PODCAST · education
Mandarin Monkey Podcast
by Mandarin Monkey
Chinese and English Language podcast. A mixed couple (Tom & Ula) living in Taiwan, teach Chinese through the use of Chinglish (Chinese and English) on a variety of topics. Learn Chinese, study methods, Entertainment, news, life, business, hints and tricks to learning Mandarin. Hear a native speaking naturally and at natural pace but with the English translation so you can follow the context of the conversation. Enjoy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
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Our Kids Wouldn't Believe What We Did In Our Childhood
Visit our website: www.mandarinmonkey.com Growing up in Taiwan and Britain was VERY different! From strict school punishments and childhood freedom to pocket money, video games and family expectations, we look back at our childhoods and ask whether our own kids could survive them today. Join us…
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Rude in Britain, Normal in Taiwan? 12 Cultural Differences | Ep. 484
Is it rude to walk through a door without saying thank you? Would you tell a stranger how much you earn? And is it acceptable to tell someone they've put on weight? Apparently, the answers depend on whether you're British or Taiwanese. In Mandarin Monkey Podcast Episode 484, British husband Tom…
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How Taiwanese Has My British Husband Become?
After years of living in Taiwan and being married to a Taiwanese woman, how Taiwanese has Tom actually become? Ula puts her British husband through 12 everyday situations, from accepting gifts and getting sick to talking about money, feeding guests and surviving a 32°C Taiwanese summer. Mandarin...
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Taiwan or Britain? We Picked the Best Parts of Each
Check out our website: https://www.mandarinmonkey.com/yt What would happen if we combined the best parts of Taiwan and the UK into one perfect country? In this episode, we compare everyday life across healthcare, schools, food, transport, housing, parenting, safety and more, and for each one, we...
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Can Ula Guess These Bizarre Mandarin Words?
Tom has a list of bizarre Mandarin words that even Ula doesn’t hear every day — from anatomy and chemicals to tools and completely ridiculous phrases. How many can Ula guess? And more importantly… how many would you know? Learn Mandarin with us at Mandarin Monkey 👇...
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Real Mandarin & English Conversation Podcast | You Cheated on Me!
Links: ✏️ Skritter - Learn to write Chinese skritter.com?ref=mandarinmonkey Use promoCode: MANDARINMONKEY for 10% off everything 🐵 Learn Mandarin with us: https://mandarinmonkey.com/ 🎮 Check out our Monkey Plays channel: / @monkeyplaysmandarin 🗣️ Want more opportunities to speak Mandarin…
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Real Mandarin & English Conversation Podcast | We Took the Kids to a Prison?!
Links: ✏️ Skritter - Learn to write Chinese skritter.com?ref=mandarinmonkey Use promoCode: MANDARINMONKEY for 10% off everything 🐵 Learn Mandarin with us: https://mandarinmonkey.com/ 🎮 Check out our Monkey Plays channel: / @monkeyplaysmandarin DESCRIPTION A relaxing family holiday, with a fake...
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Real Mandarin & English Conersation Podcast -478
Links: ✏️ Skritter - Learn to write Chinese skritter.com?ref=mandarinmonkey Use promoCode: MANDARINMONKEY for 10% off everything 🐵 Learn Mandarin with us: https://mandarinmonkey.com/ 🎮 Check out our Monkey Plays channel: / @monkeyplaysmandarin ❤️ Support Monkey Plays Patreon Page:...
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Mandarin & English Podcast | Birthday Trip
Links: ✏️ Skritter - Learn to write Chinese skritter.com?ref=mandarinmonkey Use promoCode: MANDARINMONKEY for 10% off everything 🐵 Learn Mandarin with us: https://mandarinmonkey.com/ 🎮 Check out our Monkey Plays channel: / @monkeyplaysmandarin ❤️ Support Monkey Plays Patreon Page:...
