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Absolute Beginners - The Secret Lives of Celebrities

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

It's been a while since we've released a lesson for absolute beginners, but we're back in the saddle today with a sequel of sorts to our earlier podcast on how not to be confused for a Scientologist during your weekend trip to Xi'an. So if you've ever fancied yourself more a Brad Pitt (or Angelina Jolie) take a listen as we teach you how to introduce yourself to the locals in style. Maybe you'll get a free lunch out of it.

In addition to sharing some useful language for passing yourself off as a celebrity in China, in this lesson we also introduce a dead-easy sentence pattern you can use to indulge in unsubstantiated celebrity gossip or tell others how you feel. So if you're an absolute beginner give this lesson a listen. And if your Chinese is more advanced, swing by our lessons archive and look for something a bit more suited to your level of difficulty.

Film Friday - International Trade Dispute

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

In the spirit of better-late-than-never, we're pleased to release the latest episode of Film Friday, our Hollywood guessing game with a Chinese twist. So join us as we showcase a mystery clip from a Hollywood film. The dialogue is native-level Chinese, but we review it line by line to highlight the more difficult vocabulary. And if you think you know the film, be sure to write echo@popupchinese.com. Every week we give a lucky winner a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese. Maybe this week it will be you?

HSK Advanced - Find-the-Mistake Exercise #11

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

So it looks like Film Friday is going to be Film Saturday this week because of forces beyond our control and general mayhem in the recording studio. Until tomorrow then, we're proud to give you this Advanced HSK test originally scheduled for release tomorrow. As with last week's test, this is a Find-the-Mistake test. The questions here are among the most difficult you will find when taking the Advanced HSK exam.

If you have been working through our archive of previous Find-the-Mistake tests, you may find this test a bit easier than most. It is definitely less tricky at the beginning, but we suggest being careful at the end! If you have any questions or comments, remember you can always write to us at echo@popupchinese.com or leave us a comment. Good luck!

HSK Intermediate - Fill-in-the-Blanks Exercise #28

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

When Jake entered graduate school, part of the thrill had been the feeling of entering a world of covert scholarship, a world of kinship between him and his peers. "Literacy or death," they had solemnly pledged over pints of ale with all the earnest intensity of youth. They had considered themselves guardians of the written word, protectors of language itself.

Now fifteen years older, a part of him still believed in that romantic ideal of lexicography, but the truth was his whole life had been sheltered within the soft confines of academia. Until now that was. Staring at the blank leaf of paper before him, Jake's hands tightened in fear. There were far too many entries missing from this dictionary for it to be coincidental. But who had stolen them? And why?

Intermediate - The Rumor Mill

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Every now and then we get a dialogue that's a bit different from the rest, and today is a case in point. We haven't really had a lesson quite like this since the time we locked our entire recording staff in the studio and headed out for Sichuan food. Sometimes different is good.

And while we're not afraid to gossip, what matters in our dialogue today is less the scandalous revelation and more the casual nature of the spoken Chinese you'll hear. This is the way people actually talk when they're gossiping or just hanging out in the office. As much as most places emphasize getting the tones right, bear in mind as you listen that communication is as much about emotion as about pitch and word choice.

Elementary - The Sickbed Confession

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:00:00 -0800

In the spirit of giving you some time to recover from the Blitzkrieg that was our last Elementary dialogue, our lesson for today slows things right down. One of the parties to our dialogue barely speaks, in fact. So join him, and a close friend of his, in the hospital for a moment of unguarded intimacy....

HSK Advanced - Find-the-Mistake Exercise #10

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

As you'll know if you've explored our extensive archive of Advanced HSK tests, these find-the-mistake questions are sheer murder. Your challenge is simple but difficult: identifying which section of a lengthy passage has a serious problem with Chinese grammar or word usage.

And while these questions are difficult there is good news too: the points on which they are testing you are not random. These are the same tricks the HSK Committee uses to ferret out non-native speakers. So make note of your errors and remember to review the questions you answer incorrectly using our test center on occasion. And remember: if you have any questions you can always leave us a comment or write us by email at echo@popupchinese.com.

HSK Intermediate - Fill-in-the-Blanks Exercise #27

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:00:00 -0800

Having infiltrated the secretive HSK Consortium, Dirk Pitt gazed out over a darkened lecture hall. On the stage not far below, a small, bespeckled figure paced back and forth. "Occasionally a few students will get past our first line of defense," he stammered, pausing to let his audience's murmurings of unease die down. "In the past fewer still have breached our second line, although their numbers are growing with each passing day...."

And there! On the screen behind him the Popup Chinese logo lit up for a moment like a beacon of hope in a fallen world. Dirk's heart swelled with pride as the white and red symbol brought a familiar light and hope into that darkened cavern. And then it was gone and the awful truth set in. So this was their game? The glory of the free world to be exterminated by a cabal of Oriental pedagogues? There was little time to waste: too much was stake.

HSK Tip #1: Popup Chinese already has thousands of test questions focused on the exact same trick points you will face on the real exam. If you're serious about acing the HSK, be sure to explore our archives. Taking even a single test every day will put you ahead of the crowd.

Intermediate - How to Start a Business in China

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

As the fall semester faded, a strange energy seized the student body. When freed for lunch or recess, the boys would spring from their seats and rush to the far quarter of the playground, where they would cluster in small circles and barter excitedly. And somehow at the center of it all, Xiao Luo began to exude a quiet confidence far beyond his years....

Our intermediate lesson for today has a longer dialogue and some of the best voice acting we've done to date. It is probably also the only Chinese lesson in the world that teaches inhalant-related vocabulary, along with language you can use when disciplining your child. Not that we recommend using these in daily conversation, but you never know when you'll end up facing down an unruly mob of Chinese youth.

HSK Beginner - Fill-in-the-Blanks Exercise #36

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

The HSK had been seen back at O'Malleys, whispers claimed, and a thirst for vengeance seized the wharf. Driven on by food and drink, the factory boys had mocked its challenge the year before, and each had been knocked unconscious in turn. Their physical bruises had healed in time, but their brief encounter with the Chinese proficiency test had given the men something that wasn't there before.

It was shame, and it had sharpened itself in the year they waited for the HSK to return. Time had lent them a hunger for revenge. And so they had organized: spending cold weekends and evenings reviewing the Chinese language, stripping it of its mystery and coming closer to understanding the thing which had defeated them. The entire wharf had been studying Chinese for months in anticipation of just this day. And now it was here.

Elementary - Performance Anxiety

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

As she waited for the judges to render their verdict, Lee reviewed her performance in her head. Her decision to sing "Yesterday Once More" had been risky. The song was overplayed, but she felt her syncopated interpretation made it fresh once again. And objectively speaking, there was no doubt her performance was one of the strongest of the evening. Even now she could sense the stunned respect of the audience, while the judges sat in a thoughtful, almost reverent, silence.

Our elementary lesson for today is faster than you may be accustomed to at the Elementary level, and also much busier: instead of a two-way dialogue we have a scene between a singer and her panel of three judges. This four-way exchange is fast and furious, but is also within your reach. So give it a listen and see how you do.

Film Friday - The Hobbyist

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

As unlike last week, we're pretty sure you've seen our film this week. So join us for our second Film Friday of 2010 as we share a clip from a famous Hollywood film dubbed into mandarin. These Friday shows of ours are generally light on the grammar and heavy on Brendan's misdirection. If you can outsmart him and guess our mystery film regardless though, be sure to get your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for your chance to win a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese. Good luck!

HSK Advanced - Fill-in-the-Blanks Exercise #13

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Thermal scans said the derelict colony was lifeless. But Hudson's platoon had barely adjusted to the weak moon gravity before their sensors began picking up strange readings. And minutes later the Advanced HSK was upon them. Drake and Frost had fallen right away, with Vasquez and Gorman dragged off screaming moments later. The few survivors had clambered back more by luck than anything else, beating a hasty retreat to the shuttle under a hail of automatic fire.

Not once in twenty years of combat experience had Hudson experienced anything like it: the Advanced HSK had decimated his entire squad in less than a minute. His hands were still trembling as he reached for the safety catch to initiate the countdown. Nuke it from orbit: it was the only way to be sure.

Intermediate - How to Defuse a Bomb

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Perspiration stuck to Rick's forehead. In his forty years on the force, he thought he had seen the worst of human nature. But this? Barely visible beneath the dark green foliage, the red and green wires snaking through the wood chips led to a small metallic case they had found half-buried in the display floor. It was only pure accident the security team had discovered it and cleared the mall in time. Luck had been on their side. But now skill was needed as well. Crouched down beside the blinking timer, Rick crossed himself and emptied his mind of all else.

