointing at the menu and grunting. Chinese menus actually encourage this. And while grunting may be frowned upon in some finer establishments, we can replace those with a few choice words and you'll be good to go, charming serving staff throughout the Orient and blending in with the locals. Listen up and learn how.

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You've read the usual books on parenting. You may have even purchased a DVD or two filled with helpful tips. Now it is time to listen to our podcast. In our intermediate lesson for today, Popup Chinese gives you the lowdown on an unconventional but surprisingly effective way of managing a particularly rambunctious child. And we also teach a bunch of Chinese in the process. What more could you want?

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As the Western world lurches to the brink of financial Armageddon, people worldwide are searching for leaders who can chart a course through the wreckage. Who will define the next generation of Asian leadership? In this podcast we are proud to present our own candidate for the role, along with a healthy dose of advanced but useful contemporary vocabulary.

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Our selection for this week has a great script and a lead actor playing somewhat against type. It's harder than our selection for last week as well: the dialogue moves faster and there are fewer environmental clues. But it's a fair challenge. So listen in and if you think you know our mystery film fire off an email to us at echo@popupchinese.com.Incidentally, while the bit in this podcast about us treating our podcasters like homeless vagrants is not true, we are looking for extra voice talent.... So get in touch if you are or if you know a suitable candidate. The catch is that they've got to already be in Beijing.

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As she left the board meeting, Lili Wang furrowed her brow and cursed under her breath at Zhang Ping. He had advanced in the company at a meteoric pace since starting as an intern in her department, commandeering project after project to carve out a niche of his own and secure praise and promotion outside the normal career channels. And now even as he was ingratiating himself with her supervisors he was skipping meetings or arriving late, blowing off her assignments or altering them according to his own whim. Her patience had run its course.And so with a ruthlessness that surprised even herself, Lili ordered her secretary to arrange for a meeting that afternoon. It would be their last. His last attempt to circumvent her with the budget office had made him a marked man. She would not tolerate his presence any longer.

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Outside her plane window, the Inner Mongolian grasslands stretched unending to the horizon. The stewardess rolled by with a drink, but Xiao Wei waved it off and continued to gaze at the northern Chinese landscape. Her company had sent her to investigate a drought-resistant agricultural experiment in one of the more parched areas of the country, mere miles from the Gobi desert. Now she was on her way back to Beijing.The full trip had taken only a week, but Wei hadn't expected the travel to be so physically demanding. Nor had she imagined how she would miss Xiao Wang, her new puppy and destroyer of worlds. It had only been two months since she carried him out of the pound, but he had already become a big part of her life. And as much as she complained about his chaotic energy, she couldn't wait to get home and take him for a walk.

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A number of you guessed our film from last week (it was The Shawshank Redemption), so this week we're changing pace with a film that targets a totally different demographic. We think you'll find the difficulty at the early intermediate level, but that doesn't mean the film itself will be easy to guess. If you think you've got it though, be sure to get your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for your chance to win a free month of premium access here at Popup Chinese.

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You can stop holding it in now, because in this lesson we're going to teach you the magical phrase "where is the washroom". Combine this with general agitation and hopping from foot to foot for best effect. And when when it works you can get started learning directions the hard way.For those of you who are new to Popup Chinese, we encourage you to approach our lessons as bite-sized units you can learn at the pace of one a day: listen to our podcast first and see if you can understand our simple dialogue. When you're done, fire up The Fix to test your memory and speaking skills. Pay special attention to the tones. And in a day or two, review the materials with our customizable PDFs and transcripts. And let us know if you have any questions - we're always here to answer them.

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Apple lifted the cake from its white cardboard box and placed it carefully in her fridge with a smile. It had taken her half the afternoon to get it - crossing Beijing twice in peak traffic, the last time cradling the box gingerly upright as she pushed her way through the churning crowds. But the rich chocolate smell filling the room made it all worthwhile. When her boyfriend came home that evening they would celebrate in style.Closing the fridge door, Apple decided to freshen up and take a nap before her boyfriend arrived home. She had barely taken two steps towards the washroom when a familiar chime caught her ears, causing her heart to skip a beat - could he have taken the afternoon off to come home early? Her heart in her throat, Apple bounced over to the door and opened it to find 9527 kicking the snow off her boots....

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Today we're pleased to present another listening exercise for all of you gearing up to take the HSK for the first time. These fifteen questions are all call-and-answer exercises appropriate for students with about a year of language study. The challenge is to select the most logical reply to the statement provided.In a real test environment you'll only have one shot at answering these questions. So to best simulate the real thing we recommend either downloading our MP3 or listening to the recording through the flash player on this page. In addition to taking the test online you can download the questions as part of your custom PDF transcript and take the test away from your computer.

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Trust us on this: nothing will kill that prospective career in Chinese finance faster than an inability to count to ten. Gesticulation just isn't what it used to be, and given that mandarin is a language where the numbers for four and ten are almost as easy to mix up as the Beijing Olympic Mascots, we think you've got a recipe for disaster on your hands if you don't have a solid grasp of the fundamentals.So in this lesson we cover the absolute basics of numbers: how to pronounce them, what tones to use and how to string single digits together to make bigger numbers that sound more impressive. This isn't groundbreaking stuff unless you don't already know it, in which case it is groundbreaking stuff. So listen in and let's put this counting thing behind us.

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In the event you're new to this Chinese New Years madness, we want to assure you our studios have not plunged into a state of war, because towards the end of this podcast, you can hear Beijing going up in smoke outside our studio. Nothing to worry about - just children celebrating the holidays by lobbing fireworks at passing cars (and each other). Our sound insulation is reasonably good, but even it has limits when faced with the explosive awesomeness of the Year of the Bull.Moving on, our film for today is to China as Bon Jovi is to Hong Kong: something the locals continue to enjoy long after the world has moved on. This is an intermediate-level recording, but our prize makes it worth puzzling over: one lucky winner will get a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese. So listen up and get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com. You can't win if you don't play.

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"Though death befalls all men alike, it may be weightier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather." -- Sima QianA soldier in the People's Liberation Army, Zhang Side served as Mao Zedong's bodyguard and survived the Long March only to die making charcoal on September 5, 1944. Our selection for today is the report Mao delivered to commemorate his life three days later. As with his eulogy of Norman Bethune, Mao spent little time on the substance of the man and passed quickly to the significance of his life's work. The result was a political call to action as much as a call to grief.The principle of Serve the People, enshrined as a Communist principle for the first time here, would later become one of the core ideological pillars of the Chinese Communist Party. It was championed by Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong and remains a prominent political slogan today.

