The Ximalaya Apps for Windows 10 and iOS

[Luxi]

Anyone using this app? I find it a very useful tool (in many ways better than the browser / website version) as well as an endless source of listening material for intermediate and advanced learners. Here's a short rundown of it

 

The Windows 10 version is downloadable through the Store app within Windows 10: search for 'ximalaya', the red square with a '听' in the centre is the right link to download it.  

The Apple Store is fussier: one must search for 喜马拉雅 - searching for 'ximalaya' takes one to the wrong app. Again, the red icon with '听'  is the right one.

There's an Android app but unavailable through Google Play (and Google will nag you forever if it's installed)  

 

I created an account with my Weibo credentials and can make purchases through the Apple Store. With an account, the apps and website/browser versions are synchronised and one can keep favourites, subscriptions, history, comments and any purchases in sync.

 

The player in the App allows you to vary the playing speed on a continuous scale from 0 to X2 (middle button in the figure below). This is very useful for transcribing and/or shadowing, also the reading speed depends on the anchor (some speak too fast) a small reduction like 0.9 or 0.8 can make a big difference. One can also download single podcasts (or a full batch), files are saved in .m4a format. 

 

Some podcasts (like the one in the figure below) have a transcript, or  a summary, or an excerpt. The paid podcasts I've looked into all have full transcripts Text can be copied and saved elsewhere. Both the MDBG Chinese Reader and the free Youdao (有道) dictionaries work on UI and text in the Windows 10 app (Youdao tends to be a little slow to get going); the Apple dictionaries in iPad only work on text but not on the UI.

 

[mungouk]

My teacher recommended Ximalaya, and I've dabbled with the website and the android app (since deleted), but as an elementary-intermediate learner, the amount of content is really overwhelming.

There's a great opportunity here for someone to curate graded/level-appropriate content for those who want to use it.

 

 

[Luxi]

1 hour ago, mungouk said:

There's a great opportunity here

 

Do you know what you're asking?  There's too much of it. The most one can do is post a note here when there's something especially suitable, but then, it's not just the level but also the variety that is overwhelming. The best thing is to pick a topic you're interested in, and explore. You'll need full transcripts for sure. Children's podcasts aren't much help either (I find them more difficult than academic podcasts)

 

Realistically, the listening material in Ximalaya is more for upper intermediate and higher levels. It would take too much effort otherwise, it would be discouraging. There is much more suitable, pedagogically designed material for lower grades. I would stay with something like the Graded Readers for now, you'll progress faster. Keep Ximalaya as an incentive - see how much you can look forward to in the not too distant future.

 

[mungouk]

7 minutes ago, Luxi said:

Do you know what you're asking? 

 

Yes. I would happily pay for this.  The quantity and variety is what's overwhelming...   

 

If there's something similar for lower-graded listeners (audio, not readers) then that would be be great.  Listening is the big gap for most of us.

 

 

[Luxi]

I thought the graded readers came with audio of the texts. I'll have a look around Ximalaya and see if I can find something suitable with transcripts. Maybe other people here have  suggestions. There's stuff  in You Tube that may be more adequate for starters - you may only need a few months before you can go into higher grade stuff, depends on your vocabulary size.

 

Would any of this material be OK?

https://www.purpleculture.net/listening-speaking-c-1_12/

 

PS: Have you tried TCB (The Chairman's Bao)?

https://www.thechairmansbao.com/

[abcdefg]

Thanks, @Luxi -- I listen to Ximalaya broadcasts sometimes on my phone (Xiami) when out and about just for intelligent entertainment. Never thought about trying to use it on my laptop and really work through the content in a more organized manner. 

 

I'll give it a try. 

[Luxi]

4 hours ago, abcdefg said:

Never thought about trying to use it on my laptop

 

It's so useful having all the devices in sync, makes it easier to follow a series or a 有神书. It's worth registering or using one's Weibo (or others), the 'history' (听过) function is great for me as I jump from one podcast to another and then can't remember where or what I was listening.

 

Here are a few more navigation figures (the app is not very intuitive!). From the Subscriptions or History or any page, clickthe icon with the album you want to listen to

 

 

it opens a playlist page. Clicking the mini-player at the bottom

 

 

...opens the player controls. It took me ages to find out how to do that! 

 

 

Another tip: if there's no transcript, search the web for the title of the podcast, you may find there's a page somewhere with the text you want. 

 

[abcdefg]

That's an extremely useful tutorial. Many thanks!