Terms of service

Last updated: 22 October 2026

These terms govern your use of the Mandarin Shadow (跟读), French Shadow and Spanish Shadow websites, videos, podcasts, pictures, graded readers and social media accounts (together, "the Service"), which are run by an independent creator based in Australia ("we", "us"). By using the Service you agree to these terms and to our Privacy policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

1. What the Service is

The Service makes free language-learning material for people learning Mandarin Chinese (graded by HSK 3.0 level), French and Spanish (graded A1 to C2): shadowing videos in which you listen and repeat, listening quizzes, dialogues, grammar, culture and survival-language lessons, news lessons, podcasts, graded readers and downloadable study material. We publish it on this website and on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Threads and podcast apps such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The Service is for learning and entertainment only.

2. Who may use it

You may use the Service if you can form a binding contract where you live, or if you are a child using it with the permission and supervision of a parent or guardian. You do not need an account to use this website. You are responsible for following the rules of every platform you use to reach us.

3. AI-generated content and accuracy

Stories, pictures, narration, translations, news summaries and replies are generated with artificial intelligence and checked automatically, but they can contain mistakes, including mistakes of language, pronunciation, culture and fact. Pictures are illustrations and may not show real people or places accurately. News lessons are based on public reporting and are summaries, not news services. Use everything as practice material, not as an authoritative reference, and not as professional, legal, medical, financial or travel advice. Check anything important with a qualified teacher or a reliable source.

4. Your use of the content

We give you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to watch, listen to, read, download (where a download is offered) and print the Service's content for your own non-commercial study. You may share links to our videos, posts and pages, and embed our videos using the embedding tools of the platform that hosts them. Unless we say otherwise in writing, you may not:

copy, re-upload, sell, rent, sublicense or commercially exploit our videos, podcasts, pictures, PDFs or text;
remove or alter our name, logo or credits, or suggest that we endorse you or your product;
scrape, mirror or bulk download the website or feeds, or use the content to train a machine learning model;
interfere with the website, the feeds or any account, or try to get around security measures.

5. Ownership

We own, or have the rights to, the Service and its content, names, logos and branding, apart from the third-party material described below. All rights not expressly given to you are reserved. Photographs used in news lessons come from licensed sources and are credited in the video or its description. Names and logos of other companies and platforms belong to their owners.

6. Comments, messages and your content

When you comment on, reply to or message our accounts, you remain the owner of what you write, and you give us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to display, store, reply to and learn from it (for example, to plan future lessons) for as long as it remains on the platform or until you ask us to delete our records. Do not post anything that is unlawful, hateful, harassing, sexually explicit, spam, misleading, or that infringes someone else's rights, or that contains personal information about other people. We may delete comments, block accounts and report abuse to the platform. Replies from our accounts may be written with the help of AI (see the Privacy policy) and are not professional advice.

7. Third-party platforms and services

The Service is delivered through, and links to, services we do not control: YouTube (Google), Instagram, Facebook and Threads (Meta), TikTok, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and others. Your use of them is governed by their own terms and policies, including the YouTube Terms of Service, Instagram and Meta terms and the TikTok Terms of Service. We publish to our own accounts through those platforms' official programming interfaces. We are not responsible for their availability, changes, content or data practices.

8. Podcasts

Our podcast feeds are free. Podcast apps and directories are independent of us, and we cannot guarantee that an episode will be available in every app. Episodes are AI-narrated study material.

9. Availability and changes

The Service is provided free of charge and may change, be interrupted or stop at any time, and we may remove content or close accounts without notice. We may update these terms; the date above shows the latest version, and your continued use after a change means you accept the new terms.

10. Disclaimer of warranties

The Service and its content are provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, completeness, availability and non-infringement. We do not promise that the Service will be error-free, uninterrupted or that using it will make you fluent or pass an exam. Nothing in these terms excludes rights that cannot be excluded by law, including the Australian Consumer Law.

11. Limitation of liability

To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive loss, or for loss of profits, data, goodwill or opportunity, arising from your use of, or inability to use, the Service, and our total liability for any claim about the Service is limited to AUD 100. Where the law does not allow a limit, our liability is limited to the minimum the law permits, such as resupplying the Service.

12. Indemnity

To the extent the law allows, you agree to indemnify us against claims, losses and costs (including reasonable legal fees) that arise from your breach of these terms or your unlawful use of the Service.

13. Suspension and termination

You can stop using the Service at any time. We may suspend or end your access, block you from our accounts or remove your comments if you break these terms, the law or a platform's rules, or if we need to protect the Service or other people.

14. Copyright and takedown requests

If you believe something in the Service infringes your copyright or other rights, tell us what it is, where it appears and why, and how to reach you, using the contact details below. We will review it and remove content where appropriate.

15. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia, and the courts of Victoria have non-exclusive jurisdiction, except that if you are a consumer you keep any rights to bring a claim in your home courts that the law gives you. Please contact us first so that we can try to resolve any complaint informally.

16. General

These terms and the Privacy policy are the whole agreement between you and us about the Service. If a part of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest stays in force. If we do not enforce a term, we have not given it up. You may not transfer your rights under these terms; we may transfer ours to a successor of the Service.

17. Contact

Questions about these terms, copyright notices and complaints: Gatsbytdfitzgerald@gmail.com.