Speech Genie

SpeechGenie updates and guides

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    What is a Language Parent?

    ByChris Lonsdale

    If you’re scratching your head, wondering what on earth a language parent is, don’t worry.  You’re not alone! A language parent is someone, or a role that someone plays, that is ESSENTIAL to how you learn any language, especially if it is very different to the language that you already know like Mandarin Chinese, or Cantonese, or Japanese. A language parent is NOT a teacher. The role of a language parent is to interact with you in a normal relationship rather than to be your teacher.  What does this mean?  A language parent talks with you about the normal things that he or she is interested in, and the things that you are interested in.  The language parent spends time with you because he or she likes you and enjoys…

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    How Long Does it Take to Learn Mandarin?  

    ByChris Lonsdale

    If you’re wondering how long it would take to learn Mandarin Chinese, the answer of course has to be: “it depends”.  If you make a decision to use your brain and your time in the correct way, and put in adequate time, then you could be communicating competently at a basic level within a few months.  You Can Learn To Speak Mandarin in Six Months For me personally, from a completely zero base (i.e. complete beginner) I was very competent at Mandarin speaking within six months and reading and writing within a year.  In my case I was able to do this because I moved to Beijing and although I was doing classes at the Beijing Institute of Foreign Languages (as it was called at the time), I actually…

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    Magic from the Speech Genie

    ByJohn Ball

    Learning a new language as an adult is difficult, requiring years of work to progress. Or does it? Today’s discussion is with Chris Lonsdale, the creator of Kungfu English, a system designed to mimic his success in learning Mandarin and Cantonese as a 20-year-old. Subscribe now Chris is a language educator and psycho-linguist whose system has been teaching Mandarin Chinese speakers how to speak English since the early 2000s. I have started working with him to integrate my brain-based AI solution with a more general version of his language learning application — the result? Introducing Speech Genie! The first available languages will be English and Mandarin. The magic of the Genie is in using your brain’s capabilities to learn language in a way that mimics…