Chinese Zero to Hero

[Larry Language Lover]

What are your opinions concerning Chinese Zero to Hero as an effective way to learn Chinese?

[Jim]

https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/58458-chinese-zero-to-hero-path-to-fluency-course-review/?tab=comments#comment-454031

[Larry Language Lover]

Thank-you,  I guess that that thread is not too old.   I wonder if there have been any changes since then?

[cpkimber]

I used Chinese Zero to Hero to get through HSK 4 and 5, and supplemented it with Anki, NPCR, youtube/Netflix for listening, and talking to people either via text or video on WeChat almost every day.

 

Chinese Zero to Hero's HSK courses, especially 1-4, are really great. Levels 5 and 6 have less videos, but the videos that do exist have some open mouth speech drills, which I like. They use the HSK standard books, and to properly go through Chinese Zero to Hero, you need to use the books and follow the directions. I had the books before I started ZtoH, and honestly, they are probably some of my least favorite Chinese books; however, the Chinese Zero to Hero classes are good in spite of them. The Chinese Zero to Hero HSK classes are how I add new language, and they offer some pretty good listening practice just by watching the videos to boot.

 

The link that was posted here goes to a user complaining about the Path to Fluency course, which is not one of the HSK courses, but more a supplement that is provided free if you buy a bundle of HSK 5 and 6, or sold separately for some amount of money I don't know off the top of my head. I don't fully agree with that user in the review, but to be fair, I was a little disappointed at first with Path to Fluency too. It is definitely not like any of their other offerings, and given the name  "Path to Fluency", I really expected it to be a little more than it is, which is a series of videos on how to start learning other things in Chinese. It is not a bad resource for that, but I think by the time you're HSK 5 or 6, and starting to step out into using Mandarin to learn new things, you probably already know where to get resources, watch videos, whatever. There are other materials in Path to Fluency, I can think of a chart where he talks about getting to a critical level, where language acquisition doesn't come from watching lessons or doing flash cards, but living in Chinese, that I actually wish the Path to Fluency course had more of- theory about language acquisition, how to transition to a life in a second language, etc. It isn't a bad course, but it was different than my expectations. I wanted it to tell me how to learn a language fully, and how to integrate the language that I added. It does that kinda, but it feels more like a chore to chug through than their language lessons.

 

Recently, Chinese Zero to Hero just released a new feature that is actually closer in line to what I wanted from Path to Fluency. Their website already had a huge library of YouTube videos with the subtitles pulled into transcripts, but they've added a built in hover-over dictionary and they've tabulated the vocab in each video, and organized them according to which HSK lesson they come from, so you can do HSK 4 lesson 13, then watch 10 youtube videos guaranteed to use all the vocabulary from HSK 4 lesson 13 in proper context,  multiple times for some words. This feature alone is fucking great, and I think it's just free on their website, along with a few other features.

 

In summary, the central feature of their site, the HSK lessons are great- they're organized, uniform in presentation style, and easy to digest. Path to Fluency needs work, but these guys are rolling out new features on this site once or twice a year, so I don't really hold it against them.

 

I am affiliated in no way with them, just a happy user of their service.

 

 

[ChTTay]

Probably an idea to ask in that thread then those that contributed already will get a notification. 

[Larry Language Lover]

22 hours ago, cpkimber said:

They use the HSK standard books, .........they are probably some of my least favorite Chinese books;

 

would you mind sharing why you don't particularly care for these books?   I was considering purchasing them.

[cpkimber]

Quote

 

would you mind sharing why you don't particularly care for these books?   I was considering purchasing them.

 

I think dollar for dollar, they don't have the best return on actual language ability. They are excellent resources for passing HSK, sure, maybe the best. However, the HSK Online app in the google play store is mostly the same content for much less. For books, NPCR or Integrated Chinese are better textbooks for your money. They aren't bad books by any means; from my experience, they are a good tool for getting through HSK but not great for becoming proficient at Mandarin in a high level.

 

All that said, and getting back to the topic of the thread, combining them with Zero to Hero elevates them to more than the sum of the parts. I'm all self-studied, so I really appreciated the structure having them together gave me. If you're in a similar situation, not in Chinese classes in school or something, I do recommend the HSK books + Zero to Hero. It's kinda expensive, but maybe the best bet for consistently adding language.

[Moshen]

Several times when I posted a question in the Zero to Hero HSK 4 course about something I didn't understand, I got back an answer that came across as snide and a bit impatient, as if I were stupid. I really do not need that when I am trying hard and genuinely curious to know! (It's like the classic response from techies: "Read the manual!")

The guys creating these courses do not have teaching experience - they simply love technology and enjoy languages.

[cpkimber]

6 hours ago, Moshen said:

Several times when I posted a question in the Zero to Hero HSK 4 course about something I didn't understand, I got back an answer that came across as snide and a bit impatient, as if I were stupid. I really do not need that when I am trying hard and genuinely curious to know! (It's like the classic response from techies: "Read the manual!")

Fair enough, I don't have any experience with that.

 

6 hours ago, Moshen said:

The guys creating these courses do not have teaching experience - they simply love technology and enjoy languages.

This could also describe Sal Khan, but I owe no small part of my math knowledge to him, so this doesn't count as a strike against them. They know Mandarin and have experience being second language learners themselves, so they share what's useful to them.