Speaking Practice - The Switzerland of Tones

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Some consider it cold and aloof, while others credit it with uncommon warmth. Whatever your own opinion of the fifth tone, if you're an absolute beginner to Chinese, join Brendan and Echo in today's Speaking Practice lesson as they review the basic rules of how and when to use the neutral tone. We then practice some simple, high-frequency vocabulary that has this unstressed tone, then give you a chance to call us and get feedback on your own Chinese pronunciation.

Yes, if you're a premium subscriber be sure to click through to our text page to grab our toll-free telephone number and your unique identification number. Once you've reviewed our sample sentences and vocabulary for this lesson, call us up and record yourself practicing them. Or share your own thoughts on something completely unrelated, and we'll get back to you in a day or two with one-on-one feedback on your level of spoken Chinese, and targeted tips on how to improve it.

Film Friday - A Love Story

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

With the New Year well underway and everyone safely back in Beijing after their various forays abroad, we are pleased to release our first Film Friday for 2010. And this is a tricky one. Instead of a recent blockbuster, in this episode we head back to the 1980s for a classic comedy you're likely to find in the back aisles at Blockbuster. We never expected to find the mandarin dub for this film, and never imagined that Echo would already have seen it. What were the odds?

If you consider yourself a film buff, listen in and see if you can identify our mystery Hollywood film from nothing more than this small clip dubbed into mandarin. And if you think you can solve our mystery? Get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com for your chance to win a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese: the only Chinese learning program guaranteed to be better than a failed marriage.

HSK Intermediate - Fill-in-the-Blanks Exercise #26

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

The first stumbling block came ten seconds into the HSK, right on the first question. As Bill read it, his pencil gravitated to the first answer before he paused with lingering doubt. Could it really be so simple, or was this a trap? And the more he reflected on the other options and their potential uses, the more doubt seeped into his mind. Hours later, when the invigilator finally announced the end of the exam, Bill was still holding his pencil over that first blank, his mind reeling with the madness of it all.

HSK Tip #411: if you have problems with a particular question, skip it and come back once you've finished the others. In a crunch, your first impulse is more likely to be correct.

KTV Wednesday - Richie Ren - The Horizon

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

You may remember Richie Ren from his previous appearance on KTV Wednesday. Although best known for his upbeat covers of songs by A Niu, Richie Ren also covers darker ground, especially with "The Horizon", a piece that explores what it profit a man to gain the world, but lose his only love.

We think this is worth listening to just for the music, but if you're an elementary or intermediate student, this is also a great song for whipping your tongue into shape. Try singing it while keeping in beat. The constant rhythm will force you onto track, while the tongue-twisting repetition will make spoken Chinese seem easy by comparison. (Final Note: readers in North America may get better performance with this version hosted on Youtube.)

HSK Beginner - Fill-in-the-Blanks Exercise #35

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

When an attacker comes at you with a knife, the instinctive response is flight. This is the correct reaction, save in close quarters where you should put something between yourself and the blade. Should an attacker come at you brandishing the HSK however, the instinctive response is of considerable less use. Simply ignoring the test while focusing on your assailant can cause significant damage to one's GPA and career prospects. Only those with significant training are typically able to outperform on the test while also debilitating their attacker.

Bearing this in mind, we recommend all students of martial arts incorporate HSK test preparation into their training regime. In the spirit of getting you past the white belt, we are happy to present these fifteen fill-in-the-blank exercises. May you never have to use them in a life-threatening situation.

Intermediate - Home Sweet Apache Helicopter

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Although it may not look like much from the outside, the Apache helicopter is quite spacious on the inside, especially when gutted of its navigation system and emergency munitions store. And if you rip out the hind seating you've got more than enough room for a small futon, mini-fridge and propane stove. With a little creativity, the world's military warhorse can make a cozy home. And with real estate prices what they are, maybe it's time to consider investing in one yourself?

HSK Beginner - Sentence Order Exercise #3

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Chalk up another first for the Chinese language. Hard as it is to believe, there is actually a category of question on the HSK test that consists of nothing more than picking the only non-nonsensical sentence provided from a list. Yes, the Chinese consider their language hard enough that simply identifying an intelligible sentence is considered a challenge suitable for Beginner and Intermediate students.

We don't place an emphasize these questions here on Popup Chinese because we teach grammar and know most of you don't have trouble with these. Still, we'd be remiss to not include them completely. So you grammar fiends can consider today's HSK test a break from the usual hard slogging, but also a measure of your progress. On the other hand, if you find this material challenging, it's a sign you need to pay more attention to the parts of speech of the words you're learning and review the minimal ways they are typically combined in Chinese. Then you'll be getting perfect in no time.

Elementary - The Chinese Courier

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Hank was a legend around the office, and for good reason. In just three hours he had cleared his entire afternoon of deliveries, and this in spite of the traffic jams that clogged the downtown core. And his secret? In today's Elementary Chinese lesson, join us as we delve into the art of the delivery. You'll learn how to get around town, tell others how to find you, and learn the secret tips and tricks that keep the courier business in China running.

Announcements - January Newsletter - New Years Holiday Promotion

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

Winter has finally hit Beijing with a vengeance. After the biggest snowfall in the last fifty years, Beijing is struggling to return to normalcy. The last few days have given us empty roads, temperatures as low as fifteen below and people shoveling snow using everything from wicker brooms to broken door slabs. This may not seem special to those of you roughing it up north, but it's pretty exciting for those of us in Beijing.

By now we've got more than 450 lessons online at Popup Chinese, and the best online tools and resources for learning mandarin anywhere online. We're already helping thousands of people build their way to fluency each day. And since we know there's no better or more efficient way to learn mandarin, we want to make it easy for you to start this year off right. Which is why we're pleased to bring you a very time-limited January special:

*** 15% OFF FOR 15 DAYS ***

$40 - All Basic Subscriptions $125 - All Premium Subscriptions $340 - 3 Months of 1-On-1 Training

In the spirit of these historically low temperatures in Beijing, and the fact that Echo is huddled up with the space heater, we're offering a 15% discount on subscriptions for the next 15 DAYS ONLY. This is your chance to make this year the year you go native. Get both the motivation and support you need to improve your Chinese by visiting [http://popupchinese.com/account].

* Chinese New Years *

Chinese New Years is the biggest holiday of the year hereabouts. It's the time when families gather to make dumplings and set off unholy amounts of fireworks, and there's really nothing like it anywhere outside China. New Years is falling on February 14th this year, so if you're planning to be in China this February beware! You can expect the transit system to be basically unusable from about the 10th through the 20th nationwide. We recommend flying if you need to travel during this period since you'll have a hard time buying train tickets on the ground.

If you're doing business in China (or need to deal with the government), you should also be aware that everything is going to slow down for the holidays. Businesses will start slowing down the last week in January and won't pick up again until the beginning of March. So plan around the holiday and expect delays whether you're doing procurement, or processing that visa.

* Ongoing Site Development *

As we announced in our last newsletter, we're hard at work plugging away at the next version of Popup Chinese. We've got a revamped community section, a better lesson scheduling service and much more planned to launch.

As of this morning, our basic features are working and we're plugging away at usability and design. We've still got a month or so to go before launch and are plugging through a list of suggestions you guys have forwarded. So if you have any feature requests you haven't sent in yet, please do take the time to send them to us. This really is one of the best times to make technical requests as we're combing through our code base and drinking significant amounts of coffee.

