Listen Now

欢迎光临! Welcome! You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or you can subscribe by copying the following URL into your favorite podcast APP: https://www.mandarinblueprint.com/feed/podcast The Mandarin Blueprint Podcast focuses primarily on The Mandarin Blueprint Method online curriculum. Creators Luke Neale & Phil Crimmins answer questions and comments, discuss topics related to China and Mandarin learning and have special guests. 0:00 Affiliate Link & Reviews Become a Mandarin Blueprint Affiliate Leave us a Google Business Review 🙂 Leave us a Facebook Review 8:17 Comments & Emails Ceri Woods by CommunityHi!I’m 33, from the UK and I’ve been here for around a month. I’ve been trying to learn Chinese for a while, but after getting diagnosed with adhd recently I’ve realised I can’t just try to squeeze into the regular learning style and have been trying to figure out what works for me. I would love to know if there are any other neurodivergent people out there who find this method as helpful as me?! It really plays amazingly into how I already make and retain memories, and I’ve found it so exciting and motivating!Thanks so much for this course 😆 11:22 Jessica m by CommunityI was going to wait until I finished foundation to post this, but I’m jumping the gun by about two lessons and posting this feedback now: Mandarin Blueprint dramatically improved my chinese reading speed……. Just by itself — and I can’t explain how. I normally read  in Traditional characters. I didn’t do most of the readings and skip through much of the materials in the foundation course because I was already above that level. Some I would read and/or listen to once and move on. Some I would skip entirely. The stories phase is more interesting and I give these a bit more attention.I just re-read one of the Mandarin Breeze book and flew through it.  I thought It was one of the level 3 books. but it was actually one of the Level 4 books!  I could read it almost as fast as a normal adult could read english with the exception of unknown vocabulary (I read much faster so not my english reading speed yet, but that is coming eventually, I’m sure!). And I read it in traditional characters. (so the MB method didn’t even cleanly  transfer to this material)I suspect that as predicted by FMRI studies of reading (generally that have been done in english and other alphabetic languages) that the ability to write is strongly linked to the ability to read. And that the ability to write most chinese characters by frequency dramatically increases reading speed.  15:11 Bunny by CommunityWow. i have been listening to podcast and reading the ” Mastering Mandarin in the modern world” book and watched some course videos today. (Finishing  the Rapid Acquisition Crash Course)But now it is 22:42 and even though i am at page 72 of the book (Yes, i am not a fast reader, but then again, english is not my native language either, so i have to look up all the difficult words ) I seem to be daydreaming constantly of all my good times in Shenzhen. It seems that i seem to remember all kinds of different places, how the chinese people helped me etc etc.If such thing happens, and i just wont go away…. Is that a sign that you have learned enough for today? Or should i just push on and try to focus more? Because no matter what i do, it seems that my daydreaming becomes more intense now. Heck, i was even dreaming that i was having a conversation with Luke in chinese while drinking an beer!And i dont speak chinese and i dont even drink beer! 18:32 Soren Korsbaek by CommunityQuick question for Phil & Luke followed by some general thoughts:I know that the plan is to expand the course to include more than the 15xx characters currently in the intermediate course. I am curious  when the course will be expanded beyond this?Nearing the 1000 mark, If possible, I am keen to schedule the pace of my character-learning according to the release. The thought of having to pause and not learning new characters for a while strikes me as rather odd! 😀That said, no doubt it would serve me well to pause and focus on listening and pronunciation/speaking . My experience at level 45 is still that listening comprehension remains extremely difficult. I know this is to be expected and has been addressed multiple times already but I am still hoping I’ll see a rapid improvement in how I experience listening.I am currently watching “Take My Brother Away” on Netflix with the plug-in that allows for both Mandarin and English subtitles. It’s quite remarkable and extremely motivating just how much I can comprehend from reading but I must admit that, although the spoken Mandarin in the series is very clear, a lot of sentences that are easily comprehensible from reading goes completely above my head without the subtitles. Hopefully it gets better with practice… the gap between listening and reading comprehension in comparison to what I experienced with my Japanese studies has really taken me by surprise.That said, I’d recommend the above series. A lot of everyday conversations and a very light watch. 32:45 Marta Melvin by Email Hi Luke and Phil30 years ago I was able to read a good amount of a Chinese ‘on the street’ whether in Simplified characters on the mainland or in Taiwan. I could follow traditional Chinese subtitling used on TV in Taiwan, read retail & civic signage and understand news stories in the papers. But I’ve lost a lot of that power of recognition over the intervening 29 years where I haven’t been in either China or Taiwan. And so starting the MTB from scratch is really interesting. Because most importantly it’s about training my brain in the method.It’s great to be moving forwards. I’m not tearing through it as I’ve got a lot on currently. But I AM doing Anki every day, and spending as much time as I can working through the videos. For me it has become a bit like training for a half marathon. Not my first half marathon, so I kinda know where I’ve got to go. At this point I’m still working with characters I am familiar with and probably will be for a while, and that makes it great for me as it’s like running on a familiar training route. But however well you know the route, you still have run it and keep on running it in order to build up the muscle memory and strength. Gotta do the miles. And you’re right it’s a really fun method bringing into movies such an assortment of actors, sets and props and using components. I wasn’t convinced I could work with the method. I’m 61 so my brain is kinda set in its ways!  And I learned Chinese characters previously in an academic learning style. I took a 1-year post graduate course in the UK in 1985-6 with a brilliant Taiwanese professor, and then followed that with formal study with Taiwanese professors at the Taiwan Normal University 1986-7. And loads of self study during the five years spent in those Chinese-speaking countries. But I decided to commit because, having known and lived in both China and Taiwan and known a lot of 外国人 passionate about learning and using the language, and been one myself, I recognised similar in the two of you. I’ve never been taught Chinese by a non-native speaker and I know my pronunciation is pretty good, and as I went through the Pronunciation Mastery and Rapid Acquisition course, the fact that you would be great teachers to help me on my own journey with Chinese became increasingly clear. Because you’ve both been on your own journeys. I love your passion for the language.I can hear your precision and that you’re just comfortable in the language.  And isn’t it such a beautiful language! So I don’t know how many of your students have, like me, started your programme from a different starting block than the beginner. But I think you’ll be interested in knowing that it is working for me, a long-term lapsed student of Chinese. Over the years I’ve enjoyed using the phrase 差 的 很远 in response to Chinese people impressed with the few words of Chinese I’ve spoken to them. As a Lifelong subscriber I look forward to where I’ll be in 3-months, 1-year, 2-years. I really do believe I’m on the road with my Chinese again and your brilliant MTB method will keep me going and going and going. Thank you both. I also see what an amazing effort you are putting into building your business and I wish you great success. Marta 36:42 Hank Elliott on Vocab Unlocked from 方: 地方 – 方便 – 方法DiFangPlaceI hear Dimone’s speech in Fast Times at Ridgemont High when he was lecturing the star dweeb how to pick up girls. He said that any PLACE you go you should act like its the coolest thing around. My silly brain hears DImone say place and his FANGS grow!Di-FANG 40:01 Hank Elliott on Vocab Unlocked from 放: 放下 – 放心放心 FangXinI like the hand grabbing the heart as mentioned above, however Imchanging it into giant fangs since that fits with the pin yin. 41:05 John Nomura on Make a Movie 狗I noticed that there is a search engine, 搜狗 Sōugǒu – literally means ‘searching dog’. www.sogou.com is the 2nd largest search engine in China. 42:04 Jason Pon on BONUS: Connector – “And” with 和 – 跟 – 与 & Relator – Expressing “With” Using 和2 things I’d like to share for this grammar lesson:1) This was a fascinating ‘aha moment’ lightbulb moment for me.Was just previously going through the sentences for 拍照 and I came across the sentence 很多人都等着和他拍照. At first I was like ‘umm thisdoesn’t make any sense’ because I was trying to translate it to the effect of something like ‘There are lots of people waiting and her to take a picture’ or something like that, which absolutely sounded so ridiculous (I attempt to translate every sentence before looking at the english). So then I looked at the translation and that’s when I realized that 和他 functioned as the preposition ‘with’, similar to something like 给他 because I noticed that it behaved in a similar way, being placed before the verb. So then I arrived to this grammar point and it immediatelyhelped to solidify that understanding. Furthermore and most importantly, what was even more interesting was when you showedthe sample sentence 我想要和一个美女在一起, which I honestly was never comfortable with the translation because of exactly the 和一个美女, I immediately was able to make sense of it and it clicked. I mean it took a couple months since I was first exposed to the sentence a long time ago, but I guess better later than never.Nonetheless, I am hoping this sequence of learning this grammar point (SRS exposure before officially learning the grammar lesson) will help me understand it more naturally and intuitively in the future!2) I really appreciated this grammar lesson because you taught something in a way that I don’t think I have this up to this point in MB whereby you broke down the sentence 我看见你能用中文和中国人聊天儿.This is exactly how I study my sentences. I invest much of my sentence review time to making a deliberate effort to breakdown the sentence structure into building blocks so that I can understand what can be replaced, substituted, modified, etc for the purpose of starting to get comfortable with my output. So when you presented it, it was rather easy for me to follow and it aligned well with my learning style. With this said, I wish there was more of this. In fact, it would be awesome if this was a structural design of the course whereby each sentence (or at least certain required sentences) had this same learning supplement, such that it gives you the sentence (status quo as is) but then there is a way to see how the sentence can be distilled into its most basic building blocks.Thanks for the great grammar point! I think knowing 和 as a preposition/relator will serve very useful! 51:04 Julie Hentschel Lund on 再 in ContextShouldn’t there be a 片in the first sentence for the translation to be right? The way I read the sentence is that “I” simply want to try this one type of bread again (in the future). Not “another piece/slice” of bread. Thanks!我想再吃一个这种面包。 53:39 Rebecca Wheble on Vocab Unlocked from 例In the sentence for 案例 are the patients hitting the doctors or are they hitting them with malpractice suits? Given 打 has so many meanings, I’m wondering if there’s something more than just simple hitting going on.ANSWER:这家医院里发生过多个病人打医生的案例。打官司 dǎguānsi – go to court (or law); engage in a lawsuit 56:45 Jason Pon on 到 in Context你多发一点自己的自拍照片到手机上What does 照片 do here since the sentence translates to just ‘more of your selfies’. I would think 自己的自拍 would be sufficient. 1:00:02 Jason Pon on 到 in Context我要走到公园去玩How does 到 mean ‘go to, leave for’ if the translation is just ‘I will walk to the park…’. Seems like the sentence would still mean exactly that without the 到, or am I mistaken? 1:03:30 Jason Pon on  没想到 in Context没想到，臭臭和人拍照还要收钱1) Is it context to know that 和 is a preposition here and not a conjunction? Because at first, I read it as ‘chouchou and people make money taking photos’ or ‘chouchou and people taking photos make money’.On the second read perhaps, is it because 拍照 is after 和人 suggesting the clause 和人拍照 is supposed to be clear that it is ‘2) What does 还 means in 还要? I don’t think I’ve seen this before. Is there an implicit ‘even, still, in the ‘could make money’ part of the translation? like… ‘I never thought he could (still) make money taking pictures with other people’ 1:09:21 Movies!  This blog post explains the theory behind Movie Scenes and learning characters. Ric Santos on Make a Movie 混This character 混 reminds me of a table－top kitchen Mixer for anything liquid 氵，with 2-beater attachments. 1:10:25 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 毕In the backyard of the null set, Bi Actress always had a problem of misplacing her balance scales 比 all over the place. To solve this problem, she had 2 plans :Plan A : leave the balance scales on the floor. This was the default mode.Plan Bì: she got a T-stand 十, where she could put the balance scales on top of the horizontal arms, or just hang the balance scales using the “handles”. Clearly, Plan Bì was the finished 毕 solution. Balance scales complete 毕 ! 1:11:43 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 授Sh-actor was the most successful detective in the -ou set, so bureau chief decided to award 授 him some cash. The bureau chief handed 扌him the reward money to show the agency’s appreciation for his work. Upon receiving 又 the cash, Sh-actor hurriedly kept 冖 it stashed safely 冖 in his backyard, away from the prying eyes of his neighbors. Sh-actor is not the type who would show (shòu) them the money ! 37:10 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 案Jackie Chan went to the null set home and visited his old mother 女 . He asked for the files and records 案 of the entire family. She kept all these files and record and stored them under a little roofed 宀 shack in the backyard. His mother asked him what he was intending to do. He replied: “I want to reconstruct our family tree 木.”

Check out more testimonials here, and click to learn more about The Mandarin Blueprint Method. We had a great time chatting with Robert Toms about “The Hanzi Movie Method” because, as it turns out, he’s a stage actor! (Check out his website: https://www.robertleetoms.com/) Naturally, he was like a fish to water with a method using mnemonic metaphors like “Actors,” “Sets,” “Props,” “Scripts” and “Special Effects.” So why did he want to learn Chinese? Well, it was a spur of the moment decision. In spending time with his friend, Robert proposed a self-improvement bet with his friend. It’s a race to see who can achieve the following goals first: Roberts friend: Get a pilot licenseLearn Spanish to fluency Robert himself:Learn Spanish, Russian & Mandarin to conversational fluency. What a challenge! We’re pleased he chose us because we think he stands a pretty good chance to win the bet. In the interview, we talk about a range of topics including:Tim Ferriss’ language learning techniquesFlowstate in language learningThe 80/20 ruleSpaced-repetition softwareHow he experiences The Hanzi Movie Method as an actor himselfThe memory palace from SherlockLearning a 3rd or 4th language through “laddering”Globalization necessitating Mandarin learningConfucian, Daoist & Buddhist philosophy embedded in the languageChinese attitudes towards Americans 美国人The importance of starting with pronunciation in language learning…and much more! Enjoy!

欢迎光临! Welcome! You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or you can subscribe by copying the following URL into your favorite podcast APP: https://www.mandarinblueprint.com/feed/podcast The Mandarin Blueprint Podcast focuses primarily on The Mandarin Blueprint Method online curriculum. Creators Luke Neale & Phil Crimmins answer questions and comments, discuss topics related to China and Mandarin learning and have special guests. 0:00 Affiliate Link & Reviews Become a Mandarin Blueprint Affiliate Leave us a Google Business Review 🙂 Leave us a Facebook Review 3:09 Comments & Emails Santino Banks by CommunityHey everyone,I’m halfway through level 14 and I’m picking up the sentence reading quite well, but I’m just wondering how long I should be staying on each sentence to perfect it orally? I’m not too sure if this is just an exercise to get used to reading and understanding Chinese or I’m supposed to be working on my spoken Chinese too?I’m spending quite a bit of time on them and I’m worried that this might not be the time for it yet and I could just be slowing my course progress down… 5:56 Vila Ruawai on Unit 3 Wrap-UpOh yes, thanks guys. By the way, I am really enjoying the course so far. Anki is a little challenging but the more I use it the more I’m beginning to like it.Chur V 6:32 Soren Korsbaek on Vocab Unlocked from 排I’m still a bit haunted by the lack of translations for a lot of sentences.“排除不来的人，还有多少人?” – Google Translate: “How many people can’t be excluded?”My expected meaning of this would be something more along the lines of “excluding the people that didn’t come, how many are we”?I guess you can kind of interpret the Google Translation in that way too, at least there isn’t a direct contradiction. When I encounter these types of sentences I tend to focus solely on the meaning of the word/character the sentence is structured around learning whilst ignoring the sentence as a whole. This is obviously a small minority as most of the sentences are quite straight forward which is amazing to experience! 10:15 Alex Sumray on Vocab Unlocked from 神Does anyone know the story behind 神马?I imagine it’s a jokey thing used on WeChat between the younger generations, or is there a deeper meaning? 12:35 John Nomura on 和 in ContextI can see why you say reading these can become addictive 13:20 Kevin Roy Jackson on Make a Movie 香Nice T-Shirt Phil. Do you have any plans for ‘merch’? 15:22 Jeff Johnson on 怕 in Context我的马很吓人。我的儿子很怕我。When I come to these sentences I always get mixed up between 吓 and 怕. 16:56 Scott Eisenmann on Problem Initial CHI: 吃 chī，好吃 hǎochī，吃饭 chīfàn， 吃饭了吗? chīfàn le ma?Almost 20 years ago, my wife and I taught English and computer classes at a private university in Yanjiao, a suburb of Beijing. We were there for about a year and learned enough Chinese to shop, order food at a restaurant, and talk to taxi drivers…well, at least a little bit. They seemed to appreciate that we were trying to speak Chinese, even if they onlyunderstood a few words that we said.Anyway, a Chinese friend told us that rice is more common in southern China, but noodles and bread are more common in the north. If I remember correctly, we mostly ate noodles, but seldom ate rice.They called the bread miànbāo and noodles miàntiáo, but pronounced it miàntiá’r. That strong R sound at the end of words was so common around Beijing. Someone told us that it was the local dialect called Beijinghua.I have forgotten most of the Chinese I learned back then, so I’m looking forward to relearning what I lost and learning even more. Loving the lessons so far. 谢谢 ! 20:57 Jonathan Glazier on Vocab Unlocked from 现: 现在 – 发现 – 现金发现 seek and ye shall find = send currently 23:31 Jason Pon on Vocab Unlocked from 进: 进来 – 进步 – 进一步 – 进去进步I thought of notable historical figures who have contributed to the progression of our society, more specifically on a technological idea to also be in line with the idea of ‘advancing and improving’. So I chose a picture of Henry Ford standing in front of a Form Model T进一步I thought Neil Armstrong… ‘That’s one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind’! 26:39 Rick Angleland on Make a Movie 某I’ve seen 某某 to mean “so-and-so”/”such-and-such” i.e. fill in whatever you want. I think I’ve also heard “什么什么“. What would be the commonest fill-the-gap expression? 28:30 Movies!  This blog post explains the theory behind Movie Scenes and learning characters. Alex Sumray on Make a Movie 甫So having misunderstood the keyword, I asked my mum what associations she has with Barley (as in the grain). She responds Indonesia thinking I said Bali. I’ve now just made a scene for Barely the grain instead of barely the adverb… think it’s time to stop for the day! 29:19 Will Raley on Make a Movie 济KEYWORD: 济 jì AidActor: ji-Set: -ØRoom within Set (tone): BathroomProp(s): 氵 (Water Bottle), 齐 (Man on Stilts)Make a movie:1. ji- at -Ø’s Bathroom2. ji- spills her Water Bottle (氵) on the floor3. ji- does not want to get her feet wet, so she backs against the wall, yet she is now surrounded by the water, ji- needs AID4. A Man on Stilts (齐) comes to her AID5. Man on Stilts picks ji- up and takes her across the Water Bottle’s water to the Bathroom’s exit6. ji- looks so relived Man on Stilts came to her AID (济) 31:25 Will Raley on Make a Movie 剂KEYWORD: 剂 jì Chemical Agent (solo chemical, not like a mixture)Actor: ji-Set: -ØRoom within Set (tone): BathroomProp(s): 齐 (Man on Stilts), 刂 (Broad Sword)Make a movie:1. ji- at -Ø’s Bathroom2. Man on Stilts comes to attack ji-3. ji- gets her Broad Sword and slices Man on Stilts4. A strange CHEMICAL AGENT bleeds out of the Man on Stilts5. This CHEMICAL AGENT is like acid that melts through the Bathroom floor like in Alien movies

Check out more testimonials here, and click to learn more about The Mandarin Blueprint Method. Chris Young has been learning Chinese on and off for many years. Originally inspired by martial arts films, Chris would occasionally pick up books to try and decipher the language spoken (both Mandarin and Cantonese) by the characters in these movies. He’s gone down the path of brute force “rote” learning, and unsurprisingly, it didn’t stick. This continued on and off for a few decades without the type of success he hoped to find. Then, after a 3-week trip to China, his excitement about learning Chinese was re-kindled and he found Mandarin Blueprint. We discuss a range of topics from his experiences traveling around China to why he’s finding so much value in MB. It was fantastic to speak with him, and we’re sure you’ll enjoy it too.

