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126 published lessons

Slow monologuesBeginner · L3

收快递

Picking Up a Parcel in China 📦 | 收快递 | Simply Natural Chinese

Your phone buzzes: your parcel has arrived. In China that one text message starts a whole little routine that nobody teaches you — and it isn't the courier knocking on your door. Dessert-shop owner Xiao Yue has three parcels waiting, so she takes you down to the smart lockers, punches in the pickup code, and then walks to the parcel station at the gate where the two bigger boxes were left. Back upstairs she can't find the scissors, opens the tape with her door key, and her cat Xiao Hua claims the empty box before Xiao Yue can even unpack the new cat bed she bought her. One parcel turns out to be the wrong colour and a size too big — which is how you learn the seven-day no-questions-asked return. Spoken slowly and clearly, with Chinese, Pinyin and English on screen the whole time.

Conversation podcastsIntermediate · L5

客气

When Chinese People Say No, They Often Mean Yes 🍰 | Chinese Listening Practice | 客气

A colleague told Leo 改天请你吃饭 — let's grab a meal some other day. He waited a month. Then he visited someone's home, copied what Chinese people do, said 不用不用不用 when offered a drink, and sat there thirsty for two hours. Both times he followed the rules, and both times he got them slightly wrong. This episode takes apart 客气 — the word everyone translates as polite and almost nobody explains. It isn't an attitude, it's a set of moves, and the rounds have to be finished. You'll learn how to hear a real no, what fifteen everyday phrases actually mean, and the reversal most learners never hear: past a certain point, being polite is what pushes people away.

Slow monologuesBeginner · L3

去理发店

Getting a Haircut in China ✂️ | 去理发店 | Simply Natural Chinese

You're sitting in the salon chair, the stylist asks what kind of cut you want — and you can't get out a single word. If that's ever been you, this episode is for you. Dessert-shop owner Xiao Yue hasn't had a haircut in three months, so she walks downstairs to her neighbourhood salon and takes you through the whole thing: checking in at the front desk, reading the price list on the wall, the hair wash (with the shoulder massage that surprises every visitor to China), and then the hardest question of all — 您今天想剪成什么样? She only manages three words, tries showing the length with her hand, and finally does the thing that actually works: pulls out her phone and shows a photo. Along the way there's the chatty stylist, the membership-card pitch you'll get at almost every salon in China, and the polite way to turn it down: 我再想想. Spoken slowly and clearly, with Chinese, Pinyin and English on screen the whole time.

Conversation podcastsIntermediate · L5

面子

Saving Face: You Were Right, They Still Got Upset 🫖 | Chinese Listening Practice | 面子

Leo corrected a colleague's English pronunciation in front of twenty people. He was right, he was polite, and the man didn't speak to him again for two weeks. This episode takes apart the concept that explains why, and that almost nobody teaches you directly: 面子. Not pride, not ego. Xiao Yue's image for it is an account held not at a bank but in the mind of everyone who knows you: other people deposit into it when they praise you in public, and withdraw when they contradict you in front of a room. You get the four verbs that change everything, the three signals that tell you a Chinese yes is really a no, and 给人一个台阶下 — sliding a step under someone so they can climb down with their dignity intact.

Slow monologuesBeginner · L3

打扫房间

Cleaning My Messy Room 🧹 | 打扫房间 | Simply Natural Chinese

Your room has been a mess all week, and today you finally can't take it anymore — that's exactly where this episode starts. This is our first HSK 2-3 slow monologue: still spoken slowly and clearly, but with slightly longer sentences and more real, useful grammar than our HSK 1-2 episodes. Dessert-shop owner Xiao Yue spends a whole day deep-cleaning her little apartment: she ties her hair up, puts on music, puts everything back where it belongs, throws out three pens that don't write anymore, gets completely distracted by an old photo in a drawer, wipes the table and the windows, sweeps the floor (her cat Xiao Hua immediately lies down on the clean spot), mops, does the laundry, changes the bedsheets, clears out the fridge, and finally stands in the middle of a room that shines. Along the way you'll pick up the everyday Chinese of cleaning: 打扫, 收拾, 干净, 擦, 扫地, 拖把, 扔掉, 整齐. Chinese, Pinyin and English stay on screen the whole time — comprehensible input for learners who are just past the beginner stage.

Conversation podcastsIntermediate · L5

学多久才能流利

Why You're Still Not Fluent in Chinese 🎧 | Chinese Listening Practice | 学多久才能流利

Leo met a German guy who'd studied Chinese for eight months and chatted with a shop owner for ten minutes without getting stuck once. Leo has been studying for two years and three months. He didn't sleep that night. So Xiao Yue sits him down and does the math — and the number that comes out is not what he expected. This episode takes apart the question every intermediate learner is quietly asking: how long does this actually take? You'll get the hour count nobody tells you, and a completely different way to measure fluency — one you can start using tonight.