* Our Popular Lessons: *

Christmas is usually a slower time on the site as everyone shifts gears for the holidays. We kept publishing lessons through the break though, so if you missed visiting us because you were busy at Christmas you missed a lot of fun. In the spirit of looking back, here are our favorite lessons from the last month:

* Absolute Beginners: What Sign Are You *

How entertaining can a lesson about poultry be? You may be a skeptic, but we picked this as our favorite beginner lesson if only because of all the controversy it caused. Fortunately, after a heated debate on the site, Andrew from Colorado made our day by sending us a recording he made of a group of actual chickens. So score one for the international team and zero for Team China, despite Xiao Hu's protestations otherwise! [http://popupchinese.com/lessons/absolute-beginners/what-sign-are-you]

* Elementary: Digital Volleyball *

One of our favorite pasttimes in the office is combining traditional sports with high-tech gadgets. This sporting approach to the digital life doesn't always end happily. In fact, it very rarely ends happy. If you've already got a bit of Chinese under your belt you're going to see the ending to this dialogue coming from a mile off. In the meantime it is a lot of fun though. [http://popupchinese.com/lessons/elementary/digital-volleyball]

* Intermediate: A Serious Shortage of Trousers *

We have strong convictions that everyone needs to know how to speak with the mafia here in China. We also love the voice Tiansen gives to his Big Boss character, which is why we brought him back specially for this lesson about how to treat old friends who've forgotten what family means. In our next lesson, we'll teach you how to say "sleep with the fishes," but before we get there you've got some trouser slang to memorize. Don't ask, just listen. [http://popupchinese.com/lessons/intermediate/a-serious-shortage-of-trousers]

* Advanced: The Monkey King *

Our annotated edition of the Dream of the Red Chamber meant that you could read it without the need for a dictionary. Now we're pleased to add the first chapter of The Monkey King, the classic Buddhist story about a band of travelling companions (including - yes - talking animals) who travel to India on a mision to retrieve some sacred scrolls. This is one of the four classic works of Chinese literature. If you have never read it, start with this first passage that starts the very first chapter. Premium subscribers only! [http://www.popupchinese.com/lessons/short-stories/the-monkey-king-chapter-1-part-1]

And that's it for today. As always, thank you for reading. And remember, if you want to be fluent, there's no better or more fun way to do this than with Popup Chinese. So if you don't already have an account, sign up today while we've got our special promotion! The address again is [http://popupchinese.com/account]

Final Note: if you haven't opted out of our monthly newsletter and don't want to receive it by email, just write us at service@popupchinese.com and ask to be unsubscribed, or change your email preferences at http://popupchinese.com/account/customize]

Absolute Beginners - Feel My Total Indifference

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

So, you've woken up at some ungodly hour in the morning to start hauling yourself out of bed when a minor epiphany strikes. Why get out of bed at all? Isn't there something better you can do with your day than this car trip to Tongzhou. And whose crazy idea was this anyway? How about just sleeping in past noon? Now there's a capital idea. And maybe in a few hours you could even head downstairs and get some breakfast, or maybe watch a movie. Or maybe just stay in bed all afternoon.

At Popup Chinese we're keenly aware of the practical reality of life in China: which is why we're happy to bring you today's lesson on what to do on those days you feel totally and utterly apathetic. If you've ever felt that cheerfulness is not exactly your strong point, this is the lesson for you. So join us today for an Absolute Beginner lesson that will let you tell them what you really think. Because sleep calls.

Intermediate - Payday

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

The years had built up around Stewart like the shell of a mollusk. And truth be told, he had drifted into the financial industry largely for this reason: the sedate pace and lulling security of asset management work. It had never seemed terribly risky. Or at least not until the first wave of layoffs earlier in the spring. Until then he had never even considered leaving the bank, let alone making a more aggressive career move and starting afresh in an entirely new profession.

Note: our lesson for today is an Intermediate comprehension test. Get started by listening to our short dialogue and then clicking through to the quiz section and seeing how much you understood. Some of the answers fly by quickly. If you need help though, we've manually annotated the entire dialogue on our regular text page. Consult the transcript after taking the test if you have any difficulty picking up on what is happening.

Elementary - I'll have the hamburger....

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Despite it being the last stop before the highway started its thirty mile winding climb out of the desert canyon, the small family diner that had once been a trade favorite on the long-haul circuit was surprisingly devoid of his fellow truckers. And the atmosphere in the joint had changed for the worse too, but John was hungry and in a hurry to meet his schedule, so simply raised his hand to summon the waitress. He would eat quickly and be back on the road in twenty minutes.

Absolute Beginners - Where are you from?

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

If you've ever been in a Chinese taxi, you've been asked this question, even if you didn't understand it at the time. In fact, being asked where one is from is such a common question we've decided to devote an entire lesson just to it. So join us in this beginner lesson and before long you'll be inventing new and exciting background stories each time you take a trip across town. Yes sir, I am a nuclear scientist from Kazakhstan.

Note: it's been a while since we've had a dedicated speaking practice lesson, so we've enabled our voice recording service for this lesson. If you're a premium subscriber click through to our text page and grab our telephone hotline and your personal PIN number. Call us up and leave us a message in Chinese when prompted: record yourself either practicing the dialogue or speaking extemporaneously using this vocabulary or telling us a story. Our teachers will get back to you in a day or two with personal feedback on how you're doing.

HSK Intermediate - Fill-in-the-Blanks Exercise #25

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

It is a weird feeling to sit in a Las Vegas hotel at four in the morning - hunkered down with a notebook and a tape recorder in a $75-a-day suite and a fantastic room service bill, run up in forty-eight hours of mad cramming - knowing full well that as soon as dawn comes up you are going to need to saunter into that HSK test center racing high on amphetamines and deal with question after question on the nuances of Chinese grammar, diction and word choice. Good luck.

Intermediate - A Serious Shortage of Trousers

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

As Christmas draws nigh we return to our Big Boss series with this lesson about the overriding concern of the Chinese mafia: maintaining an adequate supply of trousers. This is somewhat amazingly the real deal. So check out today's show and learn to speak mandarin just like the Godfather. And if you enjoy this lesson, be sure to check out our earlier mob shows on ordering a hit and ordering diner.

HSK Beginner - Fill-in-the-Blanks Exercise #34

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Jason's dismayed eyes flitted around the few remaining presents. As the morning had worn on, the number of boxes under the Christmas tree had gradually fallen, until the shapes and sizes of the unopened packages were now easily discernible on even casual glance. And despite their cheerful wrapping, the gifts gave him a sense of foreboding. None seemed large enough to hold the massive archive of HSK tests for which he had prayed each night.

Could this possibly be yet another Christmas without HSK tests? Might tomorrow, and the day after, and every day in the year to follow be devoid once again of the pleasure of test-taking? Of the sheer joy of pitting oneself against the HSK and emerging intellectually bruised and perhaps even temporarily nauseous from the attempt? A tear formed in the corner of his eye. What a cruel world where the joy of Christmas had to be tempered with the pain of such deprivation.

Elementary - Digital Volleyball

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Brent's palm stretched back and - in a flashing rush - the TiVo was airborn. Once the proud centerpiece of some family's home entertainment center, the digital video recorder was now living a less sedentary life, flying over the net in a graceful serve before a clumsy return brought it back, brushing across the top of the net as it came. And then the return and the counter-return and the game was on in earnest.

Hunched forward peering at the court below, the spectators gasped as yet another piece of home electronics took flight before settling into a hushed tension as the game found its stride. Digital volleyball had become popular for much the same reason as Greek tragedy. Who would win and who would lose was in many ways irrelevant to the main attraction: watching tragedy unfold in an uncertain but inevitable way. There could be only one ending to this game.

Absolute Beginners - On Avoiding the Plague

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

"Don't worry about me," the voice on the phone hoarsely whispered after its wave of violent coughing finally subsided. "I'll be down in an hour so we can keep working on that report."

Join us in our Absolute Beginner lesson for today as we learn a polite way of telling others to keep themselves and their infections out of your working space. There is a lot of simple but useful mandarin in this podcast. In addition to introducing a number of common adjectives you can use to express your fatigue and frustration, we also give you a simple sentence pattern you can use whenever you're feeling under the weather yourself.

Film Friday - A Day on the Farm

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

You guys can stop the wailing and gnashing of teeth. We'll be the first to admit we were a bit delayed with Film Friday this week. Echo's visa to Canada came through earlier this week and she's been on a shopping rampage ever since as we prepare to hop the pond on Monday. But it's here now, so if you've been going through Popup Chinese withdrawal hook up your iPod and reinforce your addiction to the best Chinese learning show anywhere online.

And our lesson today has the distinction of hitting a number of firsts. In addition to being the first podcast we've ever produced which revolves around farm produce, this show also has the distinction of being your last chance to win a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese in 2009. Stunning how time flies, isn't it? If you're disappointed with the progress you've made in the last year, feel that you've hit a plateau, or just want to accelerate your Chinese studies in the year to come, be sure to get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com. We'll pick one lucky winner and give them the gift that just keeps giving. So good luck, and we hope you like the show!

Short Stories - The Monkey King: chapter 1, part 1

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Also known as Journey to the West, the Monkey King is one of the four classics of Chinese literature, standing alongside Dream of the Red Chamber, the Water Margin and Three Kingdoms in the pantheon of must-read Chinese novels. Originally a popular legend, the story was written down in the late Ming Dynasty. In its current form it is essentially inaccessible to all but very advanced speakers, and so as with Dream of the Red Chamber, remains largely unread among native English speakers.

