A podcast about language, culture, travel, and life.
Learn Chinese through stories, culture, and conversations — hosted by a Chinese woman who is curious about the world, the people she meets, and the stories we tell ourselves.
Episode8:Why Do Chinese People Say “My Aunt Is Here” When They Get Their Period?我大姨妈来了！
I am on my period ,我大姨妈来了。
我 i/me wǒ
大 big dà
姨妈 aunt yí mā
来come。 lái
了a particle used to indicate a change of state or a completed action. le
period pain 痛经 tòng jīng
pain 疼痛 téng tòng
menstrual 月经 shame 羞耻 yuè jīng xiū chǐ
painkiller 止疼药 zhǐ téng yào
medicine 药 yào
shame 羞耻 xiū chǐ
sanitary pads 卫生巾 wèi shēng jīn
giving birth 生孩子 shēng hái zi
大姨妈来的时候，we need to buy 卫生巾， eat 止疼药，because 我痛经，sometime i really hope that i can 停经，we should not feel 月经羞耻，because this is a normal thing like 生孩子。like eating like going to the toilet.
15 Oct 2026
Episode 7: Let Me Teach You How to Play a Chinese card game dòu dì zhǔ(斗地主)
Have you ever heard of this Chinese card game before?
斗地主 is a very popular game that almost every Chinese person knows how to play.斗dòu means to fight，地主means the landlord ，so 斗地主 can be translated as fight the landlord.
Three people play this game. One of them is the landlord, and the other two are farmers.
as we know a deck of playing cards has 54 cards including two jokers.First, one person shuffles the cards and deals them. Each player gets 17 cards, and the remaining three cards are placed face down on the table.
then, we turn one card face up and deal the cards to the players one by one. Whoever gets the face-up card becomes the landlord!
But if you think you can’t beat the other players, you can choose to give up being the landlord and let the next player have a chance.
The first player to get rid of all their cards wins the game. If the landlord gets rid of all their cards first, the landlord wins. But if either farmer gets rid of all their cards first, the landlord loses.
fight the landlord 斗地主 dòu dì zhǔ
The big joker 大王 dà wáng
The little joker 小王 xiǎo wáng
airplane 飞机 fēi jī
wings 翅膀 chì bǎng
take/bring 带 dài
airplane with wings 飞机带翅膀 it means consecutive triples with attachments.Isn’t that interesting?
pass 过 guò
a pair 对子/一对 duì zi /yí duì
a straight 顺子 shùn zi
four of a kind 炸弹 zhà dàn , in mandarin,炸弹 literallymeans bomb
the joker bomb 火箭 huǒ jiàn and in mandarin 火箭 actually means rocket.so in 斗地主 .火箭 is the strongest combination ,it is made up of big joker and little joker.
I win 我赢了 wǒ yíng le
lose 输shū
8 Oct 2026
Episode 6:Let’s talk about a Taiwanese popular female singer Jolin tsai 蔡依林 cài yī lín
少男杀手 shào nán shā shǒu Heartthrob for Teenage Boys
公主 gōng zhǔ princess
天才tiān cái genius
天 tiān sky
才cái 才华 cái huá means talented
地才 dì cái
地 dì earth planet
talented through hard work.
舞娘 wǔ niáng dancing diva
gay 同性恋tóng xìng liàn
荣格 róng gé jung carl gustav
自信 zì xìn confidence
自卑 zì bēi inferiority
自我探索 zì wǒ tàn suǒ self-explore
feminism女性主义 nǚ xìng zhǔ yì
we know that 女means female so we can extend it to many words like 女人 nǚ rén women 女孩 nǚ hái girl
七宗罪 qī zōng zuì seven sins
dark side 阴暗面 yīn àn miàn
心理学 xīn lǐ xué psychology
1 Oct 2026
Episode 5: Let’s Talk About Chinese Zodiac Signs 中国的属相
Today, let’s talk about Chinese zodiac signs. Chinese zodiac signs are different from Western zodiac signs. The Chinese zodiac uses 12 animals to represent people’s birth years, and the cycle is 12 years.
We have 12 animals. They are:
鼠-shǔ-rat
牛 — niú — ox
虎 — hǔ — tiger
兔 — tù — rabbit
龙 — lóng — dragon
蛇 — shé — snake
马 — mǎ — horse
羊 — yáng — goat / sheep
猴 — hóu — monkey
鸡 — jī — rooster
狗 — gǒu — dog
猪 — zhū — pig
你属什么？我属蛇。What is your Chinese zodiac sign? I’m a Snake.
所以，你是1989年出生的，对吗？So, you were born in 1989, right?
不，我是2001年出生的。No, I was born in 2001.
对不起，对不起，你看起来有点老。Sorry, sorry. You look a bit old.