Conversation podcastsIntermediate · L5

他们说太快了

Why Real Chinese Sounds So Fast 🎧 | Chinese Listening Practice | 他们说太快了

Leo got a perfect score on his Chinese listening test — and then four words from a convenience store cashier completely destroyed him. The words were 袋子要吗. If HSK audio makes sense to you but real people don't, this episode is why. Xiao Yue takes it apart: five reasons native Chinese is so hard to follow, four concrete ways to train your ears, and three lifesaver lines for the moment you're lost mid-conversation.

Conversation podcastsIntermediate · L4

一个人住

Living Alone: The Hardest Part Isn't Cooking 🏠 | 一个人住 | Simply Natural Chinese

Leo ran a 39-degree fever alone in his flat for two days. Standing in the kitchen at 3am waiting for water to boil, he finally understood: the hardest part of living alone isn't the cooking. In this episode Leo and Xiao Yue talk through what living by yourself is actually like — the tiny freedoms (socks left on the sofa for three days, hotpot alone until midnight), the very real problems (half a watermelon you can't finish, changing a lightbulb with your phone in one hand, standing outside your own door in slippers for two hours), and the part nobody warns you about: the one second you open the door to a dark room and nobody says you're home. Xiao Yue also draws the line between two words learners mix up constantly — 孤单 lonely, and 一个人待着 being on your own by choice. Plus why Leo's grandma says 有家不回, and why British parents celebrate when their kid moves out.

Conversation podcastsIntermediate · L4

送礼的学问

Never Give These Gifts in China?! 🎁 | Chinese Podcast | 送礼的学问 | Simply Natural Chinese

Did you know that giving a clock as a gift in China can accidentally wish someone death? 😱 In this episode, Tian Tian almost buys an elderly lady a beautiful clock — until her mom stops her just in time. Join Tian Tian and A-Jie for a fun, natural Mandarin conversation about the hidden art of Chinese gift-giving: which gifts are secretly taboo (钟, 伞, 梨, 绿帽子), how to give the perfect 红包 (hóngbāo) with lucky numbers, what 份子钱 (fènziqián) means at weddings, and the golden rule of 礼尚往来 (lǐshàngwǎnglái). This is everything you need to know before you give — or receive — a gift in China.

Slow monologuesBeginner · L2

去咖啡店

Ordering Coffee at a Café ☕ | 去咖啡店 | Simply Natural Chinese

Ever wanted to walk into a coffee shop in China and order like a local? In this slow, cozy HSK 1-2 monologue, dessert-shop owner Xiao Yue takes a day off and treats herself to a coffee. Come along as she walks to her favorite little café, breathes in the smell of coffee, reads the menu (拿铁 vs 美式), orders a hot large latte at the counter, pays by scanning a QR code, and finds her favorite window seat to slowly sip and relax. Along the way you'll pick up the real, useful Chinese of ordering coffee: 点一杯, 热的 or 冰的, 大杯/中杯/小杯, 在这里喝 or 带走, 多少钱, 扫码. Everything is spoken slowly and clearly, with Chinese characters, Pinyin, and English on screen the whole time — comprehensible input built for real beginners. Grab a cup and listen along.

Slow monologuesBeginner · L2

睡前时光

My Cozy Bedtime Routine 🌙 | 睡前时光 | Simply Natural Chinese

What do you do to wind down before bed? In this slow, cozy HSK 1-2 monologue, dessert-shop owner Xiao Yue closes up her little shop and takes you through her calm bedtime routine at home. She comes home tired, takes a warm shower, does a little skincare, changes into soft pajamas, drinks a cup of hot milk (热牛奶), reads a little in bed, says good night to her cat Xiao Hua, turns off the light, and drifts off under a warm blanket. Along the way you'll pick up the everyday Chinese of a real evening: 晚上, 睡觉, 洗澡, 睡衣, 放松, 舒服, 安静, 被子, 困, 晚安. Everything is spoken slowly and clearly, with Chinese characters, Pinyin, and English on screen the whole time — comprehensible input built for real beginners. Dim the lights, press play, and get sleepy with her.

Conversation podcastsIntermediate · L5

别怕说错

Why Nobody Corrects Your Chinese 🙊 | 别怕说错 | Simply Natural Chinese

Leo mixed up 漂亮 (pretty) and 便宜 (cheap) in front of his whole office — and then didn't speak a word of Chinese for a month. In this episode Xiao Yue takes that fear apart piece by piece: the three totally different kinds of mistakes (and why you're only afraid of the harmless one), why the flawless native speaker you're comparing yourself to doesn't exist, and why your blunder lives five minutes in someone else's head but five years in your own. Then comes the twist — the dangerous thing isn't saying it wrong, it's saying it wrong for three years with nobody telling you. Fix it while the cement is still wet. You'll also learn the single most useless question you can ask a native speaker, what to ask instead, and why 你中文说得真好 usually isn't a compliment at all.