As with all of our annotated Chinese short stories, we encourage premium subscribers to click through to our text page and read the original 16th century text. You will not need a dictionary to do this. Simply hover your mouse over any word for a popup containing an exact definition of the word in its proper context. Be sure to enable the "extra notes" field in your popups for additional information including explanatory notes, suggested translations and much more. We will be publishing the remainder of the first chapter in serial form over the next few months.

What should you expect in this passage? As with many works of great literature, the Monkey King begins with a creation myth. In this case we have the Chinese creation myth. Our first few paragraphs concern how the universe came into existence. They describe how a figure named Pan Gu tore open the indistinct void that preceded the creation of the heavens and set in motion a never-ending cycle of creation and destruction in which the earth and humankind itself plays a part.

In very short order our story passes from the creation of the heavens and earth to the creation of the stars and planets, and then onwards to the dawn of beasts and men. We will shortly meet the Monkey King (Sun Wukong), an allegorical figure representing mankind itself, whom our story will follow as he joins a caravan to India to retrieve sacred Buddhist texts. A chronicle of the Buddhist journey to enlightenment itself, the Monkey King is in turns playful, delightful and profound. It is filled with exciting stories, interesting characters and is often pure fun. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

KTV Wednesday - The Mud Grass Horse

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Starring the South American Alpaca and set to the tune of the Chinese Smurfs, this video about the mythical "mud grass horse" spread like wildfire across the Chinese Internet in early 2009. "But you can't put it on the site," Gail told us. "It's absolutely hilarious," she admitted, "but far too dirty." And she's right about the vulgarity: the entire point of the video is a gigantic in-joke about how efforts to build a harmonious society in China are clamping down on people's ability to swear.

We've embedded the Youtube version here as the original not-so-mysteriously disappeared from all Chinese video websites after the New York Times reported on it as a case of online dissent. There are some political references, but the song is closer to doggerel than political protest. Nonetheless, if you can't pick up on the subtext from the video alone, we encourage subscribers to check out our manually annotated transcript on the text page. We've added special commentary in the extra notes field of our popups which explain the in-jokes and homophones that Chinese natives will pick up automatically.

Intermediate - A College Education

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Laif could hardly breathe. Through tinted pinholes he looked out at an unearthly sea of noontime traffic. The unending flow of cars rolled past in slow motion, horns honking and tempers flaring. On the sidewalks pedestrians bustled past, hurriedly looking down or to the side to ignore his outstretched arms. And topping it all was the stultifying heat, which wrapped around them all, an invisible cage that shimmered in the distance like a snake poised to strike.

He had of course heard whispers about the state of the job market. Everyone had. Rumors on campus said it had been tough for new graduates for years now. It was basic economics. The workforce exceeded the demand for labor. Salaries had been inching down for years as a result, but were especially bad this year as the economy tightened. What was anyone to do?

Absolute Beginners - What sign are you?

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Ever wonder what a Chinese chicken sounds like, or what to do when someone tells you they are one? In today's lesson Brendan, David and Echo take to the studio and talk about Chinese horoscopes. You may not believe in the Chinese zodiac, but you'll need to know how it works if you're ever going to navigate the animal barnyard that is the dating scene in China. If only because when you meet someone special here you can be sure they're going to be thinking about it.

This podcast is part language lesson and part simple proof of an impressive disconnect between urban China and the natural world. If you don't know your own sign, we've posted more information on the Chinese zodiac in the comments section below. Feel free to write us at echo@popupchinese.com with any questions about your own star sign. We admit to being suckers for romantic gossip.

Film Friday - Corporate Raiders

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

"I really think we should do a film people have seen." Echo had been nursing her reservations for the last hour. There we were standing in the studio just about to record a special hour long Christmas show devoted to experimental 20th century French cinema. Dubbed Chinese clips of segments from Blood of a Poet and Testament of Orpheus were queued and ready to go. We had even forced Brendan into an old, matted bear costume to add a certain je ne sais quoi to the proceedings.

"Perhaps she's right," Brendan's muffled voice sounded weary. "I'm not that familiar with experimental film, and it's really hot in here." And so faced with the prospect of a staff mutiny, we backed down and switched to this Hollywood film. We're guessing you've seen it, but can you guess the movie from nothing more than its mandarin dub? If so get your guesses in to echo@popupchinese.com. A month of free premium access to Popup Chinese is up for grabs. Keep it for yourself, or give it away to someone else as a special Christmas present.

Advanced - Besides and Let Alone....

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

If you're listening to our advanced podcasts our site statistics tell us you're already fluent or close to getting there. And the bad news for most of you is that at this level you've likely passed the point where native speakers will correct your mistakes or help you master the subtleties of their language. Which is why we have podcasts like this. Join us as we help you push through the last mile with a lesson that focuses on a word so advanced even Chinese speakers often get it wrong.

This word is 何况, an advanced conjunction with two different meanings. In the first case 何况 can be translated as "and also" and gets used interchangeably with 再说. Its second usage is closer to 更别说 and is better translated as "let alone" or "not to mention". Our podcast sorts out these two meanings with plenty of examples and a lot of fun, so give it a listen. We think you'll come out more fluent on the other side.

Intermediate - The Law of the Sea

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

It was the ocean Henry saw on waking, and the ocean he saw again at dusk. The water was nothing like his dreams. In the tourist brochures that had lured him south, the sea was a shimmering creature of tranquil calm splashed with patches of azure blue. It had been welcoming then, a far cry from the grey beast that spread out before him in all four directions. In all other respects the cruise has lived up to its promise to deliver "a life-changing adventure on the high seas."

Our intermediate listening test for today uses a brief mandarin-only dialogue to tell a story of adventure on the high seas. If you think your Chinese is up to snuff, listen to our short recording just once. Then check out our quiz section to test yourself on your comprehension. Are you as good as you think? If you have any questions just leave a comment below or check our manually annotated transcript of this dialogue on the text page. Good luck!

HSK Beginner - Reading Comprehension Exercise #10

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Jonathan raised his left eyebrow in an insouciant arc, as if bemused by the audacity of his interviewer. Was there even a need to discuss such plebeian concerns as his level of Chinese fluency? Ever since failing the HSK several months earlier, Jonathan had been quietly steeling himself for this moment of truth. It was the moment when his future opened up and wanted to know if he was able to actually able to converse in mandarin?

"I am an expert at certain kinds of procurement," he finally offered as smoothly as he could. Should the team need someone to head to the local convenience store, Jonathan was positive he could track down the appropriate beverages and return with proper change.

Elementary - The Road Trip, Part II

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

You may have been on a vacation like this. The radiator is overheating, the air conditioner is broken, and what began as a nice weekend jaunt into the countryside has morphed into something much, much uglier. Join us in this Elementary Chinese lesson as we explore the heart of darkness you'll only see in your family after spending eight hours in a car with them totally and utterly lost.

In addition to a nice dialogue with plenty of useful vocabulary and phrases (especially for drivers), our lesson today covers the 再不... 就 construction and goes over how to use it to make vaguely threatening demands on those you love. So listen up and let us know what you think. And if you find the Chinese a bit above your level relax. Click through to the text page to consult our annotated popup version of the text for instant illumination. You'll be at the Intermediate level in no time.

Absolute Beginners - Pinyin Practice - Adventures with Umlaut

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Curious why the pinyin for some characters is written with an umlaut which vanishes in similar-sounding words? Is there really a difference in the way we should pronounce these sounds? The answer to these questions and more is revealed in our pinyin practice lesson for today, which will take you on a whirlwind tour through a maze of similar sounding words.

For extra feedback, we've enabled our recording hotline for this lesson to give you an opportunity to get personal feedback on your pronunciation. If you're a premium subscriber call us using the custom PIN number that you'll find on this lesson's text page. Practice reading our sample sentences for this lesson and one of our teachers will get back to you shortly with one-on-one feedback on your pronunciation. And doubtless compliments too.

Elementary - The Road Trip

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Remember the epic road trips of your youth? Our lesson today goes out to every eight year old who has ever had to sit still in the backseat for eight hours trapped between two quarreling siblings while the family enjoyed a nice drive into the countryside.

If you're a premium subscriber, please note that we've enabled our Speaking Practice recording service for this lesson. Click through to our text page to find our toll-free telephone number. Call us and enter your dedicated PIN number when prompted. Then tell us all about the worst vacation you've ever had. Or just practice reading us the dialogue and vocabulary for this lesson. Our teachers will review your recording and give you personal feedback on your pronunciation by email in a day or two.