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Stop rolling those eyeballs! We know you already speak Chinese. And we know that those of you living here have probably fielded this question a few hundred times by now. You may even have started answering back in classical couplets, because nothing establishes street smarts like tossing out a Tang Dynasty smack-down on your way for Korean food in Wangjing.But while Beijing's Korean district may be a great place for soju and kimchi, the Wangjing district is an urban lobster trap: easy to enter, impossible to leave. Which poses a double challenge for non-Korean visitors: not only do you have to ask for directions frequently, but you've also got to figure out if you're speaking to someone who even speaks Chinese.In this podcast, we cover the basics of figuring this last bit out. The material is pretty basic, but there are some complexities here which elevate it above true beginner stuff. And even if you're an old hand in China we think you'll find something of value: our secrets on how to use this sort of innocuous chit-chat to break the ice with the man or woman of your dreams.

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Barely a minute into your performance evaluation your boss loses his composure completely. Between his hoarse sobs you hear again how much the company is honored to have you - a genuine hero - in its ranks. "The board is so pleased that it's decided to double your salary, and also your vacation time." A thick brown envelope stuffed with cash suddenly materializes on the desk before you. "We also took up a collection for your orphanage work...."We can always dream about getting this kind of review. In the meantime, check out this Intermediate listening test find out what happens when things go the other way. Listen to our podcast once and then click over to the quiz section to see how much you understand. Our popup-annotated copy of the entire transcript is available on the text page if you have any questions. Good luck!

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Our second advanced HSK listening exercise is more challenging than our first: the vocabulary more specialized while the answers are more nuanced in their differences. Nonetheless, you are expected to complete this section at the speed it is read: about three minutes.Because of the length of the passage, we recommend listening to the test through our downloadable MP3 file rather than by using the flash players on the quiz page. This will also give a better sense of the timing on the HSK itself.

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After several weeks of Brendan enjoying an American Yuletide, we drag him back into the studio for a jaunt through this modern classic. In addition to setting a new standard for films of its kind, our selection this week is also fairly easy to understand: the dialogue is around the elementary level so we think you've got a good shot at guessing it even if you're relatively new to Chinese. If you know the film, get your guesses into echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month of premium access here at Popup Chinese.

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Things that melt in this heat include chocolate, small children and your will-to-live. That's why you've collapsed on a sofa at one of the small bars that crowd the waterways behind Jingshan Park. You've just decided you like this neighborhood when your waitress appears wearing an outfit made entirely of plastic. "What would you like," she asks with a genuine smile."Whatever you're selling," is the correct answer, but you don't say that because you're not at the Elementary level yet and haven't mastered the art of casual chit-chat. Thankfully, as a faithful listener of our Absolute Beginner lessons here at Popup Chinese, you know enough Chinese to rummage through your vocabulary in search for the measure word for bottle and the noun for beer. These you string together: one + bottle + beer. Instant Chinese sentence.You actually want about ten bottles of beer. But why rush it. Just keep ordering them one by one. And keep smiling too. You'll be at the Elementary level soon enough, which is when these conversations get a lot more complex and interesting too. So get studying and don't look back.

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Our fourth installment of Dream of the Red Chamber finds Zhen Shiyin, a middle-aged official in Suzhou, reading in his study on a hot summer day. As the afternoon passes, Zhen slips into a strange dream in which he sees two familiar monks. As they approach, the monks discuss the Stone's affection for a flower it watered on the banks of a mystical river, and how this flower gained consciousness and assumed a womanly form as a result. This is our first encounter with Lin Daiyu, the destined lover of the Stone in the mortal realm She vows to become human herself to pay back its affection with her own earthly tears.Somewhat confused about what is happening, Zhen introduces himself to the mystics and asks for clarification. "Funny you should ask," they reply, "because you've got a role to play in this story as well." And so they show him the piece of jade. Yet he doesn't have long to look, for they soon arrive at the gates of the Jinghuan Fairy's palace, the Stone's final destination on his passage to the mortal world, and on which is written an ingenious and cautionary couplet: when life becomes a dream, dreams become life.

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"When we were kids we didn't have any of these fancy electronic games, or the Internet," Echo grumbles, setting off aftershocks of agreement from Apple and Baifan. "And then there are the body piercings and PSPs." Handheld Japanese gaming devices, once a sign of social progress, now portend spiraling moral decay. Gyres are widening, and things are falling apart. Except in the market for high-end cellphones.While the 70s generation bashes the 80s generation for being impractical dreamers in print magazines nationwide, our studio cohort carries on the proud tradition of inter-generational strife by slagging their own followers. To hear them tell it, the future is shiftless, pampered, and consists almost-entirely of the unemployed offspring of wealthy Party cadres. We're not sure how accurate this is as a description of modern youth, but it's worth a listen if only for all the Chinese you'll ever need to know the next time you're throwing your boot at one of those upstart ingrates and yelling at them to get off your lawn.

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We know you're serious about a career in China, so let us share a professional secret: fight to pay for the bill. Like going over the top in World War I, the struggle to pay for lunch is a doomed but valorous effort that commands respect and gives you face. So pull out your wallet, shake off the objections of your colleagues and try to flag down that waiter.This being easier said than done, in this podcast we give you a leg-up by teaching the two magic words you'll need to dazzle the waiter into taking money from your outstretched palm. Combined with the physical act of thrusting funds into his or her hands, this is a surprisingly effective method of resolving the who-gets-to-pay dispute. But sometimes your business partner might be physically restraining you, so it's still critical to get the verbal part down.

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One of the not-so-secret secrets about China is how great the train system is. Especially when compared to air travel (here's looking at you, Shenzhen airport), the train system is reliable, clean and inexpensive. And the Harmony line is making it extremely fast as well. Combine that with the convenience of showing up 15 minutes before departure at a downtown terminal and we think you'll agree: the train is the best way to travel domestically.That said, China Rail workers are not exactly known for their command of the English language. So to take advantage of the rail system you really need to know mandarin. Which is where this podcast comes in. So listen up and then practice, practice, practice with weekend trips. And with all of the money you save on air travel, buy a subscription and accelerate your learning even more.

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At the advanced level, HSK listening exercises transition towards longer passages which place a greater emphasis on memory. Not only does the exam give you much more to absorb before it asks its first question, but it also requires greater independent thought: the correct answer is as often inferred as stated directly.In order to ease you into the challenge, we've picked a relatively colloquial recording to get started. Our future recordings at the advanced level will tend to have more specialized vocabulary, chengyu and formal diction. But there is still the occasional colloquial discussion as follows. So if we haven't scared you off, just open up our online quiz in a new window, start playing the test recording, and good luck.

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Occasionally, when one grows weary of the medical superstitions of Chinese friends and family, it is useful to head to a major hospital and hear the same platitudes from the professionals. It helps put things in perspective.In this podcast we follow Apple on a trip to the hospital after a freak boating pile-up on Houhai. What you'll hear is what happened before consensus opinion settled on the drip. So listen in as we teach some general medical terminology and also share some secrets on how to sound like a native speaker. Oh yeah, and don't move that arm for at least 100 days so the bone has time to knit. You heard it from us first.