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What Are We Saving For? | Real Mandarin & English Conversation
Links: ✏️ Skritter - Learn to write Chinese skritter.com?ref=mandarinmonkey Use promoCode: MANDARINMONKEY for 10% off everything 🐵 Learn Mandarin with us: https://mandarinmonkey.com/ 🎮 Check out our Monkey Plays channel: / @monkeyplaysmandarin ❤️ Support Monkey Plays Patreon Page:...
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Real Mandarin & English Conversation - Summer Holiday
Links ✏️ Skritter - Learn to write Chinese skritter.com?ref=mandarinmonkey Use promoCode: MANDARINMONKEY for 10% off everything 🐵 Learn Mandarin with us: https://mandarinmonkey.com/ 🎮 Check out our Monkey Plays channel: / @monkeyplaysmandarin ❤️ Support Monkey Plays Patreon Page:...
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Real Mandarin & English Conversation | Backpacking Trip Countdown
Skritter - Learn to write Chinese skritter.com?ref=mandarinmonkey Links: ✍️ Skritter - Learn to write Chinese skritter.com?ref=mandarinmonkey Use promoCode: MANDARINMONKEY for 10% off everything 🎓 Book Mandarin lessons and explore Mandarin Monkey: https://mandarinmonkey.com/ Support Monkey Plays...
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Real Mandarin & English Conversation | UK Dentists vs Taiwan Dentists and Health Systom
Links: Skritter - Learn to write Chinese skritter.com?ref=mandarinmonkey Use promoCode: MANDARINMONKEY for 10% off everything 🐵 Learn Mandarin with us: https://mandarinmonkey.com/ Support Monkey Plays Patreon Page:...
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Real-Life Chinglish Conversation | Are We Getting Dumber? | Does Tragedy Shape Who You Are?
Links: Skritter - Learn to write Chinese skritter.com?ref=mandarinmonkey Use promoCode: MANDARINMONKEY for 10% off everything 🐵 Learn Mandarin with us: https://mandarinmonkey.com/ 🎮 Check out our Monkey Plays channel: / @monkeyplaysmandarin 🗣️ Want more opportunities to speak Mandarin outside…
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Real Mandarin & English Conversation | How To Choose A Mandarin Name? | Guess The Number
🔗 Links: Skritter - Learn to write Chinese skritter.com?ref=mandarinmonkey Use promoCode: MANDARINMONKEY for 10% off everything 🐵 Learn Mandarin with us: https://mandarinmonkey.com/ 🎮 Check out our Monkey Plays channel: / @monkeyplaysmandarin 🗣️ Want more opportunities to speak Mandarin…
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Not a normal episode - Sweating to tactical retreat
A brief annocunement on our impending heatwave survival and the ongoing health and wellfare of all others. We couldn't record a full episode, it's too hot outside and inside so no way to record without not wearing clothes or being extremely hot. We will be back to normal next week. Hosted on…
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470 - Chinglish podcast | An Email From Germany, Freemasons, Brown and Yellow Coconuts, Can AI Be Our Friends?
Can AI replace human connection? What do Freemasons actually do? And how can learning Mandarin shape your career and life opportunities? In Episode 470 of the Mandarin Monkey Podcast, Tom and Ula explore language learning, artificial intelligence, online education, social media, mental health…
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469 - She Was Heartbroken 💔 | Real Mandarin & English Conversation
Can a Taiwanese really dislike bubble milk tea? 😱 In this episode, Ula, Tom, and Yating sit down for a relaxed Mandarin-English conversation covering everything from bubble tea and Taiwanese food to relationships, life abroad, and cultural differences. Yating shares what it's like living in…
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468 - Heatwave, Locked Keys & Camping Chaos!
🎙️ Listen while you walk, relax, or practise your Mandarin with us. 🐵 Learn Mandarin with us: https://mandarinmonkey.com/ 🎮 Check out our Monkey Plays channel: https://www.youtube.com/@monkeyplaysmandarin In this episode of the Mandarin Monkey Podcast, we take you on a countryside walk while...
