Teaching Languages Through Storytelling: Interview with Bryce Hedstrom

Links: Karen's website: Happy Mandarin My website: imlearningmandarin.com -- Today's guest is Karen Cheuk, an inspiring educator behind Happy Mandarin, an organization that helps children learn Chinese in a fun and engaging environment. Karen was born and raised in Hong Kong and went on to study at Cambridge University on a scholarship. After graduating and having a daughter, she was inspired to create Happy Mandarin. She noticed that existing Chinese classes did not strike the right balance between fun and learning and often only catered to Chinese-speaking families, so she created Happy Mandarin to fill this gap.  Karen is also a mother and juggles her work activities with raising a trilingual daughter.  We had a wide-ranging chat about the importance of creating an immersive environment for children to learn a second or third language, encouraging parents to learn alongside their children and how to integrate the language into their daily lives.

Links: Glossika: https://ai.glossika.com/ The I'm Learning Mandarin blog: imlearningmandarin.com -- In this episode, I talk with Michael Campbell, a true language enthusiast and the founder of language learning app, Glossika. Michael has dedicated a significant portion of his life to understanding and mastering languages, having lived in Taiwan for most of his life and become proficient in many Chinese languages and dialects along the way. In this wide ranging interview we discuss how growing up surrounded by polyglots in the intelligence community inspired him to take up languages as well as the driving force behind the creation of Glossika. Glossika takes a unique approach to language acquisition, focusing on building “muscle memory” through repeated exposure to sound patterns. This method, coupled with a clever blend of increasing and decreasing spaced repetition intervals, helps learners internalize the natural flow and structure of their target language. I began by asking Michael how and why he started learning Mandarin.

Links: Mandarin Blueprint: https://www.mandarinblueprint.com/ My blog: imlearningmandarin.com -- On today’s episode, I interview Phil Crimmins. Phil is one of the two minds behind Mandarin Blueprint, a Mandarin learning course with over 4000 videos taking learners step-by-step all the way to Mandarin proficiency. Phil's journey with Mandarin is fascinating. He graduated from Sichuan University in China with a bachelor's degree in the Chinese language. But he left unsatisfied with the traditional methods of learning Chinese he'd been exposed to. So together with his business partner Luke, they created Mandarin Blueprint. Before exploring how the blueprint works and the thinking that went behind it, I was keen to find out more about Phil’s personal experiences of learning Mandarin.

Links:Amanda's website: ⁠https://www.misspandachinese.com/about/⁠Let's Learn Chinese with Miss Panda album: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7glqGNHQOnHMV7pNKbMTSU⁠My website: ⁠imlearningmandarin.com⁠--Welcome to the podcast! Today's guest is Amanda, better known as ⁠"Miss Panda,"⁠ a renowned expert in Mandarin language instruction.Amanda boasts over 30 years of experience teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) and Mandarin Chinese.She's also a published author, consultant, and the creative force behind the popular ⁠"Let's Learn Mandarin Chinese with Miss Panda!" ⁠album, which has helped introduce Mandarin Chinese to a global audience.Throughout her career, Amanda has made significant contributions to the field of language acquisition, presenting her insights at conferences worldwide. Her dedication extends beyond the classroom; she actively assists various educational institutions in developing their Chinese language and culture programs.In this episode, we'll explore Amanda's inspiring journey as a Mandarin teacher, her innovative teaching methods, and the impact she's had on countless language learners. I began by asking her how that journey all began.

Links: Jorrit's Kaohongshu blog: https://kaohongshu.blog/about/ My free eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook My blog: imlearningmandarin.com -- In this episode, I have the pleasure of chatting with Jorrit, a Dutch blogger and the creator of the Kaohongshu website, about his Mandarin learning journey. Jorrit opens up about learning the language, living in China, and the challenges of maintaining his abilities after returning to a non-Chinese-speaking environment. We also explore the story behind his Kaohongshu blog and his mission to inspire and help others in their language-learning journeys.

Links: Bryce's website: https://www.brycehedstrom.com My free Mandarin Learning eBook: https://www.peakmandarin.com/free-ebook -- On today’s episode, I interview Bryce Hedstrom – an award-winning teacher trainer in northern Colorado. Bryce has a varied and fascinating history in language learning and teaching, graduating in Spanish before teaching the language in public schools and at the college level for 30 years. He’s worked with clients in the business world, including Fortune 500 corporations and has received multiple awards for his work implementing methods for language instruction that centre around comprehensible input and storytelling. Moreover, as we’ll soon discover, he’s taken an interest in learning Mandarin, applying similar methods to those that were so effective in his teaching career. With so much to cover in this interview, it was hard to know where to start. So I began by asking Bryce how his fascination with languages all began.

Links: Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/b9PAyKwT9p Our Peak Mandarin Masterpack for learning Chinese: https://www.peakmandarin.com/masterclass Will's Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@willhartmandarin/videos -- In this episode, I share our special live q&a session with Will Hart, co-founder of Peak Mandarin. Will should need no introduction to readers of this blog. Two years ago he burst on the Mandarin learning scene when videos of him speaking flawless Chinese after learning for less than two years went viral on YouTube. In the q&a, Will took live questions from the audience in our Discord Server on all things Mandarin learning. Questions ranged from Will’s thoughts on Comprehensible Input to how he went about learning characters.

Links: Peak Mandarin Discord Server: https://discord.gg/b9PAyKwT9p Your ultimate guide to Mastering Chinese tones -- In this episode, we’re diving into one of the most challenging parts of learning Mandarin: mastering tricky tone pairs. I’ll walk you through four of the most commonly mispronounced tone combinations and explain how to get them right.

In this episode, we bring you the recording of our October 20th session where we tackled questions on how to fix your tones. If you're looking to improve your tones but aren't sure how, this discussion is packed with insights from me, as well as server moderator, Jered. Tune in to hear valuable tips, expert advice, and answers to your questions from the live audience. Perfect for anyone looking to level up their tones! Interested in joining more live sessions like this? Join our Discord server on this link: https://discord.gg/b9PAyKwT9p

Links: Peak Mandarin Discord Server: https://discord.gg/b9PAyKwT9p -- In this episode, I dive into one of the most common questions Mandarin learners face: Do you really need to memorise the tones for every new word? Drawing from my personal journey of learning Mandarin and my experiences coaching other learners on my Pronunciation Academy, I discuss the challenges many learners encounter with tone memorisation. I’ll share tips on memorising tones and learning to produce them accurately.