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Unless you're legally blind and picked it up by mistake when trying to buy a Coke, you probably haven't run into the Chinese superbrand that is Wanglaoji. A potent mix of crystal and liquid sugar, artificial sweetener, syrup, and a little bit of tea and water, this drink is distinctive and perhaps unique in the annals of beverage history.Never tried it? Rest assured that your state of ignorance will pass. In this podcast we'll learn to demand the concoction by name. And for bonus points, we'll even tell you how to take the plunge and order it at room temperature. Because the only thing that refreshes better than a glass of cold water on a hot summer day is a nice cup of lukewarm sugar. Welcome to China!

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In this listening exercise you will hear someone make a statement in Chinese. Your challenge is to pick the most suitable answer from the four options given.If you listen very carefully, you can occasionally hear the sounds of someone suppressing laughter in the background. This is because our recording team kept falling into laughter recording this. Some of the possible answers are not only wrong, they are daft. And also fun. So good luck, and enjoy!

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Our alternate lesson title for today is "how to pickup Chinese girls or guys". So those of you who are single pay attention as our site designer and veteran clubber Baifan delves into the art of the chase with its first step: the fearless, persistent and somewhat oblivious pursuit of the ever-critical telephone number.We'd say we hope it works out smoothly for you, but who are we kidding? China is to romance as the Hindenburg is to air travel. Once you've got the number you're on your own.

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Film Friday rolls into 2009 with a very difficult clip from a movie that may or may not star Ed Harris. Not only is our selection quite short, it's exceedingly challenging: there are no proper names and the exchange is close to a cinematic cliche. While we think there are still enough clues to peg the film, this is much more of a challenge than we've offered up in past weeks. So listen in, and if you think you can identify the film send us an email at echo@popupchinese.com.

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First there is your furniture, including the cast-iron futon you picked up in college. And then your clothing, packed neatly in the solid-oak antique chesterfield you got from your great aunt. And then there are your books, boxes upon boxes of them, your 1970s vinyl collection, and the entire kitchen.Packing everything and lugging it across town can be a real hassle. Fortunately, moving is a lot less trouble when you have lots of friends willing to lend a hand. There is something strange about this move though. Listen to our intermediate listening test for today and see if you can pick up on it.

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"That was a great movie," Echo blurted out halfway up the escalator. We had all just left the theater after watching Feng Xiaogang's latest New Years film "If You are the One". That's the one where Shu Qi plays a clinically depressed stewardess looking for a rich husband. A love story with Chinese characteristics.Echo's enthusiasm was met with a curious silence at first. "I guess it was ok," Zhang Wei finally replied, "but I wouldn't call it great. And it was a good thing we had those discount tickets." Another pause. "Actually, I'm not sure it was even ok. The first half hour was funny, but then it got boring pretty quickly."Not surprisingly, even good friends have different taste in film. But since everyone likes getting asked to a movie, here is a lesson on how to get a date in mandarin, Chinese.

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In this podcast we push the boundaries of social propriety with our first lesson all about sex. Broadcast from our street-smart and sexy hutong studio in downtown Beijing, this podcast goes where others fear to tread. Don't thank us, it's just another day in our mission to help you learn everything you always wanted to know about animal sexing, but were afraid to ask.

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"They're going to destroy Xi'an," one of the characters in our clip this week says, sparking exclamations of disbelief from fellow actors and audience alike. What if anything does this week's film have to do with that ancient Chinese capital? If you think you know, be sure to write echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win free premium access to Popup Chinese.

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Christmas is a time for gift-giving, and so we are happy to present you with this podcast to help you make the most of the Yuletide season. And there's no reason for thanks. Just listen to it sometime in the next seven days, the sooner the better.

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Put down that frying pan and get out of your apartment's absurdly-narrow kitchenette. And don't even think of heading outside in this weather. You are in China and cooking for yourself is more expensive than ordering take-out anyway. You've got the restaurant's phone number right there on that card. All you need to do is overcome your fear of the woman who answers the phone and fends off your ting-bu-dong with shrieks of impatience.This podcast is like the parable of the man who teaches another man to fish. Except that we're teaching you how to order roast duck. So take a deep breath. Then listen to the podcast. Then pick up the phone and get yourself some cooked bird. When the hunger pangs subside you can put your savings into a Popup Chinese subscription so we have the cash to order some duck ourselves. Hunger is a two-way street.

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Sometimes a touch of winter blows down from the north, opens its icy mouth and lets loose a bone-chilling squall. And we're not talking about the weather. In this podcast prepare your ears for the Dongbei onslaught as we pay a Popup Chinese tribute to northern China, and the northeasterner.

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This week Film Friday brings you a magical fable in which boy meets girl, bad things happen, special effects take over, and a great deal of learning about ourselves takes place. If you think you recognize the film from the short clip we've selected, be sure to get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win free premium access to Popup Chinese.

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When we called modern Chinese literature depressing we weren't kidding. Our romp through the canon to date has touched on the emotions of indifference, grief, helplessness and shame. To this we now add Zhu Ziqing's guilt-laden reflections on filial inadequacy.Written in October 1925, this short essay chronicles Zhu's relationship with his father, a self-made man who ended up trapped between his son's high expectations and his own perilous finances. This classic story remains widely read in high schools throughout China, as well as in many university programs on Chinese, where it is typically assigned to third or fourth year students. Although My Father's Back has the occasionally antiquated turn of phrase (as noted in our manually annotated popups), Zhu Ziqing's writing style is forcefully modern and overwhelmingly direct. We hope you enjoy it.For those of you waiting for our next installment from Dream of the Red Chamber, just be patient. We'll be continuing the classic saga right where we left off in our next installment of this series.

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Listen to two short stories at the Intermediate level of the HSK and answer multiple choice questions to gauge your listening comprehension. Our first story comes with three questions and is somewhat easier than the second which has four.On the official HSK test you will be read the relevant passage exactly once, and expected to answer questions as they are read at a natural speed. To best emulate the pressure of the real examination, we recommend listening to this test by downloading the full MP3 file and listening to it while working through the PDF or our online quiz. This will allow you to keep a more natural pace than if you will get if you rely on the flash players on the quiz page.

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A candlelit dinner for two at a small garden restaurant near Houhai? A romantic walk beneath the stars through ancient imperial gardens? When you find the girl (or guy) of your dreams, you'll want to know the best Beijing has for great date locations that will sweep them off their feet.In this podcast we expose the latest date craze to hit Beijing, and we're not talking about any of the clubs listed in The Beijinger. This is a dream come true for the more budget-conscious Casanova, as well as anyone who simply likes checking email.