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467 - What? A Taiwanese Doesn't Like Stinky Tofu?! | What? We're Shy Leos?!
In this episode of Meeting Yating, Ula and Yating continue getting to know each other through a series of fun, unexpected, and surprisingly personal questions. How can two Leos be so shy? Why do both teachers give off a "don't talk to me" first impression? And perhaps most shocking of all... how...
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AI Judged Tom's Mandarin in 10 Seconds?! | Headbands Fun & Big Mandarin Monkey Updates
In Episode 466 of the Mandarin Monkey Podcast, Ula and Tom dive into the strange world of AI language learning apps, including one that judged Tom’s Mandarin level almost instantly after saying “你好”! We chat about why language confidence matters, how AI should assess learners, and what actually...
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465 - Meeting Ya Ting
In this episode, Ula sits down with new Mandarin Monkey teacher Yating for a fun first conversation together. They discuss the kinds of questions Taiwanese people always ask when meeting someone new, including where you’re from, your star sign, and whether you’re an I person or a J person. The...
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Episode 464 - Pizza Walk, School Systems and Finding Your Child’s Passion
We’re back on another Friday walk, this time heading to buy pizza for the kids before their disco. Along the way we talk about rats, squirrels, Dungeons & Dragons, steak names in Mandarin, private and public schools, and the differences between education in Taiwan and the UK. We also discuss how...
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A Walk, A Rat, A £2 Coin & Camping Plans | Mandarin Monkey Podcast 463
In episode 463, we take the podcast outside again for a relaxed walk around our local area. We chat in Mandarin and English about spring weather, birds, nettles, dandelions, dog poo bags, new housing developments, finding a £2 coin, and spotting a rat in the bushes. We also talk about our…
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An episode out in the wild | Mandarin and English Podcast
So we decided to go out for a walk today while doing the podcast. Makes a change to the usual studio based Mandarin and English conversation. Enjoy. www.mandarinmonkey.com Email: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Can we pull this off?
Welcome back to the Mandarin Monkey Podcast episode 461. This week, we dive into a big idea: what if we hosted a Mandarin Monkey live immersion event in the UK? We talk through what that could look like — a full day of Chinese-speaking activities, games, food, and socialising — designed to feel...
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We Thought About Ending Mandarin Monkey... Then This Happened | Podcast 460
Welcome back to the Mandarin Monkey Podcast episode 460. In this episode, we talk about the reaction to our “goodbye” joke and the unexpected wave of love that came from it. It was a warm reminder that even when content feels lonely to make, there are real people out there listening. We also get...
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The Final Episode | We Are Finally Saying Goodbye To The Podcast
We are finally saying goodbye to the podcast. We have been doing this since 2018! Made so many awesome friends along the way and had so much fun. But now its time we call it a day. We started with a microphone on a bedside table in our bedroom and ended up in a full studio, its been a long and...
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The Final Mailbag Episode 😢
So this is it. The final mailbag episode. It was fun while it lasted. If you have any interesting stories or emails, email them in to: [email protected] and we will read them out. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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We Tried Planning Lapland in Mandarin… It Got Expensive Fast | Ep 457
We started planning a simple trip to Lapland… and somehow ended up booking reindeer rides, elf school, glass igloos, and possibly bankruptcy. In this episode, we talk (and argue) through planning a family trip to Lapland, what we actually want to do vs what we can afford, and how quickly “just a...
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Listener Mailbag: Taiwan Ghost Month, Saving Face & Learning Mandarin in Real Life | Ep. 456
Welcome back to Mandarin Monkey Podcast Episode 456. This one’s a proper listener mailbag episode. We read your emails and end up talking about all sorts: learning Mandarin on a tractor in rural Iowa, a workplace misunderstanding about saving face, the chaos of Taiwan Ghost Month, whether the…
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This Might Be the Worst Podcast Game Ever
This episode of the Mandarin Monkey Podcast takes a strange turn. We somehow ended up playing a “tiny acting” game we found online… which is great for YouTube and absolutely terrible for podcast listeners. Expect awkward silence, ridiculous acting challenges, and one very questionable scenario...
