#studying resources
When studying a language, I truly think if you want to improve your everyday listening and speaking, watching youtubers/content creators is invaluable.
BTW, you can also find me on HelloTalk (@a_lucie_58910) or instagram (@luc_9999)
Why use Youtubers to study Chinese?
1. They are not creating content specifically for learners of the language, hence they will use the most natural, native language (including chengyus etc.)
2. They chengyus they use will be ones that people use in real life (as opposed to a study resource that attempts to teach you chengyus, its not necessarily a bad thing, you should learn chengyus, but how do you know if they are ones that are commonly used spoken? If you here somebody using it in natural speech you will inevitably know it is one used in every speech. Therefore, you should make note of learning such chengyus. This also applies for grammar patterns and phrases as well. Basically, you wont sound like you learned from a textbook if you learn from native speakers in natural settings
3. The content is interesting. I love lifestyle bloggers, from telling you about a life story to helping their listeners by giving the advice, there is a lot of lengthy content to help you with your listening.
Below are 3 of my favourite Up主 because;
1. A lot of the content is in a simple, natural, chatting to the camera sort of format (just like a friend would chat with you)
2. They use chengyus in a natural way
3. They stories are interesting and relatable (i.e. I am a woman in my mid-20s to 30s as these content creators are. So the content is of interest to me. I am sorry I am unable to share content that is male-oriented. There should be an abundance on Bilibili/YT for you to find if lifestyle isn’t your interest.
1. MsLindaY
I have followed Linda since about 2016 actually, at the time I didn’t understand her videos, even after repeatedly watching them. I would download the audios onto my phone and listen on repeat. It definitely helped and now I can watch the videos, understanding the majority of content. She uses chengyus in a natural way and I have learnt many from her channel. I am eternally grateful for her content actually and have kept meaning to send her an email to thank her for these years of helping me in my Chinese learning journey!
She has a Linda讲故事 series and they are all about 40+ minutes long, GREAT LISTENING MATERIAL! as well us chatty GRWM videos etc. and she has videos that present American culture to her viewers (she lived in the US from her late teens if I do believe).
2. Tracey Chang 翠西
Tracey was a TV host on various Chinese news channels and is bilingual (she grew up in US but is from Beijing). She scatters English in her videos (but not in the annoying way that I see some uploaders… I don’t know why, it grates on me hahaha, but anyway :P)
Her videos are also about chatty GRWMs, videos talking about a certain topic (such as her employment history or what its like to work on Wall Street, or her and her husband’s LDR story). She has just given birth so recently has many videos related to pregnancy and being a mum also!
For me Tracey is very inspiring because she not only creates interesting content, she is bilingual and she is very interested in current affairs and business, she epitomises the ‘working woman’ it shows through her videos.
3. 维多 Vittos
Vittos is a blogger that posts her content mainly on bilibili, she has many long videos that talk about topics related to being a better person, self-care from within and loving yourself etc. to be totally honest, I’m not sure its the sort of content I’d watch in English, but in Chinese its great as, again, its natural language and not too difficult, just like a friend chatting with you. Videos are often up to 20 to 30 minutes long.
The below video is her recounting her study abroad experience in Italy (she speaks Italian!)
(click on the link to go to bilibli below)
https://www.bilibili.com/video/av77109513?t=2120
What are some of your favourite creators? I’d love to know for even more inspiration. Please share so we can learn and improve together :)
Here are recent podcasts I have discovered that I think are suitable for intermediate learners. They are 100% or 99% in Chinese and are suitable to listen when you are on the bus, cleaning your room or eating your dinner (basically, great for studying in that ‘fragmented time’)
Additionally, if you find the RSS code for each podcast you can add it into the Feedly app so you can easily organise in one place and listen on your phone. I can do a tutorial on this if you’d like?
左右汉语 Intermediate Chinese
This podcast is presented by a single host and discusses a new phrase or chengyu in a natural way with many example sentences. It’s good for easy listening whilst learning something useful along the way.
https://podbay.fm/podcast/1195293457
iMandarinPod
This has resources for beginner to lower advanced. It has great dialogues with explanations and new vocab for the intermediate classes. The lower advanced podcasts are in the format of slow news segments, and the transcripts are available. The news segment resource is invaluable and something I’ve not seen elsewhere.
https://podbay.fm/podcast/214936144
Speak Chinese Naturally
This podcast is also in the format with one host and is essentially all in Chinese. Its an ongoing podcast and is updated regularly.
https://podbay.fm/podcast/1459401769
World Languages - discussions on Australia
I podcast that is no longer active, there are about 6 episodes discussing Australian culture in slow Chinese. It perfect for us who already are familiar with western culture but hearing it discussed in Chinese. It is easy to follow and a discussion between two hosts
https://podbay.fm/podcast/250276067
Bonus resource for lower intermediate learners:
Mandarin / English
This is a bilingual podcast (an English native speaks English and a Chinese speaks Chinese). The discussions are interesting and not so ‘boring beginner’ topics that all podcasts discuss and become very samey. For example, one episode discusses Investing. Because there is one host speaking English you can keep up with the more difficult content and makes for easy listening. To be honest, I’d prefer if the Chinese host spoke more but it’s about even, but otherwise its a great podcast all in all.
Hi all
Please see my list of resources and method for listening practice:
Podcast resource links:
Free with transcripts:
*https://www.slow-chinese.com/podcast/
http://justlearnchinese.com/mini-novels/
*https://www.learningchinesethroughstories.com/
Not free:
No transcripts:
Other video resource tips:
YouTube has a lot of individual user content, a bit like the sort of make up tutorial videos you may enjoy or best is users who create those ‘tag’ videos, daily vlogs or ‘story time’ videos… such as the video below. It is best as it is natural, unscripted spoken language.
As a female that’s the sort of content I like to see and I’m sure there is content geared for people who don’t really watch make up videos etc. (if anyone could suggest more ‘male oriented content’ in the comments that would be useful too :)
On YouTube videos you can slow down the speed on the video to x.75 under settings.
Another useful tool for MP3s is an app such as Audiopo which slows down/speeds up mp3 files that you have on your phone (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.ne.sakura.ccice.audipo&hl=en) [see my previous post for a demo].
How to study with the audio/video resources:
I use a similar fashion for studying audios as with reading [see my previous post] and will make a detailed future post. Essentially, I post a transcript and listen several times to the audio (whilst cooking, walking, doing sport etc.) and then read the transcript once I am familiar with the audio, highlight unknown words and add to Anki for my daily vocab review, continue to listen to audios and archive at the end of the week. [I do all this using OneNote and you can see exactly how I use it in my ‘reading’ post!
If you have any useful resources or tips for efficient language learning please feel free to share :D :D
I have talked in a previous post about listening to an audio several times to improve listening skills. Another important aspect is slowing down the speed if it is difficult material. You can also speed audios up once you have learnt the new vocab and listened several times (i find this especially good for podcasts aimed at language learners [for example Slow Chinese/慢速中文] as they tend to be slower)
YouTube has a great function for if you want to watch some youtube video creators/TV shows + films but can’t quite listen at full speed.
There are several apps out there that can reduce/increase the speed of audio on your mobile. I currently use Audiopo
