Shortly after the tsunamis wiped out the coasts, those inland were blindsided by solar flares, floods, landslides and volcanic eruptions. Within months the sky had blackened and from the pre-crash population only a handful of survivors remained, living mostly in fortified underground bunkers cut off from each other and the outside world. Theirs was a world of terror and crushing loneliness. And this Chinese podcast is their story.
 said on
October 24, 2011
Love the lesson! For some reason the vocab audio buttons are not working and there are no audio buttons for the line by line dialogue.
 said on
October 24, 2011
@drummerboy,

Ahh... that would be because we've yet to get them recorded. Sorry for the delay in getting it done, but we'll have it taken care of by the end of the week.

--david

 said on
October 24, 2011
No problem... I wasn't sure if it was a Mac issue.
 said on
October 25, 2011
In the episode, Brendan referred to "the most useful word in Mandarin" and another episode covering this, but I can't seem to recall the particular level or title. Anybody remember?
 said on
October 25, 2011
好像是" 凑合 "
 said on
October 25, 2011
It might be this one. If a word is mentioned in a lesson's vocabulary list, it should get listed in related lessons if you do a search. Searching for 凑合 pulls up:

http://popupchinese.com/lessons/intermediate/blackout

 said on
October 26, 2011
Waaah would non Northern people really understand the line 咱们这儿有多少人? it sounds like:

zanmen zher you hrhrrhrr

to me!!!
 said on
October 27, 2011
@maxiewawa,

Hahaha, it's nothing to do with Northern accent. It's just our actor spoke very quickly in the dialogue. (He's actually from Hu Nan, haha, but of course he speaks perfect Mandarin)

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
October 27, 2011
lol ok! My family is originally from Hunan actually, along with another famous Chinese guy whose name I can't remember...

Yes his mandarin is very good, my grandparents had the most outrageous Chinese accents you have ever heard, then again that is probably the norm for elderly Hunanese.
 said on
November 7, 2011
At the risk of sounding like a nag, any chance of getting the audio files for the vocab and dialog uploaded? :-)
 said on
November 7, 2011
@drummerboy,

Yes. Today.

--david

 said on
November 7, 2011
Awesome! Thanks David. I guess I'm a little OCD with the lessons and like to have everything ready and available. You've set the bar so high that I'm spoiled now. :-)
 said on
November 18, 2011
Any difference between 太阳黑子 and 太阳黑点? Also, is this sun spots or solar flares? I thought 耀斑 was solar flare.

In the vocab section is 太阳黑子活动加剧 solar flares or increased sun spot activity?

I am very interested in astronomy and that's why I'm asking :-)
 said on
November 18, 2011
@drummerboy,

我们一般说“黑子”sunspot,不说“黑点”,“耀斑”是flare spot。

太阳黑子活动加剧是increased sun spot activity。

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
February 12, 2012
I really like this dialog, it has tons of useful vocab. Are there other advanced lessons that use set dialogues like this one? :( My Chinese is still not quite good enough to follow other advanced lessons when there is only conversation and nothing written to follow with.
 said on
February 12, 2012
@marshall.friedman,

There are a decent number of dialogue-based lessons. Here are three you might want to check out:

http://popupchinese.com/lessons/advanced/the-narcoleptic-hangglider

http://popupchinese.com/lessons/advanced/death-in-the-boardroom

http://popupchinese.com/lessons/advanced/jay-chou

If you open the lesson page in your browser, the giveaway is the presence of the transcript tab under the title. If you're downloading using iTunes, the usual giveaway is the dialogue-only recording.

 said on
May 5, 2012
This is a great lesson. The dialogue is tricky, but the real challenge comes when Echo speaks extemporaneously. A few questions on the stuff I missed:

5'51" 他们有意思的一个xian chang就会说…

6'08" 然后呢…zai zhe… (再者?)

6'22" …最qun zi yao ming的结婚的理由

6'44" 关于世界末日的这个chuan yan shi zhi…… (传言市值?)
 said on
May 7, 2012
@murrayjames,

5'51" 他们有意思的一个“现象”就会说 (phenomenon)

6'08" 然后呢“再者” (furthermore)

6'22" …最“蠢最要命”的结婚的理由 (the most stupid, the most murderous)

6'44" 关于世界末日的这个“传言是只是在中国很流行呢,还是...” (the rumor is only popular in China or...)

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
May 7, 2012
@murryayjames,

1. 现象

2. 再者(和“再说”一样)

3. 最蠢最要命

4. 传言只是在中国,还是在全世界

--Amber

amber@popupchinese.com
 said on
May 7, 2012
Ladies, thanks for the great help as always!
 said on
June 26, 2018
What’s the song in the background? I keep on hearing it in the podcast, it’s awesome.