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Interview with Adam Bell, an American, on his journey to Mandarin Chinese fluency in Taiwan.

Listen to hear:

• What brought him to Taiwan
• His experiences studying Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan
• How he created an immersion culture for himself in Taiwan
• How he transitioned from studying Chinese to working full-time in a Taiwanese company
• His approach to learning technical vocabulary for his job
• The benefits of immersion and using Mandarin in daily life
• What he would do differently if he had to learn Chinese from scratch
• Adam’s involvement in stand-up comedy in Mandarin
• Raising a bilingual child in a mixed-language household

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:57 — 24.8MB) | Embed

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In this episode, I interview Jamie Rufe, an American now living in Taiwan.

Jamie tells us:
– What brought him to Taiwan
– Why he started learning Mandarin Chinese
– What career opportunities being able to speak Chinese got him
– The one habit that was instrumental to his Chinese progress
– The approach he recommends new Chinese learners take
– His experience working in a Chinese factory
– His recommendations for foreigners looking for a career path in Taiwan or China
– What he recommends over Stephen Krashen’s comprehensible input approach
– How AI can dramatically speed up learning Chinese
– Why he recommends that new students forego learning Chinese characters in the beginning
– How even English teachers can improve their prospects by improving their Chinese
– How to find jobs in Taiwanese and Chinese companies

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:36 — 40.9MB) | Embed

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In this episode, we interview Lamin, who moved from Gambia to Taiwan. Listen to find out:

– What brought him to Taiwan?
– What prompted him to stay in Taiwan?
– How he began learning Chinese
– When his Chinese really started to improve
– How he learned Chinese from friends
– How he made lots of local friends
– How he started learning characters
– How he started practicing writing characters
– Why he doesn’t like to be pressured
– The benefits of being able to speak Chinese
– The benefits of bopomofo (zhuyin)
– How his youtube channel helps him learn Chinese
– What he would do differently if he was to start learning Chinese again

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:09 — 23.7MB) | Embed

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Interview with Fraser Stewart on how he developed his Chinese to near native level over his past 11 years in Taiwan.

Listen to find out:

– What made Fraser choose Taiwan?
– When he first learned Chinese
– His approach learning Chinese
– How learning to read and write helps with speaking
– Was there any difficulty moving from simplified to traditional characters
– His approach to learn to write Chinese characters
– How he learned tones in Chinese
– How Chinese helps him in day to day life
– What he would do differently regarding learning Chinese
– His contact with the most famous foreigner in China

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:25 — 31.0MB) | Embed

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In this episode, I interview Michael Gordon, a Canadian living in Taiwan.

Listen to find out:

– What made Michael choose Taiwan?
– When he first learned Chinese
– How he used Chinese in Canada
– How he adapted to Chinese in Taiwan
– How his Chinese level has changed over the years
– How technology has helped with using Chinese
– How being able to speak Chinese has helped in daily life
– How his kids deal with local school
– What he would do differently regarding learning Chinese
– What he could do to improve his Chinese further

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:50 — 17.8MB) | Embed