Talk to Me in Chinese

Candice is a native Mandarin speaker and teacher who has lived in multiple countries, and that international perspective shapes the bilingual conversations on this show. Episodes run 20 to 35 minutes and explore East-West cultural differences, daily life observations, and all sorts of topics that make for natural conversation practice. The Chinese name of the show, Liaoliao Dongxi, loosely translates to chatting about this and that, which captures the informal vibe perfectly. Candice has a real talent for using simple, common vocabulary while keeping the flow natural, which makes this ideal for lower to mid-intermediate learners. You hear how a real Chinese speaker constructs sentences without the artificial simplification of textbook dialogues. The 4.9-star rating from 79 reviews is outstanding, and 81 episodes give you a solid catalog to work through. PDF scripts and subtitled videos with pinyin are available through Patreon for those who want to study more deeply. The bimonthly release schedule means new episodes are spaced out, so this works best as part of a rotation rather than your only source of input. But the quality of each episode punches well above what you might expect from what is essentially a one-person operation.