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"You should try one," Andy motioned for us to take a cheeze-puff. It was a brand he endorsed, and it was selling better than milk. A ray of sunlight caught a stray tooth mid-gesture, the blinding glare sending a nearby waitress into celebrity swoon. And then the sunglasses were off and he was leaning in, exposing us to the full force of his animal magnetism. "I don't usually endorse digital products, but you guys are the best."We were floating far above Hong Kong: this was the best dream ever. Visions of the entire mainland subscribing to Popup Chinese wafted through our imaginations like milk chocolate bubbles. It wouldn't matter that they already spoke Chinese. In about a week we would have 1.3 billion customers lining up to practice hello over the phone."Then we've got an understanding." Another cheeze-puff disappeared into his spotless white maw. "I love you guys, I really do."

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"Obsession is a young man's game," Michael Caine commented as John Cutter in The Prestige. His quote applies equally to the subjects of this week's thriller, a character-driven drama that shines for its gorgeous direction and exceptional attention to detail. And the Chinese soundtrack is very well done as well. So if you feel like a bit of a guessing game, listen in to our show and be sure to write echo@popupchinese.com if you think you can ID our mystery film for this week.

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If you don't take the routine fleecing attempts personally, haggling in China can be a lot of fun. Not only will bargaining give you a better understanding of how much markup your friends back home are paying for pretty much everything, pressing for a discount will give you plenty of opportunities for language practice with people from all over China.After covering the must-have keywords of this and that, today's podcast goes on to review Chinese numbers and prices. And if you're new to the entire haggling scene, we close with some quick tips on getting those prices down. Once you see the savings rolling in, you can thank us by purchasing an annual subscription, or picking up an extra pair of socks the next time you're passing through Xiushui: our hutong appears to be eating them.

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Our second installment of Dream of the Red Chamber ended with the Stone asking a passing monk to transcribe the story of its journey to the mortal world. The monk critiqued the story for lacking high-level political intrigue and a precise timeline.And so in this paragraph, we hear the Stone's rebuttal. Although his story may be impossible to date, and concerns only a few virtuous women, the events and emotions recounted within it are real. And surely the book is better than other writings which are considered literature, but are no more than lewd and derogatory tales which pass themselves off as unofficial histories, or clichéd romances which are the self-indulgent fantasies of lovestruck poets.And so the Monk is convinced to read the story once more, and finds enlightenment in its pages. We read of the changes he makes to the novel, and how it finds its way into the hands of Cao Xueqin who revises it, adds titles to its chapters, and finally releases it as The Story of the Stone (the book we are now reading). Our passage then closes with the second poem of our volume: one attributed explicitly to Cao Xueqin himself rather than the Stone.Totally confused? If you are new to Dream of the Red Chamber, we recommend starting from the very beginning.

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It is the sound of hunger, guttural and primal and expressed in its rawest form. And more often than not we hear it from none other than Apple, and right in the middle of a recording session. "I'm on a diet," she announces apologetically after the aftershocks subside. "You look fine," we reply. And she smiles and we continue.Occasionally, Echo force feeds her chicken to make it go away. This lesson covers everything up to the force-feeding stage. If you have to do that in mandarin, you're on your own.

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When it comes to tales of both romance and disaster, China is never far away. So in today's Intermediate podcast, we step back into history and show the Chinese connection to the Great Ship itself. Our podcast is less explicitly pedagogical than usual, but we hope you'll still find it both enjoyable and educational. We're still experimenting with recording formats, so welcome thoughts and comments as well.

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Whether you're working towards a degree or working professionally, odds are you need to pull the occasional all nighter. We feel your pain, as do about half the taxi drivers in Beijing.In this lesson, we cover a casual way of asking after someone. How are you feeling? And the best thing about this phrase is that with a slight change it doubles as a useful way of telling others you're not at the top of your game. This is the kind of authentic Chinese that will help you break the ice with strangers. We highly recommend it.

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Our second passage from the Dream of the Red Chamber continues where our first left off. We meet the Stone for the first time, and learn how it gained consciousness at the hands of the Goddess Nuwa. Chinese readers would be familiar with this fable, which roots the novel in a classical context while implying that the stone is a very human object: Nuwa is the Goddess who made mankind out of mud according to Chinese tradition.It is at this point that two Buddhist figures appear, their names suggestive of the ethereal nature of life itself. They marvel at the stone and suggest a journey into the mortal realm. The language they use to describe this place is decadent, but also shaded with a hint of vice. It entrances the stone nonetheless, which agrees to their plans, and so the three disappear mysteriously. The remainder of the story now unfolds, although we as readers are unaware of it.Centuries later, another passing monk finds the stone back in its original location. Only something is different: engraved on its surface is a brief chronicle of its adventures in the mortal realm. This states the place and household where the stone was born and has details on its intellectual and romantic affairs. A critical detail is missing however: the exact date of its journey. The engraving then closes with the first poem in the text. The Buddhist stanza suggests the brevity and futility of its journey into the land of such material wealth, a trip of "several years" which was made in vain or "to no purpose". It closes by rhetorically asking who will act as the chronicler for its story?

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This week we bring you an action film tailor-made for those who prefer their action films light on explosions and heavy on conversation. And if your ears perked up at our mention of Xitang last week, we suspect our selection will bring you even more pleasure. So listen up and be sure to get your answers in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a month's premium access to Popup Chinese.

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The district attorney gritted his teeth at the thought of another day of cross-examination. "I've questioned her type before," he told the mayor. His mind was still reeling from the circus that had been opening statements, and the defendant's appearance in a pink mink wrap and a fresh tan. Respect for the dead was not her forté. "You'll never get her to crack under pressure."The mayor inspected his nails quietly. "Then it's a good thing that's your job instead of mine." In the silence that followed, they both knew this had become a personal vendetta long ago. At the heart of the case was a dead man, but a representative of certain entrenched interests and an old friend of the political establishment. He had made bad decisions, to be sure, but no-one deserved what had found him in the end.His was a very public death. As the vortex of money, sex and politics proved irresistible, the media had thrown their weight into the trial, and the evidence that had once seemed so overwhelming began to take on a distinctively circumstantial tinge in public opinion. Whether it produce justice or not, the trial would stagger to a close one way or the next. As he left for the courtroom, the district attorney just prayed it would bring justice for someone, somewhere.

