Online Mandarin English Conversation Practice

This week's topic:
What was the best bargain you ever made?
你曾经做过的最划算的交易是什么？你买过最好的便宜货是什么？
----

Members of the Boston Mandarin Chinese Language Meetup Group, let's get together online for an evening of Mandarin conversation practice for all levels. When we run out of vocabulary, we continue to chat in English, but we write down the words we want to learn how to say in Chinese, and we ask our Mandarin speaking friends to help. To see how this happens in practice, please have a look at the Event Notes page.

我们在线上聚会，练习中文会话。当遇到难题，不知道用中文该如何表达，我们用英语记下来，找说中文的朋友来帮忙。欢迎不同水平的中文学习者参与。

Start time: 7:00 PM Eastern Time (Wednesday, May 28th, 2025)
Zoom meeting room will open at 6:50 PM.
RSVPs close at 6:00 PM

7:00 PM - Introductions in Mandarin and English, Housekeeping announcements
7:15 PM - Topic of the day in breakout rooms

• This week's topic:
  What was the best bargain you ever made?
  你曾经做过的最划算的交易是什么？你买过最好的便宜货是什么？
• Mandarin only rooms for intermediate and advanced Mandarin speakers
• Mandarin English mixed conversation rooms for language exchange
• Chinese text and vocabulary reading practice - New!
• Zoom session will be set up to allow participants to move between rooms and take part in different conversations
• 30-40 minutes per session.

9:00 PM - End. Anyone who wants to chat in English can stay on for another half an hour.

Leaving before the end:
Participants can leave any time they like. The main thing is for everyone to try and take part in the Mandarin conversation, and make an effort to express themselves and communicate with others in Mandarin.

No-shows:
If you sign up for an event, please show up. If you have a schedule change and can't make it, please change your RSVP to "Not going". No-shows will be marked so that attendee lists can accurately reflect attendance.

Who should take part in this event?

• Beginners.
• Intermediate learners are also welcome.
• Advanced learners who would like to help other learners.
• Native speakers of Mandarin who would like to help.

Who should not take part in this event?

• People who just decided last week they wanted to start learning Mandarin.
• If you can't read basic Chinese characters in Pinyin, you're not a beginner. You need to spend a few months with a Mandarin teacher or a language learning App.
• Native speakers of Mandarin who only want to practice English.

----

Required:

• A computer with Zoom installed and updated.
• A reliable internet connection.
• A working webcam.
• Web browser such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari.
• Logging in on a computer/laptop is strongly recommended

Zoom link and password:
Please do not post Zoom login information on social media or on public pages of the Meetup website.

Webcams and Zoom usage
Participants will be asked to turn on their webcams so we can interact with each other just like we're in a face to face meetup. Please make sure your webcam and microphone are working before you log on.
Before logging in, please read the following regarding the usage of Zoom and how to have a better online meetup experience.

Usage of Zoom and Tips for a better online meetup

• *** No participant has the right to restrict how and when another participant uses the chat window. The host has overall control over how the meetup is conducted.
• Zoom recording by participants is disabled and is not permitted throughout the course of the meetup session. If for some reason part of the session needs to be recorded, this will be done by the host, and participants will be given forewarning.
• Taking photos and videos of participants and posting them online without permission is not allowed.

----

Banner photo:
4th Mondays @ 6:30p: Mandarin Meetup- chat & then dinner - Hosted By Chih-wei - Monday, September 22, 2014
- from BMCL photo album