In this episode of The Learner Journals, Tom speaks with Jane, live in the Mandarin Monkey studio, about how she learns Mandarin and why she keeps going.
Jane has always liked languages, which immediately makes her suspicious because apparently some people enjoyed French at school. She studied French and Spanish, had passionate teachers, and later became fascinated by people who could move between languages with ease. After a busy legal career and a period of burnout, she came back to languages because she wanted something that was just for fun.
Her Mandarin journey began through a friend who had lived in Beijing and offered casual Chinese lessons. From there, Jane discovered Mandarin podcasts, Pop Up Chinese, Mandarin Monkey, Chinglish conversations, graded readers, flashcards, Duolingo, Chinese Skill, lessons with Cynthia, and group Hangouts.
Jane’s method is a messy but effective mix: regular listening, grammar-focused lessons, vocabulary through flashcards, reading graded versions of Journey to the West, and using Mandarin in small real-life moments whenever she can. She likes grammar, likes flashcards, and liked languages at school, so she is basically the rare shiny Pokémon of language learners.
A big theme in this conversation is learning Mandarin without a fixed external goal. Jane is not studying for a job, a test, or a move abroad. She is learning because she enjoys it. Her dream is to one day chat naturally with Mandarin speakers, read more Chinese literature, and maybe be brave enough to use Mandarin in Chinatown without immediately pointing at the menu like a frightened tourist.
Her final advice is wonderfully simple: use Chinglish. It works. It gives learners enough English to stay inside the conversation, while feeding them Mandarin in a way that does not feel like being attacked by a grammar textbook in a dark alley.
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