Chinesepod again

[laowai1980]

2flameproof,

not trying to defend chinesepod or anything, but they do a good job in that they make the lessons entertaining and unless you expect your level to go sky-high after a few lessons they provide good material also. Now, what use is exclusively native content to me if I am a newbie? I did their 100+ newbie lessons, and their 90 elementary lessons. I am glad they have explanations in english in those, otherwise I'd have a much harder time understanding the lessons and they wouldn't be so fun. I just got to their intermediate level recently, and now they have a lot of explanations in chinese. sometimes I feel it's pretty hard but it's good since it allows me to tune into the native speaker flow of the language, Jenny doesn't try to slow down or anything. So if you need everything native, it's there, just wait or skip lower levels if you're up to it and it's there. Of course, chinesepod is not the only course I listen to, just wanted to make a point that you sometimes need explanations in the language you can understand.

[wrbt]

I thought at intermediate, high intermediate, and advanced CPOD is mostly or all in Chinese?

[laowai1980]

Not sure, I just started on intermediate, it's kinda difficult for me, so I am happy they still provide some english comments. Upper intermediate and advanced should be no problem purely in chinese.

[L-F-J]

obviously you cant just jump right into full chinese audio from the beginning. steve even said in one of his interviews that you may listen and listen to something but if it is not your level you simply wont understand it and will get nothing out of it. and later said on this forum that we learn from what we know- having things explained in our own language. so i think having english on chinese-pod is important in the beginning. and they do speak more chinese the more you progress with it.

i think everyone is just taking this no-grammar no-english attitude to the extreme. you simply cant do that especially in the beginning stages of learning. you need grammar and you need english. steve has said both of these. grammar is always there and never ignored. just not focused upon as the main point in study. and we learn from what we know....

later on though, you can start to drop the english dependancy as your vocabulary increases. but grammar is always there in the background.

[flameproof]

I think CPod is great for beginners. But one need a 2nd or 3rd source of input. At least, CPod should also do some low entry Mandarin only stories.

I thought at intermediate, high intermediate, and advanced CPOD is mostly or all in Chinese?

intermediate is still high in English. Upper are just too complicated. You can still have 100% Mandarin contend which is not difficult, even for beginners.

Yesterday I listened a little to Antiwave.net , they seem to have interesting topics, but no script. So I get only get only 30%

Is there anything out there which is interesting, and WITH (Chinese) script? I don't need English translations.

[gougou]

the native speaker flow of the language, Jenny doesn't try to slow down or anything.

I have only been listening to their advanced lessons, and even there, I felt that it was still a long way from what you hear on the street. I had little trouble following Chinesepod's advanced lessons, but do encounter problems in many parts of normal life, e.g. listening to the news, talking to a taxi driver with a heavy Beijing accent and so on. So if you want to get a good idea about spoken Chinese, do follow flameproof's advice and get more sources of input.

[laowai1980]

Yup, more sources of input is dead on. No course is perfect, they all supplement each other. This antiwave.net - what levels do they offer? The site is in chinese.

[flameproof]

Maybe here is a good suggestion for CPod users:

Get an MP3 Editior

Cut out everything and keep just one storyline.

That brings the 10 Minute lessons down to one Minute or less. That's a good length to repeat 50 times. If you don't get it you can still listen to original with the English once in a while.

I think it's no problem if you don't understand much, after some time it will start to make sense through context.

This antiwave.net - what levels do they offer?

Podcasts on issues that are relevant to Chinese people. It's not designed for learners. But looks intriguingly interesting.