欢迎光临! Welcome! You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or you can subscribe by copying the following URL into your favorite podcast APP: https://www.mandarinblueprint.com/feed/podcast The Mandarin Blueprint Podcast focuses primarily on The Mandarin Blueprint Method online curriculum. Creators Luke Neale & Phil Crimmins answer questions and comments, discuss topics related to China and Mandarin learning and have special guests. 0:00 Affiliate Link & Reviews Become a Mandarin Blueprint Affiliate Leave us a Google Business Review 🙂 Leave us a Facebook Review 1:23 Grammar Point – How to Use 把 bǎ in Chinese 把手机放在书桌上。Bǎ shǒujī fàng zài shūzhuō shàng.Put the phone on the desk. 她用手机来发短信。Tā yòng shǒujī lái fā duǎnxìn.She uses a mobile phone to send texts. 吃这个热狗。Chī zhèige règǒu.Eat this hot dog.把这个热狗吃完。Bǎ zhèige règǒu chīwán.Finish eating this hotdog. 我听错了明天出发的时间。Wǒ tīngcuò le míngtiān chūfā de shíjiān.I misheard tomorrow’s departure time. 我爱上了她。Wǒ ài shàng le tā.I fell in love with her. 1. Adding a result 把这个热狗吃完。Bǎ zhèige règǒu chīwán.Finish eating this hotdog.把手机用坏了。Bǎ shǒujī yònghuài.Break the phone (through over-use). 2. Adding a location 把手机放在书桌上。Bǎ shǒujī fàng zài shūzhuō shàng.Put the phone on the desk.把钱放在包里。Bǎ qián fàng zài bāo lǐ. Put the money in the bag. 3. Adding a direction 把东西带回来。Bǎ dōngxi dài huílái.Bring the stuff back.把包扔下去。Bǎ bāo rēng xiàqù.Throw down the bag. 4. Adding quantity to the verb 请你把门开一下。Qǐng nǐ bǎ mén kāi yīxià.Please open the door a moment.他把他的电话号码又说了一次。Tā bǎ tāde diànhuà hàomǎ yòu shuō le yīcì.He once again said his phone number. 把手机放在书桌上。Bǎ shǒujī fàng zài shūzhuō shàng.Take the mobile phone and put [it] on the desk.把这个热狗吃完。Bǎ zhèige règǒu chīwán.Take this hotdog and finish eating [it].把手机用坏了。Bǎ shǒujī yònghuài le.Took the mobile phone and broke [it] (through over-use). 把钱放在包里。Bǎ qián fàng zài bāo lǐ.Take the money and put [it] in the bag.把东西带回来。Bǎ dōngxi dài huílái.Take the stuff and bring [it] back.把包扔下去。Bǎ bāo rēng xiàqù.Take the bag and throw [it] down. 22:31 Comments & Emails Jason Pon on 试试 in ContextIn the legacy comments section, you provided this example sentence: 这件衣服可以试穿吗. Here, it put the object before the verb.In the following sentence for 分 in context, 把 is used to bring the ‘children’ object in front of the ‘fenkai’ verb. 把这两个小朋友分开。Why then is 把 not used in the sentence above if the construction is rather similar? Is it because it is a question and the object is supposed to precede the verb interrogative? Thanks!!! 25:51 Comments & Emails Jason Pon by Email Hey Phil,Thanks for the detailed Loom explanation. As you said, it is helpful to be aware of the use of 把 without over-analyzing. This sentence in my flashcards 你每一页都要认真地看 appears to have the subject before verb and it looks like there is ‘dressing’ on the 看 which is the 认真. Is that why the subject is before the verb? I would’ve thought the sentence to be 你要认真地看一页都。 Or is this a psychological verb, which is why no 把 is used? Thanks!  30:28 Richard Storrie on Level 16 CompleteMany thanks for putting this course together. Its great to be able to read, write and speak full sentences in a relatively small amount of time. Despite several attempts / false starts with other Chinese courses this is the first time I have been able to write in Chinese. Your methods definitely work despite me having what I would consider to be a poor memory. A little tip for others- I’m finding writing Characters in the steam on the shower cubicle glass is great practice and another way to gain a few more minutes practice each day. 32:59 Soren Korsbaek on Vocab Unlocked from 吉Out of sheer curiosity I put the above sentence into Google Translate which provides the following pinyin:“Tā hěn xǐhuān dàn jítā.”It’s incredibly cool to know with confidence Google Translate is wrong and this is ‘tan’ (second tone) without having to look it up. Thanks for an excellent course! 35:17 Soren Korsbaek on Vocab Unlocked from 亏I thought I’d flag a sentence I can’t make out a sensible meaning from above:“这种亏我们吃太多了。”“This loss we eat too much?” 36:36 Jeff Johnson on 和 in ContextSo, I am wondering. It was said that if we can understand the sentence we can mark it as correct and move on. I am understanding the written sentences just fine. But some of the recordings in anki are hard for me to really feel like I understand what is being said.At this point I am marking it correct and I expect that at some point my ability to keep up with the recordings will improve. This is correct right? 39:58 John Nomura on BONUS: The HOLISTIC Chinese Learning ApproachLots of people teaching Chinese emphasize that you need to be reading comprehensible input to really start acquiring the language fast. And then they tell you to go find content where you know 98% of the characters. Good luck finding that. Of course, now I know that I should have been learning the 1,500 or 3,000 or so most frequent characters so that I can find comprehensible input. Even if knew that, I didn’t have a good method for memorizing the characters. So, now I feel that I havea goal that I can achieve. I’ve been studying Chinese for quite a while using just the pinyin but it is crazy difficult to keep all “same sounding” characters straight. You really need to learn the characters – no way around it. So glad that I’m finally using a good method to acquire Chinese. 41:51 Christopher Thompson on Make a Movie 聘I figure this question will be answered in the next lesson,but… Is this British “hire”, i.e. American “rent”? 42:43 Ija on Vocab Unlocked from 消I’d like to think that 消息 is personal news and not broadcasted news (新闻）. News so personal that it tends to take your breath away （消你的息。。哈哈）.And when food goes through the digestive system, the food disappears （消） and change （化） into carbs/protein/fat/micronutrients. 43:42 Ija on 没有 in ContextA vegan walks into the shop and points to the vegetariansandwichA： 这个🥪有没有Mayo？B：没有MayoA：👍🏽 44:12 Heng Bao on Welcome! 3 Things to Do Right AwayFrom comment above “if you know how to read, write, and pronounce a character”.What is the difference between read and pronounce? 46:38 Christopher Thompson on Make a Movie 叶Is it just a coincidence that leaf (叶) and page (页) both have the same sound? In English the pages of a book can be referred to as leaves, and we leaf through pages. In Spanish there is something similar. Sheets of paper are ‘ojas’ as are the leaves on a tree. I feel like the fact that pages are flat and wide, like leaves, and that early writing surfaces were likely made of leaves, or were simply leaves, makes a connection there that isreflected in more than one language. Just curious. In any case, it helps me remember the words. 48:24 Jonathan Evans on 9. How to Integrate Chinese Characters, Vocabulary, and GrammarOnly thing I wish is that the lessons were longer throughout the various programs.I find it easier to take in 10-15 minutes of content as straight study, instead of shorter 2-3 minute chunks. 51:36 Julian Laffey on Make a Movie 浪How does this differ from 波 ？ 54:05 Jason Pon on 空间 in Context2 questions父母要给孩子留一点儿空间要 translates to ‘should’ for ‘should give…’. Is this part of longer form content that provides context? Otherwise, how would you ensure this doesn’t translate to ‘will’ – because I feel ‘parents will give’ vs ‘parents should give’ are very different ideas.这里的空间好小。I would’ve thought the 很 would be used instead of 好 to describe that ‘very little’. Can you help me understand why 好 is used? 56:52 Jason Pon on 深 in Context每个父母对孩子的爱都很深。A bit thrown off by the ordering here.-What is the function of 的? – is 爱都 backwards? Why is ‘dou’ after ‘ai’?Am I understanding the literal translation correctly – every parent for their children loves every deeply? 1:00:45 Jason Pon on 试试 in Context遇到麻烦时一定要多试试.Is 时 supposed to mean the ‘when’ in the translation? Could the sentence also be 遇有到麻烦，一定要多试试？ 1:02:48 Jason Pon on 刀子 in Context一看到小孩子拿刀子，父母就很担心。I reckon 拿 can be both ‘hold’ and ‘pick up’ as per the translation ? 1:03:40 Jason Pon on 计划 in Context我计划明天去拍照and我们计划明年结婚。have 们计 before the time. Is this an exception for this verb? I believe the rule is that time comes before the verb. 1:08:21 Jason Pon on 别 in Context2 questions. Thanks in advance!1) 你别再说了 – the translation is ‘don’t keep talking’. I’ve only seen 再 as a single occurrence of a future action, Here, the translation is continuous in nature rather than single occurrence.2) 别伤害爱你的人. Shouldn’t the order be ‘你爱’ instead of ‘你爱’ as it is ‘people you love’? This way seems more intuitive in the general subject verb object sense. 1:12:25 Jason Pon on 别人 in Context 不要随便相信别人Could this also have worked with 别随便相信别人? If so – would’ve been a good way to see 别’s versatility in the same sentences. ‘Don’t do this….other people’ 1:13:24 Jason Pon on 加班 in Context最近年轻人加班的时间越来越长了Is the ‘de’ hear relating the young people’s overtime with ‘shijian’?Lately, the shijian/time that young people are working overtime is becoming longer/greater?I want to make sure I’m understanding this grammar. 1:15:14 Jason Pon on  前天 in Context2 Questions here – thanks!1) 我前天去了国外Can you help me understand why 外 is after 国 to indicate leaving the country? Since I know this is difference from 外国 which means ‘foreign’.2) 前天早上我放在桌子上的面包不见了What I am trying to work on is being able to keep be cognizant of the ‘phrase’ that the 的 is connecting to the subject, or in this case, 面包. I read this as ‘(I) can’t see the bread that I put on the table 2 morning’s ago’. Is it correct to see ‘前天早上我放在桌子上’ as the entire phrase that should be connected via the 的？ 1:21:11 Movies!  This blog post explains the theory behind Movie Scenes and learning characters. Will Raley on Make a Movie 姐KEYWORD: 姐 jiě Older SisterActor: ji-Set: -eRoom within Set (tone): Living RoomProp(s): 女 (Brie Larson), 且 (Bookcase)Make a movie:1. ji- at -e’s Living Room2. Brie Larson’s OLDER SISTER is locked in the Bookcase (且)3. Brie Larson (女) cries for ji- to break open the Bookcase4. ji- with all her power breaks open the Bookcase5. Brie Larson is reunited with her OLDER SISTER (姐) 1:22:59 Will Raley on Make a Movie 宜KEYWORD: 宜 yí SuitableActor: YSet: -Ø childhood homeRoom within Set (tone): KitchenProp(s): 宀 (Trash Bin), 且 (Bookcase)Make a movie:1. Y at -Ø childhood home’s Kitchen2. Y is there to gain a new Bookcase (且) for herself (as long as it is SUITABLE for her)3. The Bookcase she sees there is not SUITABLE because is it very ugly4. Y is angry that she went all that way for a non-SUITABLE Bookcase5. Y tosses the Bookcase in the Trash Bin (宀)6. Y thinks the Bookcase is SUITABLE (宜) for that at least 1:24:17 Will Raley on Make a Movie 北KEYWORD: 北 běi NorthActor: BrianSet: -eiRoom within Set (tone): Living RoomProp(s): 冫(Ice),丨(Gandalf’s staff), 匕 (Chinese spoon)Make a movie:1. Brian at -ei’s Living Room2. Brian wants to know which direction NORTH is3. Brian drops a Chinese spoon (匕) on the floor4. Brian then uses Gandalf’s staff (丨) to magically make the Chinese spoon point NORTH5. Brian looks NORTH and can see the Ice (冫) of the NORTH (北) pole 1:25:17 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 场Ch-actor is now a general of his army in his – ang set. He built a Trojan horse (my prop) with built-in wheels for mobility on land ( 土) . This could be a perfect attraction to trap his unsuspecting enemies in a gathering place 场.Extra : He could let them bring the Trojan horse right at his opponet’s field 客场，or their public square 广场, or even their marketplace 市场. And it would be a terrible scene 现场 indeed. 1:27:24 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 控K-actor worked (工) hard to clean and emptied （空） his backyard in the -ong set. But later he left the backyard empty for sometime. Then suddenly strangers jumped over the fence , came in and invaded his backyard. Reacting quickly , K-actor took the upper hand 扌； He drove the strangers away and guarded his backyard with his arm-y (hand=arm) and took control 控 of his backyard again.K-actor learned his lesson: emptiness can be easily manipulated 控 by others. 1:29:13 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 护Humpty Dumpty lives in the null set. Installed in his bathroom is a mechanized window, similar to a bank tellers window 户. To open and get fresh air, he uses his hands 扌to crank the gears to open the window. In this way, he will not fall into the backyard whenever he looks down from this window. He is well-protected 护。( All the while a nurse 护士 keeps an eye on him and keeps his passport 护照 safe!) 1:30:19 Soren Korsbaek on Make a Movie 善The Rolling Stones mouth is eating a sheep. My sh-actor (Arnold S of course) is in my A-actor’s bathroom, as devoted vegan, pulling the sheep out of the mouth with a viking helmet, as it is non-benevolent to be eating other living creatures. Especially animals.Virtuous & Benevolent! 1:31:18 Nick Sims (戴燚）on Make a Movie 思Snoop Dogg (si-) is outside the entrance of my childhood home trying to solve a Rubik’s cube (田) but it’s taking his brain. He is having so much trouble that his heart (心) is beating very fast, very hard. So hard that he faints from the intensity! He thinks, maybe I should CONSIDER another less stressful game.