Film Friday - A Dog's Life

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

The stars have aligned and we've finally found another film both Brendan and Echo have seen. Only there's something strange happening here, because the movie didn't sound anything like this in the theaters. So join us for a linguistic mystery as we stumble into an alternate universe in which everything sounds almost, but not quite, like standard mandarin. We will reward you for your perseverance though. If you can peg our clip despite the added challenge, send an email to echo@popupchinese.com and we'll enter you for a chance to win a free month of premium access to Popup Chinese.

Intermediate - A Sudden Case of Acrophobia

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Even deep in his pockets, Adam's fingers were shaking uncontrollably. His anxiety had already reached the point where others were noticing his chattering teeth, and was only increasing with each minute that brought them closer to the drop zone. Above the steady drone of the plane engines, Adam could hear the whispered remarks of his peers, and feel their sidewards glances. Would he lose control when the time came? Would he endanger the mission?

As an aside, many of you have written us asking how we come up with such unique dialogues. In this lesson we finally spill the beans about our creative secret. If you've ever wondered who the creative genius is behind our approach to language learning, listen in and get the inside scoop. Enjoy!

HSK Intermediate - Fill-in-the-Blanks Exercise #24

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Today we are pleased to bring you a fill-in-the-blanks exercise designed for students preparing for the Intermediate level of the HSK. These fifteen questions designed to test your knowledge of core HSK grammar and vocabulary usage. Some are deceptively tricky, so try them out and see how well you do. And if you get perfect or close to perfect, why not move on and check out our Advanced HSK tests....

Elementary - Living Together

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

By the time Betty arrived home, her normally sedate neighborhood was abuzz with excitement. The police cruisers camped on the street were only the most visible sign of the investigative unit that had arrived hours earlier to cordon off the block and interview the neighbors. As she headed inside, Betty caught a far-off glimpse of two junior detectives taking soil samples from her back garden.

Bursting into her home, she caught sight of the lead detective in the living room and charged over to demand an explanation. "Rumors have it you're not the only one who lives here," he replied. A casual glance around the room was enough to confirm this as fact. Jonathan had once again left his clothes strewn all over the sofa. As she simply nodded, the detective reached for his handcuffs. "I think it's time you spoke to a lawyer."

Announcements - Our November Newsletter

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

It's been a busy month for us. We could lie and say the highlight was reading all your great comments on Popup Chinese. But the truth is that the best part came when the Chinese government finally turned on central heating, arresting a precipitous decline in the ambient temperature of our recording space. We're grateful to be no longer living out a Jack London story. And alive to bring you this monthly news round-up:

NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:

* Our Great North American Tour *

God and the Canadian Embassy willing, Echo and David will be in Toronto from December 21st through December 30th. Brendan will be in Philadelphia around the same time. Assuming everything comes through we'd love to get together with anyone who's within driving/boating/flying/spitting distance and feels like grabbing a bite or a drink. So get in touch. We promise to speak nothing but Chinese if you do too. [email:service@popupchinese.com]

* Christmas Promotion *

Thought about giving a Popup Chinese subscription as a Christmas gift? In the spirit of the holidays, if you'd like to order a subscription for someone special get us the details by December 1st and we'll mail you or them a special Christmas card signed by our team. If you've got a special message you'd like us to translate into Chinese and add to the card we're happy to do that too. Just remember that we're operating under a deadline if we're going to get things mailed off in time for the holidays, so don't put this off. [email:orders@popupchinese.com]

* The Next Version of Popup Chinese: Codename Awesome *

Although we launched our latest version of Popup Chinese in September, we've already started work on the next iteration. We have a long list of features we want to add, so if there is something that bothers you about the site, or if you'd like to see us add a particular extra feature, please let us know. This is one of the best times to make technical requests as we're combing through our codebase anyway. For our part, we're planning major changes to our lesson scheduling, community and content creation sections, and will also be adding dialogue-only recordings for most of our lessons. We expect the next version to go live sometime in February.

OUR POPULAR LESSONS:

This month we'd like to showcase some of the non-lesson shows we've produced recently. If you listen to Popup Chinese mostly through our public RSS feed, you may not know that some of this even exists. So drop by the site and check it out. It will help your mandarin get much better, especially if you're an intermediate to advanced student.

* KTV Wednesday: Nothing Remains *

About twice a month, our KTV show features a popular Chinese music video. Last month we were proud to feature one of the best Chinese rock songs written in the last ten years. If you don't know why Wang Fei is the best music act around (we know some of you are partial to Wang Leehom) be sure to check out this video. It's fantastic. And Wang Fei wrote the lyrics and music herself. We are definite fans. [http://popupchinese.com/lessons/ktv-wednesday/wang-fei-nothing-remains]

* Film Friday: A Holiday Visit *

Film Friday is a film guessing game we run two or three times a month. Each show we pick a clip from a famous Hollywood movie that's been dubbed into mandarin and play it to see if you can guess the original film. We have a lot of fun picking the films and recording these shows, so if you haven't listened yet check this one out. In addition to being a lot of fun, Film Friday also offers listeners the chance of winning a month of free premium access to Popup Chinese. [http://www.popupchinese.com/lessons/film-friday/a-holiday-visit]

* Video: Trash-Talk Ping Pong *

Anthony, Tiansen, Qin and Echo went out for "work" one afternoon in early November. When they came back smiling and laughing and the near-frozen remainder of our office crew quite reasonably asked what on earth they were doing when their heat-producing bodies were desperately needed in the office, they said it was "too cold inside" so they went out to play ping pong. Ping pong! And then they produced this video. If you're heavily into either trash-talking or table tennis, there's something here for you. [http://www.popupchinese.com/lessons/video/trash-talk-ping-pong]

And that's our newsletter for this month. As always, we're grateful to everyone who is supporting us with a paid subscription: you're the reason we're able to keep this up. And if you aren't a subscriber you're seriously breaking our hearts. Subscriptions cost as little as $49.99 per year. Cast off your cloak of darkness and subscribe by visiting [http://popupchinese.com/account].

Best from us all and Happy Thanksgiving to all of our American friends and colleagues,

The Popup Team

Film Friday - A Holiday Visit

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

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.

Advanced - The Northeasterner, Part II

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

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.

Intermediate - Plants vs. Zombies

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

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.

Absolute Beginners - Yes, I'm a Student

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

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.

toneandcolor - Homophonic Hanzi #5

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

For each question, choose the character that has the same pronunciation (both syllable and tone) from the four given options. Learning characters in groups may help with retention.

HSK Advanced - Find-the-Mistake Exercise #9

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

If there is a hell on earth, it may just be these find-the-mistake exercises from the Advanced HSK. These questions are real killers: instead of picking the most suitable missing word, you have to identify which section of a brief passage contains a problem with grammar or word choice. Sound easy? Today we bring you fifteen of these nasty, nasty questions. So if you think your Chinese is good put yourself to the test. We'll see you on the other side.

KTV Wednesday - Carsick Cars - Zhongnanhai

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

Carsick Cars is an indie rock band based in Beijing. And not that we endorse smoking, but if you're going to write a song about the ubiquitous cigarette you can't do worse than they did with this one about Zhongnanhai. Tip to the wise: the brand name comes from the top-level government compound down near Tiananmen Square.

This video was filmed at D22, a local club in the heart of the university district here in Beijing. The band plays there pretty regularly, so you have a good chance of catching a show if you're in town. And the lyrics are pretty accessible too. If you're having trouble making out the lines "I can't live without Zhongnanhai" and "I only smoke Zhongnanhai" then click through to read the full lyrics as part of our annotated transcript.

Video - Trash Talk Ping Pong

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

In his nightmares, the ball ricocheted off the table in slow motion again and again, its downward darting spin pulling it past his outstretched paddle. And then the roar of the crowd and the sting of defeat. In fifteen years of professional play, this was the worst humiliation he had ever suffered: defeated on the match point without even making paddle contact. But what could he have done? The seventy year old had better form and unbreakable concentration.

While we can't improve your game, today we take a short break from our normal podcasts with a video that's shows what life is like over here. And for bonus points it may help you take your game to the next level. Anthony, Echo, Qin and Tiansen put this together in an afternoon of hanging with the local retired cadres. It was fun, even if we discovered that Tiansen gets dangerously into his game at times.

Elementary - The Backstreet Boys

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

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.

toneandcolor - Homophonic Hanzi #4

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

For each question, choose the character that has the same pronunciation (both syllable and tone) from the four given options. Learning characters in groups may help with retention.