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A giant shuddering sound escaped from deep within the bowels of the great industrial machine. In the pin-drop silence that followed, an ominous hiss could be heard far below the iron gangplanks where the night crew plied their trade, feeding a constant stream of waste into the ovens of the thermal plant, the engineering marvel whose energy output fed the ever-hungry city."Sulfur leak," bellowed the shift manager, the panic rising in his voice as he dropped his clipboard mid-check. His cry had barely subsided before the general shock gave way to panic, shift workers jostling over each other in a frenzied rush for the ventilation shaft. Everyone had heard the horror stories from Zorgon-27. But that was ages ago, and before modern safeguards were put in place....As the power failed, and the red emergency lights flickered on, an elderly woman pushing a lunch cart pulled into the fracas. "Would anyone like some delicious eggs?" She leaned towards Vivi. "They're a bit old, but I'll give you one for free. You'll need all your strength for that calculus exam this afternoon...."It was a strange dream. Little did Vivi know that on waking she would find it more real than she could possible imagine.

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There is nothing in western literature that is quite like Dream of the Red Chamber. Once you get over the shock of reading the mid-18th century vernacular, the depth and charm of the romantic epic is one of the most compelling reasons to read it in the original Chinese.In the coming weeks, we will be annotating the entire first chapter of the novel in serial form. In this, the first paragraph of the book, author Cao Xueqin introduces his story as a work of fiction in which the astute reader will find eternal truths. He admonishes us to pay close attention to the text and explicitly tells us it is laced with double meanings. We get our first reference to life itself as a dream, and hear of two members of the Zhen and Jia dynasties, the two families in the saga whose surnames are homophones for truth and falsehood itself. Perhaps you can guess their significance from their names alone?Dream of the Red Chamber is tragic and funny and brilliant all in turn. So throw out your dictionary, grab a cup of coffee and read on as we bring you this tale of philosophy, romance and pathos.

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Although there may be a few unfamiliar phrases tucked in this dialogue, our clip for today should be fairly easy to understand. It's not short on clues either, so we think you've got a good chance of getting it right. Good luck with the guessing game, and be sure to get your answers in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win great Beijing swag.

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One of the advantages of being multilingual is that your asset is your mind, so many job opportunities (assuming you want them) end up being as flexible as you are. Take translation, for instance. While the average workload might veer more towards real estate contracts than film scripts, you can do your job anywhere, even on the beach. That makes up for a lot of party-of-the-first-part bits.And on the subject of translation, doing a really top-notch job requires settling yourself down somewhere comfortable, such as a nice cafe. And then you'll need your laptop, and wireless Internet access. See where we're going here? This may only be an elementary podcast, but we're keeping our eye on the ball: with fluency comes freedom.

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Sore throat? Dry, hacking cough? Golden Monkey Throat lozenges offer soothing relief from pain and a great orange taste! Listen to today's podcast for a lesson in the power of sheer repetition as a marketing technique. In no time you'll be asking for them by name!

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"This is really easy," Gail said. After two months producing intermediate listening tests, she sounded almost disappointed by the lack of challenge, A bit like Tiger Woods shuffling his way through a senior's golf tournament."It's a listening test for beginners," I replied, "it's supposed to be easy. And besides, you're a native speaker. Understanding spoken Chinese isn't a walk in the park for people when they've just started learning." Neither is speaking, reading or writing, but I left those out. Alice had fled down the rabbit hole: we were consoling our test prep team. "You never know," I tried to cheer her up, "maybe everyone on the site has worse Chinese than you think.""No, it's pretty straightforward," she insisted. "Unless someone is struggling with hello they should do OK. But we'll put it up and see." She paused. "If anyone fails the first question I think you should ban them. That one's a giveaway.""We'll think about it...."

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We feel its appropriate to come clean and admit that maybe there aren't very many classic 1980s action films featuring flamethrower-wielding women named Ripley. Our congratulations to everyone who guessed correctly. In the spirit of making things difficult for you this week though, we've picked a much harder clip. Although it comes from a film that probably constitutes an international blockbuster, we wouldn't be surprised if some people find it somewhat obscure. Good luck!

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What's that plummeting to the ground? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Our confidence? The stock market? No... this time it's the fourth tone, the eldest and most bitter of the four tones in mandarin, Chinese.If you noticed our earlier lessons on the first three tones you probably saw this coming a mile away. For those who haven't, today we're continuing our series on the four tones with a lesson dedicated exclusively to the fourth tone. If you're trying to get your head around this wonderful tonal language, listen to this podcast for a brief introduction to both the fourth tone as well as some common examples. Then head to the vocabulary section to practice your own pronunciation against our recordings. If you're feeling confident you can then check out our real-world examples which combine today's new vocabulary with words we've learned earlier on. With progressive lessons like this, you'll be fluent in no time.

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Five years ago there wasn't a single cafe in this old hutong district a mere ten minutes east of Houhai and the Drum Tower. Despite the explosion of small bars and coffee shops since, Nanluoguxiang remains one of Beijing's most pleasant areas. The neighborhood's older and more traditional architecture offers a welcome break from the oppressive vastness of other parts of Beijing, while the noise here is generally under control and aggressive peddlers have yet to descend on the area.This has made Nanluoguxiang less of a party street and more of a community for Chinese and foreign translators, writers, photographers and artists. The sense of community on the street is palpable, and it doesn't take long to learn people's names and find a favorite cafe. Whether you want some coffee or are just looking for a quiet place to grab a drink and tackle some work, Nanluoguxiang is a good choice.Join us in today's podcast as we learn a bit more about this street, see its gradual commercialization through the eyes of Echo, Apple and 9527. Although this recording is much more Chinese podcast than explicit lesson, we've highlighted some of the more difficult words and names on the vocab page. If you have trouble listening to Chinese at speed, you'll probably want to check it out before hitting the podcast. Enjoy.

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If you're anything like our own bedraggled staff, getting out of bed in the morning is one of the more vicious challenges of the day. Combine natural lethargy with the reality of doing business in China (let's just admit that adventurous jobs often require extended hours), and you've got a recipe for exactly the situation we run into today.Of course, being the merciless corporate flacks we are, we're on the other side of the table. So listen in to our podcast today to find out what happens when Kang arrives late for work, yet again. This is hardly the first time it's happened, and we'll see how well his apologies go over with Apple, who has somehow ingratiated herself into a management position.

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Today's selection takes us back once more to the halcyon days of the 1980s. Most of us in the office were too young to have seen this film in theaters at the time, but can only imagine what a good time must have been had by everyone lucky enough to have caught this on the big screen. A thinking person's action piece, this film is as much a commentary on social gender inequality as it is about flamethrowers. So listen to our clip, see if you can spot the film, and get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com if you can.

