In a mildly confusing bit of podcast naming, Jared Turner sits down with comedian Turner Sparks.

Turner moved to China in 2004 to teach English, planning to stay for just one year. He ended up staying for twelve.

In this episode of You Can Learn Chinese, Turner talks about learning Chinese out of necessity, from struggling through everyday conversations with almost no shared language to using Chinese while building and running a business across China.

Turner shares stories from his years in Suzhou and Shanghai, including launching Mr. Softee ice cream trucks in China, navigating local government and business culture, whitewater rafting with Chinese officials, and stumbling into stand-up comedy when a local bar owner built him a stage and told him he had a month to prepare.

That hobby eventually became a career. After performing around Asia, Turner moved to New York City to pursue comedy full time, where his years in China, his Chinese-speaking wife and family, and the Chinese language itself continue to shape his comedy.

Turner’s path from English teacher to ice cream entrepreneur to full-time comedian is not exactly the standard Chinese-learning story. Join us for a funny and unpredictable conversation about China, Chinese, business, comedy, and the strange places learning a language can take you.

Links from the episode:

• Turner Sparks | Website & Tour Dates

• Follow Turner | Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok

• Mandarin Companion Graded Readers

Jared and John discuss the frustrations faced by a learner who came to John for help—particularly with pinyin and distinguishing similar sounds in Chinese. They explore why learners often misapply English pronunciation rules to pinyin and how comprehensible input can help ease the learning curve.

This episode serves as both a deep dive into the phonetic and perceptual challenges of learning Chinese and a reassuring reminder that, while the path to fluency can be frustrating, personalized strategies and persistent effort can lead to real progress.

Links from the episode:

• Mandarin Companion graded readers

What does it mean to walk in the footsteps of an ancestor whose life connected China and America more than a century ago?

In this episode, Ben Lee shares how moving to Wuhan in 1992 pushed him to learn Chinese for survival—and eventually led him back to a remarkable family legacy. His great-grandfather was part of the Qing Dynasty’s Chinese Educational Mission, became an early voice in Chinese American literature, and even crossed paths with Mark Twain.

Ben and Jared explore heritage, identity, education, and the lifelong rewards of learning Chinese. Ben also shares practical advice for learners, including why the best approach is simple: start, keep going, and accept that there will always be more to learn.

Links from the episode:

• “When I was a boy in China” by Yan Phou Lee | Project Gutenbert and Amazon

• Mandarin Companion Graded Readers