lenguin Posted October 5, 2015 at 02:52 PM Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 at 02:52 PM Hello Chinese Forums! Please, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Fame Ketover, I'm a language lover, and I'm the founder of the free Lenguin language courses. I'm sure some of you are familiar with the FSI courses, but for those who are not, they are programmatic curricula that have been used for decades in successfully training foreign service workers to fluency. My team and I have used these curricula as the framework for producing new video courses which are available for free. The Mandarin Chinese course is already available and we're releasing new videos every couple of days. You can find our videos on Youtube and Facebook. https://youtube.com/LenguinPenguin https://facebook.com/LenguinPenguin Here's the direct link to the YouTube playlist for the full Mandarin Chinese course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7cqtYORC8I&index=2&list=PLOZiEc7ESUiE3Jdo1hkWfNvQpxaamHA9L Stay up to date by following us on Twitter: @LenguinPenguin A lot of time, love, and effort have been volunteered for this project in hopes of creating an awesome learning resource for all Chinese language learners. All feedback and comments are welcome and will be taken into consideration for future lessons. Thanks for your time and enjoy the videos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted October 5, 2015 at 03:08 PM Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 at 03:08 PM FYI, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter are all blocked in China. Obviously there are plenty of Chinese students elsewhere, but... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChTTay Posted October 6, 2015 at 02:27 AM Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 at 02:27 AM Yes, please use something that isn't blocked in China or I cannot easily access it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Two Times Posted October 6, 2015 at 02:51 AM Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 at 02:51 AM Free materials? What's the catch? Warm regards, Chris Two Times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenguin Posted October 6, 2015 at 04:22 PM Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2015 at 04:22 PM @roddy, @ChTTay - Thanks for the heads up. We would love to expand into Chinese platforms, but as you may know, most of them require a Chinese mobile number (which we don't have access to). I'll see what I can do though! @Chris Two Times - Free with no catch! We're using crowd-funding so that those who feel that they would like to support the project may do so. So, sit back and enjoy. (Well, I see you're in Beijing so perhaps you can't yet until I figure out a solution to the comment above.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenguin Posted October 8, 2015 at 12:38 PM Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2015 at 12:38 PM I'm happy to report that Lenguin is now on Youku! Here is the link to the course playlist: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTM1MjgwNzA2NA==.html?f=26128429 The link to our channel: http://i.youku.com/u/UMzIzNjU0MTQ2OA== (Youku does allow registration without a Chinese mobile number, but the functionality is limited so please excuse the look of our channel.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenguin Posted October 9, 2015 at 09:44 PM Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2015 at 09:44 PM Learn Mandarin Chinese - Where do you work? (Lesson 35) Learn phrases to discuss work, while also learning another use for "zai" and sentence-final "ba".YouTube: http://youtu.be/tVpwy4DQ0RgFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lenguinpenguin/videos/696957417071399/Dailymotion: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x394vqgYouku: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTM1NjEyNjQ4MA==.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenguin Posted October 11, 2015 at 09:20 PM Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2015 at 09:20 PM Learn Mandarin Chinese - Where do you work? + (Lesson 36) Using Chinese characters, practice discussing work, in addition to making use of "zai" and sentence-final "ba". YouTube: http://youtu.be/bJb_PwH6NHoFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lenguinpenguin/videos/698024650298009/Dailymotion: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x39a93sYouku: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTM1NzY2NjI2NA==.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenguin Posted October 15, 2015 at 08:39 PM Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 at 08:39 PM Learn Mandarin Chinese - Do you have? How many? (Lesson 37)While talking about members of your family you'll learn how to use the words for "have" and "how many". We'll also be using plural pronouns. YouTube: http://youtu.be/DD0graFWgaQFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lenguinpenguin/videos/699083120192162/Dailymotion: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x39r2y8Youku: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTM2MDU3MTI1Ng==.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenguin Posted October 17, 2015 at 08:23 PM Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 at 08:23 PM Learn Mandarin Chinese - Do you have? How many? + (Lesson 38)Using Chinese characters, practice talking about members of your family using the words for "have" and "how many" as well as the plural pronouns. YouTube: http://youtu.be/_EpZanKg1QYFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lenguinpenguin/videos/699206470179827/Dailymotion: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x39ssv1Youku: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTM2MDgwMDIxNg==.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenguin Posted October 19, 2015 at 06:51 PM Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2015 at 06:51 PM Learn Mandarin Chinese - Useful Adverbs - Still, Just, All (Lesson 39)Continue discussing family while incorporating some new useful adverbs: still, just, all. We'll also learn a way of saying "and". YouTube: http://youtu.be/9r8pXpRUVMYFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lenguinpenguin/videos/699813360119138/Dailymotion: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3a0yo8Youku: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTM2MjUxNzI0OA==.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted October 19, 2015 at 06:53 PM Report Share Posted October 19, 2015 at 06:53 PM Anyone finding these useful? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChTTay Posted October 20, 2015 at 02:37 AM Report Share Posted October 20, 2015 at 02:37 AM I watched one but found it kind of weird that they "dub" the presenter whenever he speaks Chinese. So it will be his voice until he says 在 and then it will be the recorded Chinese speakers voice they used in the audio. The audio they used in the clip I watched wasn't great quality so I'm not sure where they found it or if they recorded it themselves. It might have been better if the host was Chinese or they just let him speak Chinese using his own voice (assuming he can speak it / is good enough). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenguin Posted October 20, 2015 at 03:16 PM Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2015 at 03:16 PM @ChTTay - Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I definitely agree with you on both points there. As mentioned above, the audio is from the FSI courses. It has been restored as much as possible, but we would love to one day re-record it with better quality. As far as the dubbing, as I (the presenter) am not a native speaker, that was something we decided to do to prevent new learners from picking up quirks in non-native speech. I agree it would be nice to have native-speaking presenters for each language that we do, but being a free resource some comprises must be made. In the meantime, we'll see how we can modify the presentation to make the dubbing situation less "weird". Thanks again for the support and feedback! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelley Posted October 20, 2015 at 04:26 PM Report Share Posted October 20, 2015 at 04:26 PM I have to agree with chTTay, audio quality is poor and it is weird with the dubbing thing, Not too keen on the talking penguins, but that's not important really. I am sure it will appeal to someone, useful for when you have some time and can watch videos, maybe on a train, or waiting for something. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenguin Posted October 20, 2015 at 04:31 PM Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2015 at 04:31 PM @Shelley - Your feedback is much appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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