Tom speaks with Ija, a doctor in Australia whose first language is Malay and who came to Mandarin after trying to learn Cantonese for her husband’s family. She now focuses less on “studying” Mandarin and more on acquiring it through constant input, especially passive listening. Ija talks about using podcasts, Anki, Pleco, example sentences, repeated listening, and choosing content she actually cares about. She also explains how her aphantasia affects the way she learns, making audio, emotion, rhythm, and repetition far more useful than visual memory.
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