In this age of Global Warming, our imperiled avian friends from the deep south are crying out for succor. And no-where is their plight getting a warmer reception than with our very own Tiansen.

If you're an old hand at Popup Chinese, you might consider this dialogue simpler than our usual intermediate fare. But it really isn't. What you should be listening for are the departures we take from technically correct pronunciation and grammar. You may not have internalized or even noticed these tricks to date, but if you start using them you'll come across as much more fluent than your peers. Because part of sounding like a native speaker is knowing exactly when and how to bend the rules....