In this episode of Coffee Break Chinese you’ll learn to say that you can speak a little Chinese. You’ll also learn to talk about the other languages you speak, and to deal with language problems. By the end of the lesson you’ll be able to ask people to speak more slowly, to repeat, and to say that you don’t understand.
Podcast Awards nomination for Coffee Break Italian
We’re delighted to report that Coffee Break Italian has been nominated in the “Smartest podcast” category of the British Podcast Awards. These new awards have been created this year to highlight the best British-made podcasts of the year. The nominations for each category have been selected by a jury and we’re delighted that Coffee Break Italian has made it into the shortlist for the education category.
The British Podcast Awards also have a Listener’s Choice award where podcast listeners from around the world can nominate their favourite British-made podcast. All of our shows qualify for this award, so if you enjoy learning with any of our Coffee Break shows, please vote for us. Mark’s made a short video to explain the voting process:
Voting will literally take less than a minute, and we’d be very grateful to have your vote. Simply search for Coffee Break Spanish / Coffee Break French / Coffee Break Italian / Coffee Break German or Coffee Break Chinese at the British Podcast Awards site, and enter your details to vote. You can vote more than once for different podcasts, so if you listen to more than one of our shows, feel free to vote for each one! However, only one vote per podcast from your email address counts. It’s also important to say that although these awards are celebrating British podcasts, you can vote from anywhere in the world.
The Podcast Awards ceremony is taking place in London on 29th April and Mark and Francesca will be there on the night. We’ll let you know how things go! In the meantime, thanks for your support.
CBG 2.05 | Spielst du gern Klavier?
In this lesson of Coffee Break German you’ll learn to talk about your hobbies and pastimes and to say when, where and how often you do these pastimes. This topic will introduce you to the concept of the Verbklammer, the “verb brackets” which surround any adverbs in your sentence. All will become clear when you listen to Andrea’s explanations, and you can join Mark and practise your German in this context.
CBC 1.08 | Finding your way around the town in Chinese
In this episode you’ll build on what you learned in lesson 7, understanding more words and phrases for dealing with directions in the town. You’ll also learn to talk about where things are in relation to other things, using “to the right of” and “to the left of”. We’ll learn new vocabulary for places in the town, asking if things are near or far, and understanding basic directions.
CBI 2.05 | Mario pulisce la casa
In this lesson you’ll master verbs in the 3rd conjugation – those ending in -ire. There are two groups of these verbs: ones which form their endings as you would expect, and another group which introduce -isc- in the middle of certain forms. You’ll already be familiar with verbs such as capisco, but this lesson will explain how to conjugate all of these verbs.
CBC 1.07 | Buying things and asking for directions
In this episode you’ll learn to use the correct Chinese expressions to ask for the price of something – and to understand the response. You’ll also learn how to ask where places in the town are and understand the words for “where”, “here” and “there”.
CBG 2.04 | Ich hätte gern den heissen Kaffee
In this episode you’ll learn to make requests using the correct adjectival forms. Join Mark and Andrea as they look at using adjectives in the accusative case with definite and indefinite articles.
CBC 1.06 | More family members and counting up to 99
In this episode we’re continuing the theme of family members and also learning to count in Mandarin. We’ll focus on numbers from 0 to 99, and you’ll discover that once you know numbers 1-10, counting further is very easy.
CBI 2.04 | Dipingo a modo mio …
In this lesson you’ll master regular verbs in the second conjugation, those ending in -ere. You’ll have met a few of these verbs before, but this episode gives you the chance to practise these verbs further and understand when to use them. Also covered are some verbs which involve spelling or pronunciation changes.
CBG 2.03 | Das ist ein schönes Zimmer!
In this lesson you’ll be all set for checking into a hotel – and using the correct German grammar to do so! Join Mark and Andrea as they look at the interesting topic of adjective endings in the nominative case with indefinite articles, so you’ll be able to ask for “a large room, a comfortable bed and a beautiful view of the mountains”!
Episode 6 – Coffee Break Conversations
In this latest episode of Coffee Break Conversations, join founder and CEO Mark as he explains how to use the premium version of the coffee break courses. Mark starts with the video version, then uses the audio lessons on the go. He then consolidates his learning with the lesson notes and the bonus audio. Watch the video for some tips and strategies you can use to learn a language in your coffee break!
If you’d like to find out more about Coffee Break Chinese, click here, or visit the Coffee Break Academy to find out about all our premium courses.
CBC 1.05 | Introducing your family in Mandarin
In this episode you’ll learn the words for family members in Mandarin Chinese and you’ll learn to introduce them. There’s also more practice of what you’ve learned in previous lessons.
CBI 2.03 | A che ora ti alzi?
This episode of Coffee Break Italian will help you talk about the things you do on a regular basis, including aspects of your daily routine. Francesca and Mark introduce the concept of reflexive verbs and you’ll learn to conjugate these verbs in the present tense. In the practice session Isla is put to the test and asked about her daily routine.
CBC 1.04 | Talking about where you live in Chinese
You already know how to say where you come from and talk about your nationality, but what about where you live now? In this episode you’ll learn to say “I live in …” and you’ll also learn the names for some towns and cities in Chinese.
CBG 2.02 | Ich möchte gern den Braten mit Kartoffeln
How many times have you ordered a drink in a German café, or a snack in a German restaurant and you’ve never been quite sure about whether you’re using the correct word for “a” or “the”. Of course there’s the gender of the word to think about, but the added complication with German is the case! This episode of Coffee Break German focuses on the Accusative case and you’ll master how to use this case with both definite and indefinite articles.
CBC 1.03 | Saying where you come from
In this lesson you’ll learn to say where you come from and to talk about your nationality. You’ll also learn the names for some countries in Mandarin Chinese. As promised in the video, here are the Chinese names for some additional countries:
- Wēi’ěrshì – Wales
- Aì’ěrlán – Ireland
- Fǎguó – France
- Déguó – Germany
- Xībānyá – Spain
- Yìdàlì – Italy
- Xīnxīlán – New Zealand
- Rìběn – Japan
If you can’t find your country, go to wordreference.com and search for your country in the English-Chinese dictionary.
CBI 2.02 | Che cosa fai al fine settimana?
In lesson 2 of Coffee Break Italian Season 2 you’ll further your knowledge of -are verbs within the context of talking about what you do at the weekend. Francesca and Mark introduce more -are verbs including some verbs which have spelling changes, and then talk about what they do at the weekend – in Italian, of course! Isla practises what she has learned by talking about her weekend in Italian, and there are some translation challenges to help you consolidate the new language in the lesson.
CBC 1.02 | Greetings and introductions
It’s time for another lesson of Coffee Break Chinese in which you can join teacher Crystal and learner Mark and learn Mandarin Chinese. In lesson 2, you’ll review what you covered in lesson 1, you’ll learn about greetings at different times of the day, and you’ll learn to introduce yourself and ask other people “what is your name?” in Chinese.
CBG 2.01 | Ich bin Deutscher, sie ist Deutsche und wir sprechen Deutsch
In this first lesson of the new series of Coffee Break German, join teacher Andrea and her student Mark as they review the topic of nationalities and languages. This lesson introduces the fact that, unlike in English, German normally has a different word for the nationality and the language of a country. You’ll also review the verbs sprechen and lernen, and the team is joined by our Cultural Correspondent Julia who’s back with more cultural information about the German-speaking world.
Episode 5 – Coffee Break Conversations
Join the Coffee Break French team at the France Show in London for this episode of Coffee Break Conversations. Pierre-Benoît is in his element, enjoying all things French from sausages to oysters, et un peu de vin aussi!
