This week’s mailbag:

a learner understands his mother-in-law at the worst moment,

a tone mistake turns into a workplace disaster,

and a four-year-old becomes the teacher.

Plus: how to ask to camp in Taiwan without sounding like a tourist.

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What does real bilingual development actually look like?

In this episode of Mandarin Monkey, we talk about one of the biggest concerns parents have when raising bilingual children:

“My child understands Mandarin… but won’t speak it. Is that normal?”

We explore:

• What children usually understand first

• Why mixing languages is a sign of competence

• Whether silence means failure

• How long it realistically takes to become conversational

• Why input matters more than early output

Ula shares personal stories of growing up with Taiwanese and Mandarin, and we reflect on our own children’s bilingual journey.

If you’re raising a child in a mixed-language household, this conversation will reassure you.

Mandarin Monkey is a bilingual podcast where Mandarin and English are used naturally, just like in real families.

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This episode started as a simple idea:

list 100 very specific things to do before you die.

We didn’t get to 100.

We talked about sharks, Lapland, Route 66, Disney parks, cherry blossoms, tequila in Mexico, collecting memories, and why “someday” is a dangerous word.

Mandarin and English.

Travel, goals, family, and that quiet feeling of wanting more life in your life.

If this episode sparks an idea for you, tell us what you’d add to the list.

Mandarin Monkey is a bilingual podcast in Mandarin and English.

We speak naturally. No scripts. No lessons. Just real conversation.

Support the show or join the hangouts:

mandarinmonkey.com

patreon.com/mandarinmonkey

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Learning Mandarin isn’t just about vocabulary or grammar.

Sometimes it’s about confidence, fear, and not feeling “good enough”.

In episode 444 of the Mandarin Monkey Podcast, we talk honestly about:

– Why language “levels” can actually hurt learners

– Speaking Mandarin without destroying your confidence

– Trial lessons that start way too basic

– Learning through conversation, not correction

– Why progress feels invisible even when it’s real

– Being scared to speak, even after years of learning

– How creativity, experience, and repetition change everything

This episode drifts between English and Mandarin, just like real life does.

Because that’s how language is actually learned.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, nervous, or frustrated with Mandarin…

this one’s for you.

🎧 Listen, relax, and remember: you’re not bad at languages.

You’re just still learning.

📩 Got a question for our Friday mailbag?

Email: chat@mandarinmonkey.com

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This is a mailbag episode of the Mandarin Monkey Podcast.

We answer listener questions about a deceptively common Mandarin mistake:

why you can’t use “ask” the way you do in English.

Ula explains why 問 is for asking questions, but doesn’t work when you’re asking someone to do you a favour, and why 請 is often the natural choice, even though it doesn’t translate cleanly into English.

We also respond to listener emails about:

• learning Mandarin without a clear end goal
• why grammar turns people off languages
• patience, time, and long-term progress
• how hangouts and lessons help people stick with it

Ula speaks Mandarin pretty much throughout.

Tom speaks English pretty much throughout.

🎧 Lessons, hangouts, and more:

mandarinmonkey.com

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This episode is a fully bilingual English–Mandarin conversation. Tom speaks in English. Ula responds entirely in Mandarin.

We talk about:

Extreme risk and a climber scaling Taipei 101

Whether dangerous stunts should be streamed live

Travel plans including Lapland, skiing holidays, the Maldives, and the US

Fear, animals, parenting, and how perspective changes over time

This is not a scripted lesson.

It’s how Mandarin is used naturally in real life.

If you’re learning Mandarin and want:

Real listening practice

Natural speed and phrasing

Mandarin used in context, not explained to death

This episode is for you.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why does Mandarin feel easy when you’re listening…

but impossible the moment a real person speaks?

In this mailbag episode, we answer real listener questions about learning Mandarin in the real world.

Textbooks vs real speech. Tones. Confidence. Speaking to in-laws. And why your brain sometimes just shuts down.

We talk about:

• Why textbooks teach words nobody actually says
• Whether tones really matter (and why)
• Freezing when speaking to native speakers
• Speaking Mandarin with your partner’s parents
• Why some days you feel fluent and others you forget everything
• Mainland Chinese vs Taiwanese Mandarin

If you’ve ever thought, “Is it just me?”

…it isn’t.

00:00 Welcome & what this episode is

03:10 Why textbooks don’t sound like real people

11:45 Speaking Mandarin with your partner’s parents

23:40 “I understand podcasts but not real people”

33:10 Do tones really matter?

41:45 Why some days Mandarin feels impossible

52:30 Mainland Chinese vs Taiwanese Mandarin

59:10 Final thoughts & how to keep improving

01:02:30 How to support Mandarin Monkey

🎧 Support the podcast: https://patreon.com/mandarinmonkey

📚 Book lessons: https://mandarinmonkey.com

👥 Join Mandarin Monkey Hangouts on Patreon

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We’re back. We both got hit with a nasty illness for a few weeks and lost our voices, so this one is low-energy and coughy. We talk about why we disappeared, why this Christmas felt “off”, a New Year’s Eve living-room campout with the kids, and how fast sickness can wipe you out. Then we look back at some 2025 goals, set fresh 2026 goals, and Tom admits he’s convinced Premium Bonds will make him a millionaire every month. We also share why Disney matters to us, plus a quick reminder: if you’ve been listening for ages and thinking about lessons, now’s a good time to start.

0:00 Welcome back and why we disappeared

0:40 Three weeks ill, lost voices, low energy

3:00 Christmas felt quiet this year

6:00 New Year’s Eve with kids and getting sick

10:30 Moving house, 2025 drama, hoping 2026 improves

17:00 Premium Bonds and the monthly million fantasy

20:30 2025 goals review, exercise, habits, tracking

26:00 Journaling, Finch app, wanting better insights

27:30 Disney plans and giving kids real memories

34:00 Hobbies, dates, books, piano, creative projects

40:00 2026 goals, family time, couple time

47:00 Where we might live next, avoiding tourist traps

50:30 Dog debate, Halloumi, dog sitting reality

54:30 Lessons, teachers, Patreon, wrap-up

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