Film Friday - An Unexpected Romance

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

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.

HSK Beginner - Fill-in-the-Blanks Exercise #33

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

We have another Film Friday coming out a bit later today. In the meantime, if you're craving your daily hit of mandarin, check out this practice HSK test at the HSK Beginner level as defined by the Chinese government (for those of you new to Popup Chinese, this maps to roughly around our upper Elementary level). In a real test environment you would have 12 minutes to answer these fifteen questions, some of which are quite tricky, so good luck!

KTV Wednesday - Wang Fei - Nothing Remains

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Written and composed by Wang Fei herself, Nothing Remains may just be the best song to come out of the Beijing rock scene in the first half of this decade. So if by Gods you have not yet heard it we order you to drop everything and listen. In turns plaintive and heartbreakingly lovely, Nothing Remains tells the feelings of a woman torn between two lovers. Pushing far beyond the limited emotional range of most contemporary pop, this song is bleak but filled with as much love as grief. It will make you glad you're learning mandarin:

What can we say about this that isn't better communicated by repeat listening? Since a lot of intermediate students have trouble with the proper use of 把, the obvious thing is pointing out the 把...给 structure that frames almost every single line in the song. This allows us to put the object before the verb, as with the English sentence, "I took the song and listened (to it)." If you're having trouble picking this up by ear, become a premium subscriber for full access to our manually annotated online transcripts.

Note: our embedded video is being hosted courtesy Youtube. If you're in China you can see the same video here on Youku.

Intermediate - A Dangerous Chinese Lesson

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

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: 爱理不理, 爱去不去 and 爱谁谁.

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.

HSK Beginner - Listening Exercise #6

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

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!

Film Friday - When Things Go South

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Elementary - The Trip Home

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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.

KTV Wednesday - Chen Qizhen - The Meaning of Travel

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Our musical selection for KTV Wednesday today is "The Meaning of Travel" by Taiwanese singer Chen Qizhen, known to her fans as Cheer Chen. Born in Taipei on June 6, 1975, Chen is a popular if low key singer-songwriter. This selection is from her 2004 album EP:

If you click through to the text section and read our annotated lyrics for this song, you will be hit on line three - as we were - with a metaphor that is so profoundly illogical it is impossible to translate. You may be tempted at this point to abandon mandarin and pick up German. We suggest resisting the urge, because the rest of the song isn't that bad. Also note that our embedded video is streaming courtesy of Youtube. If you're in China and are having trouble getting it to load, check out this version on Youku.

HSK Beginner - Fill-in-the-Blanks Exercise #32

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

The evening before the HSK found Harrison relaxing by the pool. After an exhausting massage he had spent the afternoon drifting into and out of consciousness only to wake at last now the sun was finally setting. And as he lay there contemplating the fading dusk, his flatmate's head wormed its way around the screen door. "Aren't you at all worried about the exam tomorrow?" Harrison simply shrugged. What was there to worry about?

Preparing for the HSK exam? We recommend a long-term strategy of test preparation coupled with vocabulary review and extensive listening: take several practice HSK tests daily, and couple the exercises with regular vocab review. Also remember that all questions you answer incorrectly will be saved for review on your test tracking page. This will save considerable time over preparing with other materials. Good luck!

Intermediate - A Murder Mystery

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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."

Film Friday - A Fashionable Blockbuster

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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!

Absolute Beginners - How about Korean Food

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Writing - The Closing Point

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Today we're pleased to bring you the sixth lesson in our ongoing series on how to write Chinese characters. And you may be surprised to learn we're almost done covering the rules. We're already taught you the most important guidelines for getting your stroke order correct. What remains is relatively minor points, like remembering to draw final dots in the upper right-hand corner last.

后写右上点：犬、术、书、发、弋、戈、尤、成、咸、求、代、械、找、我、或、伏、甫

If you're totally new to Chinese and enter panic mode whenever someone hands you a pen, relax and start from our first lesson. Otherwise, click through to our Writing Pad and just practice writing the characters we've selected for you. We think you'll have mastered this rule in a few minutes. And if you're not a premium subscriber but still want to practice your writing skills, head over to our public Writing Pad, which will serve up these characters and many more in rotation until you can write them in your sleep.

Speaking Practice - Tone Sandhi in the Chinese Word for No

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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 不. 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....

HSK Intermediate - Fill-in-the-Blanks Exercise #23

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Taking Sunday off but looking for a way to avoid feeling guilty about it? How about spending fifteen minutes on our latest Intermediate HSK test. Designed for anyone working for intermediate certification in China's standard proficiency test, this will help you identify your problems with Chinese grammar, and shore up your weak points with vocabulary. And once you're done you can indulge in sloth for the rest of the day and feel good about it!

In a real test situation, you'd be expected to complete these fifteen questions in twelve minutes. If you're taking our test online, you can check your total time taken on the answer page. Your time will be shown in the top right-hand column right below your score.

Film Friday - Jobs and Jets

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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!

Elementary - The Honest Cabbie

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - The Legend of the oPhone

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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: 你看的是什么书 and 你看的书是什么. Both are grammatically correct, but they actually mean different things.

Speaking Practice - The Most Popular Beer in China

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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.

HSK Advanced - Find-the-Mistake Exercise #8

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Even students who've studied Chinese for years tend to find the Advanced HSK test quite challenging. The presence of these find-the-mistake questions are one of the major reasons why. Instead of being asked to identify a missing word from a sentence, students are instead expected to identify the portion of a longer passage that has a problem in its grammar or word usage. There is still a twenty-five percent chance of being right through random guessing, but that shouldn't be a comfort to anyone looking for certification.

And don't forget that the clock is ticking. As with all of the other multiple choice questions on the HSK, you are expected to complete each question in just over 45 seconds. That gives you approximately 12 minutes to complete these 15 sample questions. Good luck!

Intermediate - The Nobel Peace Prize

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Announcements - Our Exciting October Newsletter

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

We just sent out our latest monthly newsletter by email late last night Beijing-time. If you got this (or didn't) and want that to change, customize your email preferences on your account page, or just send us an email.

Anyone else find it strange to see Jiang Zemin looking so old (frail?) in the military parade on October 1st? Or notice Li Peng by his conspicuous absence? We've become so adept to overwhelming growth and change here in Beijing that it's sometimes jarring to get such a visible reminder of how long China has been developing at this pace.

On a smaller scale, in the last month we've eaten a lot of mooncakes, added more than twenty five lessons to our archives (including a new video feature), and overhauled our annotated news service. We've worked to keep prices low, and are pleased to be able to continue offering basic and premium subscriptions for only $49.99 and $149.99 per year respectively. If you haven't yet, you can subscribe anytime.

And now the undead:

* Plants vs. Zombies - A Great Chinese Computer Game*

If you value your productivity you should skip this section. Otherwise, if you're looking for an addictive computer game that will help your reading comprehension, we highly recommend grabbing the Chinese edition of the popular game Plants Versus Zombies (植物大战僵尸). You can get a free copy courtesy of Tencent, the company that runs the popular chat program QQ:

http://games.qq.com/zt/2009/zwjs/

Although some of the sound effects are still in English, the entire interface has been translated into Chinese along with the interstitial story screens. The Chinese translation is great, and the game has the same playful and addictive atmosphere as its English counterpart. And most importantly, it's incredible fun. As you work through it, you'll learn a heap of Zombie and plant-related vocabulary, and perhaps even come to sympathize with the undead.

* Popup Chinese University *

We've fielded a lot of questions about our University package since adding the option to our subscription page. If you've wondered about this too, the short version is that our University program is a three month one-on-one study package. Our tutoring is done over the phone, although we have teachers in most first-tier cities in China at this point.

Whenever anyone writes to ask about the program, our first step is to offer them a free trial to see if the fit is right. But there's no reason this needs to be a dark secret. So if you're interested, send Echo an email at echo@popupchinese.com and ask her to arrange a free class. You'll get 20 minutes of free one-on-one instruction that should give you a sense for what it's like to study with us, and give us a feel for your level and goals. We promise not to hunt you down if you decide not to sign up, so if you're on the fence give it a shot. You may be surprised how much better our system works than a traditional classroom.