是吗？操你妈，再见。Yeah? Fuck you. Bye.
虎头蛇尾 hǔ tóu shé wěi - a tiger’s head and a snake’s tail.
It describes something that starts strongly but ends badly or weakly.
对牛弹琴duì niú tán qín- play music to a cow.
It means trying to explain something to someone who doesn’t understand or appreciate it.
24 Sept 2026
Episode4：Let’s talk about Mid-Autumn Festival ,中秋节快乐！
《水调歌头·明月几时有》
苏轼
明月几时有？把酒问青天。不知天上宫阙，今夕是何年。我欲乘风归去，又恐琼楼玉宇，高处不胜寒。起舞弄清影，何似在人间。
转朱阁，低绮户，照无眠。不应有恨，何事长向别时圆？人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全。但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。
And this famous poem was adapted into a song. If you search for “但愿人长久,” you’ll find it.
The vocabulary ：
中秋节zhōng jiū jié mid autumn festival
festival 节日 jié rì
lunar calender 农历 nóng lì
solar calendar 阳历 yáng lì
full moon 满月 mǎn yuè
moon 月亮 yuè liang 我喜欢月亮
太阳 tài yáng sun
the 15th day of the eighth month 八月15 bā yuè shí wǔ
september 25th 九月25. jiǔ yuè èr shí wǔ
补休 bǔ xiū compensatory days off
有钱人 yǒu qián rén rich people
月饼 yuè bǐng mooncake
老公 lǎo gōng husband
jade rabbit 玉兔yù tù
gù shì 故事 story
jiè shào介绍 introduce
xīng qī wǔ 星期五 friday
fàng jià 放假have a holiday / get a day off
jiā qī 假期 holiday / vacation
17 Sept 2026
Episode 3: 你会买新的苹果手机吗?Would You Buy the New iPhone?
新的苹果出了，你会买吗？
我不知道。贵吗？
听说要一万多。那算了，我的旧手机还可以用。
你是说你的华为吗？
是啊，我都用了五年了。
Key words
新xīn— new
手机shǒu jī- phone
买mǎi — buy
我不知道wǒ bù zhī dào — I don’t know
一万 yí wàn— ten thousand
用yòng — use年
nián— year
听说 tīng shuō— I heard / I’ve heard
算了suàn le — forget it / never mind
还 hái — still
我还在用苹果12。
我已经用了五年了。
New word:
已经
— already
14 Sept 2026
Episode 2 :About Li Bai’s 《静夜思》 (Quiet Night Thoughts)
Today, let’s talk about one of the most famous Chinese poems by the poet Li Bai. The name of the poem is 《静夜思》.
床前明月光
疑是地上霜
举头望明月
低头思故乡
14 Sept 2026
Episode 1: How to Use "吗" in Chinese
Do you know how to use "吗" in Chinese?
In Mandarin, we often add "吗" to the end of a sentence to turn it into a yes-or-no question.
For example:
你是 Lilian 吗？Are you Lilian?
你喜欢吃中国菜吗？Do you like Chinese food?
Today, let's learn how to use "吗" in Mandarin.
But first, I'd like you to know something very important. Mandarin is a tonal language. We have four main tones, and changing the tone changes the meaning of a word.
For example:
妈 (mā) — first tone — mother
麻 (má) — second tone — numb
马 (mǎ) — third tone — horse
骂 (mà) — fourth tone — to scold
And 吗 (ma) has a neutral tone, so it's pronounced very softly.
Now let's look at a few examples:
你是 Lilian 吗？Are you Lilian?
我是。Yes, I am.
你是中国人吗？Are you Chinese?
是的，我是中国人。Yes, I am Chinese.
你是美国人吗？Are you American?
不是，我不是美国人。 你喜欢我吗？ 是的，我喜欢你No, I'm not.
Remember, tones are very important in Mandarin. If you change the tone of a Chinese character, you may change its meaning completely.
now lets practice，You can repeat after me, or if you're in a public place, you can simply say the words quietly in your mind.
妈、麻、马、骂。
14 Sept 2026
Introduce myself
Hello, everyone! I'm Lilian from China.
I've had many different jobs over the years. I've been a singer, a barista, and a salesperson. But now I'm an online Chinese teacher.
Everything changed after I volunteered at a school in Kenya. That experience completely changed my life. Looking back, I'm sure I received far more than I gave.
In this podcast, I want to help you learn Chinese while exploring all kinds of topics through Mandarin. I hope every episode helps you improve your Chinese and discover more about the language, the culture, and the world.
I believe that language is more than just vocabulary and grammar. Language is a tool that helps us connect with one another. So don't worry about being perfect. Just take it easy, have fun, and enjoy learning with me.
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