A weekly Cantonese language podcast for intermediate learners covering a line-up of little observations about the Canton culture beyond dim sum. The purpose is to create an alternative to traditional textbook tapes for repeated listening and have more fun. Host Yasmin is from Hong Kong. She is passionate about language learning, capable of 5 languages. . 以改善廣東話學習者(中級)聽力為宗旨嘅輕鬆節目!內容以趣味性出發,圍繞主持人對廣東文化嘅一啲小發現同個人日常。主持人Yasmin,香港人,熱愛語言學習,識得五種語言,希望透過呢個自然地講廣東話嘅節目,提供另類嘅學習機會俾大家。本節目每週更新。
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The Spark is a podcast that explores what it means to traverse cultures and share stories that intersect Chinese and American culture to interrupt barriers and create connections. The Spark is a cultural haven - A space held by a friendship between two women from two different countries, meeting at the point where their cultures, identities and stories intersect. Their conversations are grounded in transparency as they move beyond previous perceptions and ideas of the other to form deep conn ...
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We first had Alex Kim on The Spark in July of 2022 - go back and listen to episode 31 if you haven’t already. Last time we talked, we delved into the incredible work he’s doing to get the BIPOC community outside with Here Montana. To this day, it is one of our most listened-to and engaged-with episodes. Not just because of the work he’s doing with …
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Disclaimer: On April 16th, Amy had the opportunity to finally have lunch with her mentor, the former president of NYU. On the night of the Year of the Dragon New Year’s Eve, Amy found herself in tears while FaceTiming her parents. In this episode, she continues the conversation from our previous installment, sharing her mix of anxieties and excitem…
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Meg is back from her first trip to China in five years. We said we’d be back in three weeks, but that quickly turned into eight. For Meg, jet-leg, getting back into routine, and processing this trip so that she can share her experience took a little longer. This is one of the most precise and poignant episodes we’ve ever recorded. The points of con…
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By the time you read this, Meg will be on a plane to China for the first time in five years and you won’t hear from us for about a month. In this episode, Meg shares her thoughts as she finally gets to go back to China. Amy shares what she’ll be up to while Meg’s gone. 当你读到这条消息时,Meg 已经在飞往中国的飞机上了。接下来的一个月你可能不会收到我们的更新,这是因为Meg要在中国好好体验。毕竟这是五年来她第一次回国。在这一…
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We all take risks, big and small, every day - especially those of us who are leading unconventional lives that span across multiple countries and cultures. In this episode we ponder the question, “When is a risk worth taking?” 无论大小,我们每天都在冒险——尤其当我们是过着跨越多个国家和文化的非传统生活的人。在这一集中,我们思考一个问题,“何时冒险是值得的呢?” Listen along to hear our answers. Join in on the conve…
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We’re baaaackkk! Did you miss us? In our 40th episode and first of 2024, we take some time to reflect on 2023 and share what we’re most looking forward to in 2024. Our first episode of each new year has become a ritual of sorts - a way for us to take inventory of where we’ve been and where we’re going. 我们回来了!你想我们了吗?2024年的第一集也是我们的第40个整集。在这集中,我们花了一些时…
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In this episode, Meg and Amy deep dive into AI, their experiences exploring its capabilities, where they think it will be adapted and where they think it won’t, and more. Both Amy and Meg share how it is or isn’t being used in their respective fields, and Meg shares the fun ways she’s been using it outside of work. Meg 和 Amy深入讨论了人工智能——这个可能对创意行业产生深远…
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Ep.38: Field Notes - Observations, Interpretations, and Reflections of a Life Lived Wholeheartedly
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What you might not know is that when Meg is not behind the mic for The Spark Podcast, she’s writing. Surveyor of life, midwife of stories - the truest thing Meg knows about herself is that she’s a writer. In May of 2022, she started a personal newsletter called Field Notes where she shares her lyrical essays, poems, and personal anecdotes. With Fie…
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In this episode, Amy and Meg sit down to talk about the Barbie movie - because it’s a MUST. IYKYK. They talk about their experiences going to see both Barbie and Oppenheimer, how the Barbie movie was received in both America and China, the stark contrast between Barbie and Oppenheimer, and their arrival at this moment in history. 在这集中,Amy和Meg分享了观看电…
