Struggling with listening comprehension in Chinese? You're not alone—and this episode is here to help. Jared Turner and John Pasden dive into practical, tech-powered strategies for sharpening your Chinese listening skills using AI transcription tools and other smart resources.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to use AI tools to turn Chinese audio into transcripts you can study.

• Why listening comprehension is often one of the hardest skills—and how to make it easier.

• How to “train your ear” with slowed-down, AI-generated audio.

• Ways to leverage native content such as TV shows, songs, podcasts, YouTube videos, and make them more accessible for learning.

• The value of transcribing your own Chinese speaking to catch patterns, mistakes, and growth areas.

John and Jared walk you through real-world workflows, tools they’ve personally used, and the best types of media for improving listening. Whether you’re trying to understand a native podcast, follow along with a Chinese drama, or make sense of a street conversation you recorded, this episode gives you a clear roadmap for turning audio into insight and comprehension.

Listening doesn’t have to be your weak spot. With today’s tools, it can become your strength.

Links from the episode:

• TurboScribe | AI transcription tool

• Language Jones & Anki Hyper TTS | YouTube

• "Duìbùqǐ Wǒ de Zhōngwén Bù Hǎo" | Sung by Transition on YouTube

• “One Semester of Spanish - Love Song” | YouTube

• Mandarin Companion Graded Readers
  

in this episode, Jared sits down with Alexander Brose, President & CEO of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada, to trace his remarkable journey learning Chinese and how it shaped his life and career in unexpected ways.

From his early years living in South Korea with his family, to choosing Mandarin over Cantonese at an international school in Hong Kong, Alex shares how Chinese gradually became part of his identity. He continued studying the language through high school and later majored in Asian Studies at Cornell University. A pivotal summer in Harbin with the CET immersion program further deepened both his language skills and cultural connection to China.

Alex’s path led him to build cross-cultural musical collaborations between China and the U.S., eventually becoming the founding Executive Director of the Tianjin Juilliard School. He reflects on how speaking Chinese created unique professional opportunities, opened doors to deep cultural understanding, and enabled him to be at the forefront of classical music education in China.

Throughout the episode, Alex offers thoughtful reflections on the value of immersion, the challenges of maintaining language confidence, and the power of music as a bridge between cultures.

Links from the episode:

• Alexander Brose | Royal Conservatory of Music (Canada)

• Mandarin Companion Graded Readers

• CET Academic Programs

• From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China | IMDB

Is handwriting Chinese characters slowing you down? In today’s digital world, does it still make sense to focus on writing by hand or should you just type? In this episode, Jared and John dive deep into this hot-button issue for Chinese learners: handwriting vs. typing.

Pulling insights from a research paper by Chinese Breeze creator Chengzhi Chu (储诚志), they explore how character instruction is evolving and why prioritizing typing can make your learning faster, more efficient, and less frustrating, especially for adult learners.

They’ll break down:

• Why typing Chinese is not “cheating”, it’s how Chinese is actually used today

• How handwriting can become a bottleneck to fluency and motivation

• What it really means to “know” a character in the modern era

• The myth of muscle memory and why stroke order perfection isn’t essential

• Why it’s okay to treat handwriting as a hobby, not a core skill

You’ll also hear how character writing has changed more in the past 20 years than the previous 2000, the "three eras" of Chinese writing, and how modern teachers are shifting to a “typing-first, handwriting-second” approach in classrooms around the world.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by handwriting or wondered if you’re “doing it wrong” by typing, this episode will give you the clarity, and permission, you need to move forward confidently.

Links from the episode:

• The Evolution of Hanzi Proficiency and the E-Writing Transformation of L2 Chinese Teaching in the Digital Age | Paper by Chengzhi Chu

• Mandarin Companion Graded Readers

• Learn Chinese Characters by Reading (the book)

• Learn Chinese Characters by Reading (free resources for 200 characters)