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Despite being virtually unknown in his homeland Canada, Norman Bethune is among the most famous foreigners in China. Having struggled to treat the poor in Montreal as a younger physician, Bethune became a committed communist member in 1935, following a visit to the Soviet Union where he saw the country's system of public health care. Putting his ideals into practice, Bethune traveled to Spain to join the struggle against Franco in 1936, before leaving for China to support the Chinese Communist Party in its War of Resistance against Japan.Written by none other than Mao Zedong, the obituary that follows was intended as a political call to action and self-sacrifice for members of the Chinese Communist Party. It later became a compulsory part of the Chinese education system - the major reason almost every mainlander you encounter is likely to have read it.Although no longer required reading, this obituary is still widely read. And Bethune remains a public icon in China, resurfacing most recently during the campaign against SARS in 2003. His example of putting the welfare of others above his own also remains inspiring 70 years after Bethune's untimely death.

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More than a social lubricant, the apology is a survival skill, because even when you're right, you often risk getting beaten by your significant other. Join us in today's listening test as we eavesdrop on a not-atypical conversation. As with our other listening tests, we recommend listening once, and then testing your comprehension in our quiz section. Use the mouseover version in the text section to check your comprehension after the fact.Despite witnessing a few savage public beatings, our crew here has never heard of anyone actually hospitalized after a handbag assault. That is still no reason to throw caution to the wind. As murky as they are out West, the rules of the apology are even less clear in China. A good rule of thumb is to follow local custom: apologize early and often.

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In today's sample HSK exam, listen to a series of 15 audio clips and then answer a single question about the snippet you just heard. The challenge in these questions is less time pressure (you take the test at the pace it is spoken) so much as the lack of repetition: you get exactly one shot at each question. A good strategy to help prepare for this is scanning the questions quickly before the dialogue begins.

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Now that we've spent a few days practicing the first two tones it's time we intercede before you give everyone the impression mandarin is spoken in falsetto. Like other languages, mandarin has its dark side too. But before we plummet to the depths for good with our podcast on the fourth tone, we'll take an exploratory jaunt there first. The third tone is just like snorkeling: a brief trip down and then right back up.As an aside, while we mentioned we wouldn't get into detail on tone sandhi in the podcast, there is a grammar mutiny brewing here in the office so we feel obliged to make at least quick mention of it. The tricky thing about the third tone is that the pronunciation changes depending on context. Specifically, characters in the third tone are usually pronounced in the second tone when they precede other third tone characters. This actually makes it easier to speak and keeps listeners from getting seasick, but is difficult to remember all the time. Our advice is to focus on getting "hello" down properly and using it as a model for the pitch changes in other words and phrases. As a beginning student, you should be aware of this, but don't pull your hair out over it.

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This week we present you with a Hollywood classic based loosely on a book based loosely on reality. In the process, we have to deal with incomprehensible Greek names, an uncommon measure word and some impressive Chinese chengyu useful for debasing your gutless foes. As with every week, if you think you know the film, be sure to write echo@popupchinese.com for a chance at a great prize: free premium access to Popup Chinese!

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Lao She, author of this short story and one of the masters of 20th century Chinese fiction, eschewed literary complexity in favor of more colloquial prose that focused on the lives of ordinary people. This made him one of the more accessible writers of his generation: anyone who can read this should be able to get through Camel Luotuo, the depressing novel about a downtrodden Beijing rickshaw driver that made Lao an international celebrity two years after he penned this piece.Although this story is not exactly what we'd call upbeat, the ending is characteristically ambivalent and those of us in the office are torn over how to interpret it. Does the bird die or live? And what - if anything - is the final sentence supposed to mean? If you think you've cracked the puzzle, we'd welcome you to share your ideas by email, or in the comments section below.

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Mainlander tip: assuming you can get it back home in one piece (Air Canada considers guitar strings weapons....), a guitar is one of the best purchases you can make over here. Domestic manufacturers are still struggling with quality control, making it possible to find truly excellent instruments at every price level. The caveat is that there are more bad ones out there than good ones: you'll need an eye and ear for a good instrument to find a great deal.Now that we've got that out of the way, let's listen in on today's lesson: the story of a lovesick troubadour and his admirer. In a scant nine minutes this podcast will throw a lot of Chinese your way, including details on how to sound uncertain, and an easy way to negate questions. We also give Xiao Liu a round of applause for his solid E-minor plucking: surprisingly listenable considering that was his first time ever touching a guitar.

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It's early Friday afternoon and you've just spent two exhausting hours checking your email, catching up on the latest blogs and thinking of how to start that twenty-page China Telecom report due Monday. Before putting pen to paper however, perhaps you should brush up on your Chinese with a quick test at Popup Chinese, and get a cup of coffee from the kitchen.Slacking off is an art form. So grab your headphones and listen in to this podcast to learn how to pull it off in China. In our discussion of Oriental slackfu, Brendan, David and Echo touch on effective techniques for promoting collective slacking as well as useful grammar points for steering your colleagues out of the office.

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If this week's clip doesn't get you in the mood to toss out that Chinese dictionary and start blowing things up nothing will. There may not be much in the dialogue itself that gives away this film, but the nuance and tone of our selection is very indicative of its source, and the translation is really top notch. So take a listen, see if you can identify our mystery film and be sure to write echo@popupchinese.com if you think you know the answer.

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Now that you've mastered the giddy highs of the first tone, it's time to move onto something a bit more challenging: tone number two. Despite the fact that many people maul the second tone (relax, you won't), the basics are pretty simple: just start near the middle of your vocal range and head up until you pass out, glass breaks, or you're mauled by a pack of dogs.We recommend listening to our podcast first and then heading to the vocabulary page to listen to and practice our new words in isolation. When you're ready to move forward, step into the text section, where we combine our new words with some of the material we learned in our lesson on the first tone, to make a number of sentences you can use right away. Cumulative and progressive lessons? Huzzah!

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Your company is finally making a significant push onto the Chinese mainland. There are several options under consideration by the board: partnering with a local firm, looking for an acquisition, or creating a local team under your supervision to execute a winning strategy.With your track record and local contacts, you are the strongest advocate of option three, and have spent weeks laying the groundwork for tomorrow's meeting. And now the time is almost upon you. It's midnight the night before your presentation and you've just polished off your slides for the board. The text and pictures are perfect: compelling, attractive. They make the decision obvious. And so after giving it one final look, you move your mouse up to the save button and.... in less than the time it takes you to think "autosave is unreliable", the screen turns black.This has happened before, but never quite like this: for somewhere deep inside your computer, you can hear a faint sizzling sound.

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You'd be forgiven for thinking this movie was about those blue elves running all over your television on Sunday morning. But you wouldn't be too far off. Our selection for this week is an extended meditation on what it means to be human. That be said, we do learn a bit about the Smurfs this week and find out why the name Gargamel makes a lot more sense in Chinese than English.