Check out more testimonials here, and click to learn more about The Mandarin Blueprint Method. Becca Golins runs a business called “Dragons and Beasties” (Website: https://dragonsandbeasties.com/), and decided to “relax her mind” by learning Chinese (what a lady, huh?). Her business is expanding, and she’ll need to get in touch with Chinese manufacturers. Luckily, she found Mandarin Blueprint! We had a great time chatting about her goals and why MB has helped her feel confident in her success. Please follow her on Instagram here: www.instagram.com/dragonsandbeasties And check out her various other online presences here: https://linktr.ee/dragonsandbeasties

欢迎光临! Welcome! You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or you can subscribe by copying the following URL into your favorite podcast APP: https://www.mandarinblueprint.com/feed/podcast The Mandarin Blueprint Podcast focuses primarily on The Mandarin Blueprint Method online curriculum. Creators Luke Neale & Phil Crimmins answer questions and comments, discuss topics related to China and Mandarin learning and have special guests. 0:00 Affiliate Link & Reviews Become a Mandarin Blueprint Affiliate Leave us a Google Business Review 🙂 Leave us a Facebook Review 1:07 Comments & Emails John Nomura on BONUS: Build on What You ALREADY KNOW to Learn ChineseI’m convinced you need a systematic mnemonic method to learn 3,000+ abstract symbols. It is working well for me. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel – albeit a long tunnel. Thank you for this great system. 2:57 Scott Mason by CommunityI’m Scott, ex-New Yorker and long-term resident of Kyoto. I translate technical docs for a living. Hobbies include BJJ, DIY, and cooking. Goals for learning Chinese are to be able to meet and get to know people and learn cooking from natives (I love the Sichuan food). 4:54 Jason Pon on 米饭 in ContextI’m loving this new course structure because I now can get through a lesson much faster now (characters and words/vocab), which is an amazing feeling. But then I get to sentences and with 50 new sentences, it takes days to get through! I know there’s no way around this. It definitely changes the pacing of a level. Before, with the pacing being very consistent (character, vocab, sentence), the overall progress of a level seemed very slow and sometimes demoralizing to the extreme. But now with this pacing, there are just 2 parts: the words that can take 4-5 days depending on how many I learn a day (which is reasonable for me) and then I feel another 3-4 days just to learn all the sentences. The pacing is split, with a ‘bursty’ start (vocab) finished with a sluggish end (sentences). Anyway – just my experience thus far! 8:35 Hank Elliott on Vocab Unlocked from 师: 老师Though I am probably nearly as old as you both put together, I still envision Luke and Phil with one body and heads gently evolving from Luke to Phil and back to Luke and back to Phil etc… My favorite teachers today!Or a kind and gentle two-headed friendly monster or beast of Chinese fluency with Luke and Phil’s heads and wearing the robes of a professor, gradually but relentlessly yet gently shoving tons of Chinese language knowledge into my stupid little brain. The LukePhil Chinese Monster of language professor I see spilling Chinese characters all over the place like Pig Pen spreads dust! 10:15 Jason Pon on 早饭 in Context早上好，你吃早饭了么Why is 么 used to pose the interrogative here? Shouldn’t it be 吗? 11:18 Jason Pon on 给 in Context比起买东西，给红包是一个更好的生日礼物。What usage of 起 is this? I suppose it’s either either ‘preliminary assessment’ or ‘beginning to do an action’ (as opposed to getting/waking up).Examples:想起引起掀起说起一起 15:29 Movies!  This blog post explains the theory behind Movie Scenes and learning characters. Will Raley on Make a Movie 意KEYWORD: 意 yì MeaningActor: yìSet: -Ø childhood homeRoom within Set (tone): BathroomProp(s): 音 (Speakers), 心 (Heart)Make a movie:1. yì at -Ø childhood home’s Bathroom2. yì can hear a mysterious Heart (心) beat, and it is really loud and distracting3. yì just cannot use the Toilet with that distracting Heart beatnoise4. yì gets her Speakers (音) out and blasts audio from her Speakers to counter the Heart beat5. Soon after, A big angry floating beating Heart appears and yells at her: “What is the MEANING (意) of this?!” 18:28 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 渐In the garage of the -an set where her car车 is parked, Jean is 渐 gradually loading box by box of water 氵bottles into her car, carefully watching the weighing 斤 scale as it 渐 gradually reaches the payload limit of her car. 19:22 Christine on Make a Movie 编My Bi actess is outside the entrance of my -an location. She has the job of editing a new Chinese movie using a flat old fashioned chalkboard. The silk dresses worn by the actresses are especially problematic! 20:15 Nick Sims (戴燚）on Make a Movie 绍Sean Connery (sh-) is in the bathroom at Lifetime Fitness (-ao) when what appears like an invisible woman in a silk dress (纟) and Aladdin’s Genie (召) come prancing in. Well well, Genie looks like you’ve gotten ACQUAINTED to someone new here. Sean whispers…she’s a 10 Genie! Genie gives Sean a wink, smiles, and CARRIES ON with his new date. 21:45 Georg Lohrer on Make a Movie 放Franz Beckenbauer (f-actor) enters the bathroom of my ang-set. What’s that? The tap-dancer is taking a shower. This damned stalker has been bothering Franz for weeks. And now he’s even in his bathroom. Franz picks up the brick (方) and gives the tap-dancer a hard smack. He then grabs the bad guy and PUTS him outside on the balcony. That’s the only way you can deal with these people. LETTING them FREE and let them do whatever they want is no alternative. 23:15 Robert Carver on Make a Movie 跳Tyra Banks (Ti) is in the bathroom at my (-ao) location, asking Zoltar (兆, the fortune teller arcade game from the Tom Hanks movie Big) to reveal her true love to her. Suddenly, Frodo (⻊) JUMPS out from behind the arcade game and stretches his arms out and grins in the universal ‘here I am!’ gesture, Tyra JUMPS in shock and then quickly JUMPS out the window, disgusted at the idea of a tall super model dating a short hobbit. Frodo tries to give chase, but the window is too high, and he can only repeatedly JUMP up and down, calling after his true love as she runs down the street and JUMPS into the first taxi she sees. 24:47 Will Raley on Make a Movie 软KEYWORD: 软 ruǎn SoftActor: Ryuk (Death Note character)Set: -anRoom within Set (tone): Living RoomProp(s): 车 (Knight Rider), 欠 (Credit Card)Make a movie:1. Ryuk at -an’s Living Room2. The furniture in the living room is not SOFT enough for Ryuk3. Ryuk gets his Credit Card (欠) out and says out loud that he will pay to go somewhere SOFTER4. Knight Rider (车) hears Ryuk and drives through the Living Room and opens up to him5. Knight Rider offers Ryuk to sit inside Knight Rider and enjoy the SOFT furniture6. Ryuk pays by Credit Card and sits relieved inside Knight Rider – it’s so SOFT (软)

欢迎光临! Welcome! You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or you can subscribe by copying the following URL into your favorite podcast APP: https://www.mandarinblueprint.com/feed/podcast The Mandarin Blueprint Podcast focuses primarily on The Mandarin Blueprint Method online curriculum. Creators Luke Neale & Phil Crimmins answer questions and comments, discuss topics related to China and Mandarin learning and have special guests. 0:00 Affiliate Link & Reviews Become a Mandarin Blueprint Affiliate Leave us a Google Business Review 🙂 Leave us a Facebook Review 2:29 Comments & Emails Fabian by EmailHi Luke,Hi Phil,From the bottom of my heart, I just want to thank you for this amazing course. The first time I started learning Chinese was about one and a half years ago before I visited my girlfriend’s grandparents in Taiwan. Since then, I tried different online courses, apps and even 1on1 online lessons, but I always struggled and had the feeling that this is the wrong approach. It was so frustrating. With all the other learning methods I couldn’t memorize the easiest words, struggled with pronunciation and memorizing the tones and don’t get me started on characters… I was so discouraged but didn’t want to give up! It’s super important to me to learn Chinese to be able to communicate with my girlfriend’s relatives and to learn more about the culture and history.A few weeks ago, I found out about your course on reddit and signed up for the free trial. The whole concept was new to me and a bit confusing and wild in the beginning. I thought it’s not for me and just another waste of time. But your way of teaching and the enthusiasm you show in your videos made me stick to the course and so I gave it some time and stayed on it.What can I say? I recently bought the full bundle and am currently at Phase 2 – level 10. Learning Chinese can be so mesmerizing! I finally love everything about the process! It’s so, so, sooo much fun, I’d cry tears of joy! My girlfriend is super impressed by my progress and we have a laugh about the ridiculous scenes and stories I come up with. One of her favorites is Michael Jackson taking a dump on a golden toilet in my best friends living room. Of course there’s an audience watching him, since it is Michael Jackson. But everyone in the audience wears a weird horse mask. As he sits down on the toilet he jumps to his feet as there are razor blades on the toilet seat. In his pain he neighs like a horse and the audience applauds.Finally, after struggling for almost two years, I have the feeling of being at home!Last but not least, I have one quick question. I’m interested in also learning traditional characters in the long run. Are there any videos about that in future lessons or do you guys have any tips on that topic?Keep up the great work!All the bestFabian 17:05 Gavin Meakin on Level 13 CompleteWoohoo! Level 13 done! I’m certainly feeling a sense of satisfaction and pride for making it this far. A couple of months ago I could not have imagined how much I’d be enjoying my Chinese study. Thankyou Luke and Phil. Your course is incredible! Onwards and upwards 🙂 19:20 Mason Royal on Level 57 Complete我终于完成了！Thanks so much for the course guys. Can’t praise it enough.Can’t wait for the next expansion! 23:06 Micaela Ellison on 白天 in ContextI don’t think I understand the 在 in 哥哥要在白天休息. Is it required? 25:20 Micaela Ellison on 开会 in ContextSo could I apply the same grammar rule above and use 一会儿 as the unit of time? For example, 我看了一会儿的书 meaning “I read a book for a while.” For some reason, I want to say 我看书了一会儿 but I think that’s wrong. 27:40 Becca G on Vocab Unlocked from 会: 机会 – 一会儿My Taiwanese friend and speaking partner has been trying to help me learn Mandarin the past year(before finding MB) As such, she finds the 儿化 érhuà rather jarring, so I’ve been taught to largely ignore it. This has causeda bit of confusion for me as I’ve gone forward in MB. I know 哪儿 nǎr can be interchanged with 哪里 nǎlǐ, same rule with 这 zhè, but as more of these 儿化 pop up I have to ask is it fairly normal to simply ignore it? Are there many words that will actually need something there instead, like the 里 above, or are most recognizable without the 儿? I can recognize what they mean when heard, but have grown accustomed to not using them myself. Just curious if this happens in a lot of vocab tocome and your thoughts on dropping the 儿？ 36:21 Nick Sims (戴燚）on 空间 in ContextIn the sentence: 孩子需要关心也需要空间。Why is the second 重要 needed? Shouldn’t it be assumed that if you say 也 then the thing that comes after it takes on the first trait? Leaving the sentence as: 孩子需要关心也空间。 39:28 Thomas Brand on Vocab Unlocked from 门: 门口My living link is the Mouth of Sauron meeting Gandalf for the parley outside the Black Gate. 41:46 Robert Toms on Vocab Unlocked from 间: 时间 – 中间For 时间 I used an image of delta (triangle), the scientific variable for a non-specific interval of time. 43:24 Pablo Prieri on YOU DID IT!!!Hello guys,This 10 section Pronunciation course is amazing and still helping me today.I would like also to see a video/section about day-to-day fast speech pronunciation.For example: how Chinese, during fast speech, pronounce “多少钱” = duo’r’qian / “怎么样” = zen yang/ “我们“ = wom’n / “今天” = jian / 不好意思= bu’ao’yisi, etc.This quick tips could help us adjust our ear to hear the subtleties (when I learned French, knowing these tips accelerated my listening skills).Thanks ! 49:24 John Nomura on Level 7 Completeyu, nü, lü ju qu xuDo you happen to know why they didn’t put an umlaut for all six pinyin? 51:21 Oscar Haglund on Start “Shadowing” in Phase 4So I have a question about shadowing.If I am to speak with a short delay (say one second). Will I be speaking one word while listening to the audio say another?I have tried this and found it very confusing (kind of like how it is difficult to speak if you hear an echo of yourself).If I on the other hand speak more or less at the same time (fractions of a second later) then it feels more natural but because I am speaking at the same time I can’t really tell if I am pronouncing it right because my own sound is drowning out that of the recording. 56:06 Nick Sims (戴燚）on 别 in ContextYou know just reading these sentences gives you so much confidence that you can do this. I know these words and am building more and more confidence every time building up speed and understanding. 56:58 Movies!  This blog post explains the theory behind Movie Scenes and learning characters. 57:12 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 汇In the backyard of the -ei set, Humpty Dumpty sits on the fence wall watching the rain water 氵from many streets 匚onverge onto the 匚anal along the wall. It was like coins rushing into the 匚ash box of the 匚ambio / foreign ex匚hange counter of 汇丰银行 ( HSBC). 58:55 Will R on Make a Movie 夏KEYWORD: 夏 xià SummerActor: xi-Set: -aRoom within Set (tone): GardenProp(s): 一 (Rifle), 自 (Pinocchio), 夂 (Turtle)Make a movie:1. xi- at -a’s Garden2. xi- meets Pinocchio (自) and a Turtle (夂), who are very unhappy with the current season of year it is3. xi- grabs her Rifle (一) and fires it into the sky and then SUMMER magically breaks out4. xi- and Pinocchio then jump onto top of the Turtle and the 3 of them all ride the Turtle singing together5. They all sing out (in the warm SUMMER weather) the classic Undertones’ song: “Here comes the SUMMER, Here comes the SUMMER,Here comes the SUMMER” (夏) 1:00:18 Georg Lohrer on Make a Movie 次Cassius Clay (c- actor) is in the bathroom of my childhood-home. With uses an ice-pick (冫) to destroy the giant credit-card (欠) of his wife. She again has spent too much money. And he have told her not one TIME, or two TIMES, but multiple TIMES that he cannot afford that. Finally she has to carry the consequences. 1:01:25 Will R on Make a Movie 准KEYWORD: 准 zhǔn PreciseActor: John RamboSet: -(e)nRoom within Set (tone): Living RoomProp(s): 冫 (Ice), 隹 (Turkey)Make a movie:1. John Rambo at -(e)n’s Living Room2. A Turkey (隹) randomly wanders around the Living Room which annoys John Rambo3. John Rambo picks up some Ice (冫) which he will use to send the Turkey away4. John Rambo holds the Ice up and makes a PRECISE (准) aim at the Turkey5. John Rambo hits the Turkey PRECISELY with the Ice and the Turkey runs away 1:02:25 Will R on Make a Movie 笑KEYWORD: 笑 xiào To LaughActor: SissiSet: -aoRoom within Set (tone): BathroomProp(s): ⺮ (Bamboo wall), 夭 (Heath Ledger)Make a movie:1. Sissi at -ao’s Bathroom2. Sissi walks into the Bathroom to find a Bamboo wall (⺮) in the way of the Toilet3. Sissi breaks open the Bamboo wall because she desperately needs the Toilet, only to see Heath Ledger (夭) on the Toilet4. Sissi backs off in embarrassment, while Heath Ledger LAUGHS(笑)5. Sissi then LAUGHS as she sees the funny side of it now too

欢迎光临! Welcome! You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or you can subscribe by copying the following URL into your favorite podcast APP: https://www.mandarinblueprint.com/feed/podcast The Mandarin Blueprint Podcast focuses primarily on The Mandarin Blueprint Method online curriculum. Creators Luke Neale & Phil Crimmins answer questions and comments, discuss topics related to China and Mandarin learning and have special guests. 0:00 Affiliate Link & Reviews Become a Mandarin Blueprint Affiliate Leave us a Google Business Review 🙂 Leave us a Facebook Review 6:45 Comments & Emails Micaela Ellison on 行不行 in ContextMy impression is 行不行 is asking if something is possible, while 可不可以 is asking for permission. Is that the right distinction between the two phrases, or does it just depend on context? 8:09 Garett Rogers It’s a Word! 过What is the difference between guo and le? 9:59 Jason Pon on Vocab Unlocked from 近: 最近Is there any insight into the use of 最近 to convey most past and future? If I’m understanding correct… this means both recently in the past and upcoming in the near future and I see it kinda as closeness in time from the current period, in either direction.Recently, lately, soon, upcoming.Examples: 最近怎么样？zuìjìn zěnmeyàng?How’ve you been recently?最近要上演许多新电影zuìjìn yào shàng xǔduō xīn diànyǐngMany new films will be released soon 10:41 Becca G on Level 15 CompleteWhew! Finally finished level 15! I will say all the level 13-15 sentence cards in Anki definitely slowed me down a lot, but in a good way! Being a bit of a completionist I’m doing all of the sentences, not just the required ones. Even though it is more to go through, I feel it really helps seeing these words in a few different example sentences. I may be spending more time on them than is really necessary, as I sound them all out and practice my tones before listening to the recordings to see if I got it all right. On top of that, I want to really understand the sentence before I move on. I often find myself muttering a lot of these sentences aloud without realizing it as I go about my day! My husband will ask what the heck I’m jabbering: “Uh… I just asked you to come check out this wooden spoon?” Or “You look pretty today!” Haha, I love this program so much! I always look forward to lesson time, even if I am only able to do an hour a day, it’s always worth my time. Thank you both for putting so much time and effort into building MB. I have learned so much in only a month and have had a blast doing so. Thank you thank you for all that you do! 17:37 Micaela Ellison on 记得 in ContextCan you explain how 上周给你说的话 translates to “what we said last week”? Literally, it seems like the sentence would mean “the words that last week gave you to say.” 21:14 Curtiss Castonguay on 桌子 in ContextI am very excited to be able to read sentences too (as mentioned by Kym Thomas above).You mention that one should be able to fill in the blank and translate the sentence (which I am doing well).The thing that is slowing me down is trying to pronounce these sentences. This is the first time one sees all these characters together. While I realize it can’t necessarily hurt (or can it?), am doing too much/slowing myself down? Should I still be in a “listen and learn” stage? Perhaps just vocalize those sentences that are a bit easier?Thanks. 24:26 Patrick Ryan on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 人口 – 入口OK so I’m getting the aspects now of set, prop, actors — for characters — but I’m confused about the new words. For example, in the case of 人口 and 入口 should we be building a scene? There are fields in Anki for “lived experience” and “mnemonic.” Should I be filling those in? 31:37 Oscar Haglund on Level 19 CompleteI find it mostly impossible to shadow any of the sentences that are longer than a few characters without completely destroying any semblance of having correct tones. 38:22 Movies!  This blog post explains the theory behind Movie Scenes and learning characters. Chris N on Make a Movie 酷I think I’m going to make a prop out of 告, because it’s a component in 16 characters (although I don’t know how common they are). It’s “tell” and it looks a bit like an old-timey telephone.So then for this one my ku- actor is talking to his ex on an old-timey telephone. She’s being BRUTAL to him, and he’s taking swigs from his bottle because she’s so cruel. 39:41 tyson on Make a Movie 康Since 隶 is a component in several characters, I made it a prop: Samwise Gamgee [隶 can be servant; attached to; etc.]. 43:31 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 浪While dosing off in the backyard, Luke was dreaming that a nice angel 良 was transporting him to Englàng over the splashing waves 浪 of the sea 氵 , only to wake up with his son playfully spraying his face with a plastic water 氵 gun. His son then waved 浪 his water 氵gun in victory and ran out to look for another victim. 44:52 Georg Lohrer on Make a Movie 奶Nicholas Cage (the Ghost-Rider) has a well kept secret. He regularly has problems to sleep well, but he has found a way out. When he arrives home in the bathroom of my ai-set after a long night, he loves nothing more than changing into some cosy women clothes, pull on his boxing/sleeping-gloves and have a warm MILK. Then he can sleep very well. 45:48 Joel Fortin on Make a Movie 交My Chinese friend Jie (ji-) is standing outside the entrance of my -ao set. Walking toward the house is Mr. Incredible (父) wearing a hat (亠). As he gets closer, Jie notices that it’s green. She chuckles and says to him “do you know that wearing a green hat means that your wife is having INTERCOURSE with another man?” Mr. Incredible’s face suddenly drops, mouth open, eyes wideopen, and looks completely stunned! So he quickly takes the hat off his head and throws it as far away as possible! With his strength, it disappears into oblivion. 47:58 Pablo Prieri on Make a Movie 糖My t-actor at my -ang location kitchen is attempting to mix Rice with Tang orange juice powder using a mini mixer => he obtains brown SUGAR. He uses his finger to taste it, he can feel the sweetness & freshness of it 48:39 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 省1. The little 少 money that is left, Sh-actor keeps in a safe 目 box in the bedroom of the -eng set. That is how he saves.2. To save time and be an efficient ruler, the Sh-actor decentralizes his government and created provinces, where a lesser or little 少 area of a big state (-eng set) can be better-supervised 目. 50:39 Soren Korsbaek on Make a Movie 爆I went for a volcano for the 暴 prop, making this movie-scene very easy.My B-actor throws the olympics torch into the volcano “暴” which then EXPLODES.

