Student Q&A, May 2024: Understanding strangers, listening with transcripts, and which podcasts to avoid

This week’s podcast episode (number 196) is a reader and listener Q&A, where I answer three questions about listening comprehension in Chinese.

This time, I’ve picked questions about understanding people beyond your teacher, when you should and shouldn’t use transcripts and subtitles, and why I don’t recommend some popular podcasts.

Tune in to the Hacking Chinese Podcast to listen to the related episode:

Available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Overcast, Spotify, YouTube and many other platforms!

Links to things mentioned in the introduction

• Chinese listening challenge, May 2024
• Learning Chinese through Stories

Chinese listening challenge, September 2024

Links for question #1: Understanding people other than your teacher

• Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 6: Why is listening in Chinese so hard?
• Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 1: A guide to Chinese listening comprehension

Beyond tīng bu dǒng, part 6: Why is listening in Chinese so hard?

Links for question #2: Listening with transcripts and subtitles

• Listen before you read: Improve your listening ability

Listen before you read: Improve your listening ability

Links for question #3: Podcasts I don’t recommend

• The best podcasts for learning Chinese in 2024
• Can too much guidance make you learn less Chinese?

The best podcasts for learning Chinese in 2024