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Not too far from where you're melting in the summer heat, you can see a bus wrapped snugly like a fat Buddha in a nest of minivans and three-wheeled rickshaws. Further ahead, taxi drivers have clambered onto the sidewalk in the frustrated hope of escape. You secretly wonder if your own driver will show such initiative should the opportunity arise.Why is traffic so terrible? Is there an accident ahead, or is this just another day in China? Find out for yourself in this week's Advanced listening test. To take the test, just listen to our short podcast, and then head over to the quiz section to test your comprehension. A fully annotated transcript with our classic Chinese popups is available for you to check your answers against afterwards. Questions are also welcome in the discussion section below.

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In today's sample HSK test we read you two relatively short passages and then ask three questions about each designed to measure your level of comprehension. As in the real HSK, you will find these questions much easier if you skim the accompanying questions first, and listen to the passage with an ear for the answers. Knowing the terminology heading in can make a decisive difference in terms of your understanding of the spoken text.

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In today's podcast we throw three regional dialects into one big party mix, and end up with something that reminds us a lot of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, missing only the violent cage matches, roaming bands of desert orphans, and classic Tina Turner 80's soundtrack. Our podcast also has more Wu dialect and less Mel Gibson than you might otherwise expect.OK. So we might be stretching the comparison a bit, but if you're looking for interesting Chinese-only listening material that will prove useful should you ever find yourself in a post-apocalyptic world run by Wu speakers, this is pretty much the perfect podcast for you (de lei). So take it to the gym, listen in on your way to work, or just leave it lying around to impress your monolingual friends and colleagues.

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Today we give you the keys to the Middle Kingdom, in the form of two magical sounds that will amaze and baffle your conversation partners in turn. Used with judicious moderation, this disyllabic incantation will let others know you're doing just fine, and there's no problem whatsoever. Used maliciously, it can buy you enough time for a quick getaway on whatever rustabout Soviet construction equipment happens to be nearby. Not that we're advocating theft. Seriously.

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This week Film Friday takes a break from showcasing famous scenes you probably remember in order to present you with this utterly forgettable one. As Brendan comments, this conversation probably doesn't spring to mind when you think of the movie it comes from. But why not? When your lead actors are getting shot, stabbed, dragged behind cars and flung into exploding slag pits, sometimes your script screams out for the services of a doctor. Or at least someone with a pair of pliers and a mother's touch.And totally off-topic, we know we're a bit late getting this one out the gate for you - that's Hong Kong in action. Fantastic city, but there's a real scarcity of public internet access points. If anyone has recommendations for good cafes down here drop a line.

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If the tones are giving you trouble, our series explaining them tone-by-tone should be useful. In this crowded podcast Brendan, David, Echo and Bunny start from the absolute basics with tone number one. This is the high and flat tone that establishes the upper range of your pitch, so you'll need to get your voice up there and keep it there (ideally without the reedy warbling).Don't let the first tone intimidate you. In this podcast we start by introducing some critical everyday words that all use the first tone, and then start packing them into practice sentences. Brendan and David also pass along on some tricks on getting the pronunciation right, gathered over many years at great cost to personal dignity.

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You may have been wondering what was the better long-term investment in college: finance or foreign languages? Before the Lehman Brothers imploded late last month, we believe they answered that question with an emergency call to the China Investment Corporation seeking several billion dollars in emergency capital injections.In today's podcast, we indulge in a bit of schadenfreude by way of dramatic re-enactment. And though the economic news out West may be dismal, there's never been a better time to learn Chinese. The economy here is growing at near double-digits and is expected to stay strong even in the face of a global slowdown. China is already shifting from being an export-led economy to a mixed economy with a strong consumer market and a vibrant financial services sector. This means more demand for fluent foreign speakers in the high-value international service sector.

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In today's lesson we cover all the vocab you'll ever need to know to engage in casual chit-chat while stripping down for work or fun. We also cover a core grammar point: how to ask questions with verb reduplication when our verb takes an object. Very useful for asking someone if they are - in fact - going to be taking off their pants.And get your mind out of the gutter! There are a number of perfectly legitimate reasons you'll need to know this stuff, not the least of which involves visiting the beach, performing routine weapons checks, or showing off your spectacular tan-line at the World Economic Forum.

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We'll admit that your debut in China didn't go over so well. Everyone knows the tones are tough, but when Jackie Chan saved your life and you told him to... no... no... let's not dwell on obscenities. I was surprised the audience hounded you out of the theater with pitchforks though (and where did those torches come from?). At least your publicist is happy at your making the front page of Xinhua!But it's not the end of the world. We just want you to listen to this podcast, since maybe you need a little grounding from the pros. Acting in China is hard work: voice training, limericks, memorization and sweat, sweat, sweat. But the good news is that there's no need for you to enroll in the Central Drama Academy: today we're bringing its voice training secrets right to you.

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In this week's mystery film game, a couple of controversial snapshots lead to almost comic misadventures, a boatload of scurrilous language, and someone going to sleep on the job. Add a flying plate to the mix and you've got a recipe for a famous summer blockbuster. But which one?Listen in to learn a little Chinese and see if you can peg our film. And be sure to get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win great Beijing swag.

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Today's listening test is a bit of an anomaly, since even the most advanced student will probably have difficulty with some elements of this conversation.Is your curiosity piqued? Take a listen to our Chinese podcast and then scroll back to the quiz section to test your comprehension. And don't worry if you missed something. You can always click over to the text section afterwards for a manually annotated copy of the dialogue with our helpful mouseover popups. Let the test begin!

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Love is a complex emotion, especially when there are three people involved. In this lesson, pulled right out of a soap opera, we learn about the difference between liking and loving things, and how to ask simple questions, like "do you love me?". So listen in and the next time someone asks, you'll be ready to answer them either way.

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Echo considers this an uplifting story filled with patriotism and self-sacrifice. "Everyone who is Chinese reads it this way," she insists, warding off the collective groans of our foreign contingent, who read it as a decidedly less optimistic critique of our collective indifference to poverty and human suffering.Whatever your interpretation of the ending, there's no question it's a great short story. It's publication cemented the reputation of Bing Xin as one of the best female novelists in 20th century China, and it remains an inspiration to charitable works to this day, with its name most recently having been adopted by a Baidu charity program which distributes books and school supplies to underprivileged children in rural parts of China.

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It's the classic story: boy meets girl for a whirlwind romance, girl's husband appears, boy hotfoots it out of the country and hits the bottle. This week's selection is a genuine classic, and if you've seen the abominable near-sequel that reunited most of the cast with its director two years later, probably an accidental one at that. Listen in to see if you can guess our mystery film this week, and get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com.

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Today we bring you a short listening exercise on a topic near and dear to us all: the job interview. But why is the recruiter so eager to find a candidate? And why the reference to extreme sports?If you're at the Advanced level we believe you should recognize most of the words in this dialogue. The challenge will be keeping up as we charge ahead at a breakneck page. For best results, we recommend listening to the clip once, and then heading over to the quiz section to test your comprehension. You can always replay the recording later, or visit the text section to check the actual transcript.

