ChinesePod

goulniky

榜眼
I just subscribed to a free 1-week trial at ChinesePod, I'm quite impressed with what I've seen so far, seems very comprehensive (audio, transcripts, quite a few tools, forum etc.). I am seriously considering a paid subscription, I know there has been some posts on the subject earlier this year but I'd appreciate any additional feedback before I commit (their Premium offering is not cheap, do people find it worthwhile?)
Thx
 

lmcjipo

榜眼
I find ChinesePod very useful.

However, after trying the free premium service, when my trial subscription ended for the premium service, I found that it wasn't for me (based on the subscription price). I opted for the basic subscription.

The basic subscription includes the free MP3 files and the associated PDF transcripts corresponding to the particular MP3 file.
 

goulniky

榜眼
Does the basic subscription also include discussion (Comments) which often contains good stuff?
If that's the case, the only things not covered are grammar, additional vocabulary, exercices and lesson plan. Apart from the plan, I find those very useful, and considering the backlog, would keep me busy for a while.
None of this fully replaces a teacher, but good ones aren't easy to find around here as soon as you get past basic level. And since I spend 1h-1h30 in the car every day, those podcasts are so valuable to me.
 

ssaito

探花
chinesepod transcripts

I tried Chinesepod 6-8 weeks ago. At that time their transcripts only contained the duihua, but didn't translate any of the discussion around the duihua. I sent an email requesting that and they immediately responded saying they were considering doing so. But I let my free subscription lapse and have since gotten too busy with work and my own tutor. Does anyone know if they changed?
 

goulniky

榜眼
Yes they do, 菜鸟 (newbie), 初级 (elementary), 中级 (intermediate) and 中高级 (upper intermediate) but obviously not on their zhongwen-only 高级 (advanced) level. Dialogue has English translation that is, not sure what you mean by 'around the duihua'. If you mean additional sentences around vocabulary, the answer is yes for 初级, 中级 and 中高级.
Going through more of their stuff today across levels, I made up my mind, will go for their 1-year full package as soon as my free-trial expires.
 

ssaito

探花
duihua

Their lessons consist of dialog between (from what I heard) two hosts, and then a central lesson dialog that will be between two "actors" - for example, a shopkeeper and someone trying to buy something. The hosts first introduce the topic and talk about it, about the vocab, etc. Then the actors go through a dialog using the new vocab, situation, idioms, etc. Then the hosts will discuss again, and then they replay the actors dialog.

They originally only transcribed the actors dialog, but not the hosts. However, I found the hosts' dialog to be much richer and more interesting, but they didn't provide that transcript. So I was wondering if they added the hosts' dialog to the transcript.
 

goulniky

榜眼
No, this doesn't seem to be transcribed, but that's fine by me, it fits my working style and my availability : play audio in the car or while traveling, play/replay additional vocab/sentence patterns and do the exercices online, replay the audio whenever I can. The hosts' subtext might help first time around, no more. For me the focus is listening comprehension and vocabulary building, for reading I use different textbooks. Anyway, I just took the plunge, and with this I seem to have graduated from 进士 jinshi to 探花 tanhua on this forum :D
 

sfrrr

状元
I am a devotee of ChinesePod. And I've found that if I listen to the right skill level podcast, I can get the hosts' discussion by listening to it several times. Also, remember that a few PPC music players let you slow down the audio without distorting it, so you can listen to them speaking much slower, if you like. Also, if you wander around the Chinesepod.com website, blog, wiki, and forums, you'll find that a few members have transcribed the conversation and posted them on the wiki.

Also, a man who posts on the ChinesePod site as Lantian has started a service whereby a professional transcriber transcribes the entire podcast and then sells them to you for a buck or so. When I left for vacation, he hadn't decided on pricing yet, but I got the feeling it would be pretty reasonable.

Sandra
 

goulniky

榜眼
I guess I'm becoming a devotee too... I downloaded the whole audio archive, systematically going through all elementary and intermediate lessons, exercises and all for a thorough review that will take me about 2 weeks. I will then go into upper intermediate at a more regular pace, which is really the right level for me, and pushing into advanced which for oral comprehension is slightly stretching, but motivating.
What I like most beyond the recordings is the vocabulary expansion part, can only be done online but very useful to me as repetition practice.
Anyway, I signed up for a year of full service, got my work cut out...
 
I think ChinesePod is very good as ONE source, but not as only source.

They are fun to listen too and not boring, however, the high English content is distracting. Also, since the translation is given nearby you don't really think deep about the meaning.

I still listen to them in the car, but to make it more efficient I cut the MP3 into 3 parts, with the actual Mandarin only lesson in the middle. Then I can repeat the Mandarin only part simply with the I<< button and don't have to search the beginning.

For learning I currently look mainly at Chinese only text, which I translate manually (not online). For unknown characters I use the Pleco handwrite function. For me it's sticking better.
 

goulniky

榜眼
They are fun to listen too and not boring, however, the high English content is distracting.
It's true on the first 3 levels, though Intermediate (中级) has Jenny comment mostly in Chinese. Upper Intermediate (中高级) also has John talk mostly in Chinese, and at the Advanced level zh-高级, there is a wealth of content but simply no English, which is probably more challenging than distracting.
FWIW, I have been providing full transcripts of these last three levels for a few weeks now, and I'm planning to continue, certainly with 中高级 and zh-高级.
 
goulniky,
great la! But don't the intermediate lessons have a Mandarin core lesson? I can see only the chitchat part......

Oh, you are the dude with the frequency analysis! I love that tool! Well done!
 

goulniky

榜眼
flameproof you're right, there's a core Mandarin lesson but I won't provide the transcript since Chinesepod charges for it through their basic subscription, so I really can't make their pdf available.
And thx for reminding me about the frequency analysis, recently changed path names on my server and just noticed the ]link didn't work anymore, I'm now fixing it.
 

LaoWang

秀才
I have problems downloading qiute a few of the lessons at CP. According to them it as to do with Internet Explorer. Alright, may be, but I am paying them to download it and IE is the most common browser!
 
Why subscribe?

At the intermediate stage, I've found the only useful thing on their website is the MP3s and the Lesson PDFs which I've downoaded. I'm going to suggest they add a revision lesson every 10 or 20 lessons which incorporates vocab. and grammar covered. This could be a translation type test where you're given the English and have to translate into the Chinese provided later. Any new vocabulary could be introduced at the beginning of the lesson. Having taught English in China for 5 years, I know only too well the Chinese penchant for teaching language as if it were all fixed structures--passive exposure to dialogues and texts is not the way to learn to communicate.

Downloading with Firefox: Firefox by default, is set to play media files you click on so if you want to download, you've got to change how it handles those file types.
 

mihobu

秀才
I'm also an intermediate level user of ChinesePod, and I find that the expansion sentences (available with a premium subscription) are very useful. There's a lot more than what's available in the dialogs. I listen to the audio clips over and over to reinforce the vocabulary and sentence structures. I also like to cut and paste the expansions sentences and use them for reading practice.
 

sfrrr

状元
I'm still a mad fan of CPod, at the intermediate level. One of the reasons I love it so is that I learn languages by hearing them--that's why I don't have much use for traditional flashcards. And I love all the cultural material they pack into their regular lessons and extras. Maybe that part is superfluous for you people already in China, but I at least will listen even to a Newbie lesson if it concerns a cultural tidbit.

Sandra
 
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