Welcome to another weekly update! :D

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Winnipeg finally got cold and snowy. Literally, the streets, sidewalks and everything has turned from a brown leaf-covering to a white-blue blanket, complete with swirls of the fluffy white snowflakes and a bite of cold.

Welcome to Canada in wintertime.

To commemorate the occasion, I decided to record Episode 18 of the podcast while walking outside. I cover a few different topics that pertain to living life overseas, my current language studies, and a new introductory Chinese language course I'm developing. I'll have the episode up soon for you to have a listen.

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No videos posted to the YouTube channel this week, but here's what we're working on:

1. Chinese: Listening to podcasts while working out.
2. Russian: Finished up my an iTalki class package.
3. English: Collecting ideas for a video about the job search in China.
4. Short: Canadian Herbal Remedies
5. EXTRA: Chinese language course by email

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Given the change up to my regular study schedule, I'm still on "travel mode", that is, no pressure to maintain my regular language study times and resources but it's still in the back of my mind.

Although I could try to continue reading with DuChinese (I am paying for it after all), it's been difficult to find that dedicated time to just focus on reading rather than getting some things done that can only be done here in Canada.

One thing I have tried to keep consistent, however, is listening to Chinese podcasts while working out. If this is one habit that feels weird to break it's listening to anything else other than my target language while at the gym. I'm not sure how many people do this, but for me, I try to "double up" my time at the gym by both getting my workout in and getting some extensive listening in as well.

What do you listen to while working out?

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My Russian classes are done for now as I used up the rest of a package I had ambitiously purchased back in April. Since iTalki gives you six months to use your credits, I had to get these done this past week or lose the time.

Given last week's debacle of not setting the correct time in the APP, I had to choose a time that was more appropriate for my teacher than for me. As a result, I had class at 10:00am Monday to Thursday, not a time I'm used to be sitting down for class.

In addition to explaining why I'm in Canada and not in China at the moment, we continued to review some grammar points, notably the в + noun + е ending. This is something I struggled with in one of the online tests I took a few weeks back.

Some examples:

Красивая сумка – в красивой сумке

Красная куртка – в красной куртке

Черная квартира – в черной квартире

Русская кухня – в русской кухне

Дорогая сумка – в дорогой сумке

Старая мама – о старой маме 

Now that the class package is done for the time being, I'll hold off on any more classes and instead work on my own before starting up again in the new year.

What are you end of year plans for your language studies?

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I was asked by one reader about what I would check for if I was looking for a job in China. Since it's been a while that I've been on the job hunt, I figured it might be a good idea to approach the topic AS IF I were to be applying for a new job. This would include which sites I'd check, the emails I'd write, and what I'd look for in the contract.

I've mentioned all of these ideas before but have never compiled them into one video. So, if you have any questions about applying for jobs overseas (particularly China), respond to this email or drop a comment on our YouTube channel and we'll try to answer it.

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Only one short this week about Canadian herbal remedies. As I've lived in China over much of the last decade or so, I've been away from a lot of the legalization that has gone on in Canada. Not that I partake in such things in my older ages, I've walked around and smelled enough in both Vancouver and Winnipeg to say that it's pretty common.

Anyway, I did go in and talk to the lady who was working and she gave me a little bit of insight into what goes on and what is needed. I didn't buy anything but I just wanted to see what the scene was like and if it was in fact as popular as the smells on the street indicate. Turns out it is.

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Finally, we're in the final stages of a pre-launch phase for a "Learn Chinese by Email" course. The idea was first spawned by one viewer who suggested we create a series of "children's stories" that basically taught Chinese.

We thought that was a very good idea but, not surprisingly, we've never written children's books before. So, instead of trying to construct a full on story, we decided to craft an introductory course that would be emailed out once a day over the course of a month.

If you would like to learn more and be kept in the loop, the sign up page is here and we'll let you know when it's ready.

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We'll leave it there for this week. Hope your studies are going well.

Comments? Questions? Concerns? Suggestions? Get in touch! Email us here or follow us on YouTube and post a comment.

Thanks for reading and please let us know what you're working on these days and if there's anything we can do to help out.

-Steve

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