Many members of The Mandarin Blueprint Method decided to learn Chinese for love of the language, culture, or to pursue romance. Brennan Pimpinella’s motivation, however, is far more specific. His company set him the assignment of becoming fluent and literate in Chinese so they can more easily liaise with their Chinese counterparts. Luckily for Brennan’s company, he found Mandarin Blueprint. Please enjoy this fun conversation, and big props to Brennan for maintaining such a great attitude.

欢迎光临! Welcome! You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or you can subscribe by copying the following URL into your favorite podcast APP: https://www.mandarinblueprint.com/feed/podcast The Mandarin Blueprint Podcast focuses primarily on The Mandarin Blueprint Method online curriculum. Creators Luke Neale & Phil Crimmins answer questions and comments, discuss topics related to China and Mandarin learning and have special guests. 0:00 Affiliate Link & Reviews Become a Mandarin Blueprint Affiliate Leave us a Google Business Review 🙂 Leave us a Facebook Review 2:24 Comments & Emails Larry Cluff by CommunityI have been studying Mandarin Blueprint in private for about 4 months and have learned pronunciation and about 100 words in Mandarin by studying 10-30 min a day. Last night I was with a Mandarin speaking friend. This was the first time I actually tried communicating with a true Mandarin speaker. He was shocked that I could write and speak so much in so little time! Honestly, I was surprised at how much I could recall and communicate! This program is awesome!  7:35 Bob Weiland by CommunityThis has to do with the Hanzi movie method. I’m afraid I got off to a bad start on this. I didn’t really focus adequately on my scenes because I already knew a lot of the elementary characters learned in a previously failed Chinese course. Now I’m paying the price, but am resolved to do it right!I am finding it difficult sometimes to look at the Hanzi and thereby conjure up a specific scene. What I am experimenting with — and I would ask for some constructive criticism here if called for — is focusing first and foremost on the props that represent the hanzi itself. So far, this seems to be making the bridge to the actor, set, room, and keyword a little smoother.ThanksBob 12:31 Jessica m by CommunityIt won’t let me post this question to the lesson (Yes it is the right phase three lesson)Assuming the speaker is  standing somewhere that isn’t in china, and talking about going to china next year, why is it: 我明年 来 中国. and not 我明年 去 中国.?Is just just about adding perfect aspect so it is kinda like future perfect tense?  15:33 Thomas Chernick by EmailHi guys,This popped up on Spotify today and you were my most listened to podcast this year. I just want to say how thankful I am for discovering MBP this year. You have me hope and interest during the pandemic that I gives me something fun and new to learn each day. I know how hard it is to keep up as your business grows but I love how the course is growing and changing. thanks for everything you do and keep it up. Stay well! Tj Chernick  16:46 Becca G on Level 14 CompleteWell said Phil! “Remember you are reading a picture language. That’s amazing!” really struck me and I laughed because its true! The “squiggles” are now simply words to my eyes and that is both crazy and amazing to me. Chinese is endlessly fascinating, and I love how direct and “bare bones” it is. It gets right to the heart of what the words really mean, and that makes it interesting as heck. I love learning it, and even more so, love how you guys teach it! 17:42 John by EmailHi,You mentioned that after we complete the intermediate level, we should be able to pass the HSK at level 4.I’ve read (see below) that HSK is missing a lot of frequently used wordsHow did you come up with the vocabulary for your course?https://www.hackingchinese.com/what-important-words-are-missing-from-hsk/Also, do you have any estimate when you will have an advanced course?Thanks,John 22:30 David Hopwood by EmailHi Luke,Just to reassure you that my cancellation from MB is merely a pause. I had to travel unexpectedly overseas and simply don’t have the time or access. I’ll be back on when I return home. But thanks for this prompt: I am very impressed-very- with the quality of the course, not least the constant work you and Phil put into it. The recent reconfiguration is just an example. Your competitors seem to have produced material, adequate though it might be, and pretty much left it at that. You guys really do earn every dollar (£, E, yuan, whatever) so more power to you.In the words of that great philosopher and humanitarian, Schwartzenegger, ‘I’ll be back.’Best regardsDave Hopwood 25:56 Chad Ressler by EmailHey guys, Thought I would pass along a funny Chinese learner story. So, I like to play Battlefield 4 on PS4. Alot of the maps are set in China and in like cities and stuff. I cannot tell you the amount of times I have been killed lately by other players because I stop and am like “I know what that sign says!” Or “I know the characters on that building!”. 😂😂😂😂 26:48 Becca G on 想法 in ContextChristopher’s comment about breaking it down to basics and then filling in the rest of the details was tremendously helpful in understanding the “people with ideas” line. That entire sentence tried to break my brain a little. Oddly the work one seemed to more or less make sense though? Some of these sentences are getting tougher to read! Not complaining at all, I love the challenge of it! It’s so rewarding being able to understand so many so far. Just proof that the MB really works! 29:17 Xiao En on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 认识If these two characters are sitting next to each other in a sentence or a paragraph, how will I know if I have to take their meaning individually, or as one word? If that all makes sense. 33:17 Simon Stephens on Vocab Unlocked from 杯: 杯子 – 干杯干杯 is a really useful one to understand. I’ve been here for over 2 years and I’ve heard this said often, so I soon understood that the meaning was to finish your drink. But…..until now I didn’t understand WHY you had to finish your drink.Dry glass makes a lot of sense…….Thanks! 34:28 Oscar Haglund on Level 18 CompleteToday while I was reading for my kid I realised for the first time that I could actually not just intuit what it was about but that I could actually understand almost every single word (there was one character I did not know) of the first 3 pages. Now granted, this is properly a kids book but it was still a revelation that it could happen after less than one and a halfmonths of evening studies. Here are the first 3 pages in case anyone is curious:谁来和我说晚安?等一下爸爸马上快完了！妈妈打完电话就过来！ 36:28 Gavia Arctica on Vocab Unlocked from 银: 银行To me this is a picture of Uncle Scrooge with a pile (or a row…. but I see a pile) of SILVER coins and a piggy bank (I guess that would be my very first association with the word “bank” when I was a child). He is doing his favorite activitity: counting is money by taking the silver coins from the pile (row) of coins and putting them one by one into the piggy bank, which is made out of transparent plastic so that I can all the time see that these are SILVER coins so that it´s impossible to forget that the coins inside the bank are made of silver. 38:59 Gavia Arctica on Vocab Unlocked from 服: 衣服 – 说服When I googled “convincing speech” searching for an image for 说服 I got an old black and white image of a presidential debate and I think that works as a reminder for this word: lots of speeches and speaking with the purpose of convincing other people 39:35 Andrew Coleshill on 打电话 in ContextHi,I adjust trying to get my head around the difference between 打电话 and 打过电话。 What is the 过 doing in the 2nd one?Cheers.A: 我早上给你打过电话，但是你不在。B: 你是几点给我打的？A: 十点。B: 你给我打过几个电话？A: 只打了一个。 42:56 Jason Pon on 页 in ContextIs there a measure word for 页? Doesn’t appear to be one here: 我写了几页 44:47 Jason Pon on 见面 in ContextIs 见面 like 说话 whereby you can place an infix to split it up? Is it because they are both ‘verb-noun’ verbs? Similar to how we’ve seen 说的话 we see 一次. 47:04 Micaela Ellison on 回来 in Context Please explain the grammar for this sentence: 那你下周回得来回不来. Is itsimilar to the “verb 不 verb” structure (e.g. 吃不吃 as in “eat-not eat”), except the meaning is possible (回得来)-not possible (回不来)? I understand an “or” is not needed, but would it be wrong to say 回得来还是回不来？ 48:58 Movies!  This blog post explains the theory behind Movie Scenes and learning characters. Ric Santos on Make a Movie 尊Zu-actor outside the entrance of -en set, “horns” started coming out, after consuming 1″ inch off a bottle of baijiu, and he is now bowed down revering the bottle – elevated one inch on the table. 51:10 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 酷In the backyard of his null set, Ku-actor emptied into the cow’s 牛 mouth口 a large bottle of 酉 baijiu. The meek cow then gave him a brutal kick and he landed the ground. Then drunken cow fell brutally on him with its full weight. Sometimes liquor can release the brute in the meek. 52:15 Will R on Make a Movie 感KEYWORD: 感 gǎn To Emote (to show emotion in a way that makes itvery clear what you are feeling)Actor: g-Set: -anRoom within Set (tone): Living RoomProp(s): 咸 (Salt Shaker), 心 (Heart)Make a movie:1. g- at -an’s Living Room2. g- loves Salt and is naturally a Salty person3. g- picks up his Salt Shaker (咸) begins TO EMOTE out his love for salt as he eats it from the Salt Shaker4. g- EMOTES his love for this Salt Shaker so clearly, that his Heart (心) begins to beat and shine so much out of his chest5. Who would have thought a Salt Shaker could EMOTE (感) so much love from someone? 53:20 Will R on Make a Movie 钱KEYWORD: 钱 qián MoneyActor: qi-Set: -anRoom within Set (tone): KitchenProp(s): 钅(Gold Bar), 戋 (Mace & Chain),Make a movie:1. qi- at -an’s Kitchen2. qi- needs some MONEY quick3. qi- only has a single Gold Bar (钅), so she needs to break it down somehow4. qi- grabs her Mace & Chain (戋) and uses it to smash the Gold Bar into loads of smaller Gold Coins (some real MONEY now)5. qi- picks her MONEY (钱) up and goes shopping 54:26 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 酸 Su-actor in -an set outside the entrance puts Wine 酉 let to stand idle 夂 or brew for a long time 八 in vats厶 or jars to make sour vinegar! Seems like a lot of time wasted 夋, and it just turned sour. 55:27 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 波Mr Bean as he extends his arm to open the entrance of -o set, observes his wrinkled 皮skin resemble the ripples and small waves of the water’s 氵surface 皮 on the sea. 56:12 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 泳There is a a kind of a never-ending cycle 永 of actions when you swim 泳 in the water 氵. Sink or swim. 56:42 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 脉M-actor is a professional boxer and trains in the backyard of his -ai set. After jogging a mile (mài) , he took his pulse and felt the never-ending cycle 永 of blood flow in his blood vessels月. 58:08 Georg Lohrer on Make a Movie 亲It rains heavily as my qi-actor arrives in front of my en-location. She carries a big urn with the ashes of all her RELATIVES. Due to the rain, the urn is very slippery and glides out of her hands. The urn crashes on the ground and cracks open.All the ash gets exposed to the rain. qi-actor is desperate and tries to protect her RELATIVES’ ash from the rain. She takes a big leaf from a nearby tree and shields the ash. Otherwise, her RELATIVES’ ash would get drowned in the canalization. 59:11 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 游Yi-Actor as a child 子 brings 方 her sleeping 𠂉 bag to travel around, sometimes she inflates the sleeping 𠂉 bag and swims 游 wading across the river 氵. 59:53 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 施When traveling 方𠂉 with another 也, you will need to plan to carry each other along. And also 也 – carry 施 out a plan together…

欢迎光临! Welcome! You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or you can subscribe by copying the following URL into your favorite podcast APP: https://www.mandarinblueprint.com/feed/podcast The Mandarin Blueprint Podcast focuses primarily on The Mandarin Blueprint Method online curriculum. Creators Luke Neale & Phil Crimmins answer questions and comments, discuss topics related to China and Mandarin learning and have special guests. 0:00 Affiliate Link & Reviews Become a Mandarin Blueprint Affiliate Leave us a Google Business Review 🙂 Leave us a Facebook Review 9:07 Comments & Emails Rebecca Wheble on Vocab Unlocked from 律Is an idiom the same as a 成语？Or in other words is千篇一律 an idiom or a 成语? 21:09 Jagoda Niedopytalska on BONUS: This Secret Will Put You LIGHT YEARS Ahead in ChineseWith every language, I used to study output was always the most challenging. Because of the school system and then learning by myself only by listening and reading it became very difficult to speak and it discouraged me from some languages for years. My passive knowledge was so good that I could watch movies and understand almost everything but because of that speaking became too overwhelming. I sat in a group of foreign friends and understood their conversations but didn’t have the ability and confidence to join in and contribute. I could hear exactly how wrong it sounds coming out of my mouth and I could hear all the little mistakes and I just became too shy to speak at all. So I find learning Mandarin refreshing and encouraging because pronunciation is essential and I knew I have to start with that.I feel so lucky to find your course because I started “producing sounds” first before actually learning the language. I speak out loud with all your videos and each time I do my flashcards. I believe that thanks to that for the first time I won’t be too afraid of making mistakes once I have enough knowledge to start having conversations with the native speakers! 24:44 Rob Neville on Level 13 CompleteI must say after finishing Level 13 that the sentence review cards have felt amazing. It reminded me of the original karate kid movie when Daniel has been doing these repetitive motions that didn’t seem to be getting him anywhere and then when Mr. Myagi starts throwing punches and kicks at him, he’s amazed at his ability to block them all. I was likewise amazed when the sentences just came out of my mouth – not at native speed to be sure, but surprisingly fast – and what’s more, I understood what I was reading and saying. That is a really cool feeling. Well done gents on this course. I’m hooked and will absolutely see it through to the end. 26:00 Christopher Dolman on Now Just LOOK at how SOLID that Foundation Is! Phase 5 Complete!Just making the occasion after seven months. Thanks, Phil and Luke, it’s been a superb course, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it, yet I feel I still haven’t taken full advantage of all you’ve offered so far. I’m now looking forward to going back – re-reviewing the grammar points and spending some more time shadowing the longer-form content. Thanks also to all the course participants whose posts and podcast interviews I’ve enjoyed along the way. There are some famous names there! See you in the Intermediate course. 27:08 Jessica m on Level 10 CompleteMy CI teacher entirely by coincidence has three students that ended up here. I’m going to have to coach her into building her entire approach around using this with all of her students that intend to be literate. 29:12 Daniel Léo Simpson on Make a Movie 元Totally loving the new course format of bite-sized levels and totally jazzed to start Level 21! 29:38 Jessica m on Vocab Unlocked from 们: 我们 – 人们咱们 vs 我们？The only place I have ever encountered 咱们 is in Mandarin Breeze books. I’ve never heard anyone say it or seen it in print anywhere else. 31:05 Jessica m on Make a Movie 哥So older brother 哥 and elder brother 兄 are examples of what set up RTH to be a failure in my opinion. now, I think you guys do a much better job by introducing these in context with words and pronunciations which make them more sticky and useful to the end goal of knowing which character is which in function within the language. ….But still, what advice do you have about the memory collision that occurs with closely set key definitions? 33:24 Jonathan Glazier on Make a Movie 些The top component has caused me the most problems today. I just can’t land on the one thing that fixes it in my memory. I do rely on visualisations and the form of this character 此 really has me stumped, I can’t get one all encompassing visual. 35:41 Movies!  This blog post explains the theory behind Movie Scenes and learning characters. Robert Carver on Make a Movie 承 Chuck Norris (Ch-) is in the kitchen at my -eng location, BEARING the weight of a dying Christmas Elf (㇇) as he carries him to a Water Fountain (水) for nourishment. But it’s too late, and with his dying breath the elf reveals he’s actually Link, and he passes Chuck the TriForce (三), telling Chuck he now must BEAR the responsibility of saving Hyrule. 37:05 Nick Sims (戴燚）on Make a Movie 饱Bruce Lee (b-) is playing basketball in the gym (3rd tone) at Lifetime Fitness (-ao) and has burned a million calories. He is starving so he pulls out his fork (饣) and gym bag (包) PLUMP with dumplings 🥟. After he’s done eating his stomach is FULL. 38:09 Alex Sumray on Make a Movie 赢I grouped the bottom three components together as an Olympics medal podium thing (hope that’s ok!).It then just became a contest between the mouth 口 and my yi actor to eat strawberries 亡. MY yi celebrating with her gold medal and the mouth sobbing with its bronze. 39:52 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 落Lu-Actor waters 氵 the roses 艹 so forcefully that each 各 of the petals falls back to the mouth of the earth one by one. 40:48 Will R on Make a Movie 丸KEYWORD: 丸 wán PillActor: WolverineSet: -anRoom within Set (tone): KitchenProp(s): 九 (Nine Tails (Pokemon)), 丶 (Drop)Make a movie:1. Wolverine at -an’s Kitchen2. Wolverine’s pet Pokemon dog Nine Tails (九) walks in very ill3. Wolverine Drops a Drop (丶) of medicine into Nine Tails mouth and Nine Tails spits out a Giant PILL (丸)4. Wolverine holds the Giant PILL up and says: “Who’s been feeding you PILLS like this Dogo?”

Check out more testimonials here, and click to learn more about The Mandarin Blueprint Method. Oscar is a software developer who found our curriculum fascinating due to its super logical structure. He wants to become proficient in Mandarin Chinese to better communicate with his wife’s family and keep up with his son’s Chinese instruction. Due to Oscar’s suggestions in this interview, we decided to add more practice material for improving listening skills to our course. Let’s hear what he has to say!

Check out more testimonials here, and click to learn more about The Mandarin Blueprint Method. Peter is a professional ballroom dance teacher who has been trying to learn Mandarin Chinese for 20 years, with limited success. After using the MB curriculum, this has all changed for the better. Now, he can’t wait to start conversing with his Chinese students in Mandarin! Note: Apologies for my relatively poor audio quality. I had just moved house and hadn’t had a chance to set up the studio!