* Our Popular Lessons *

* Absolute Beginners: I'm Hungry You Fools *

Office lunch tip; when you're hungry let the world know. Loud and repeated complaints are often enough to goad colleagues into ordering food. Intended for absolute beginners to the Chinese language, this lesson will teach you all the mandarin you need to demand others feed you. Just repeat until someone picks up the phone. [http://popupchinese.com/lessons/absolute-beginners/you-found-what-in-the-fridge]

* Elementary: I Am Not A Spy *

We tried a new format with this lesson and think it worked. Instead of a single dialogue, this podcast has four mini-dialogues around our central theme. We had a great time recording this, especially Tiansen whose newfound command of the French language will doubtless delight the École Nationale. Since once you're at the intermediate level you're bound to face questions about this sort of thing from lovers and customs officials, it helps to prepare in advance. [http://popupchinese.com/lessons/elementary/i-am-not-a-spy]

* Intermediate: The Gay Vampire, Part II *

You read that correctly: we had two podcasts about Gay Vampires this month. The dialogue in our second one goes in a bit of an unexpected direction and so we like it a bit more. They're both pretty good though, and if you're looking for great learning material at the intermediate level they're hard to beat. [http://popupchinese.com/lessons/intermediate/the-gay-vampire-part-ii]

* Advanced: The Foolish Man and the Mountain *

This famous wartime speech by Mao Zedong is now part of our collection of annotated short stories, complete with manually annotated mouseover popups. If you're interested in reading the *original* version of the referenced Chinese fable (and don't mind getting your hands dirty with classical Chinese) we have it manually annotated in the footnotes as well. So consider this a two-for-one: double the knowledge for half the work. [http://popupchinese.com/lessons/short-stories/the-foolish-man-and-the-mountain]

And that's our newsletter for this month. As always, we're grateful to everyone who's taken the plunge and supported us to date with a paid subscription. You guys rock. And if you haven't, we're sure you rock too, but encourage you to feel guilty about the freeloading until the crushing burden of all those sleepless nights forces you from your bedsheets with credit card in hand. Or something like that.

Best from us all,

The Popup Team

Elementary - No, you cannot build a swimming pool in our backyard....

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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!

Short Stories - The Foolish Man and the Mountain

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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.

HSK Beginner - Listening Exercise #5

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 12:00:00 -0700

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.

Film Friday - Adventures in the Maintenance Tunnel

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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!

Absolute Beginners - Where does it hurt?

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - The Airlock

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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!

Speaking Practice - Tone Sandhi with a Three-Two Punch

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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!

Announcements - Learn Chinese with Video

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

When we relaunched Popup Chinese, we hinted at a number of new features slated for release. Today we're pleased to announce the first: new video lessons. Join Anthony and Gail in this short video as they grab a drink at a local cafe in support of our new video lessons and their more interactive features.

To get started, just click on the video player to our left. You should see a lightbox appear with our video in it. As you watch the video, you'll notice an annotated transcript appear alongside it. You can click anytime to pause the video and mouseover the transcript for our manually-edited popups. And if you're looking for an extra challenge, you can also enter dictation mode. This will play the video, but stop it occasionally to test your listening comprehension. Provide the missing Chinese characters when prompted. The video will only continue when you enter them correctly.

As always, all of our features are under active development. If you have any feedback or suggestions please send them to us at service@popupchinese.com.

Elementary - The Shark Tank

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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!

KTV Wednesday - Pu Shu - Radio in My Head

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Last Saturday, I experienced a sort of freedom I wasn't used to finding in China. I'd caught a late night flight back to Beijing from Shenzhen, and it was early morning by the time our plane touched down in the capital. Outside the airport past sleeping carousels and a deserted lobby, the night was empty save for a straggle of cabs huddled near the terminal doors. I hailed one and we pulled out for the hazy glow of the downtown core.

My driver looked maybe twenty-one. He was poor, from out of town, and without much in the way of prospects. But as we drove down the empty highway this song came on and he turned up the radio. And soon we were coasting through the night with the winds whistling outside and the speakers surging with adrenaline. The world reduced itself to a certain kind of motion through time and music. There was a sort of freedom and escape there. And it came from this:

If you like this song, be sure to check out the other songs we've covered by Pu Shu: Upset Only Fool, and Those Flowers. As always, there's some great music in China if you know where to look, or know how to let it find you. As usual, we've linked to the Youtube version of this song. If you're in China you can find a local copy on Youku here.

--dave

Absolute Beginners - You found what in the fridge?

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Elementary - I am not a Spy

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Film Friday - Does Not Compute

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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.

HSK Intermediate - Fill-in-the-Blanks Exercise #22

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Our practice HSK test for today is designed for students preparing to take the intermediate level in China's national test for measuring the Chinese language proficiency of non-native speakers. This is the level of the exam you will need to pass to gain admission into Chinese language programs in mainland universities. In a real test environment, you would have 45 seconds to answer each of these questions, so pace yourself well. And if you have any questions or problems, feel free to leave a comment in our discussion section, or email us by writing Echo at echo@popupchinese.com.

Intermediate - The Gay Vampire, Part II

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Intermediate - The Gay Vampire

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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.

HSK Beginner - Fill-in-the-Blanks Exercise #31

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Dirk Pitt spat out his last mouthful of gravel and sized-up the underground bunker into which he had just emerged. After two weeks of intense burrowing, the world-famous oceanographer had finally succeeded in gnawing his way through the five miles of solid granite that protected the private sanctum of the HSK Consortium from prying eyes and nuclear attack. His colleagues in the Navy had called his plans to "take on the HSK" ludicrous, but what did they know....

HSK Tip #724: no matter how difficult the test might seem now, it is considerably easier than gnawing through five miles of solid granite. Keep things in perspective.

Writing - The Starting Point

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Our writing lesson for today brings us a bit more than halfway through our list of rules for how to write Chinese characters. It also brings the number of characters recognized by our Chinese Writing Pad to around 160 hanzi in both simplified and traditional form.

先写左上点：为、门、们、闲、闷、问、闩、闭

And our new rule for you is very simple. Chinese has some characters and radicals with a dot in their upper-left corner. In all cases you want to write this dot first. There is a common variant in characters with the 门 radical that involves writing the long vertical stroke first and if you do this no-one is going to lose any sleep, but you'll end up having more trouble with cursive character input so we recommend sticking to the standards. As always, if you're a premium subscriber you can click through to the writing section of this lesson and practice until this is second nature.

Advanced - How to Speak Shanghainese

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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.

KTV Wednesday - Sun Yanzi - My Happiness

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

We've covered Stephanie Sun before. Like a lot of other Chinese singers (even really great ones like Wang Fei), her albums tend to be collections of standalone songs that hit-and-miss on their own merits rather than collections which work well together. Our selection for today is pretty good though, and we hope you like it:

Note: our embedded video is being served off Youtube. If you're in China and have trouble viewing the embedded video, you can find a more local copy here on Youku.com.

HSK Advanced - Fill-in-the-Blanks Exercise #12

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Today we're pleased to bring you an advanced HSK test. This has 15 questions of mind-bending difficulty and is designed for you if you have over 3000 hours of study under your belt. If you're currently at the intermediate level and are pushing your way to advanced, we recommend preparing through a twin approach of extensive reading while working through our test archive. And remember to review occasionally too: if you're a premium subscriber our system will automatically save any questions you get wrong for review later.

Speaking Practice - A Face like a Kite

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:00:00 -0700

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.

Absolute Beginners - I'm Hungry, You Fools!

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Film Friday - The Missing Shirt

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

"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!

Intermediate - McDonalds Delivery Hotline

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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.

KTV Wednesday - Khalil Fong - Red Bean

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Our selection this week is a cover of the famous Wang Fei song of the same name. If you've spent any time in China we're sure you've heard the original version. But you may not have run into this cover yet, as recorded by Khalil Fong, an up-and-coming Chinese-American singer who is beginning to make waves in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

"No-one knows what Wang Fei was really writing about," Echo tried to explain to us. "It's about loneliness and pain, and wanting to be with someone who doesn't want you." There was silence as the room digested this. "I don't know what the bit about red bean stew is about, although red beans are symbols for missing someone in China," she added, "so it's suggestive even if it doesn't make sense literally."

As with all of our songs on KTV Wednesday, if you have any trouble understanding the lyrics just click through to our text page. There, you can consult our manually edited word-by-word popups and consult our line-by-line translations of the original Chinese. And if you enjoy this song, be sure to check out the other songs we have from Wang Fei as part of our KTV Wednesday series. A version of the song is also available on Youtube.

HSK Intermediate - Fill-in-the-Blanks Exercise #21

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:00:00 -0700

The last time Elizabeth had been in Beijing it was as a student. Fresh out of university, she had spent two years studying mandarin in the student quarters in Wudaokou, pouring through books and podcasts by day and exploring the city by night. It had been a wild and somewhat carefree existence. And now she would be spending her days in the CBD, and her evenings wining and dining local partners. A different world indeed.