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Meg and Amy sit down for a mid-summer check-in. They talk about what they’ve been up to since the last episode, visiting past versions of themselves, work, Amy’s trip home, and more as they look forward to what fall holds for The Spark. Meg 和 Amy在这仲夏之日,坐下聊了聊过去几个月发生的点点滴滴。她们分享了从刚开始做播客到现在的心态变化,工作上的起起伏伏,以及Amy的回家之旅。在这集的结尾,Meg和Amy分享了对“火花电台”接下来节目的策划和期盼。 I…
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Meg and Amy revisited their past episode "Two Cities, Multiple Lives” after three years of turbulence, travel bans, and growth. The world may seem and feel different after the pandemic. However, upon re-listening to the episode and reexamining their lives over the past three years, they realized that instead of splitting lives in between different …
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Meg and Amy reflect on episode 3: Scared But Brave, and episode 4: Hello 2020 - the two episodes recorded before the world as we knew it fell apart. Hello 2020 right? And when they look back they talk about how coincidental it was that the motto they went into to 2020 with, “Scared But Brave,” would be so necessary. They discuss the moments they ha…
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Every great story starts at the beginning. Now that The Spark is almost four years old, Meg and Amy wanted to take a look back on how it all started. They reflect on their first two episodes and from it emerges a the topic of growth. Amy shares how she’s learned to less-critical of herself and Meg shares how she’s learned to become more herself and…
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Meg and Amy are back behind the mic again for their first episode of 2023! They share where they’ve been, where they’re going, and what they’ve been up to since the last episode. Plus, what’s new for The Spark and the exciting new way to connect with Meg and Amy and others in The Spark community! Be the first to join in here: https://thesparkpodcas…
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If you look at the outdoor industry, you usually see one type of person - white men. Alex Kim has set out to change that. Alex Kim is a first generation Korean American. Originally from Maryland, he’s the founder and director of Here Montana. Here Montana, is an outdoor program in Missoula, Montana that serves people of color to increase outdoor re…
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然这并不是火花电台第一次采访楼佳凯,但这是我们第一次用中文与佳凯对话。佳凯是怎样从一个中国留学生,成长为一位拎着相机设备,义无反顾地深入丛林,牧场,和高山的纪录者?除了腾讯纪录片里收纳的情节,《一次远行》镜头后到底还发生了什么故事?在异国他乡学习生活多年后,如今,佳凯终于回到了老家义乌。他最近在忙什么?生活如何? 摘下相机的佳凯,是一个什么样的人?希望通过这集,我们都可以更加了解我们的老朋友,故事叙述人,纪录片摄影人楼佳凯。 你可能已经听说过,或者看过腾讯视频的最新纪录片系列《一次远行》。《一次远行》记录了五名中国留学生在疫情期间,人在他乡求学生活的故事。纪录片的最后一集的主角是火花电台采访过的前嘉宾——自由纪录片摄影人楼佳凯。当我们第一次采访佳凯的时候,他人还在美国蒙大拿州的米苏拉。那时的…
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You may have seen the recent Tencent Documentary Series, Bon Voyage, that follows five Chinese students living abroad during the pandemic. In the last episode, they follow past Spark guest, Jiakai Lou. When we first talked with Jiakai, he was in Missoula, Montana at the height of the pandemic sitting at a crossroad: To stay in the U.S. or to go. If…
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In this solo episode, Meg caught up with the first foreign exchange student she knew who subsequently became one of her oldest and closest friends. Meg met Diane Schäfer-Surén in highschool on the Oregon Coast. The two take a walk down the memory lane, talking about all the instrumental moments that turned Diane’s foreign exchange experience into o…
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Amy终于在去年年底,采访到了一位她非常佩服的好朋友——李泽尧。目前,他的全职工作是一名在PINT任职的网络工程师。业余时间,他是纽约市立大学亨特学院的客座教授。从屏幕前到讲台后,作为一名年轻的外国教授,泽尧在美国公立大学教课的过程中经历了非常多有意思的身份转换和奇异故事。在这集中,我们均娓娓道来。 李泽尧是一名生长在北京,如今长居在纽约的网络工程师,设计师,以及教育者。他本科毕业于上海纽约大学,研究生毕业于纽约大学帝势艺术学院互动电子媒体学位。 感谢聆听!我们希望你能加入和我们的对话。你的评论和评分对这档播客至关重要,我们提前感谢你的参与。 你也可以和我们在以下社交平台直接对话: Instagram: @spark_podcast Facebook(脸书): @thesparkpodcas…
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In this episode, Amy had a casual conversation about careers, lifestyles, and the meaning of being a global citizen in today’s context with one of her friends, Zeyao Li. Zeyao is a web engineer at PINT, an adjunct professor at the Hunter College Film and Media Department, and a fellow Bejinger / New Yorker/ NYU Shanghai Alumni. He unleashes his cre…
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Amy and Meg are back with a brand new episode of The Spark in the New Year, kicking things off how it all began - in conversation, just the two of them. As they embrace the Year of the Tiger wholeheartedly, Chinese New Year brings the concept of home to mind. They realized that the concept of home and it’s definition has changed for the both of the…