欢迎光临! Welcome! You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or you can subscribe by copying the following URL into your favorite podcast APP: https://www.mandarinblueprint.com/feed/podcast The Mandarin Blueprint Podcast focuses primarily on The Mandarin Blueprint Method online curriculum. Creators Luke Neale & Phil Crimmins answer questions and comments, discuss topics related to China and Mandarin learning and have special guests. 0:00 Affiliate Link & Reviews Become a Mandarin Blueprint Affiliate Leave us a Google Business Review 🙂 Leave us a Facebook Review 1:20 Comments & Emails Ric Santos on ANKI DECKS INSIDE – Now Just LOOK at how SOLID that Foundation Is!Thank you Luke and Phil for a well-thought-out course – the Foundation Course. You are both very good educators at heart and in practice. Both of you were able to extract from us the best that we could give and the most that we could reach. Like doctors, you also give gradual dosage and warn us of possible counter-indications so as not to get “sick of Mandarin”. You know when to let us fall, commit some mistakes; you treat each of us differently when the circumstances call for it, and you answer most of our questions; you encourage and praise when needed and recognize quiet efforts. Like developers, you keep the door ajarto attract us to the next level. Like trainers, you constantly challenge us to do just a little more +1. About the intermediate course, you have forewarned us of the vast plateau (and flat-too) that lies ahead. But even if the rugged mountains are behind I hope there will still be gentle streams and plenty of breeze to go with during this intermediate course, before we barrel through again to the tunnel of hard rocks! Thanks for preparing us in the foundation course! I enjoyed it so much. 4:32 Gavia Arctica by CommunityHi Luke & Phil! I signed up on Hello Talk today!!! What a fun and addictive way to start practising Chinese and see the characters “come alive”! I had learned some Chinese before starting the MB course but had not tried to communicate with anyone during my MB time because I wanted to build a more solid base before I try my skills again in the real world. Now I was just amazed how much I could write, probably not correctly but it seems that it was all understandable and it feels great to see that I can read short messages written in Chinese by real Chinese people, I was actually COMMUNICATING IN CHINESE! It literally felt like the characters are “coming alive” little by little and there were some longer sentences that I could not understand at all at first sight but after rereading a few times I actually could read everything, guessing the missing characters/words from the context. I don’t know how to tell you how amazing it feels!!!!…Thank you, thank you, thank you for all that you do, today has been one of those… I don´t know how to call them…. amazing “I can do this!” moments! I have been just patiently following the course for the past four months or so, no time to do anything else than just a few new characters a week and review, review, review – but now that I put my Chinese to a “real world” test again I noticed how much I have actually learned! Even if I already “knew”  from before all of the characters I have studied in the course so far, I didn´t know anything, but NOW I know how to USE them because I have seen them in the context in the course sentences and what a difference that makes at the time of actually starting to test my Chinese in the real world! 8:16 Lucy Haley on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 来自You guys are absolute legends.Was wondering how you felt about copying the sentences to practice writing?Also at what stage (I know it’s a while away yet) where you would suggest we start speaking? (eg iTalki)Thanks! 14:46 Ann Bihari on ANKI DECKS INSIDE – Now Just LOOK at how SOLID that Foundation Is!I’m super excited to have reached the end of the Foundation Course. So stinking cool!! Thank you for creating such a wonderful course!I’m 56, working full-time remotely, living in Texas, and a little over a year ago I decided to try Mandarin for fun. I started with Pimsleur and Paul Noble on Audible for my commute supplemented with an assortment of apps. At some point, I stumbled upon your podcast which eventually led me to the online course. I started the free trial with the Pronunciation Mastery course on June 1, 2020 and I was instantly hooked.One of my favorite things — the triggered emails when a course level has been completed. I know it seems like such a small thing, but I really looked forward to them and they would often push me that little extra bit to go ahead and learn 3 or 4 more characters that night just to get the email.About 3/4 of the way through, the sentences started to overwhelm me in Anki, so I took your suggestion to only unsuspend the red tagged ones. That helped, but I still have a couple of hundred review sentences that are backlogged, so I’ll take this week to get those cleared out before moving on.I’ve loved reading other’s comments, questions, prop suggestions, movies, etc. Thanks y’all!I need to summon the courage to find a tutor so that I may practice conversation skills, but I’m a shy introvert with ADHD, so all the things… Does anyone have someone they’d like to recommend?Looking forward to starting the intermediate course in about a week! 18:20 Oscar Haglund on It’s a Word! 怕In the first sentence, 很 means “very” but in the second it means “is”. They seem grammatically the same, why is there a difference in translation? 19:38 Alex Sumray on Vocab Unlocked from 秋Hi all,Just wondering;When do we use 季 as opposed to 天 when talking of the seasons? TaNotes: 季节 jìjié = Season/Period季度 jìdù = Quarter (of a year)旺季 wàngjì = Busy Season淡季 dànjì = Off Season 21:49 William Beeman on It’s a Word! 火Hi, in 我火了，所以我现在一点儿也不想和我妈说男朋友的事 what is the function of 也 in this sentence? Thanks!Examples:我一点也不知道  Wǒ yìdiǎn yě bùzhīdàoI haven’t the foggiest (idea)我一点都不想出名。 Wǒ yìdiǎn dōu bù xiǎng chūmíng.I do not want to be famous even a little. 23:17 Maxwell Lane on Level 13 Complete I had a very similar experience, I got a few days behind whilst clearing all the sentences and then worried a little that I doing as many new characters/videos. But I’m now all caught up and getting used to reviewing sentences, the point you made earlier Phil, that when you start sentences is when they are going to be the hardest gave me great comfort and was so true.I’m now much more efficient getting through sentences, it was quite draining at the start as reading the sentences was quite slow and laborious but my language module is starting to get up to speed now and it was well worth the effort to get here. Great work to everyone else who’s made it this far let’s keep going! 24:56 Jessica m on  Make a Movie 土Any tips on not confusing 土 with 士 （of which， I already know a handful more of these will come like 往 and 住） 28:13 Movies!  This blog post explains the theory behind Movie Scenes and learning characters. Hank Elliott on Make a Movie 共My childhood friend Greg (g-actor) is in the locker room(tone) of my gym (gym=strong= ong-set). He is rapidly trimming his terribly long leg hair(prop, and he is a very hairy guy) with a giant pair of shears (prop). It’s ALTOGETHER gross. He is trimming in time with the piped in gym muzac station playing the Beetles “Altogether Now…” All the guys in the locker room are grossing out ALTOGETHER. The sound of scissors snip snip sniping, combined with the gong-show-like sound of someone banging on the lockers to make him stop become ALTOGETHER deafening. Snip-snip-gong-gong! “Altogether now “…Ahhhhhh 31:16 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 低Wow. Princes Diana 亻went to my childhood home and at the entrance gate she was speaking in a low 低声 voice softly mentioning her family 氏 name 丶(dropped her name) ever so softly to keep a low 低 profile. 33:41 Robert Carver on Make a Movie 露Note I do not condone the events depicted in this scene.ICE Agent Luke Skywalker (Lu) is in the bathroom at Dad’s house, hunting illegal aliens. He hears a sound behind the shower curtain and uses the force to pull the curtain off the rod, EXPOSING a terrified Frodo Baggins (⻊). With shaky hands, Frodo pulls out a passport (各) and pleads that he’s legal, but Luke again uses the force to summon a solitary raincloud (雨) that pours rain over Frodo, running the ink on the passport and EXPOSING it as fake, thus EXPOSING Frodo as illegal. 35:38 Will R on Make a Movie 硬KEYWORD: 硬 yìng HardActor: yi-Set: -(e)ngRoom within Set (tone): ToiletProp(s): 石 (Sword in the Stone), 更 (Jabba The Hut)Make a movie:1. yi- at -(e)ng’s Toilet2. Jabba The Hut (更) is there is to battle yi- and he is a very very HARD opponent3. yi- sees the Sword in the Stone (石) next to her and tries to pull it out – but it’s very HARD (硬)4. yi- finally pulls the Sword in the Stone out after a very HARD pull5. yi- strikes Jabba The Hut, with a HARD blow from the Sword in the Stone6. After a big HARD slash, yi- defeats Jabba The Hut 38:29 Nick Sims (戴燚）on Make a Movie 其Qi-Qi (qi-) is practicing her Kung Fu forms in the kitchen (2nd tone) in my childhood home when she is confronted by a clan of samurai warrior Klondike Bars (甘) armed with nunchucks (八); of many different varieties. Qi-Qi gives them a deathly stare and advises THEM, HE/HER, that she is THEIR master. She quickly stuns THEM each with a ninja star (一) to the gut, as the realize that she is not like any OTHER.

欢迎光临! Welcome! You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or you can subscribe by copying the following URL into your favorite podcast APP: https://www.mandarinblueprint.com/feed/podcast The Mandarin Blueprint Podcast focuses primarily on The Mandarin Blueprint Method online curriculum. Creators Luke Neale & Phil Crimmins answer questions and comments, discuss topics related to China and Mandarin learning and have special guests. 0:00 Affiliate Link & Reviews Become a Mandarin Blueprint Affiliate Leave us a Google Business Review 🙂 Leave us a Facebook Review 13:41 Comments & Emails William Edmeades by EmailHey guys,Is 又 more of a quick way of saying 和? I ask coz I often see 又 in situations where ‘n (as in “fish ‘n chips”) would be a suitable translation in English rather than ‘and’.For example:青岛的大虾既便宜又好吃QingDao’s prawns are cheap ‘n tasty (as opposed to 便宜和好吃 – cheap and tasty)如果你吃水果又菜，你会长大强大又好看If you eat fruits ‘n veges, you will grow up strong ‘n good looking (as opposed to 水果和菜 – fruits and veges, and 强大和好看 – strong and good looking)I’m not sure if I’m making sense but let me know your thoughts :pWilliam 16:51 John Grist New Vocabulary Unlocked! 它们Should 小 猫 translate as kittens ? 20:13 Alex Sumray on Vocab Unlocked from 规I thought I was getting better at the old ‘的’, but it’s stumped me in the following; 事物总是变化发展的,我们需要打破常规。Anyhow, 1000 is quite remarkable. All credit to Luke and Phil for such an amazing course.It’s funny, I had to leave China early due to you know what, but I doubt I would have ever have found The Blueprint and got to 1000 so soon without you know what. If there’s any silver lining for me this year, it’s this.I’ve never known such a complete and wonderful course; even if there isn’t a global lockdown forcing you in for half the year when you start and it takes you a year or two or beyond, with the right tools and a bit of motivation, 1000 scribbles on a page will soon become legible words which will in turn become legible stories and ultimately access to a billion new friends!Thanks again and all the best to all those zooming towards the end of the intermediate and indeed beyond. 27:43 William Yeung on Introduction & Pronunciation MasteryI have gone through most of the hard grind as a beginner and am now probably an intermediate. Can I jump into the past the beginning stage and save some time? 32:28 Kim Krings on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 分开Does this only relate to relationships and people? Or could this refer to the separation of physical parts? 34:13 Oscar Haglund Time to Get Real About SentencesShould I be reading the sentences in my head in chinese or in my native language until I understand it.Reading it out (internally) in Chinese with correct tones takes significantly longer but has the added benefit of reinforcing the pronunciation and not just the comprehension. 39:00 Georg Lohrer on Make a Movie 虽Maybe I misunderstand it, but I have choosen the childhood-set, not the “ei”-set. 42:02 Chris Lewis on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 总是I’d love to see your first recommendation for how to memorize these words like ‘schimming’ 说明. Does anyone have a suggestion? 45:25 Jason Pon on BONUS: “How Does What” – Adverbs of RangeLove these as always. If feedback was invited, I would suggest a supplementary to these videos to assist for natural visual learners like myself (and probably for lots of others in this course now who may have adapted to visual learning!). It would be great to have a little 1 page cheat sheet pdf page for each grammar point video that helps to illustratively lay out and summarize all of the main points without the detailed explanations above. I think the main benefit from a visual perspective is just lay out the main takeaways (i.e. adverbs before verbs, the different categories of the grammar point; in this case Luke explained there are a few words here that convey the general meaning of ‘only’), etc. 46:19 Jason Pon on BONUS: “How Does What” – Adverbs of RangeOops – another benefit I want to mention is that in addition to a visual summary, it also helps with quick reference. I could simply save them as photos on my phone and refer to them (similar to how I have saved the MB pinyin chart as a photo that I often refer to). These videos are great for periodic deep reviews, but sometimes when I want to quickly check in or even pop quiz myself, these quick guides would be very helpful and accessible. 51:02 Jessica m on Level 10 CompleteTwo topics:You say “remember to note your scene in your flash cards.Should I be summarizing the scene in the notes section of the flashcard? 53:41 Jessica m on Level 10 CompleteQuestion 2 of 2:You say that “not only can you understand it from reading, but you can understand it from listening.”This is not my experience learning chinese. My listening comprehension didn’t improve until I spent a lot of time with a CI teacher. (which as you know from my response lead me to make the comment about this not being for beginners until they had some TPRS instruction). the question is: from the point of view of anyone here that is actually starting from scratch and this is your first L2, can you understand spoken chinese consisting of the 80 characters you know? 58:35 William Beeman on 外国人看中国Thanks for this fun story. There is a lot of everyday usage here varying from textbook models that I wish I could internalize. I’d love to see a kind of list or guide of how phrases can be shortened without losing comprehension, on the order of 没有-->没.But I was especially interested in the last sentence: 那么多没意思. Does 多 in this sentence mean, roughly “so”(or “really,”)? as “That would be SO/REALLY uninteresting?” 1:07:15 Julie Hentschel Lund on Level 16 CompleteI saw a video somewhere – maybe the pronunciation mastery – but the one where you describe how to combine different subdecks on Anki. I would like to make the Pronunciation Mastery into just one deck. Do you have an idea where I can find it?On a side note, I’m in love with Mandarin Blueprint! This is the best mandarin learning platform out there! So a huge thanks to you guys! And I would also love to be in one of your case studies soon, to share my progress so far 🙂 1:08:21 William Beeman on 外国人看中国One more question. In the sentence 我认为美分很多种, reading it, I thought that 美分 meant something like “beautiful ‘parts'” or some such, with the sense for the sentence that “I think that beauty has many forms/aspects,” But it seems that 美分 can also be translated as a “U.S. penny coin.” Am I not segmenting the sentence correctly? Is this some usage that is colloquial? 1:09:38 William Beeman on 外国人看中国Thanks! Ah, once again I have misread the sentence. Because 美·分 is in fact a noun (meaning “American penny”) I didn’t get that 分 in this sentence is actually a verb. This is a great example for my work on morphemic flexibility. It seems that the sentence could be read: “I think that American Pennies have many types (Lincoln head, Indian head). Or am I really stretching it? 🙂You mentioned that Da Shan does standup comedy. I bet that puns in Mandarin are not highly valued--too easy! 1:11:53 Julie Hentschel on It’s a Word! 美Is there a reason for double 人? Is it the same as 人们?人人都爱美。 1:12:53 William Beeman on 孩子和父母Hi guys, could you go over the phrase 这份爱太过分 a little? I get the general meaning, but it looks like 份 is being used as some kind of a measure word for 爱, but I’m not sure, and I seem to have missed a beat in understanding 太过分, which I think is “too much.”Since 份 and 分 seem to be variants of each other, working out this relationship would be helpful. Sorry if I am being obtuse. 1:14:38 Alex Sumray on Vocab Unlocked from 夫I take it 夫人 is just a more formal, possibly polite way of saying 太太? 1:15:28 Lucy Haley on It’s a Word! 点Would it be okay to make the character associate to the word ‘order’ rather than ‘dot’? 1:16:28 Micaela Ellison on It’s a Word! 再A couple questions about usage 1. Could I add 另 into the first sentence So: 我想再吃另一个这种面包. Also, I used to say 请再说一次 to my Chinese teacher and she told me to say 再说一遍. I never really understood why. What’s the difference? 1:20:23 Micaela Ellison on It’s a Word! 再Thanks! That makes sense. So if I said 我想再吃这种面包, does that simply mean I want to eat this type of bread again at some point in the future, but not necessarily right now? 1:21:39 William Beeman on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 水果HiIn 这个小男孩从不吃水果和菜，只吃肉, it seems that 来 (after 从) was omitted/is allowed to be omitted to give the meaning “never.” Is this generally permissible? So is 从不 the same as 从来不? 1:24:22 Lucy Haley on It’s a Word! 面Wait – so it doesn’t mean face-to-face? Or it means face-to-face, noodles, face, and surface hahaha 1:26:08 Billy Blithersunson on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 点菜 有的人会去中国饭店 – what is the use of 的 in this sentence? Is it to make有人 a plural? 1:26:37 Micaela Ellison on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 可以 I don’t see it here, but the Anki deck has a short conversation with the question 你可以说英语吗. This is translated as “Can you speak English with her?” I have typically heard 会 used in this context instead of 可以. This implies 可以 also has the meaning of “able to do something.” Or is that just in certain contexts? 1:27:49 Robert Carver on Vocab Unlocked from 原I’m having trouble grasping the differences between 原来， 原有， 原本 and 本来. Can you give a few more examples of how these differ?ANSWER：In terms of parts of speech, 本来 is usually an adverb and 原来 can be an adverb, adjective, or even a noun. One way to use 本来 as an adverb is to indicate that your plans have changed. You originally 本来 wanted/was going to/should have done something, but now things have changed:计划改变了，我们本来想看书，现在要去看电影了。 – Level 26我本来想买那栋房子，可是房主在抬价。 – Level 43You can also use 本来 with 就 to express that something is “supposed to” happen or that “it goes without saying”:学汉语本来就得日常学习。It goes without saying that learning Chinese requires daily study.老板本来就应该好好准备工作人员的任务。A boss is supposed to thoroughly prepare the worker’s tasks.You can also use 本来就 to stress your tone and give an opinion, often rhetorically:Harry本来就是个好人，你怎么还不要跟他约会呢？Harry’s a good guy, how is it that you still don’t want to go on a date with him?When 原来 is used as an adverb, it can indicate “it turns out” e.g.:原来是你做的，我以为是小王做的！It turns out you made it, I thought it was Xiaowang!原来，美女是在考验男人，这个男人做得非常好。 – Level 32It turns out, the beautiful woman was testing the man, and he did very well.When 原来 is used before a noun as an adjective, it means “original, former”:我们还住在原来的地方。 – Level 37We still live in the original place.原来 can also be a noun means “the past” or “the time long ago”:这里在原来是一个军事要塞。 – Level 54In the past, this place was a military stronghold.原本 is, for the most part, merely a more formal version of 原来 when used as an adverb, but you can also use it to indicate that you “thoroughly from beginning to end” did something, and you’ll often double it up:她把发生的事原原本本地告诉了我。She told me everything that happened from top to bottom. 1:38:35 Movies!  This blog post explains the theory behind Movie Scenes and learning characters. Will R on Make a Movie 学KEYWORD: 学 xué To StudyActor: Saddam HusseinSet: -eRoom within Set (tone): KitchenProp(s): ⺍ (Sonic the Hedgehog), 冖 (THE KING (Burger King’s Mascot)), 子 (Macaulay Culkin)Make a movie:1. Saddam at -e’s Kitchen2. Saddam Hussein wants TO STUDY how to make a WMD3. Macaulay Culkin (子) is hired there to help Saddam craft this new weapon out of household objects4. Suddenly Sonic the Hedgehog (⺍) and The King (冖) rush in to oppose Saddam’s plans5. Sonic and The King says: “We did some STUDY of our own and we learned where you were hiding Saddam”6. Macaulay Culkin says to Saddam: “You should have STUDIED (学) how to beat fictional heroes first” 1:40:06 Will R on Make a Movie 孩KEYWORD: 孩 hái ChildrenActor: h-Set: -aiRoom within Set (tone): kitchenProp(s): 子 (Macaulay Culkin), 亥 (Dirty Dozen)Make a movie:1. h- at -ai’s kitchen2. Macaulay Culkin (子) is there misbehaving3. h- says: “Why don’t you get out the Dining Hall and go and play the other CHILDREN outside?”4. Macaulay Culkin says: What other CHILDREN?”5. h- says: “Those CHILDREN over there!”6. h- points to the Dirty Dozen (亥) doing military trainingoutside the kitchen window7. Macaulay Culkin says: “They’re not CHILDREN, they’re the Dirty Dozen”8. h- says: “Oh right I forgot, CHILDREN (孩) don’t play outside anymore” 1:41:30 Robert Carver on Make a Movie 海Hulk Hogan is in the bedroom of my -ai set, trying to rescue Mother Teresa from the clutches of Jabba the Hut. Jabba, being part slug, is allergic to salt so Hulk fills a Water Balloon (氵) with SEA water and throws it at him. It has a small effect, but Jabba just laughs. That’s when Mother Teresa rolls her eyes at Hulk’s poor rescue attempt, then puts her hands together in prayer and the floor instantly transforms into the SEA, swallowing a writhing Jabba as the other two swim to the safety of the floating bed. 1:42:50 Will R on Make a Movie 火KEYWORD: 火 huǒ FireActor: Mr. HankySet: -oRoom within Set (tone): Living RoomProp(s): 丶 (Drop), 人 (Slenderman), 丿 (Samurai Sword), 火 (GhostRider)Make a movie:1. Mr. Hanky at -o’s Living Room2. Slenderman (人) appears to battle Mr. Hanky3. Mr. Hanky Drops a magic Drop (丶) on the floor and FIRE springs up from it4. Ghost Rider comes out of the FIRE5. Ghost Rider slashes Slenderman away with his Samurai Sword (丿) on FIRE6. Slenderman disappears in a puff of FIRE7. Mr. Hanky says to Ghost Rider: “Boy you are on FIRE!” (火) 1:44:09 Will R on Make a Movie 灯KEYWORD: 灯 dēng LampActor: DSet: -(e)ngRoom within Set (tone): Front DoorProp(s): 火 (Ghost Rider), 丁 (Nail)Make a movie:1. D at -(e)ng’s Front Door2. D hears a knock on the door, D answers it and Ghost Rider (火) is there3. Ghost Rider says: “This front door looks kinda dull. Give me any item and I’ll turn it into a fiery LAMP for you to place atyour door”4. D gives Ghost Rider a Nail (丁) and Ghost Rider with a big puff of fire, he turns the Nail into a fiery LAMP5. D says: “Ok I now have a LAMP to light this front door at night.” 1:45:02 Chris N on Make a Movie 史The Rolling Stones mouth is riding a lawnmower, and is using itto run over my sh- actor. The mouth is yelling “You’re HISTORY!” 1:45:46 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 声Seems like a soldier during flag ceremony singing bravely his national anthem without any background music. He makes up for it by striking the flagpole with a small stick with the beat in his heart singing with a loud VOICE. 1:46:20 Will R on Make a Movie 窄NOTE: For this scene I use an “Acme joke factory portable hole”as a prop from the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Watch thisvideo know what it is: https://youtu.be/cQ1ygyUQZikKEYWORD: 窄 zhǎi NarrowActor: zh-Set: -aiRoom within Set (tone): Living RoomProp(s): 穴 (Acme joke factory portable hole), 乍 (Native American)Make a movie:1. zh- at -ai’s Living Room2. Native American (乍) rushes in and says to zh-: “Can you hide me, people are coming to get me?”3. zh- grabs an “Acme joke factory portable hole” and puts it on the Wall4. zh- says: “Squeeze through that NARROW hole”5. Native American squeezes through and says: “This is Indeed NARROW”6. zh- takes the “Acme joke factory portable hole” (穴) off the wall and the Native American is hidden from danger now inside the wall7. zh- says to himself: “I did a good job in a NARROW (窄) amount of time.” 1:48:19 Will R on Make a Movie 情KEYWORD: 情 qíng EmotionActor: qi-Set: -(e)ngRoom within Set (tone): KitchenProp(s): 忄(Data from Star Trek:TNG), 青 (Nurse in Cyan clothes)Make a movie:1. qi- at -(e)ng’s Kitchen2. Data (忄) comes along and says to qi- : “I wish to feel human EMOTION”3. qi- calls over a Nurse (青) to come over to the Kitchen and the Nurse operates on Data, so he feels EMOTION4. qi- looks at how happy Data is and says: “This is so EMOTIONAL” (情) 1:49:13 Chris N on Make a Movie 任Chuck Norris and Captain America (my soldier) are sparring in my set. Chuck wins the match, by bringing a sword down against Captain America’s head. My R- actor steps in and says “You’ve done well, so I will ASSIGN this dangerous mission to you.” 1:50:28 Georg Lohrer on Make a Movie 第My di-actor stands together with Robin Hood (archer) in the backyard of my childhood-home. The di-actor with her Samurai-Sword, Robin with his bow and arrows. They have to get through this Bamboo-thicket in front of them. Robin commands: we do that alternately, you take THE 1., I take THE 2., then you again THE 3. and me with THE 4., and so on. 1:51:24 Will R on Make a Movie 象KEYWORD: 象 xiàng ElephantActor: xi-Set: -angRoom within Set (tone): ToiletProp(s): ⺈ (Rope), 口 (Mouth), 豕 (Ms. Piggy)Make a movie:1. xi- at -ang’s Toilet2. xi- walks in to see the Mouth (口) tieing Ms. Piggy (豕) up with a Rope (⺈)3. Mouth says: “What you gonna do to stop me? You got an ELEPHANTor something? haha”4. xi- calls her pet ELEPHANT along and her pet ELEPHANT tosses the Mouth into Orbit using its trunk5. xi- unties Ms. Piggy from the Rope and Ms. Piggy says with a loving voice: “My, that’s a fine ELEPHANT” (象)象 = Stampy the Elephant

