The Fluent Listener:
Navigating Mandarin Like a Fish in Water
This course is currently under construction and is not open for enrollment.
If you are interested in the course, you can leave your email address here.
Feeling like you’re drowning in sounds that float together? Tired of asking questions and not catching the answers? Or perhaps you understand Chinese aimed at you, but struggle with authentic content and group conversations?
This course helps you set up an immersion environment, no matter where you live and how busy you are. You’ll be able to absorb not just the sounds of Mandarin, but also vocabulary, grammar and more.
Improving your listening ability unlocks social interactions and is the key to acquiring both language and culture, finally making you feel 如鱼得水 (rúyúdéshuǐ) – like a fish in water!
Mandarin listening feels like guessing because words sound similar.
I can ask questions in Chinese, but when a native speaker answers, I’m completely lost!
Chinese people speak so fast! Even when I know the words, I still don’t understand half of it.
I get what my teacher says in Mandarin, but anyone else might as well be speaking Martian!
Why is every Mandarin listening resource either too basic or insanely difficult?
Section 1: Navigating spoken Mandarin like a fish in water
Welcome to the course
Why listening is the most important skill
Why listening in Chinese is hard and what to do about it
The role of listening in your overall approach to learning Chinese
Identifying problems with listening ability and solving them
The 100/1000-hour listening challenge
Section 2: A deep dive into Chinese listening comprehension
Chinese listening comprehension: An overview
From sound to meaning in Mandarin
Using what you already know to aid listening comprehension
How to increase your Chinese listening speed
Becoming a fluent listener listener
Section 3: How to listen to understand and learn more
How much of the Mandarin you listen to should you understand?
Extensive listening: What it is, why you want it, and how to get it
The importance of comprehensible input
Making input comprehensible with scaffolding
The difficulty: Listening materials for any situation
Comprehensible input vs. deep-end immersion
Listening to difficult but interesting content
Pros and cons of diversifying your listening
Understanding regionally accented Mandarin
Listening to dialogues, monologues and text read aloud
Interactive listening: Successful conversation strategies
Text-to-speech and other digital services
Audio flashcards: Why, when and how?
Section 4: How to listen to understand and learn more
What makes your Chinese listening ability improve
How to learn to hear the sounds and tones of Mandarin
How listening more than once will help you understand and learn more
Listen before you read, while you read or after you read
Exercises for active listening and improved retention
Slowing down spoken Mandarin: Pros and cons
Listening strategies for tackling any listening situation
Expand your listening comfort zone with narrow listening
How to leverage a teacher or native speaker to improve listening ability
How to nail any listening exam, including the HSK
How to survive and thrive in challenging listening situations
Section 5: Creating a Chinese immersion experience
Immersion at home and abroad
Making the most out of a stay abroad
Building your Chinese audio library
Finding more time to listen to Chinese
Easy and effortless Chinese listening practice
Habit hacking for more and better listening
Resource: Immersion tracker/progress tool
Section 6: A path to listening fluency in Chinese
What to listen to as a complete novice
What to listen to as a beginner
What to listen to as an intermediate student
What to listen to as an advanced student
Resource: Listening benchmarking/assessment tool