The last year had been a year of change. After returning home a series of almost bizarre accidents brought her to the attention of the Alcoa board. One of the first Western aluminum outfits to focus on China in the early 1980s, the company had rolled out more expansive operations throughout the 1990s and found itself is short supply of people like Elizabeth: smart, bilingual and dedicated staff who were as comfortable in the Orient as back home. Desperate for someone with her skills, the company had quickly promoted her to associate liaison for the China accounts. This trip would test whether and how quickly she would go further.

Elementary - My Brother is Good Looking

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Absolute Beginners - Pinyin Practice - Xi

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Writing - The Closing Seal

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

In our previous lesson on how to write Chinese characters we taught you to draw the interior of boxes only after creating the surrounding framework. Today we add a small extra rule that will help you finish them off:

先外后里再封口：（先进入后关门）日、四、田、回、国、目、由、且、曲、困、因、园、圆、团、图、圈、囚、围

In all of the characters listed above, the final stroke drawn is the very bottom stroke. This "seals" the box and is written after the interior components are all drawn. This rule is really easy to remember. To start practicing, just click through to the writing section of this lesson and practice on our selection of relevant characters. If you are not a premium subscriber, you can still practice writing characters by visiting our public chinese writing tool.

Speaking Practice - The System Upgrade

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Hal had been acting strangely since the upgrade. "I'm sorry Dave," the machine blinked quietly. "I can't let you download the lesson PDF.... I'm afraid that would jeopardize the mission."

Hopefully our newly upgraded system is not conspiring against us. In our speaking practice lesson for today we do want to hear what you think though. Is the new layout more intuitive or less? Is the redesigned lesson page an improvement, and what steps do we need to take with Popup Chinese to keep improving. Think of this lesson as more than an opportunity to get feedback on your spoken Chinese. It's an opportunity to help us identify areas to improve moving forward.

Since the words you'll need to discuss our website are somewhat specialized, we recommend visiting our vocabulary page for a list of words and phrases we think may come in useful. Then click through to our text page to grab our toll-free telephone number and your personal PIN number. Give us a call, enter your PIN number and start recording your message when prompted. Our teachers will review your recording and get back to you with personal feedback in a day or two.

Elementary - The Upsell

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

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.

Announcements - A New Year, A Better Platform

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

It was almost a year ago we launched Popup Chinese to a small group of beta testers. In the year since we've become the recognized leader in the field of online Chinese education here in Beijing. We're proud to be pushing the envelope and grateful for all the support you've given, especially those of you who had the confidence in us to subscribe during our first few months. Thank you.

The big news today is the release of the newest version of our website, the latest salvo in our ongoing battle to provide incredible tools for learning Chinese at a price comparable to that of a standard textbook. In addition to a fresh look and more mass market pricing scheme, we have a few new features we're pushing out with this release. Other features are slated for release as early as September (there are hints as to what these are scattered through our new site copy). In the meantime, here are the changes you should notice immediately:

Easier Navigation: we've redesigned our whole navigation system based on your feedback to make it easier to find things. Our test prep materials are more front-and-center, as are the vocab and test review functions. Single-Click HSK: our HSK flashcards, HSK wordlists and HSK test materials are all available with a single click. If you're preparing for the HSK test bookmark them and come back every day. There is no faster or more convenient way. The Writing Pad: previously available only to premium subscribers as part of our lesson series on how to write Chinese characters, our Writing Pad is a great tool that supports over 100 characters in both the simplified and traditional script. It will teach you to write Chinese characters properly and in the correct proportion. Chinese Comments: we've integrated a Chinese IME to our comment fields, so that you can write in Chinese even if you're not at a computer that supports native Chinese input. Shouldn't life be this easy? Better Search: it isn't perfect yet, but we're moving towards having a more comprehensive site search that indexes all of our lesson content, including sample sentences, and suggests related lessons based on the subject searched. This is a step in the right direction.

As with any tech upgrade of this magnitude, there are doubtless going to be minor bugs and inconveniences. Please have patience - fixing any issues is our top priority. If you do notice a problem or have any other suggestions please let us know by sending a note to service@popupchinese.com.

Film Friday - Counterstrike

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

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.

Advanced - Saturday Morning Cartoons

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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....

HSK Beginner - Fill-in-the-Blanks Exercise #30

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Forty seconds from re-entry, as the shuttle began to hit the first thin wisps of the upper atmosphere, Edward unstrapped himself from the pilot's chair and clambered out towards the galley. "I'm not feeling too up on my descent velocities," he explained as the rest of the crew looked on in numbed horror. "Thought I'd get some last-minute review in before we hit terminal velocity."

Popup Chinese reminds you: cramming is not an effective learning strategy. Your best approach is to lay aside a modest amount of time on a continual basis and incorporate Chinese study into your other routine activities. We recommend taking several new tests each week while reviewing the questions and vocabulary you've previously answered incorrectly. This provides a low-pressure way of mastering the HSK that will ensure you don't forget key points in high pressure situations.

Absolute Beginners - The Worst Joke in China

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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?

Film Friday - Situation Normal

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

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.

HSK Beginner - Positioning Exercise #3

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Maria watched her daughter with a curious fascination as the child struggled to force the plastic green triangle into the space intended for the blue cube. Tears welled in her eyes as a quiet desperation set in. It had been ages since Jack had brought his old childhood playset home for their daughter, yet weeks of practice had brought her no closer to any basic mastery of shapes or colors.

Now, we're not actually comparing you to a toddler if you get these wrong, but for a native Chinese speaker, these positioning questions are about as difficult as fitting the square cube into the square hole. More advanced students should be able to ace these questions using intuition alone. If you haven't developed this feeling yet, focus on the part of speech of the proffered word and eliminate the ungrammatical possibilities until the only correct answer remains.

Intermediate - Your Dog Looks a Little....

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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.

Writing - Radicals within Radicals

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

In our previous lessons on how to write Chinese characters we taught you the two fundamental rules for drawing Chinese characters. Draw them from left to right and top to bottom. Today we add a third rule of thumb that is just as easy to remember:

从外到内：月、风、内、肉、用、周、网、同、义、床、厅、闲、闭、问、闻、闯、病、疼、房、局、句、勾、勺

As in the list above, Chinese has many characters with a box-like structure. It is common to run into characters with strokes or radicals drawn inside spaces created by other strokes or radicals. A good example is the character 闲, which has the 木 radical drawn inside the 门 radical. The general rule of thumb in these cases is to draw our exterior casing first, and then fill in the interior.

There are a few exceptions to this rule that we will cover in later lessons. But generally speaking, if you can keep these three rules in mind you are already capable of correctly writing about 70 percent of the Chinese characters out there. So click through to the Writing section of this lesson and start practicing. Our Writing Pad will correct any mistakes you make and help you internalize proper stroke order. It is also a lot of fun. Once you know the proper stroke order print out a copy of our hanzi writing sheets for practice on the go and incorporate character writing into your regular study program. Good luck and happy writing!

Speaking Practice - Windows versus Mac

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

It is the defining dichotomy of our age: which operating system do you use, and why? And that's why we're going to give you the chance to talk all about it in our speaking practice lesson for today. Just pick up the phone and call us. And if you're feeling particularly at a loss for words, check out our vocabulary section where we've compiled a number of related words that might come in handy for expressing your love-hate relationship with high tech.

Premium subscribers please visit our text page, dial the toll-free telephone number listed there and key in your PIN number. Then tell us your stories of computing misery or glory. Once you've finished your call your recording will be automatically submitted to our teachers for review. We'll listen and get back to you in a day or two with feedback on your spoken Chinese.

Film Friday - University Days

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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.

HSK Intermediate - Listening Exercise #7

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

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!

KTV Wednesday - Zhang Xuan - Baby

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:00:00 -0700

Zhang Xuan is an upcoming singer from Taiwan who got her start playing in bars and other live music venues in Taipei. "Baby" is probably her most famous song, and we hope you'll like it as much as we do. A simple love song set to acoustic guitar, the lyrics have a childlike sense of wonder and endearment. That's the feeling we get from the constantly doubled lyrics, at least. They're sweet.

Note: if you're in China you can also find this video on Youku.com.

On a closing note, it's worth mentioning that Zhang released her newest album "City" earlier this year. None of the songs on it are yet as recognizable as this one, but we think it is going to be her breakout album, so you might want to check it out the next time you're in a music shop.