欢迎光临! Welcome! You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or you can subscribe by copying the following URL into your favorite podcast APP: https://www.mandarinblueprint.com/feed/podcast The Mandarin Blueprint Podcast focuses primarily on The Mandarin Blueprint Method online curriculum. Creators Luke Neale & Phil Crimmins answer questions and comments, discuss topics related to China and Mandarin learning and have special guests. 0:00 Affiliate Link & Reviews Become a Mandarin Blueprint Affiliate Leave us a Google Business Review 🙂 Leave us a Facebook Review 1:38 Comments & Emails Jessica m on BONUS: From FAILURE to HSK 6 Exam in ONE YEAR!Having found RTH a complete waste (memory collisions used out of context. Very similar keys) and Chinese Blockbuster hopefully but lacking a clear path to applying it, it seems you’ve solved it. I am excited to have you guide me over the intermediate gap where my problem is primarily related to word and character frequency drop off and acquiring vocabulary.Coming at this after a year, I think your system isn’t for beginners. It seems to me that someone would benefit from 100-200 hours of oral CI instruction first and cold character reading up to at least a 200 character level so they understand how it fits together and then this system will rapidly increase their vocabulary and reading level. 12:45 John McCann on BONUS: “How Does What” – Adverbs Expressing Tone of VoiceThese grammar points are very helpful, and I periodically go back and review them, Keep up the good work, and they are not too much information. 13:20 Christine on ANKI DECKS INSIDE – Now Just LOOK at how SOLID that Foundation Is!Whoohoo! Just about 6 months to get here. Interesting to see the variations in speed and approach from different people. I am very happy with my progress, and also just want to add my voice to the others to say how awesome this course is. Thanks so much for your hard work on this, you guys rock. 14:50 Christian Solem on ANKI DECKS INSIDE – Now Just LOOK at how SOLID that Foundation Is!What a ride! It took me exactly 100 days to finish the Foundation Course, with no “zero days” (but a few days of only doing Anki reviews with no new characters added when I was particularly busy at work). Thank you to Luke and Phil for a fantastic course! And congratulations to all my fellow students for reaching this milestone. See you all at the end of the Intermediate Course! 15:56 Lance Kaufman on Moving Forward: ShadowingI just came across this article that appears to be from one of you:https://www.quora.com/How-effective-is-the-shadowing-technique-to-learn-languages.I have a hand full of sounds that I struggle with, such as: -iu (i skip the o unless I am hyper-focused on it), yv (my native speaking language partner regularly complains about it, either because I move my lips during vocalization or because I don’t complete an “ee” sound at the end. But I don’t hear all native speakers make the ee ending), -ian (use a sound instead of eh sound). I also have some trouble with keeping my tongue on lower teeth when combining q- or j- with retroflexed consonants. Other than that I feel pretty confidant with pronunciation and tones. I find shadowing very effective at picking up grammar and vocabulary, but after reading your Quora article I am wondering if I am shadowing too early, and at risk of fossilizing my problem areas? One thought I had was to practice “silent” shadowing while I correct my remaining pronunciation issues. Do you have any other thoughts? 21:52 Lucy Haley on MAKE A MOVIE 活Is it bad if I skip other people’s own explanation of their character scripts? I find it helpful when I can’t think of anything, but sometimes I can get confused and start merging parts of their story with mine. 22:52 Nacho En on REQUIRED: How We Present Phase 5 MaterialsIn my case, I’ve been reading all the paragraphs at least once. So I think before to move one step forward I’ll come back and check and study all ’em because I want to be ready for those big stories and I want to do it right, not rushing. 24:15 Andrey Yusupov on Nasal Final IANG (YANG): 样 yàng，一样 yíyàng，两个 liǎng geAll of these intricacies and exceptions/inconsistencies to pinyin pronunciations (there are a lot!) would be solved by teaching students Zhuyin (all sound are depicted exactly as they are). Why don’t we? 25:45 Heath Campbell on Make a Movie 者Is this a little like adding ‘er’ to an english word? eg, carpenter, mugger, lawyer, sweeper and so on. 27:31 James Tretheway on ANKI DECK(S) INSIDE – Level 6 CompleteHey guys! James here, first-time commenter, long time fan. When counting the vocabulary it leaves out certain words, like Kou (mouth) it has ren Kou (Population Or Ru Kou (Entrance) why is Kou (mouth) not counted as a piece of vocabulary on its own?Just as an add on to this, I just went back and reread your explanation of Chinese characters, talking about how they are morphemes. So is “Mouth” used differently in mandarin than it is in English, in that it can’t be used alone? similar to your description of “Chàng” (sing)? 29:52 Jessica m on BONUS: What WILL & WON’T Make You Fluent in Mandarin“If you sat in front of a chinese television for ten years that would be a very bad way to learn chinese” I agree —Though with the right material it would eventually work. Remember Stephen Krashen presented a case study of a child who learned mandarin watching, he estimated, about 500 hours of cartoons on TV. My spanish teacher learned perfect native american accent english watching TV. It can and often does work. But in Chinese, it doesn’t make you literate. And literacy in Chinese is a real barrier to acquiring vocabulary. 34:09 Jessica m on BONUS: This Secret Will Put You LIGHT YEARS Ahead in ChineseMan-oh-man. I wish my first Chinese school listened to this. They measured success in terms of output and I left with poor comprehension of anything one said to me even though I had memorized a decent amount of vocabulary. I switched to a CI teacher online and worked over the last year on a CI base and wow, what a difference. 34:58 Lucy Haley on It’s a Word! 过Is it okay if we are reading sentences and feeling confused by the translation?For example, I recognize 马 as a horse in the following 我要过马路 but that obviously doesn’t translate well. I’d assume it’s some cool language/cultural thing with crossing roads and horses or something haha.Love this course – highlight of my day. 36:26 William Beeman on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 觉得Hi, Can you say something about the use of 还 in 我觉得他比我还聪明? I think of it as “yet, still, etc.” so could the sentence be “I think he is still smarter than me” ? 37:23 Dima Karanda on 我家的狗最近不一样了I’m a little bit confused about this sentence: 不乱吵也不乱叫。 What does it mean exactly and why we use word: 乱？Thank you for the answer in advance. 39:12 Movies!  This blog post explains the theory behind Movie Scenes and learning characters. Ric Santos on Make a Movie 雪Unlike the rain, after the snow, there is a lot of shoveling 彐 / cleaning to do. 41:22 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 矮Threatened by an arrow ( crossbow 矢), a woman 女 carries a heavy load of grain 禾over the shoulders…and appears short. 42:12 Della Fuller on Make a Movie 弟Donna is in the backyard of my childhood home with Katniss Everdeen. Donna has a samurai sword and Katniss has her bow and arrows of course. Donna’s LITTLE BROTHER is tied up to a stake with horns attached to the top of his head. Both Donna and Katniss are trying to be the first to knock the horns off of Donna’s LITTLE BROTHER’S head. Donna may not have a LITTLE BROTHER for much longer… 43:24 Della Fuller on Make a Movie 谁Sean Connery is in the lobby of Bard on the beach (where I go to see plays). He has a microphone in one hand and a very angry turkey in the other. He is desperately looking around the lobby asking, “WHO has lost his turkey? WHOSE turkey is this? WHO does this turkey belong to?” He eventually gives up with a shrug of his shoulders and asks instead, “WHO wants this delicious turkey?” The turkey gets decidedly angrier. 44:53 Will R on Make a Movie 收KEYWORD: 收 shōu To ReceiveActor: Sean ConnerySet: -ouRoom within Set (tone): Front doorProp(s): 丩 (USB stick), ⺙ (Mormon Missionary),Make a movie:1. Sean Connery at -ou’s Front door2. A Mormon Missionary (⺙) knocks at the door and Sean Connery answers the door3. The Mormon Missionary says: “Hello, I would like you TO RECEIVE (收) this wonderful USB stick (丩) full of spiritual data that has been made for you”4. Sean Connery replies: “RECEIVE this!” and slams the door in the Mormon Missionary’s face 46:32 Christine on Make a Movie 洋I struggled to get an association between a sheep and the ocean, so in desperation I Googled ‘ocean sheep’. I was not disappointed. Here is a link to an ‘Ocean sheep’. My scene is therefore that my sister (my Yi actress) needs to build an aquarium for these little ‘leaf sheep’, which live in the Ocean. She attaches a hose (my water drops prop) to the tap in the kitchen of my -ang location and fills a tank to to make a home for these cute little Ocean sheep.https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-HFzC7w_1nPTVhNCx27s6hClHAsAc-zo/view?usp=drivesdk

