edX Mandarin course Level Two

[Zeppa]

I registered for the Level Two edX Mandarin course with Estella, Level Two. I did not do the Level One course nor have I looked at it.

 

I've decided the course is not for me. There are so many materials out there and this is not so useful for me. Something like Chinesepod does it so well already.

 

Comments: the videos go through pretty elementary vocabulary character by character, with some illustration in sentences. (Virtually every Chinese course I've done likes to do this - vocabulary first, then dialogue). You see all the characters though you aren't given any help to write them, as the course is about talking. The subject in the first lesson is shopping. Then there is a video on 'grammar' with explanations.

The dialogue video shows Estella and a Mandarin-speaking American going along a shopping street in Taiwan. The dialogue is massively more difficult and fast than the vocabulary. I think there is quite a disjunct between the vocabulary and the dialogue. Of course, you can listen to it again and again.

 

My conclusion is that if you like to go through the quiz and fill in all the little boxes, you might like this course. (There are a few software problems with the marking of the quiz, but apparently they are being ironed out). But doing the quiz, for example recognizing what word or tone you hear, is not particularly integrated with the dialogue itself.

 

Estella speaks rather fast in English, and she has a technique of speaking a few words then shutting her mouth and pausing. This is presumably so we can understand what she is saying - although the text does appear on screen too.

 

A mass of work has gone into this. However, I can't face plodding through the videos and quiz in order to continue to the dialogue. Admittedly I am not really a beginner, but neither are the dialogues at beginner level.

 

In the dialogue they say that plum juice and iron eggs are famous. Someone has asked on the discussion forum what iron eggs are, but no reply was given. Fortunately Wikipedia has the answer.

 

You are also supposed to join something called Prollster, which I don't know anything about.

 

Sorry to be so rushed, but hope this is helpful for some.

[Shelley]

Its a shame you feel its not for you, just for the very reasons you didn't like it, I do. Guess it shows that what is good for some is not for others.

 

I am enjoying the course so far and am very impressed with the amount of learning materials they have included.

 

They give full instructions as to how to join Prollster, not difficult when you follow the instructions.

 

I hope you find something you do like.

[Zeppa]

Shelley, as I said, I have plenty I like already. I find this dreadfully longwinded, but then again, I'm not a beginner.

[Shelley]

I understand, I find it a bit slow but have made the decision to start again because my last 20 years have been hit and miss with bits and pieces, here and there, so to consolidate, I decided I had to go back to the beginning again however painful, to ensure I fill in all the holes in my knowledge and tighten up my grammar.

[Zeppa]

Yes, I agree with you on that. I have been treading water at lower intermediate classes in London because if the college can actually get a big enough class together, the level and requirements of the students are widely diverse. In the last class I went to, a couple of people with really fluent Chinese who had spent some years in China suddenly turned up and the teacher started throwing in texts at their level which the rest of us could not follow! I had a couple of private lessons but haven't yet reached a plan. Following a textbook while adding in other things is the only way forward.

[Shelley]

Yes, I am doing this course as an extra along side all my other things, I use NPCR as my my core textbook and lots of other things to keep it interesting and make sure I understand things.

 

I don't know if you are at all interested or whether you might even had a look already but I explain things in some detail in my blog. http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/blog/108-my-chinese-learning-blog/

[Zeppa]

Yes, I've seen that in the past and I follow this forum regularly, thanks. I also see things like Skritter, Chinesepod, a number of Chinese-learning blogs - it is remarkably popular to tell people how to learn Chinese, and I often tell myself how to do it - and various sites and books. The thing is to select out of the mass of options out there.

I thought edX was a university-type course, but it looks to me as if Estella possibly is or has been in the commercial department of her university in Taiwan, but not the Mandarin for foreigners one, but she has studied in California and is setting up as a Mandarin teacher in the USA. The variety of online options is presumably supported by edX. They've certainly put a lot of work into it. But there is a gap, as I said, between slowly explaining vocabulary and tones in videos and doing a rapid and relatively advanced dialogue. There is much more sense in NPCR.

[eion_padraig]

Hey Zeppa,

 

It sounds like you're taking this course; https://www.edx.org/course/basic-mandarin-chinese-level-2-mandarinx-mx102x

 

Have you tried the other course from Peking University?   Intermediate Chinese grammar 中级汉语法 - 

PekingX: 20000001x

 

I started this fall, but admittedly have only made it to the second week as my fall is generally very busy with work and I was using other resources more. However, if you're at a lower intermediate level the Intermediate Chinese Grammar may be more useful for you. The lectures have provided lots of good examples and even listening to her talk about the grammar in Chinese has been helpful for listening. She very, very rarely uses English which I like a lot about the course.

 

Good luck.

 

Eion

[Zeppa]

It does look good, judging from the video clip on the starting page, but it has already finished. Is it possible to watch the videos still?

[Shelley]

You should be able to take the course as self paced course, this means no exams, no marks, and no interactions. I took this course awhile ago, it was okay but due to ill health and family crisis I failed to complete it.

 

There is topic on the forums here http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/46180-intermediate-chinese-grammar-online-edx-course/

 

You can do the self paced version here https://www.edx.org/course/zhong-ji-yi-yu-yu-fa-intermediate-pekingx-20000001x

 

 

[Zeppa]

Thanks. Yes, I've read about it here before but I could not find the self-paced link.

[Shelley]

That's the link in my post - self paced course. Enjoy

[Zeppa]

Yes, I got it, Shelley! I understood that you gave me the link. But I had not found the link *before* this...

Thanks again.

[Shelley]