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In this episode, Amy and Meg sit down for one final conversation of The Spark’s Motherhood Series which organically stemmed from a single episode and turned into a beautiful, sensitive, and powerful series featuring three inspiring mothers. For Amy and Meg, it only felt fitting that the last guests of the series were the mothers they’ve been in con…
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Raised in Shanghai, China, Jenny Zheng is a fellow millennial, entrepreneur, influencer, and a new mom in Manhattan. She is the founder of Velvet.Co, an international public relations and marketing agency and living her life to the fullest countering challenges with instinct. In this conversation, Jenny opens up about becoming a mother, striking th…
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Dr. Wednesday Martin is a social scientist, storyteller, and #1 New York Times Bestselling Author. Her book, Primates of Park Avenue (translated into “I Am a Mother, I Need the Hermes Birkin Bag” in Chinese), stirred up a heated debate across oceans and sparked an greater awareness around “exhausted motherhood” and the scarcity mindset that runs ra…
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赞了:在母亲节之际,我们决定发布与一位实实在在的超能女性的对话。她是“酷妈黛安娜”。曾经的她是一位投行人士,一位时尚设计师,以及竞技拉丁舞舞者。现在,她是两个男孩的妈妈(认真的,她简直是全能)正巧录制于国际妇女节,黛安娜和Meg还有Amy分享了作为一位在不同文化和不同国家之间,养育具有世界观的小朋友的经历和故事。当黛安娜成为妈妈的时候,她必须学习如何重塑自己的崩塌的个人身份。内容创作和录制视频帮助她找回了内心的平静。在创作的世界中,她想利用自己的平台,讲述那些值得被听见的伟大和充满力量的女性和母亲的故事。 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get acce…
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We're celebrating Mother's Day by kicking off a Motherhood Series in conversation with a true wonder woman and "cool mum," Dianna Lee. She's a former investment banker turned fashion designer, a Latin ballroom dancer and mother to two boys (Seriously, she does it all). Recorded by happenstance on International Women's Day of all days, Dianna shares…
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Pelayo Alvarez is the host, founder, and producer of The Forbidden Apple Podcast, a space to reclaim your spirituality. He’s also been one of Amy’s best friends for the past three years after she moved to New York City. Pelayo grew up in the Catholic Church in Gijon, a northwestern city in Spain. He never felt like he belonged. His personality and …
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The third installment of the “Artist Series,” Meg and Amy dive deep into conversation with, founder of Latitude Gallery in New York City, Shihui Zhou. In this episode, Shihui Zhou shares her story and invites us all to come along with the adventure that is opening an art gallery in 2020, that today, is not only surviving, but in many ways thriving.…
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You may have heard about Ting Zhao, the documentary filmmaker who recently became the first Asian Woman to win a Golden Globe for her film 'Nomad Land' - a film observing U.S. culture. Our guest on this episode of The Spark Podcast is an aspiring documentary filmmaker and visual journalist currently based in Missoula, Montana who is well on his way…
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生长在北京的 Ariel Ziyi Cui从小就知道自己长大后想成为一个艺术家。从五岁拿起画笔的那一刻起,她就再也没有将笔放下。三年前,她来到纽约学习设计。今天,她在纽约的一家精品住宅建筑事务所做与室内整修相关的工作。她终于实现梦想,并且成为了一位展览和室内设计师。作为火花电台“艺术家系列”的第一位嘉宾,在访谈和交流中我们深入探索了在他想寻找灵感,追随创作热情的过程。对于Ariel而言,在不同文化间穿梭的生活方式让她终于可以睁开双眼,敞开心扉地生活。 Born and raised in Beijing, Ariel Ziyi Cui always knew she wanted to be an artist. She began painting at five years old an…
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Born and raised in Beijing, Ariel Ziyi Cui always knew she wanted to be an artist. She began painting at five years old and never stopped. Three years ago, she came to New York to study design. Today, she’s an exhibition and interior designer, and working for a boutique residential architecture firm specializing in gut renovations. The first in our…
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Part 2 of Yasmin's bite-size atlas about different types of local restaurants in Hong Kong. This time Cha Chaan Teng (茶餐廳) is introduced. Are you ready? Not to eat, but to dive deep into Cantonese & Hong Kong dining culture.
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Yasmin has prepared a bite-size atlas to introduce different types of local restaurants in Hong Kong. In part 1, Cha Lau (茶樓)/Jau Lau(酒樓), Dai Pai Dong (大排檔) & Siu Choi Gung (小菜館) are covered. Are you ready? Not to eat, but to dive deep into Cantonese & Hong Kong dining culture!!