欢迎光临! Welcome! You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or you can subscribe by copying the following URL into your favorite podcast APP: https://www.mandarinblueprint.com/feed/podcast The Mandarin Blueprint Podcast focuses primarily on The Mandarin Blueprint Method online curriculum. Creators Luke Neale & Phil Crimmins answer questions and comments, discuss topics related to China and Mandarin learning and have special guests. 0:00 Vocab Mnemonics Sheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1t9oJwzWn3rjW94_c2kAPXvOcvuR-filPIAOio6oaw-E/edit?usp=sharing 7:45 Comments & Emails Kate Gans by CommunityThis sentence didn’t have a tag so I’m not sure what level it is from:我今天不回家了。 I’m not returning home today now. How do we know this doesn’t mean “I did not return home today” 11:03 Chris Lewis on Make a Movie 爱I absolutely love this course. The imagery is very creative.Everytime I see a character on a sign, I instantly recognise what prop I’ve learned, even if I don’t know the character, yet. Keep up the great work guys. I’m loving my memory 14:01 Lance Kaufman on MAKE A MOVIE 介I have trouble recalling whether components touch, cross, or float. I am starting to incorporate a levitating or “magnetic field” special effect in my scenes to help distinguish this. In this scene, the umbrella is floating on above the sword and staff. 16:30 Micaela Ellison on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 活动Can you give some context to how the first example might be used? It sounds like someone would be asking about what events were scheduled during the Olympics, or maybe what activities are scheduled at camp. But it wouldn’t be used to ask about what someone has scheduled for the day, as in errands, meetings, etc. Or could it be?ANSWER: 今天有什么活动？English:What events are there today?Top-Down Words:今天 jīntiān – today有 yǒu – to have, possess 20:33 Lucy Haley on MAKE A MOVIE 四Can you use the bathroom and the backyard for different scenes? For example, one word with the null set is in the bathroom whereas this one is in the backyard? 22:41 Lance Kaufman on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 一点(儿), 一点点, 早点For some of my word images I adding a custom image by having my daughter do a pose/action, fun way to bring in the family. As a side note, my daughter is 3 and has good mandarin comprehension, but spoke mostly in English, even with grandparents who don’t speak English. But since I started studying last month her Mandarin expressive vocabulary has grown exponentially. 24:40 Micaela Ellison on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 一会儿Can 我们休息一会儿吧 also be translated as “let’s rest in a moment”?过一会儿待会儿 26:20 Lucy Haley  on It’s a Word! 气 Off topic, but are there any cool cultural connectors as to why air is regarded as ‘to make angry’ ? 28:50 Lucy Haley on Casting Call f- 21/55Hey! I was just wondering how many characters is a solid aim for someone to be trying to learn a day? For example I have an hour in the morning dedicated to Mandarin (the best). The first 15-20ish mins are all Anki and revision, so I’m left with 40-45mins for character building. Do you have any advice? 33:12 William Beeman on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 老公Hi--we now have several terms for husband (and wife), liken 丈夫, 先生 as well as this one: 老公. Can you sort them out? This one looks sort of odd to me, like “old honorable” or something like that.When would you use these different terms?丈夫 – 妻子 qīzi先生 – 太太 （女士 nǚshì)老公 – 老婆 lǎopo 38:44 Jack on It’s a Word! 斤you may have already fixed this in an updated deck – the translation for the 3rd sentence on the card says “It’s not healthy to eat a half-kilo of *pork*.”ANSWER:*Sentence：吃一斤肉不健康。English:It’s not healthy to eat a half-kilo of meat/pork.Top-Down Words:健康 jiànkāng – healthy牛肉 niúròu – beef羊肉 yángròu – muttonFollow-up Question:谢谢！ Does I don’t eat any type of meat = 我 不 吃任何 种 肉 ？Follow-up Answer:哪种肉都不吃/我什么肉都不吃 44:14 Prentiss Rhodes on BONUS: Don’t Try to Figure Out Chinese Learning ON YOUR OWN!I am happy that I finally signed up for the MB system. I too, tried one of the popular repetition programs, used other apps, and spent a lot of money a remote training program based in China and I’m a year into my Mandarin study. It has been a little frustrating.In the couple of weeks that I have been using the MB resources, I have noticed improvement. My Mandarin future is looking positive 45:30 Alex Sumray on Vocab Unlocked from 烈Is there a difference in how 热烈 and 热情 are used?The latter potentially used more as an adjective, the former perhaps an adverb? 47:02 Lucy Haley on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 认识Hi! Just confirming – this is to recognize AND know (someone) whereas the first half of this character is only to recognize something ? 49:59 William Beeman on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 记者Hiin 以前是一名记者 would a person really use 名 as a measure word to refer to one’s self? If it is respectful term, wouldn’t it be used toward others as a respectful reference? 53:17 Nacho En on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 高兴Is there any difference between 开心 and 高兴?高兴 gāoxìng我听了以后很不高兴。Wǒ tīng le yyǐhòu hěn bù gāoxìngWhen I heard it I was very unhappy.开心 kāixīn儿子生活得很开心。Érzǐ shēnghuó de hěn kāixīnSon lives a happy life.别拿他开心。Bié ná tā kāixīn.Don’t make fun of him!幸福 xìngfúNoun: Happiness人人都追求幸福。rénrén dōu zhuīqiú xìngfú.Everyone chases happiness.快乐 kuàilè生日快乐！shēngrì kuàilèHappy Birthday!愉快 yúkuài旅途愉快 lǚtú – journeyHave a pleasant trip/Bon Voyage!祝你今天过得愉快zhù nǐ jīntiān guòde yúkuàiHave a great day!欢乐 huānlè欢乐的景象 jiňgxiàng – scene欢乐的气氛 qìfēn – atmosphere欢乐的人群 rénqún – crowd欢乐谷 gǔ – valley 1:00:07 Jason Pon on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 这么Looking at the sentences, it seems like this word is very versatile.Also – wondering if 这么 and 这样 are similar/interchangeable for the meaning of ‘this way’. Could 他这么做让我认为他太坏了 also be expressed as 他这样做让我认为他太坏了?Thanks! 1:04:15 Movies!  This blog post explains the theory behind Movie Scenes and learning characters. Ann Bihari on Make a Movie 张keyword – to stretchactor – johnny deppset – granma’s house (she loves angels)room – outside front gateprops – bow, giraffeJohnny Depp is approaching granma’s house and sees a giraffe STRETCHING its neck to try to reach the last apple at the top of the tree, but the giraffe can’t quite reach it. Johnny happens to be carrying a bow and quiver of arrows, he takes one out, STRETCHES the bow string taut and with careful aim, shoots the apple so that it falls to the ground. The giraffe now STRETCHES his legs wide and is able to eat the apple. Johnny thinks no one will believe his story as it is quite a STRETCH for the imagination, but decides to tell granma anyways because she’s always up for a good story. 1:05:30 Will R on Make a Movie 山KEYWORD: 山 shān MountainActor: Sean ConnerySet: -anRoom within Set (tone): Front doorProp(s): 山 (This is a simple pictograph of a mountain)Make a movie:1. Sean Connery at -an’s Front door2. Sean Connery looks over to the Mountain he is going to climblater3. Sean then turns his head realising he was looking at the wrongMountain and now looks the the bigger Mountain next to it4. Sean then again turns his head realising he was again lookingat the wrong Mountain and now looks the the biggest Mountain inthe row5. Sean Connery feels too old for anyone of these Mountains (山)(This scene is a parody of the Simpson’s “King Of The Hill” Episode. I think it is very fitting because Homer looks at 3 long Mountains and the prop has 3 long lines going upwards. You can watch the clip I am referencing here: https://youtu.be/WPL1vf87dWY 1:06:40 Will R on Make a Movie 亦KEYWORD: 亦 yì ArmpitsActor: Yi-Set: -Ø childhood homeRoom within Set (tone): BathroomProp(s): 亦 (This is a pictograph of a guy with sweaty and smellyarmpits)Make a movie:1. Yi- at -Ø childhood home’s Bathroom2. Austin Powers walks in with very hairy Armpits (亦)3. Austin Powers says: “Got any Spray for my Armpits baby?”4. Yi- can’t stand his hairy Armpits and bashes him into Orbit亦 Prop = Austin Powers or Spray 1:07:53 Della Fuller on Make a Movie 视Sean Connery is in the backyard of my childhood home, which happens to be very near to a football stadium. Sean would much rather be at the game, so he is WATCHing the stadium scoreboard through his telescope, so he can keep up with his team’s performance. 1:09:04 Georg Lohrer on Make a Movie 各Gregor Gysi ( a German politician – rather small but with great rhetorics) enters the bathroom of my e-set. Wow, it’s so crowded.In front there is the sloth and then the “Big Mouth”. Gregor shouts: “I need to go to the toilet now!”. The “Big Mouth” turns around and shouts back: “Stand still. EACH one will get in front!” 1:10:30 Stephanie Arapian on Make a Movie 安Jackie Chan is practicing his moves (very intense and impressively) with a garbage can lid as a shield for a phantom foe [outside the entrance of -an]. Marilyn Monroe exits the building, sees him and watches.Jackie catches sight of her and freezes in place – the garbage lid goes flying, landing on the ground, coming to a stop round and round slowly and Jackie comes to attention.Marilyn picks up the garbage lid, places it on Jackie’s head and pats his faces teasingly – “AT EASE, soldier.”He stares after her as she walks away, garbage lid still on his head 1:11:42 Will R on Make a Movie 草KEYWORD: 草 cǎo GrassActor: C-Set: -aoRoom within Set (tone): Living roomProp(s): 艹 (Rose), 早 (Random Person waking up)Make a movie:1. C- at -ao’s Living room2. Random Person waking up (早) is tired still3. C- grabs a Rose (艹) and puts to to the Random Person waking up’s face to wake him up better4. Random Person waking up is so overwhelmed by the smell of the Rose5. So overwhelmed so that he leaps out the Living room window onto the lawn’s Grass, and starts smelling the Grass (草)6. C- says to Random Person waking up: “Does the smell of damp Grass help wash away the overwhelming Rose smell?”

欢迎光临! Welcome! You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or you can subscribe by copying the following URL into your favorite podcast APP: https://www.mandarinblueprint.com/feed/podcast The Mandarin Blueprint Podcast focuses primarily on The Mandarin Blueprint Method online curriculum. Creators Luke Neale & Phil Crimmins answer questions and comments, discuss topics related to China and Mandarin learning and have special guests. 0:00 Affiliate Link & Reviews Become a Mandarin Blueprint Affiliate Leave us a Google Business Review 🙂 Leave us a Facebook Review 7:11 Comments & Emails Jonathan Glazier by CommunityOk, I am Jonathan from Cambridge UK. I am a “creative” in that I help make and create TV shows around the world. I also Direct and Executive Produce. Asia’s Got Talent is one of my claims to fame! Although there’s a reason I work behind the scenes, I have been described as a “Functioning Introvert”. I am 61 years old, I think I am stuck at around 27 years in my out look. I am very privileged to work all over the world and the one thing I know is that any effort to communicate on a local level is a mark of respect and rewarded (often with laughter!) but with broad smiles and great relationships. On AGT we have 17 countries and so many languages. I hope I can at least say thank you, welcome and good luck in all of them. I can also say Happy Bunnies in many. I’ve been learning Mandarin for about 2 years and have never progressed as far at such a pace since taking up MBP.I am dyslexic and even my own language can be a challenge, but I have the compensation of a really good visual mind, so MBP was a gift. I was drawn to Mandarin because of the challenge, I love of the culture and a work necessity in that I was offered a contract there (Covid put paid to that). Being able to read the characters was one of those light bulb moment for me, I remember most of mine, from understanding relativity and differential calculus to pitching our family geodesic tent. This course is just brilliant, so enjoyable and the community around the MBP is brilliant. As are Luke and Phil, so responsive and above all passionate about sharing their knowledge. I said in my case study that this course is one I can’t recommend highly enough. I look forward to meeting you all. JG 11:18 Heath Campbell by CommunityHi all,I just wanted to share something that I found was really exciting. I had added Mandarin subtitles to a tv show I was watching called Cobra Kai. It didn’t allow for Mandarin dubbing but it did for subtitles. They flashed up way too quick for me to read but I did notice that I recognized many of the characters. This alone suggested to me that everyday speech is probably not as complicated as I think it is.The exciting bit came when one of the characters spoke Spanish to her daughter. It was naturally translated into Mandarin. I hadn’t anticipated that. So I paused the scene and read it in Mandarin. To my delight, I understood the translation of what she was saying and even got the joke she made. From Spanish to Mandarin, to English!I don’t expect a Matrix style of transition with Mandarin.  I relish being able to read bits of signs on Chinese restaurants or understand some words spoken by a Chinese business owner in their store. I almost clapped for joy when I first heard and understood a shop owner say 一个, even if he was only directing his staff to get me a roast chicken. It’s a process…no, it’s a journey and the journey is sometimes the destination. 14:00 Email from anonymousHi guys,I was reading the article that was sent out recently about maintaining healthy habits for studying and I felt it really resonated with me. I graduated from university in 2018 and lived in China for a year until summer 2019. I tried to learn Chinese and managed to get a grasp of the basics but I was completely lost as to where to begin etc and studied so inefficiently. I fortunately found the BMPM course during my final month there and started to learn Chinese properly and kept it up until now.I was also living a very unhealthy lifestyle during my time in China. I had a pretty bad drinking problem which had been worsening over time. Then add in all the bad sleeping habits and endless cigarettes etc. This really stagnated my progress in anything I did as a human being and of course my already inefficient Mandarin learning.I decided to come back to the UK and live for a year and regather myself. Then, return to China to study for a year as a new person (obviously covid has changed that for now). I quit drinking and everything that came with it over a year ago and have been working through the MBPM curriculum alongside working in a regular job. I have about 400 characters left. This course has helped me immensely not just in learning Mandarin. It has also helped me learn about discipline, keeping good routines and having a sense of purpose. All this during a period of my life where I have been making big personal changes to become the person I want to be.I would like to keep this private as it is slightly personal. However, after reading the article about the healthy habits yesterday I felt obliged to let you guys know how much I appreciate this course. 31:01 Lucy Haley on Other Pronunciations That Use CH: 车 chē，茶chá，出 chū，出去 chūquHey guys – this course is fantastic! I was wondering if your thought it would be okay to study this course and your rapid acquisition course at the same time? I like to dedicate my first hour of the morning (6-7am) to language study, but because I live at home with brothers and parents (who like to sleep a little later) it’s a bit too early to be loudly pronouncing Chinese words!I also started listening to Coffee Break Chinese podcast in my car – do you think it’s helpful to have background noise/practicing pronunciations like that?Thanks! 33:20 Lance Kaufman on YOU DID IT!!!Thanks for the incredible work on this course. It may be the best online course that I have taken. I plan write up a more thorough review after a few days to let the experience ferment.Great job guys 34:16 Ric Santos on It’s a Word! 牛这头牛很肥 ： 可以用 “ 很胖” 吗 ？ 35:37 Ann Bihari on It’s a Word! 浅curious if the meaning of shallow here can also apply to a personality like it does in english?肤浅 fūqiǎn 36:39 Jonny Johnathanson on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 简单Gents,Am i reading too much into word/character order or does this make sense in comparison:这个问题对我来说很简单 – this is a simple question for me (emphasis on the question)对我来说这个问题很简单 – in my opinion, this is a simple question (emphasis on my opinion)Im thinking both make complete sense but with different emphasis on seperate parts of the sentence. Please correct me if i’m wrong. 38:34 William Beeman on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 收到Hi! In 你收到我送你的勺子没？Is the 没 a kind of “tag question? Like “or no?” or “or not?” 40:20 Micaela Ellison on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 办法In the example response, could you also say 没有办法? Is there a difference between 没办法 and 没有办法? 41:40 Lucy Haley on (BONUS) The Language Learning Tripod: AttitudeHi again, I start studying Chinese at university earlier next year. Would you suggest working with a program like yours whilst studying? So you get the theory and the actual language learning input?You guys are the best 48:58 Nick Sims (戴燚）on 用手机还是去银行寄钱Okay, this is intense but I actually know many of these characters!! How many times should I review this video and shadow before moving on? 10, 25, 50, 100? What’s my signal to move forward knowing that I’ll need more practice? 48:25 Lance Kaufman on Welcome! 3 Things to Do Right AwayI am 2/3rds of the way through remembering the hanzi volume 1,(about 95 percent retention of characters, but I only knowpronunciation for around 10 percent of the characters.) How do you recommend proceeding in this course?I can group the characters into three groups, 1) Can reproduce from muscle memory without needing to think of the components, 2) Can reproduce by thinking of the components, but don’t need to rehearse my mnemonic, and 3) Still dependent on recalling mnemonic to recall the components. 52:25 Lance Kaufman on Simple Final Ü (YU): Introduction with 鱼 yúIs the u after q, j and x always pronounced with the v sound? 53:49 Lucy Haley on ANKI DECK(S) INSIDE – *MUST WATCH* How to Review with TMBMWhy wont it let me keep studying? It keeps saying ‘congrats you’ve finished this deck for now’ but I have literally only just downloaded it? 55:11 William Beeman on 我也想找男朋友Thanks so much for your elegant explanation. It was very helpful. Just so you know, I am doing this course to get enough Chinese under my belt to do some comparative lingusitics, but I find I am having a great deal of fun, so it is really a pleasure.And you guys’ enthusiasm for the language and explanations of grammatical points are really enjoyable and informative. I’m sorry I couldn’t study with your excellent professors. 55:40 William Beeman on 我也想找男朋友Well, you asked, so here is way more than you wanted to findout. 🙂 Ignore if it is too boring (but not to me).My immediate project is to compare Chinese, Japanese and Arabicmorphology to try and show that grammatical form classes based onWestern (Indo-European) languages (noun, verb. etc.) are too rigid. Chinese is really ideal for this exploration because of the fluidity of its morphology, So many morphemes in Chinese can serve multiple gramatical functions, we need some new conceptual categories to encompass them. By the way, this is also true of American Indian languages where “nouns” are expressed as “verbs” and vice versa, so in Shawnee the English sentence: “The stone fell” would be most accurately rendered as “Stoning (happens) in a downward direction”My ongoing project deals with grammatical aspect (how an actionextends over time--imperfect, perfect), and modality (the attitude of a speaker/writer toward what they are expressing) in language. I am still not confident enough to tackle this in Chinese, but it is really exciting to explore these two dimensions of expression in Chinese. There has been some research on this, but the field is really wide open. I have written about this in Japanese, Persian, Indonesian (Javanese), Arabic and German. So working with Chinese is immensely engaging as another comparative dimension for human language.Finally, I have written a great deal about hierarchy in language.Language levels expressing status and class differences are hugely interesting. We can start with the 你／您 (Nǐ/nín) distinction and then the topic explodes from there, and has hardly been dealt with in non-Chinese literature. Chinese kinship terms which are hierarchical in the extreme. I don’t know if MB folks are aware of the enormous range of kinship terms in Chinese wtih older/younger and but one of my predecessors, the great linguist Yu Ren Chao wrote a definitive article on Chinese kinship and address forms some years ago.Chao, Yuen Ren. 1956. “Chinese Terms of Address.” Language 32 (1): 217–241.An exploration of “polite” speech/behavior 礼貌 (lǐmào) The first character can be glossed as “etiquette” but look at the second character made up of “badger” and “appearance!” What’s up witth that? How does the badger get into this mix? (More research needed).So I am very sorry that I am not much younger, coming to Chinese shows that there is an infinitude of interesting things to explore, and I am finding it enormously enjoyable. 1:03:20 Christine on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 新闻I am not quite sure what the role is of 我们*Sentence:最近新闻说有一只狼来了我们这儿。EnglishRecently the news said that a wolf came here.Top-Down Words: 狼 láng – wolf 1:05:07 William Beeman on 外国人学中文不能太心急Is the translation of 某些人才开始学 supposed to be “Some talented people start studying . . .” I’m trying to get my head around 人才 meaning “talented.” Is that right? If so, 才 functions (in Western grammatical nomenclature) as a noun, a verb, an adjective, and a preposition. A lot of work for a little word.Full Context:某些人才开始学，一共学了不到一百个词，就想和中国人用中文交流了。 1:08:18 Lucy Haley on (BONUS) 4 Components of Habit Building Part 3: RewardDo you have any good ideas for short term goals? Obviously the big overall one is to be able to have a conversation in China or read a book but what do you think are good smaller interim goals for absolute beginners? 1:15:41 Jason Pon on BONUS: Connector – Conditional “If-Then” Statements with 如果…, 就 & 要是…的话Thanks for such a thorough and comprehensive grammar structureas always. I always look forward to these 🙂 It’s the ‘ah-ha’ moment that, as you said, allows me to pick the concept up so much more naturally since i’ve been ‘exposed’ to the sentence with the grammar so many times already! 1:17:25 Carys Scott on (BONUS) The Language Learning Tripod Part 3: TimeOn my home screen of my phone, I just moved the Facebook and the Facebook messenger apps to my 2nd screen page and replaced with the Kajabi app and Anki app 😁👍 1:17:57 Carys Scott on Problem Initial CHI: 吃 chī，好吃 hǎochī，吃饭 chīfàn， 吃饭了吗? chīfàn le ma?Can hâochī be used to say a drink is delicious? For example you could have a really tastey cocktail or a delicious hot beverage like hot chocolat. Thank you 😁 1:19:02 Movies!  This blog post explains the theory behind Movie Scenes and learning characters. 1:09:07 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 卖Aside from the change of location and tone (3rd-4th) from 买 to 卖, I used 十 as a quick distinguishing mark for 卖, that whatever he it was that bought, he later sold it for 10 Dollars more (on top of it !) 1:20:15 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 牛Ni-actress in the kitchen of -ou set: She draws the front face of a cow… but with only one ear. Wow , is that something new ( niú ) !?ps. it is still a mystery what happened to the other ear, perhaps a samurai cut it ? 1:20:50 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 特A cow inside the temple is really something Special. 1:21:19 Nick Sims (戴燚）on Make a Movie 艮George Foreman (g-) is in Karen’s (-en) bedroom (3rd tone) feeling awkward because he is playing dress up with his daughter.She’s playing a sun in her dance recital and asked him to dress up too. George has a Sun (日) mask on with a tutu (𧘇). He looks in the mirror and is as BLUNT as possible, I look stupid. 1:22:12 Stephanie Arapian on Make a Movie 艮Greg is sleeping off his hangover in the platform t(en)t. The Sun puppet strides is on Skates and begins singing the ‘good morning ” song, in a bright overly cheerful voice, while rolling around the tent.Singing: “The bright sun comes up, the dew--Hrrrrggk!” Greg has Hooked (literally) the sun, and caught it in a chokehold, using the hook as a Blunt instrument.“Let me be BLUNT. Sunshine and mornings doesn’t happen until I say it does. Got it?” The Sun nods, and runs when Greg released him. Greg rolls over back to sleep. 1:23:22 Nick Sims (戴燚）on Make a Movie 服Kung Fu Panda (fu-) is cooking in the kitchen (2nd) at my childhood home. He PUT ON his apron so he doesn’t make a mess. He works from morning until the moon (月)comes out. Poe makes Robin (又) the best dumplings ever. Robin agrees and puts his wax seal (卩) of approval TO CONVINCE everyone that they are awesome. 1:24:24 Will R on Make a Movie 分KEYWORD: 分 fēn To SeparateActor: F-Set: -enRoom within Set (tone): Front DoorProp(s): 八 (Spider), 刀 (Trusty Pocket Knife)Make a movie:1. F- opens -en’s Front Door2. A Spider (八) is about to burst in through the door and attackF-3. F- pulls out his Trusty Pocket Knife (刀) battles the Spiderback out4. F- then actives his Star Trek Force Field To Separate (分)himself safely from the Spider5. The Spider is now permanently Separated from F-(分 prop = Star Trek Force Field) 1:25:19 Ann Bihari on Make a Movie 足 keyword – feetactor – zeusset – childhood homeroom – kitchenprops – rolling stones mouth, rocket launcherZeus is sitting in the kitchen of my childhood home with his giant FEET up on the table. The rolling stones mouth is using a rocket launcher to massage those big ol’ tired FEET. 1:26:02 Ann Bihari on Make a Movie 票keyword – ticketactor – patie (pronounced PAY-she)set – tremont houseroom – bathroomprops – cowboy hat and large video displayPatie needs to buy TICKETs to the galveston mardi gras parade. She’s in the bathroom at tremont house and is getting ready. She puts on her sparkly cowboy hat and, looking at the giant video display (which also acts as a mirror), realizes that she can purchase her TICKETs directly from the video display. she enters in her room number and selects how many TICKETs she wants. they are added to her room bill and the mobile TICKETs are sent to her phone. she’s all set. 1:27:05 Ric Santos on Make a Movie 经The Manager 经 of the silk shop is my J-actor outside entrance of -ng set. He says: Handicaps 又 working 工 with the silk 纟industry is good for the ECONOMY. 1:28:04 Will R on Make a Movie 到KEYWORD: 到 dào To ArriveActor: D-Set: -aoRoom within Set (tone): GardenProp(s): 至 (sleeping beauty),刂 (Broad Sword)Make a movie:1. D- at -ao’s Garden2. Sleeping Beauty (至) has been lying there waiting for D- TO ARRIVE3. D- gets his Broad Sword and stabs it in her to wake her up4. Sleeping Beauty wakes angry saying: “You took your time didn’t you? You and Broad Sword (刂) have ARRIVED late”5. D- says: “A wizard is never later, he ARRIVES (到) exactly when he needs to” (Gandalf/Lord of the Rings reference) 1:28:59 Christine on Make a Movie 茶This came together for me very well using my props but it mightnot work for everyone.Charlie Chaplin (Ch actor) is in the kitchen on my a- location.He wants to make some tea.In my home country, there is a make of tea called ‘5 Roses’, witha distinctive red box and a stylised picture of roses on it. Thisis my Rose prop.My other props are:Straw, conical hat and a Bonsai tree.So to complete the tea making ceremony (and the movie for the character), Charlie has to wear the straw hat while plucking the tea leaves from the Bonsai tea bush. Then he has to fill the little bags of 5 Roses tea with the leaves so that he can brew the perfect cup of tea. 1:30:01 Kathryn Nixon on MAKE A MOVIE 马It takes place in the living room of a childhood friend A.She has her black n white telly on and Michael Jackson is on screen. In her living room are three horses which she is training to copy Michael Jacksons moon walk. Eventually they become so good at it that I tell her she should dress them up as unicorns and enter a talent contest. I roll up some card, stick on glitter and then attach the unicorn horns to the horses faces with elastic. My friend is ecstatic. At that moment magic happens and Michael Jackson appears in the living room, and rides the three horses back into the telly to become part of the thriller video.My friend is crying cos she lost her three horses and Michael Jackson has stolen them. 1:31:03 Georg Lohrer on Make a Movie 邦Boris Becker in front of my ang-set. He has built his own little corral using hay-stacks and small brick walls. He somehow has gotten megalomaniac – he’s started to declare his own NATION. 1:31:40 Georg Lohrer on Make a Movie 帮Boris Becker continues to build his own nation (see 邦) in front of my ang-set. He now wants to raise the German flag. He immediately gets some HELP. Someone brings a towel and some color sprays to HELP him painting the flag.