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You've heard the horror stories. All it takes is a sullen first tone, a half-hearted fourth, or a kowtowing third that isn't quite obsequious enough for the locals to turn on you. And then your innocent little trip to the Pearl Market has morphed into a journey through the Heart of Darkness.We still think any reasonable language shouldn't make the difference between "buy" and "sell" hinge on pitch alone, especially since everyone gets a bit worked up haggling (honest question: how do the stock markets work?). But since China is unlikely to take our advice on this anytime soon, this podcast will help you slow it down, review the basics and get them right.

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If the restaurant didn't want you to build that bonfire in the ashtray, they wouldn't have put it on the table, right? What else are you supposed to do with matches in the non-smoking section?In today's lesson, Brendan and Echo waltz us through useful words and phrases for smokers and non-smokers alike. You'll learn how to ask for a light, how to get seated in the non-smoking section, and get the lowdown on how Chinese parents terrorize their children into skipping acts of arson.

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Traditional textbooks don't usually deal with gender stereotypes. In this - the dawning of the age of the metrosexual - new language is emerging to describe male beauty in all of its MTV and beauty-parlor driven forms.While China has already come a long way, as this week's dialogue shows it still has a way to come. Join us as we introduce some of the common language used to describe masculine beauty. This lesson also covers a core grammar pattern used for comparison purposes. We are deep into duoyinci territory here, so listen up and we'll see you to safety.

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In this week's episode of Film Friday, we venture deep into the 1980s, an era when both music and hair were undergoing strange and sometimes startling changes. We loved it then, and we love it in retrospect too.Listen to this week's show and see if you can identify our mystery film. And get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com for a change to win a month of free month of premium access here at Popup Chinese.

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In today's exercise, listen to a longer spoken passage, and then answer three questions which test your comprehension. The difficulty is not so much the time pressure as the lack of repetition: you only get one shot at hearing the passage! One useful strategy to cope with this is scanning the questions quickly before the dialogue begins.

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If you've ever worked in it, you know the hospitality industry is a tough game. You've got to have the patience of Job, nerves of steel, and - most importantly - the inventory that people want. In today's listening test we eavesdrop on a sales encounter that starts off normally, and ends up somewhere else.For best results, we recommend listening to today's dialogue first, and then taking the quiz to gauge your comprehension. If you have questions about the materials after that, you can visit the text section for our line-by-line translation and mouseover popups, or ask questions in the discussion section. If you find yourself missing some of the vocabulary, we've highlighted the most critical words in our vocab section.Good luck!

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Despite its international reputation for stability, speed and open access, the Chinese Internet is not as infallible as often portrayed in the Western media: it too suffers from the occasional dropped packet, misconfigured router, and hoe-through-the-fiber-optic-backbone.Now that we're running our own servers though, the hand is very much on the other foot when it comes to network quality. Listen in today as we play a short joke on our Chinese voice actors, slowly dismantling their network while they're busy checking email. There were laughs all around. Or were until Xiao Liu passed his fist through our monitor.

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French may be the language of love, but let's be pragmatic for a moment: very few people actually speak it in China. This leads us to suspect you'll need a better strategy for breaking the ice than exhausting your collection of compliments from college French class.So listen up for a lesson on the basics of starting a conversation. You'll be using this stuff every day so get it down, keep smiling, and we think you'll be charmed by the warmth of the reaction. You can keep working on your French too, but we think you'll discover that Chinese has a certain je ne sais quoi of its own. One fifth of the world's population can't be wrong.

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This week's mystery film is one of the most ingenious films we've seen in the last decade. As Echo found out, it's also quite a disturbing movie once you figure out exactly what's going on. There's a free premium subscription up for grabs, so grab a bucket of popcorn and listen in for this week's episode of Film Friday.

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You wrangled your way from Houston to Shenzhen a year ago, and started working with smaller players in the procurement trade. Now you've finally pulled off your first major contract, holding firm with your Chinese partners when necessary, but never letting anyone lose face, and making sure the deal stayed win-win for everyone. You are a rising star.Think you're a hot shot? Consider these negotiations training for a far greater challenge: life with Mimi. She speaks only Chinese, is not the least interested in accommodating your schedule and wants dinner now. She's also cute, and not afraid to use her beauty as a weapon. We recommend extreme caution.

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Another common HSK question involves listening to a dialogue between two people. As before, you must select the most appropriate answer given the question asked about the dialogue.

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Pointing and grunting getting a bit old? You're in exactly the right place.In this lesson we learn useful words like this and that (trust us, these never get old). Because it's a small step from learning how to ask for something to learning how to order 500,000 of them shipped to Pittsburg at pennies on the dollar.

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Reading contemporary Chinese literature gives us the impression that while Hemingway, Fitzgerald and the rest of the Lost Generation were romping it up in Paris, Chinese intellectuals were locked in a competition to produce the most depressing fiction possible, with bonus points for bankrupting a publisher in the process.As far as short stories go, "A Little Incident" is not really light reading. But the surprisingly uplifting ending and sheer skill in its exposition puts the story in a class of its own, and demonstrates why Lu Xun is considered one of the best writers in 20th century China. We hope you enjoy it.

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Katie Holmes? Don't know her, but her husband was pretty good in Minority Report. Never a huge fan of Top Gun or Risky Business. But why would I be? Not like I was involved in filming it or almost got a hernia from that scene dancing with the vacuum cleaner.Forget about the uncanny resemblance - I'm not a hyper-celebrity and that's the honest truth. Just here to "check out China" and take a break from the "rat race". But yeah, we can take a photo together if you want. Call me John.

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This week, Film Friday starts off with a blast from the past. Listen to our first mystery film clip and see if you've got what it takes to guess the film in question. And if you recognize it? Submit your guesses by email to echo@popupchinese.com by next week for a chance to win a month of free premium access.

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When your mother told you a good apology is an art form, she wasn't thinking of the sort of hectic pantomime you have to do when you don't speak the local language. And how do you act out, "sorry about that thing between my dog and your cat" anyway?So join us as we review one of the most useful phrases for lubricating your way through life in China.

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Welcome to the first lesson in our structured HSK course for students at the Intermediate level.Our course begins with a selection of standard HSK listening exercises. When you are ready to start click through to the quiz section. Click on the audio player beside each question to hear a short statement spoken in Chinese. Read the question and select the most appropriate answer based on your understanding of the statement.You can also download the entire question audio as a separate MP3 file. The questions can be downloaded as part of our standard lesson PDF file.

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Although written in 1925, Zheng Zhenduo's essay on the cats in his family remains well known almost a century later. Originally aimed at adults, the story is often included in compilations of literature intended for high school students in China.

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