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Mailbag: Learning Mandarin While Doing the Dishes, Running, and Raising Bilingual Kids
Can you really learn Mandarin while doing the dishes? What about while running, driving, or just surviving family life on broken sleep? In this Mandarin Monkey mailbag episode, we dive into real listener stories and questions about learning Chinese in the middle of normal life. From passive...
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Our 36 Hours in Zurich | Swiss Chocolate, $50 Chocolate, Kangaroo Steak & Scooter Adventures
We just spent 36 hours in Zurich, Switzerland filming an event at the FIFA Museum… and somehow turned it into a mini travel adventure. In this episode we talk about: • flying to Switzerland with camera gear • our first taste of real Swiss chocolate • accidentally spending £50 on chocolate •…
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We Forgot to Press Record… Then Got Hired to Film in Switzerland
We just recorded 40 minutes of podcast… and realised we never pressed record. So here we are doing it again. In this episode we talk about: • Our first corporate filming job in London • Why we're suddenly flying to Zurich next week • The launch of our new gaming channel Monkey Plays • Whether...
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I Lost a Translation Job Over “Face” (And Called My Boss a Bastard)
This week’s mailbag episode is… painful. • A freelance translator loses a business contract because he didn’t understand 面子 (miànzi). • Someone tries to compliment their manager… and accidentally calls him a bastard. • Another listener’s Chinese name sounds dangerously close to “horse sh*t.” We...
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British Slang That Confuses Mandarin Learners | Episode 450
Episode 450 is here! 🎉 In this fun and chaotic bilingual episode, we chat about life getting back to normal after the holidays, the challenges of new projects, and a possible Mandarin retreat idea… before things take a very British turn 😅 We dive into one tiny English word — “piss” — and…
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From Tears to Taiwan, Real Mandarin Learner Stories That Will Inspire You | Mailbag #449
This week on the Mandarin Monkey Podcast, we read three powerful emails from listeners whose Mandarin journeys couldn’t be more different — yet share the same courage. From feeling fluent for the first time, to reconnecting with family and heritage, to quitting a job and moving to Taiwan for love...
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Would You Survive 48 Hours Speaking Only Chinese?
Chinese New Year is here… but we’re not just talking about red envelopes and dumplings. In this episode: Who should give red envelopes (and when it stops) The weird firework pranks from childhood Why we chose not to vlog our kids And… our idea for a 48-hour Mandarin-only retreat Could you survive...
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I Finally Understood My Mother-in-Law | Mailbag Mandarin
This week’s mailbag: a learner understands his mother-in-law at the worst moment, a tone mistake turns into a workplace disaster, and a four-year-old becomes the teacher. Plus: how to ask to camp in Taiwan without sounding like a tourist. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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My Child Understands Mandarin But Won’t Speak It
What does real bilingual development actually look like? In this episode of Mandarin Monkey, we talk about one of the biggest concerns parents have when raising bilingual children: “My child understands Mandarin… but won’t speak it. Is that normal?” We explore: • What children usually understand...
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We Tried Listing 100 Life Goals… Then Got Distracted
This episode started as a simple idea: list 100 very specific things to do before you die. We didn’t get to 100. We talked about sharks, Lapland, Route 66, Disney parks, cherry blossoms, tequila in Mexico, collecting memories, and why “someday” is a dangerous word. Mandarin and English. Travel,...
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444 Episodes Later… This Is Why Learning Mandarin Still Feels Hard
Learning Mandarin isn’t just about vocabulary or grammar. Sometimes it’s about confidence, fear, and not feeling “good enough”. In episode 444 of the Mandarin Monkey Podcast, we talk honestly about: – Why language “levels” can actually hurt learners – Speaking Mandarin without destroying your...