欢迎光临! Welcome! You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or you can subscribe by copying the following URL into your favorite podcast APP: https://www.mandarinblueprint.com/feed/podcast The Mandarin Blueprint Podcast focuses primarily on The Mandarin Blueprint Method online curriculum. Creators Luke Neale & Phil Crimmins answer questions and comments, discuss topics related to China and Mandarin learning and have special guests. 0:00 Affiliate Link & Reviews Become a Mandarin Blueprint Affiliate Leave us a Google Business Review 🙂 Leave us a Facebook Review 10:44 Comments & Emails Liam Llamazares on YOU DID IT!!!Hey guys,I just finished the pronunciation mastery course. I just wanted to quickly pause to thank you guys for all the effort and passion you’ve put into this course. It’s bursting through the seams of this program and it has helped even a complete newbie like me achieve a good base in pronunciation. Likewise thanks for answering all my questions. It’s been a great help! I’m looking forward to starting the rest of the program and getting to the memory techniques. They sound like a lot of fun! 😀 16:23 William Beeman on 我也想找男朋友HI in:有什么办法可以找到一个对我又好长得又好看的男朋友呢The phrase 又好长得又好看(的) seems redundant to describe the desired boyfriend. I get that he should be “good looking” but this seems to be kind of stated twice. Can you explain how these coordinated phrases work together?ANSWER:Take a look at this simpler sentence:有什么办法可以找到一个又好又好看的男朋友呢又 + 好 + 又 + 好看又 + Adj1 + 又 + Adj2Now back to the original sentence:有什么办法可以找到一个对我又好长得又好看的男朋友呢对我 + 又 + 好 + 长得 + 又 + 好看VP1 + 又 + Adj1 + VP2 + 又 + Adj2 20:32 Jason Pon on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 慢慢司机慢慢走了过来。Why isn’t 得 used here to describe how the action is being done, which we’ve seen before like 你说话得太快了?Could the sentence also be arranged as 司机走了过来得慢慢 or something like that? (Sorry if my grammar order is off).ANSWER:的 – Possession – Noun 1 + 的 +  Noun 2 = Noun 1 posesses Noun 2地 de – Adjective + 地 + Verb得 de – Verb + 得 + Descriptive Phrase司机慢慢走了过来。司机慢慢地走了过来。司机走得很慢。 Jason Pon on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 慢慢Phil – Thanks so much. This is a very helpful answer. The only things I would say if I may be allowed to elaborate on the motivation of my question here: 1) I feel like I am at the point in my learning where I need to start to understanding things in a more systematic, holistic, and structured approach when it comes to acquiring my grammar. Anki is helping to passively input grammar points (which I am fully aware has been emphasized as part of this course). I am not undermining the usefulness and tactical benefit of it, but I know how I learn and have learned other things (including other languages) and I work best when Ican categorize everything and absorb things in buckets of rules (for instance, this trifecta of using ‘de’ in the form of 的,得, and 地 is perfect for someone like me to start seeing things top-down now that I have enough bottom-up). 2) I appreciate your point on ‘if it is wrong, stop there & do not question the “why” because at that point you will start to ask questions of a linguist.’ I totally understand and agree. So I guess I am not asking ‘why is that sentence wrong’ (I completely admit that it is) but instead of stopping there and moving on, the question I should and will ask is ‘what should the right sentence be’ because I believe that it’s by making these mistakes, being cognizant of them and fixing them with appropriate grammar is how I’ll learn, and it kind of weaves into my point #1 in that my passive intake has its limits and I need to be more self-aware of the language from a top-down point of view not that I amdeveloping my bottom-up foundation.Once again, thanks, and I hope I explained my thoughts well! 32:57 Kairi Shikari on It’s a Word! 贵Regarding the phrase 可能二十元左右, I know that 左右 means ‘about’ but I’m not sure why 可能 is here, as the English translation doesn’t seem to indicate its use. 35:48 Corinna on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 关注In the first sentence, there’s 上 – what’s the meaning of it in this context? Is it only a kind of “helper” in this context? E.g. can I translate is as the “on” in “I’m following you ON Weibo.”?ANSWER:上 在微博上zài wēibó shàng…On Weibo…在杂志上…zài zázhì shàng…In the magazine…在报纸上…zài bàozhǐ shàng…In the newspaper…在书上…zài shū shàng…In the book…在车上…zài chē shàng…In the car…下在他的指导下…zài tāde zhǐdǎo xià…Under his guidance…在这个情况下…zài zhège qíngkuàng xià…In this situation…中在你的演讲中…zài nǐde yǎnjiǎng zhōng…In your speech…在过程中…zài guòchéng zhōng…In the process…里 lǐ – inside在家里…zài jiā lǐ…In the home…在学校里…zài xuéxiào lǐ…In the school…在办公室里…zài bàngōngshì lǐ…In the office… 40:53 Corinna on It’s a Word! 得Why does the first sentence 你骑马骑得太快了。need the character 骑 two times?I’m trying to think of different scenarios for why it’s needed twice, but I’m just not sure so I thought I’d ask. 🙂Also: Could I say 你骑得太快了。and have it mean “You ride too fast.”?ANSWER: Verb + 得 + descriptive phrase你·骑马·骑·得·太快了他·说话·说·得·有点儿乱我·开车·开·得·很开心你骑得太快了他说得有点儿乱我开得很开心 44:57 Georgia Swanson on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 椅子 Regarding the first example sentence “椅子不能坐，坏了“，is it just implied from context that this is passive voice and the chair “can’t be sat on”? Of course chairs themselves cannot sit, so I guess I’m wondering if this is one of the instances where you would just use the contextual clues and your amazing common sense skills to determine that it’s not the chair itself that cannot sit? 谢谢！ 46:45 Lisa Leutheuser on BONUS: “How Does What” – Adverbs of DenialSo in the first example, we have bu before the verb, such as: 不说话And in the second we have verb + 不 + result, such as: 找不到 Can you also say: 不找 ? I.e. turn it into a ‘bu before the verb” construction? Or can some verbs only use the verb + 不 + result construction? 49:47 Andreas Lienemann on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 吃饭I’m assuming that in the sentence 吃饭时别大声说话, 时 indicates the concurrent happening of 吃饭 and 大声说话, correct? 51:44 Jason Pon on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 只有只有看这本书才能明白I’m able to make this sentence out but am just confused about theusage of 才 in here and what it is expressing. Can you explain please? 54:00 Christopher Weeks on New Vocabulary Unlocked! 另外In the sentence 我的一个朋友在外面玩儿，另外一个朋友在里面工作… why is used 我的一个朋友 instead of 我有一个朋友or 我的朋友？ I wasn’t we could use 一 after the particle 的。Similarly, could I use 另外朋友， 另外的朋友 or do I have to use 另外一个朋友？ 57:36 Movies!  This blog post explains the theory behind Movie Scenes and learning characters. 57:55 Heath Campbell on Make a Movie 鱼I learnt this word a long time ago when using another course. To me it always looked like someone casting a net over water to catch fish. Not sure I’ll be able to change that. It’s pretty stuck in my head. 59:06 Will R on Make a Movie 期KEYWORD: 期 qī Period Of TimeActor: qi-Set: -Ø childhood homeRoom within Set (tone): Front doorProp(s): 其 (Other), 月 (Moon)Make a movie:1. qi- at -Ø childhood home’s Front door2. qi- waits with the Moon (月) to battle The ‘Other’ (其)3. They wait a long Period Of Time until things change4. The ‘Other’ springs up for battle5. Moon says to qi-: “The Period Of Time (期) for waiting is over” 1:00:29 Robert Carver on Make a Movie 垂Pikachu (chu-) is in the kitchen at my (-ei) set, fighting a T-1000 (千) with twin katanas (二) for arms. Pikachu tries to summon his most awesome power but instead accidentally conjures up a Rose (艹) , which immediately DROOPS in his hand. Pikachu, of course, is immediately impaled, and his head DROOPS down as the life leaves him. 1:02:01 Soren Korsbaek on Make a Movie 除I’ve got my chu-actor (Chef from South Park) using a toothbrush (阝) to REMOVE the stones of the apple core (余), then giving a speech about how it can be eaten now the stones have been REMOVED. 1:02:48 Nick Sims (戴燚）on Make a Movie 交Janet Jackson (ji-) is outside (3rd tone) of Lifetime Fitness (-ao) with a tight yoga pants outfit getting ready to enter the building. The Godfather (父) walks up with a Top Hat (亠) on and is completely stunned by Janet. He asks if they can MINGLE and offers to take her on a vacation making her dreams come true. They not only develop an instant FRIENDSHIP but they immediately have the desire for INTERCOURSE. Love at first sight. 1:04:44 Will R on Make a Movie 饱Make a movie:1. B- at -ao’s Living Room2. B- is hungry so he orders from the Food Menu (饣) on an app he has3. The food later arrives in a big Heavy Bag (包)4. B- eats the food from the Heavy Bag till he is FULL from food (饱)5. His belly button turns from inny to outy due to being so FULL(like Homer Simpson’s did: https://youtu.be/dPZfIYY6-p0 1:06:22 Stephanie Arapian on Make a Movie 衣Idina Menzel is on the front sidewalk announcing Idina’s new CLOTHING line to fashion reporters. After the grand announcement, music starts playing – “Short Skirt Long Jacket”. And then, Idina steps out the front door, sashaying down the front steps in a Tutu and TopHat… and boots. Cuz they’re made for walking. 1:07:37 Della Fuller on Make a Movie 备Ben is waiting in the backyard of Bard on the Beach (plAYs) when he sees a sloth trying to cross the flooded rice field across the road. He shakes his head when he sees how unPREPAREd the sloth is. He grabs a raincoat, rainboots and an umbrella and goes to rescue the sloth, because he is now PREPAREd for the wet crossing. 1:08:48 Soren Korsbaek on Make a Movie 趣Churchill has no INTEREST in exercising. Yet, he finds himself in the bathroom of my childhood home with a treadmill and an ATM. However, if he doesn’t do it cash withdrawals come with high INTEREST rates. Suddenly, it is in his INTEREST to exercise. He takes a minute or two on the treadmill before withdrawing his cash with zero INTEREST-rates. 1:09:58 Ann Bihari on Make a Movie 影keyword – shadowactor – eveset – jeng chi restaurantroom – main dining roomprops – great wall and dreadlocksEve is sitting at the next table over in the main dining room of Jeng Chi. She is also looking at all the different paintings on the wall. Her gaze rests on a very unusual painting of the Great Wall. There’s a man with long dreadlocks standing on the right-hand side of the painting… he’s casting a very long SHADOW that extends almost the entire length of the wall in the painting. 1:11:11 Ann Bihari on Make a Movie 京keyword – capitalactor – julieset – jeng chi restaurantroom – outside front entranceprops – top hat, penguinJulie is meeting a representative from the CAPITAL at jeng chi. She’s waiting for him outside the front entrance. How will she recognize him? He’ll be the penguin wearing a top hat. 1:12:45 Ann Bihari on Make a Movie 景keyword – sceneryactor – julieset – jeng chi restaurantroom – main dining roomprops – mao portrait, sunJulie and the penguin are sitting at one of the big round tables at Jeng Chi. They’re looking around at all the traditional paintings of Chinese SCENERY and notice one that seems oddly out of place. It’s of the sun high above the portrait of Mao in Tiananmen Square. It’s more pop art than the other more traditional SCENERY/LANDSCAPE paintings. 1:14:04 Ann Bihari on Make a Movie 尤keyword – especiallyactor – eveset – rosemont elementaryroom – cafeteriaprops – diving board, hook, eyedropperEve, visiting her sons at Rosemont, is in the cafeteria line for lunch. The cafeteria ladies have set up a miniature diving board for dinosaur chicken nuggets to jump into the frying oil. Using a medium sized hook, the dino nuggets are then scooped out of the oil and onto the kids’ plates. Next, the kids get an eyedropper filled with ketchup to squirt onto the dino nuggets. Eve thinks to herself, “this is ESPECIALLY creative for a school lunch, do they do stuff like this every day?”