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Here it comes Yasmin again shares more unusual methods to improve languages - this time requires some cheekiness inside you. The show is presented in Cantonese aiming at providing interesting listening materials to intermediate Cantonese learners.
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Travel stories with a weird twist. Listen to native speaker Yasmin laughs, mourns while improving your Cantonese. As usual, the show is presented in Cantonese gearing towards helping intermediate Cantonese learners advance their listening skills.
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The second guest on The Spark podcast is someone who Amy’s heard about most of her life, but Meg met him first. The Spark literally wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for this guest. Because of him, Amy and Meg met in the first place. Haocheng Wang is a prosecutor for the State of Montana and Meg’s husband. 13 years ago he came to the United States as an…
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So often, Hong Kongers mix English into their Cantonese speeches. Meanwhile, there are some loanwords from English to Cantonese that have become established and standardized; but there are also some loanwords that are less so. In this episode, Yasmin talks about the nuances of this kind of usage in Hong Kong Cantonese.…
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An easy-breezy episode on how our ability to fantasize might help us in language learning. The episode is presented in Cantonese, gearing towards helping intermediate Cantonese learners advance their listening skills. The spirit is - the more you listen, the better you are equipped to understand Cantonese speakers.…
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Every place has its own widespread jokes passed down from one generation to the next. Yasmin wants to share some of those cringe-worthy dad jokes from Hong Kong. WATCH: THIS EPISODE IS THE SECOND HALF OF A TWO-PART SERIES. As usual, the show is presented in Cantonese aiming to upskill Cantonese learners' listening skills over time.…
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Yasmin casually talks about superstitious beliefs and the tens to a hundred Cantonese words and expressions that include 'ghost' in them. True to the spirit of this educational/inspirational podcast, this episode is in Cantonese ready for helping Cantonese students better their listening skills over time.…
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Every place has its own widespread jokes passed down from one generation to the next. Yasmin wants to share some of those cringe-worthy dad jokes from Hong Kong. EPISODE NOTES AS IN THE FOLLOWING: Joke 1 (revealed in this episode) - 你有冇老土眼鏡?>> 你有冇腦,肚,眼,頸 ?Joke 2 (revealed in this episode) - ONE MORE TWO MORE,屎忽大過菠蘿Joke 4 Q - 童子軍跳彈床 - guess 4 words …
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Following part one comes part two of The Spark’s interview with former fashion industry journalist and current editor at VICE Asia Pacific, Rachel Ruonan Zheng. In the second half of the interview Meg and Amy dive in deeper with Rachel as she shares the benefits and challenges of working and living in a bilingual environment. Together, Meg, Amy, an…
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Hong Kong people are relatively direct culturally. Yasmin shares her perfect storm for being a direct person from a direct culture meeting some of the least direct people. Headache? Listen to find out while you improve your Cantonese. ;)
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Cantonese speakers like to call strangers 'handsome', 'master', and 'brother', why? Meanwhile, their usage is declining amongst youngsters, why? Yasmin tells you all. As usual, the show is presented in Cantonese ready for helping intermediate Cantonese learners upskill their listening ability over time.…
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Amy Tianyi and Meg are back with the second season of The Spark, where they open up the conversation by introducing their first guest, Rachel Ruonan Zheng. Rachel is a former fashion industry journalist and, currently, an editor at VICE Asia Pacific. Amy first met Rachel in New York City by happenstance when Rachel was one of the speakers at an eve…
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The basis of mastering any language is to know enough words. How to accumulate them efficiently, though? Language-learning geek Yasmin shares 4 recommendations. True to the spirit of this podcast for brushing up your listening skills, the episode is presented in Cantonese. Repeated listening is recommended.…
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Bits of morale boosts and a simple explainer of 'add oil (gaa1 jau4*2)', a sweet little phrase hardly able to be translated into English. As usual, the show is presented in Cantonese aiming at helping intermediate Cantonese learners get better with listening comprehension.
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What's the deal with this podcast? How could it help you improve Cantonese? Yasmin tells you all in this episode. As usual, she presents in Cantonese aiming to help you 'get' Cantonese speakers over time alongside other learning avenues.
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Cute things and little stories in a foodie Facebook group. As usual, the show is presented in Cantonese gearing towards helping intermediate Cantonese learners advance their listening skills. The spirit is - the more you listen, the better you are equipped to understand Cantonese speakers.
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Host Yasmin says 'aiya' 30 times per day - this time she sheds light on this gloriously versatile and cute Cantonese filler word. As per usual, the show is presented in Cantonese ready for helping intermediate Cantonese learners better their listening skills over time.
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