Links:

✏️ Skritter - Learn to write Chinese

skritter.com?ref=mandarinmonkey

Use promoCode: MANDARINMONKEY

for 10% off everything

🐵 Learn Mandarin with us: https://mandarinmonkey.com/

🎮 Check out our Monkey Plays channel:

/ @monkeyplaysmandarin

❤️ Support Monkey Plays Patreon Page: https://patreon.com/monkeyplaysgames?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink

🗣️ Want more opportunities to speak Mandarin outside of lessons?

Join learners from around the world for fun discussions, games, and real conversations in our Mandarin Hangouts.

Start speaking more Mandarrin today: https://mandarinmonkey.com/hangouts/

Description:

Are you spending too much time studying Mandarin grammar instead of actually speaking Mandarin? 👀

In Episode 478 of the Mandarin Monkey Podcast, Ula and Tom talk about why grammar can sometimes become an excuse NOT to speak and why using Mandarin, making mistakes, repeating sentences and accepting how the language works can be much more useful for improving your communication.

Of course… this is Mandarin Monkey, so we also somehow end up talking about:

🥜 Where almond milk really comes from 😂

🦷 What toothpaste flavour should exist besides mint

🤔 Why Richard becomes “Dick” and Robert becomes “Bob”

🧪 Completely useless Mandarin chemical vocabulary

👓 A listener who built a smart-glasses app that displays Mandarin and English subtitles while listening to Mandarin Monkey

🧋 And a truly disgusting bubble tea video idea…

We also share an update about the brand-new Mandarin Monkey website we’ve been building, including a new credit system, learning tools, teacher feedback, homework, flashcards and more flexible lesson booking.

This is a natural Mandarin & English bilingual conversation for Mandarin learners who want to hear how Mandarin is actually used in relaxed, everyday conversation.

🎧 Listen, laugh, pick up some Mandarin and most importantly — USE IT!

🌐 Mandarin lessons & more: MandarinMonkey.com

📩 Listener emails: chat@mandarinmonkey.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Links:

✏️ Skritter - Learn to write Chinese

skritter.com?ref=mandarinmonkey

Use promoCode: MANDARINMONKEY

for 10% off everything

🐵 Learn Mandarin with us: https://mandarinmonkey.com/

🎮 Check out our Monkey Plays channel:

/ @monkeyplaysmandarin

❤️ Support Monkey Plays Patreon Page: https://patreon.com/monkeyplaysgames?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink

🗣️ Want more opportunities to speak Mandarin outside of lessons?

Join learners from around the world for fun discussions, games, and real conversations in our Mandarin Hangouts.

Start speaking more Mandarrin today: https://mandarinmonkey.com/hangouts/

Description

This week, we’re looking back at our Isle of Wight hiking and camping adventure. A trip full of beautiful coastal walks, little discoveries, good food, sore legs, and plenty of memories.

We talk about walking from Yarmouth towards Totland, exploring The Needles, camping by the sea, enjoying cups of tea along the way, discovering new places, and figuring out what kind of travelling and hiking we actually enjoy most.

Some highlights from the trip:

🥾 Beautiful walks through forests, fields and along the coast

🌊 Visiting The Needles and enjoying the amazing sea views

🏕️ Camping in different parts of the Isle of Wight

☕ Making tea during our hikes

🍦 Stopping for ice cream after a long walk

🐄 Meeting some very curious cows along the way

🚲 Talking about trying electric bikes for our next adventure

❤️ And deciding that we’d definitely like to visit the Isle of Wight again

Of course, there were a few challenges too! Heavy backpacks, tired feet and figuring out the best way to travel. But overall it was such a fun experience and we learned a lot about how we’d plan our next adventure.

As always, we naturally switch between Mandarin Chinese and English while chatting about travel, British life, relationships, language and everyday experiences.

If you’re learning Mandarin and want to hear relaxed, natural Chinese and English conversation, come hang out with us!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Links:

✏️ Skritter - Learn to write Chinese

skritter.com?ref=mandarinmonkey

Use promoCode: MANDARINMONKEY

for 10% off everything

🐵 Learn Mandarin with us: https://mandarinmonkey.com/

🎮 Check out our Monkey Plays channel:

/ @monkeyplaysmandarin

❤️ Support Monkey Plays Patreon Page: https://patreon.com/monkeyplaysgames?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink

🗣️ Want more opportunities to speak Mandarin outside of lessons?

Join learners from around the world for fun discussions, games, and real conversations in our Mandarin Hangouts.

Start speaking more Mandarrin today: https://mandarinmonkey.com/hangouts/

Description:

How much money is enough? And what’s the point of saving if you never actually enjoy it?

In Episode 476 of the Mandarin Monkey Podcast, we get into money, rainy-day savings, financial freedom, lifestyle creep, travelling, helping your parents, creating memories for your kids, and what being “wealthy” actually means.

Then the conversation moves into something even deeper: where is home when you’ve lived between different countries and cultures for years?

We talk about Taiwan vs the UK, feeling like you belong somewhere, how living abroad changes you, raising multicultural kids, and whether sending the kids to Taiwan for Mandarin immersion could help bring their Chinese back.

As always, it’s a naturally bilingual English + Mandarin conversation, real-life Mandarin listening practice without the textbook conversations.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.