Glossika method

[hedwards]

They already have one Mandarin release, I'm not sure why they wouldn't prioritize a release in a completely different language over one that's so close to a supported language. Also I'm guessing that they have to do most of the research a second time to make sure that they aren't making any mistakes that result from the Taiwanese sources they were using.

 

Anyways, I just go my German copy and I'm impressed with the little details that they've fixed over earlier programs. They've color coded the text labels so that it's quicker to find the English, German and IPA without having to read. The program description page has been changed to be quicker to read with less effort to get what they want. 

 

Presumably they'll be doing something similar for the Mainland Mandarin when it is released.

[OneEye]

Glossika works with translators to produce their books. They do them in the order that the translators finish them, more or less. Sometimes they have to wait a while, or the revision process takes longer than expected, or the recordings or any number of other things slow the process down. Many of those things are completely outside of Glossika's control. So the fact that Armenian is ahead of PRC Mandarin on the list doesn't mean it's of higher priority to Glossika, just that they're further along in the process.

[Snuggles]

Mainland version is almost here. 95%!

And it is included in the pack with the Taiwanese. Bravo!

Now of we could get sentences read by a man and a woman that would be perfect.

[ChTTay]

Exciting times! Hopefully it doesn't get stuck on 95% for too long!!

[Crush]

What exactly does that mean? That buying the Mainland pack will give you access to the Taiwan speaker as well? That's great news I see that they've bumped the price up a bit which is fine with me, but what about for those of us who already bought the course? Any idea if we can make up the difference rather than pay for the full course again? I guess i'll send an e-mail off to Glossika and see if i can get an answer.

[Snuggles]

I have heard for those that already purchased the Chinese, you will be sent a download link for the update when the new recordings are done.

It is an update, not a "new" product.

Hopefully that means we will get it without having to pay.

The new pack will come with both a Taiwan speaker and a Beijing speaker.

It is clearly labeled on the website for those of us who appreciated that kind of thing.

[James藍傑]

Unfortunately, you can see the new author is named Sophie so we're not getting 2 gender options. 20 dollar spike in price is not so great either and I'm genuinely terrified of the size of all those files on my phone but it's still the same great resource maybe even a bit better to bout. GLOSSIKA 萬歲！

[Crush]

Yeah, but you're now getting access to two sets of audio in two dialects (not just the same material read with two different voices), so i can understand the $20 increase. I also noticed that it's now labeled as having a Beijing and Taiwan speaker on the course page

[ChTTay]

With the size of the files ... If people are using this on their phones ... any tips?

 

I have an iPhone with around 6GB left of space. I'd prefer just to put on the sentences/audio that I was looking at that week.

[Yadang]

@ChTTay

I uploaded all of the mp3s to google drive. Whenever I need them on my phone, I just download them from the google drive app, and then delete them when necessary.
 

[Crush]

You could also convert the mp3s to a lower bitrate. 192kbps is really much more than necessary. 32kbps would probably sound just as good and be much smaller. I'm not sure what you could do with the pdfs, perhaps trying to OCR them would help? Alternatively, you could follow Yadang's advice and just load a portion of it at a time, for example one level at a time. I also cut out the Glossika intro from all my mp3s, after listening to it a few hundred times it got a bit old.

[JustinJJ]

I'm really confused by the website.

 

I'm interested in a mainland Chinese - Cantonese combination. Apparently Cantonese is 35% complete, however in this section http://www.glossika.com/product-category/learn-cantonese/ it looks like they already have a bunch of Cantonese products, including 'Zh Yue' 流利 1-3 for $80. 

 

Does anyone know what this actually means? It's pretty expensive and doesn't seem to have any examples to listen to, so I can't tell if it's mainland mandarin, taiwan mandarin, etc. Seems odd that most of the packs on the Glossika website seem to feature 3 books in one without the ability to just buy book 1 (some even say 9 products in one!)... sounds like a bit of overkill.

[imron]

I'm really confused by the website.

I stand by my earlier comment:

 

 

All it needs is two drop down boxes:

I want to learn: -------

I speak: -------

[ChTTay]

Crush and Yadang - thats for the tips!

 

I read earlier that the PDF's were hard to ... OCR? there was a program someone made to splice it all up. I may end up just writing what I need out into a document or something for the week.

 

MP3s - conversion seems like a good, space saving idea. It depends how many single files there are and if I can find a bulk converter!

[JustinJJ]

imron said

All it needs is two drop down boxes:

I want to learn: -------
I speak: -------

 

 

 

Not just that, I think they also need to better explain what you get with your purchase and why you seem to have no option but to buy 3 (or 9) products in one, rather than just 1 product.

[Mr John]

Just received fresh links for Glossika. I'm assuming it's the mainland update. However, my internet is embarrassingly slow, so I'm not 100% sure. Anyone else received the link and examined the content yet?

[racebannon]

I received the updated links from Glossika as well.  Included are:

 

Mainland Mandarin audio files (GMS and GSR) for Fluency books 1, 2, and 3. 

Updated audio files (GMS and GSR) for the original Taiwan Mandarin version Fluency books 1, 2, 3.

An updated .pdf for Fluency book 1 (books 2 and 3 are not yet finished and will be sent when the are ready).

 

 

As I have looked through the first 100 sentences I have noticed that many of the sentences have completely changed. For example: sentence #2 from the original Taiwan Mandarin version, 我不富有="I'm not rich", but in the updated Taiwan Mandarin version it is now 我不是有钱人。

 

I hope we will be given an explanation as to why the changes were made.   Are the new sentences simply more common? more  natural?   Is there something wrong with the original sentences (that I have been practicing for over a month)?

 

I love the Glossika materials and I am looking forward to more complete explanations of the updates. 

[etm001]

 

 

I received the updated links from Glossika as well. 

Does one have to request these links? I purchased several of the original Mandarin Chinese packages but have not received any notification that new versions are available.

[ChTTay]

 

我不富有="I'm not rich", but in the updated Taiwan Mandarin version it is now 我不是有钱人

 

My guess is that 我不是有钱人 would be one of the the 'mainland' versions sentences. Personally, studying and living in Beijing, I've never come across 我不富有. That might just be me though.

 

Looking on the site it still says 95%.

[Crush]

Does one have to request these links? I purchased several of the original Mandarin Chinese packages but have not received any notification that new versions are available.

I was wondering the same thing. I haven't received any notification on new versions, either. I don't know if these are being "hand sent" and i should just wait or if they were sent automatically and i (we) got skipped? I'll give it some more time i guess.