Little Mandarin: Learn Chinese through culture and real life

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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.

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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.

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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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In Lesson 24, we’re learning how to talk about weather in Mandarin.
Weather may not be the most exciting topic, but it is one of the easiest ways to start a small conversation.
In this episode, you’ll learn useful weather sentences like:
今天很冷。
Today is cold.
外面下雨。
It’s raining outside.
天气不好。
The weather is bad.
我们在家吧。
Let’s stay home.
We’ll also learn simple words like 冷, 热, 下雨, 刮风, and 天气, and use them to talk about real-life situations: bad weather, staying home, and making easy small talk.
By the end of this episode, you’ll be able to describe the weather around you in Mandarin.

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In Lesson 23, we’re learning how to describe people, places, and things in Mandarin.
You’ll learn one of the most common Mandarin patterns:
subject + 很 + adjective
We’ll use it to describe real things around you: a beautiful café, good coffee, delicious cake, expensive clothes, a busy day, and tired people.
You’ll hear sentences like:
她很漂亮。
She is beautiful.
这家咖啡馆很漂亮。
This café is beautiful.
咖啡很好喝。
The coffee tastes good.
这个很贵。
This is expensive.
今天很忙。
Today is busy.
We’ll also talk about why 很 does not always really mean “very.” In many Mandarin sentences, 很 simply makes an adjective sentence sound natural.
By the end of this episode, you’ll be able to look around and describe simple things in Mandarin.