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Why “Ask” Is Wrong in Mandarin | Mandarin & English Podcast | Mailbag Episode
This is a mailbag episode of the Mandarin Monkey Podcast. We answer listener questions about a deceptively common Mandarin mistake: why you can’t use “ask” the way you do in English. Ula explains why 問 is for asking questions, but doesn’t work when you’re asking someone to do you a favour, and…
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Would You Risk Your Life for Fame? | Mandarin & English Podcast
This episode is a fully bilingual English–Mandarin conversation. Tom speaks in English. Ula responds entirely in Mandarin. We talk about: Extreme risk and a climber scaling Taipei 101 Whether dangerous stunts should be streamed live Travel plans including Lapland, skiing holidays, the Maldives…
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Why Mandarin Sounds Easy… Until a Real Person Speaks
Why does Mandarin feel easy when you’re listening… but impossible the moment a real person speaks? In this mailbag episode, we answer real listener questions about learning Mandarin in the real world. Textbooks vs real speech. Tones. Confidence. Speaking to in-laws. And why your brain sometimes...
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We Disappeared, Here’s Why | Mandarin & English Podcast | Ep 440
We’re back. We both got hit with a nasty illness for a few weeks and lost our voices, so this one is low-energy and coughy. We talk about why we disappeared, why this Christmas felt “off”, a New Year’s Eve living-room campout with the kids, and how fast sickness can wipe you out. Then we look…
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Christmas Special Mailbag | Real Chinese Greetings, Flying Fears & Festive Facts
It’s our Christmas Special Mailbag. We answer listener questions about real Chinese greetings, why “Ni Hao Ma” sounds unnatural, fear of flying explained by a pilot, and how to type pinyin with tone marks properly. We finish with a fun Christmas quiz full of strange traditions and surprising…
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Why Your Chinese Sounds “Weird” and the UK Citizenship Test Quiz | Ep 438
Ula explains why some dictionary and app translations feel unnatural, and shares a new Mandarin dictionary app recommendation. Then we mess around with a sound-guessing game, chat about school plays, and end with Tom quizzing Ula on the Life in the UK test. 00:00 Intro, episode 438, Wednesday...
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Why 'How Are You' Fails in Chinese | Bilingual Mandarin Podcast
Why doesn’t “How are you?” really exist in Chinese? In this episode, we talk about how Chinese people show care without asking about feelings. Food, warmth, sleep, and daily life matter more than emotional check-ins. We also talk about sleep, anxiety, bilingual kids, accents, affection across...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Chinese and English Language podcast. A mixed couple (Tom & Ula) living in Taiwan, teach Chinese through the use of Chinglish (Chinese and English) on a variety of topics. Learn Chinese, study methods, Entertainment, news, life, business, hints and tricks to learning Mandarin. Hear a native speaking naturally and at natural pace but with the English translation so you can follow the context of the conversation. Enjoy.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
HOSTED BY
Mandarin Monkey
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Mandarin Monkey Podcast have?
Mandarin Monkey Podcast currently has 537 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Mandarin Monkey Podcast about?
Chinese and English Language podcast. A mixed couple (Tom & Ula) living in Taiwan, teach Chinese through the use of Chinglish (Chinese and English) on a variety of topics. Learn Chinese, study methods, Entertainment, news, life, business, hints and tricks to learning Mandarin. Hear a native...
How often does Mandarin Monkey Podcast release new episodes?
Mandarin Monkey Podcast releases new episodes frequently with a large back catalog of 537 episodes. Check the episode list for recent publication dates.
Where can I listen to Mandarin Monkey Podcast?
You can listen to Mandarin Monkey Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Mandarin Monkey Podcast?
Mandarin Monkey Podcast is created and hosted by Mandarin Monkey.
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