Modern Chinese Learning

[Jhorra]

I found this website modernchineselearning.com and was wondering if any of you have tried it. The lessons are reasonably priced, and I just got through with my first one. The instructor seemed very helpful, and was willing to continue speaking after the lesson if I wanted. I would have liked to, but it was very late already here.

My previous experience was with the Pimsleur courses, so I thought these would be good as they are with an instructor from China.

[Josh-J]

How much of Pimsleur had you done before trying this website?

I'm going to need some way of continuing to speak chinese after I finish the Pimsleur course, is this suitable at all?

[Jhorra]

I went through all 90 lessons. When I started this they were really suprised how much I knew. It seems to go farther than the Pimsleur did, and I like the fact that I can talk with them and ask questions, so it fills in gaps and allows for corrections with mispronunciations.

[Josh-J]

In that case do you mind if I ask which level of lesson you're doing on this website? It sounds like something I could do with

[Luobot]

Jhorra - Since you're the first one here to mention this resource and you may be the only one using it at this time, I wonder if you would mind updating this thread with your experiences with it. For example, after you take a class, could you indicate what the class-id is and what your thoughts were, good or bad. If you wouldn't mind, I and possibly others, would find it interesting to follow along with you. Thanks!

[roddy]

Yeah - there are a huge number of online tutoring services springing up, and it's probably a fair assumption that many are jumping on a bandwagon with no real idea of what they are doing. First-hand experience would be great.

[Jhorra]

Well, the counselor has been very helpful with picking classes and getting me registered, probably because he gets commission, but helpful none the less. They try to keep you with the same instructor, so all my classes have been done with a very nice lady named Yan. I started from the beginning as I figured it would be a good review, and nothing like having someone from China being able to correct you. Plus, I did the Pimsleur lessons about six months ago and I figured a refresher would be good.

The first two courses were basically going through all the sounds. It was very repetitive, but good to be able to hear the sounds and be corrected. By the time you get through them you feel much better with them. What I did like is that they work around your schedule, and the instructor said I can contact them any time with questions. I have had to contact them a few times, and every time the counselor or instructor herself got right back to me.

Tonight's lesson was a practice/review lesson. Two of the courses we ran out of material before it was over, but I think that had more to do with me already going through the lessons, so I picked it up faster. The second lesson went almost 45 minutes over the allotted time, but they never said a thing about it. The instructor also said that if I wanted to continue talking after class she would be happy to.

When we had time left over we were able to go through phrases and pronunciation that I found very helpful.

As for the lessons themselves, it was a little scripted, but I would guess that has something to do with the basic nature of these first few courses.

One huge plus for this site is you can request a study partner, and they find someone to meet and talk with you. They help you with your Chinese, and you help them with their English.

This is my first experience past Pimsleur, so I don't know if I'm the best judge, but for $10 - $20 per lesson, I'm willing to keep going and see how they turn out.

You can do video if you want, but due to the earth quake causing internet problems we've mainly been doing voice. Over all, I'm pretty happy with it.

I think the first 4 lessons are all basic sound and pronunciation, so hopefully I'll have better information once we get into it more.

[Josh-J]

Thanks for the information, it sounds pretty reasonable so far. And friendly which is good. I might start at the beginning as well in that case because well it all helps and I don't want to feel like I know nothing

[Jhorra]

Well, I had to take a few weeks off after the last lesson due to work getting very hectic. I was very suprised tonight to find that I actually noticed a difference in what I remembered and was able to say. There's a lot of repetition in these lessons, but that doesn't bother me, and it seems to be helping. I can definitely see this getting better.

[Jhorra]

I just got the following email from them:

I’m very pleased to inform you that we have released two study aid packs for “Practical Everyday Chinese” Level 1 and 2 respectively. They are intended to help you learn Chinese more conveniently and effectively. Each pack consists of MP3 files (including text, exercises, listening comprehension) and a software learning tool called “Teach2000” and its supporting files for exercises and self-tests.

We have put lots of efforts into this tool and firmly believe it will significantly improve the efficiency of your learning Chinese. To show our confidence, it carries life time money back guarantee. Any time if you are not completely satisfied, let us know and we will refund you in full. Please give it a try.

Even you are not studying “Practical Everyday Chinese”, it is still a useful tool to practice your Chinese and do exercises so that your Chinese is kept at a high level.

I checked the price, and it's $44 for the package. I'll give it a try and report back.