Getting Feedback for my Mandarin E-Learning website

[mandarinlearning]

Hello everyone,

Im new here but would love some help. My friend has a Mandarin School and asked me to design a Learning Mandarin system for them.

I spent almost a year and a bit on it but i think i have almost finished.

This is split over 5 levels - survival / pre-intermediate / intermediate / upper intermediate and advanced.

Each level has 15 units and each unit has it's own downloadable flashcards , games ,tests and characters. I have also added some videos (more will be coming and some books ).

i now need some feedback to continue to improve it.

if you would like to look at what i have done and tell me what is good and what is not then go to the website http://www.chinese-blossom.com then click on the online system and enter

username : unilan_level1

Password : unilan

you will enter the beginner stage. There are 15 units ,i put you on unit 15 so you can look at all of them. In the real system you have to work your way up to the highest unit and can not skip ahead.

[yaokong]

Short reply, bacause I am on an iPad, and bacause of the lack of flash I practically can't do anything on your site. What I notice immediately though is the icons, they look like having been picked from many different icon sets, this makes the entire design look chaotic. Why not hire a designer to make some logos, unified icons etc.?

[mandarinlearning]

Thanks for the reply, All feedback is welcome

Im sorry about the flash issue . I know it will stop alot of people who have ipads, from using the site but i only know how to work in flash. Maybe once i finish with the flash materials i can start doing something for iPad users.

About the design, you are correct about it coming from many different icon sets. I was concentrating more on the material rather than the look but i can look around for single icon set or a designer that will do it all. If you have any suggestions on where i can get either from, i would love to know.

[roddy]

Where's the actual content? Nobody (well, almost nobody) is going to register just to check out yet another random Chinese learning site.

[mandarinlearning]

well i added a username and password in the first post, so people can login and have a look at the beginner level without registering.Im not here to collect members or email address , just feedback.

If you want i could post link to the individual material.

Thanks

[roddy]

That's fine for anyone who happens to have seen this topic. There are a million and one sites like this on the Internet, and unless you can demonstrate right on the front page why this is something special you've got little chance of getting much attention. All I'm seeing here is stock images.

[mandarinlearning]

Well primarily it is for people who are studying at the school. Once i am happy with the site and feel confident about the content then i will look at the design and make the site for a global audience.

The front page you are logged on to has 4 menu icons - home / booking lessons / free learning materials / log out.

All the materials are in the menu of - free learning materials.

to save you the trouble of logging in again i will give you the links for unit 2 .

Unit 2 - Countries and introducing

Stage 1 - introduce the New words

http://www.chinese-blossom.com/library/Flashcard/fcCountry.php

Stage 2 - Playing the language

Hangman Game - http://www.chinese-blossom.com/hangman/unit%201/game.php

Memory Game - http://www.chinese-blossom.com/memorygame/beginner/countries/index.php

Word search - http://www.chinese-blossom.com/wordsearch/beginner/country/country.php - there is a menu above to switch from character to pinyin.

Crossword - http://www.chinese-blossom.com/crossword/survival/preview.php

Stage 3 - Doing the quizzes

Words - Pinyin

http://www.chinese-blossom.com/test/pinyin/survival1/vocab/countries/index.php

words - Characters

http://www.chinese-blossom.com/test/characters/survival1/vocab/countries/index.php

If you log in you can look at all 15 units.I also have 4 more levels - this is only beginner. The site also has some videos and character information .

[jbradfor]

Took a look at some of the quizzes and other games. Many of them did look fun / useful. My main thought is that once you are on one of the game pages, there is no navigation links out from it. If one comes in via the home page I guess one could click back, but it still seems like an oversight.

[mandarinlearning]

Thanks jbradfor,

What i can do is over the weekend i can put up the pre-intermediate and intermediate username and password. If you like it i can set up a unique username and password just for you because then you have to follow the stuctured program.

i.e

- you must look at the flashcards

- spend 20 mins on the games

- get 75 % in the quizzes

you must do all 3 stages before you can go on to the next unit.