About Little Mandarin: Learn Chinese through conversations
Welcome to Little Mandarin — your weekly podcast for Chinese language, culture, and real life.
New episodes every Tuesday.
A space for curious learners, working professionals, and anyone who wants to learn, improve, or reconnect with Chinese. Expect useful everyday language, cultural insight, a bit of history, and a closer look at modern Chinese life.
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S2E27 I’m So Tired Today 😮💨 (How to Say You’re Tired, Hungry or Sleepy in Mandarin) — Essential Mandarin Lesson 27
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How are you feeling today? In this episode of Little Mandarin, learn to say you’re tired, hungry, thirsty, sleepy, busy, or not feeling well.
We’ll practise two everyday patterns — 我很… and 我有点儿… — and the difference between 累 (tired) and 困 (sleepy).
我今天很累。— I’m tired today.
我有点儿饿。— I’m a little hungry.
我很困。— I’m sleepy.
我今天有点儿不舒服。— I’m not feeling very well today.
我想休息。— I want to rest.
With listen-and-repeat practice and translation exercises in both directions, you’ll learn to say how you feel and what you need in a few short Mandarin sentences.
13 Oct 2026
S2E26 I Already Ate🍜 (How to Say What You Already Did in Mandarin) —Essential Mandarin Lesson 26
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In Lesson 26, we’re learning how to talk about actions that already happened in Mandarin.
The key structure is:
Subject + Verb + 了 + Object
In English, the past is often built into the verb form. In Mandarin, the verb itself stays the same, so today we focus on the sentence pattern instead.
You’ll learn sentences like:
我吃了饭。
I ate / I had a meal.
我喝了咖啡。
I drank coffee.
我买了东西。
I bought something.
我看了电影。
I watched a movie.
We’ll also use 已经, meaning “already,” to say:
我已经吃了饭。
I already ate.
There are other uses of 了, but in this episode we only focus on one beginner-friendly rule: put 了 right after the verb to show that the action happened.
6 Oct 2026
S2E25 What Are You Doing Right Now?⏳ (Learn Mandarin: 在 + Verb for Actions Happening Now) —Essential Mandarin Lesson 25
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In Lesson 25, we’re learning how to say what you are doing right now in Mandarin.
The key structure is:
在 + verb
You already know 在 for places, like 我在家 or 我在咖啡馆. In this episode, we use 在 with actions:
我在工作。
I’m working.
我在学中文。
I’m studying Mandarin.
我在喝咖啡。
I’m drinking coffee.
我在看电影。
I’m watching a movie.
You’ll also learn useful real-life phrases like 我现在有点儿忙 and 不好意思，我现在不太方便 — softer ways to say you’re busy or not available right now.
By the end of this episode, you’ll be able to describe what you are doing now in simple Mandarin.
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