Free resource
Mandarin Corner (YouTube)
Unrated听力 Listening口语 Speaking
My notes
Conversation-based content with native speakers — useful for listening to extended natural speech and picking up conversational patterns.
Conversation-based content with native speakers gives you exposure to the natural rhythm of Chinese dialogue — the speed, the interruptions, the colloquial contractions — that you don't get from scripted listening exercises. I used Mandarin Corner when I wanted extended exposure to natural conversation without being the one producing it, which was useful preparation for the speaking sections of the test. The format also surfaces vocabulary and phrases that rarely appear in textbooks because they're specific to how people actually talk.