nlmzh Posted July 18, 2006 at 05:04 PM Report Share Posted July 18, 2006 at 05:04 PM linese.com is not official Chinese language learning website, but a commercial project. Learns will be charged a lot of fee Today I asked one of their teacher. She told me their service is not free. They are a company who just bribed offcials of China government to get some promotion support from government. Shit!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted July 19, 2006 at 02:02 AM Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 at 02:02 AM Something can be official and commercial at the same time, doesn't mean it's not useful. In this case though . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art vandeleigh Posted July 19, 2006 at 09:10 AM Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 at 09:10 AM Hi, I'm working at Linese.com at the moment. I have tried to pass on all the feedback from this and other forms. I think it will be some time before this web site is really useful for Chinese learners but I believe things will improve. I read with interest this quote from Jane: "linese.com is not official Chinese language learning website, but a commercial project. Learns will be charged a lot of fee Today I asked one of their teacher. She told me their service is not free. They are a company who just bribed offcials of China government to get some promotion support from government. Shit!!" I also noticed that she is from a commercial website that charges users a fee for use, and obviously sees us as potential competitors. As to her statement that the company has bribed officials, I would be interested to hear any supporting evidence she has. To my mind, the web site is more likely to be useful if it is not solely based on govt grants as it will have to offer useful services to survive. Certainly some sections will not be free forever, most likely the interactive lessons, where students have access to a teacher online. This is the case with other popular websites such as Chinesepod and I don't see a problem with it. However, my understanding is that the bulk of the content will remain free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted July 19, 2006 at 09:22 AM Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 at 09:22 AM With the current state of the site, I doubt anyone sees you as serious competitors yet . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art vandeleigh Posted July 19, 2006 at 10:06 AM Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 at 10:06 AM I agree with your comment Roddy. That's why I said "potential competitors." I was referring to the future. I'm sure Jane's comment had nothing to do with her working for hellomandarin.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted July 19, 2006 at 10:09 AM Report Share Posted July 19, 2006 at 10:09 AM Oh, I wouldn't go that far. They're Beijing based though, see if you can sue them. I personally cave in at the merest hint of a lawyers letter . . . I've got to ask though, how did the site wind up getting such a high-profile launch when it was patently not ready for it. And officially who is behind it, BLCU or Hanban? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
in_lab Posted July 20, 2006 at 01:44 AM Report Share Posted July 20, 2006 at 01:44 AM Good questions! The reuters release says "China launched a Web site, www.linese.com, on Saturday offering free Chinese lessons and materials to promote the study and use of the language abroad." It would be difficult to be more vague about who is behind it. If there is not a government agency behind it, then I really can't see how it is news. It's like a news item "Chinese forums opens 中文角" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art vandeleigh Posted July 20, 2006 at 08:10 AM Report Share Posted July 20, 2006 at 08:10 AM I agree they are good questions, I don't know all the answers, but I will tell you what I've been told. The website is a private company, and although the headquarters are in BLCU they are merely renting the premises from the university. I believe some of the teachers from BLCU will be consulted and may produce some of the materials. I think BLCU has their own attempt to teach Chinese online as well. I'm not sure on the relation with Hanban, though. Obviously they support the aim of spreading Chinese language and culture. Other websites that are private have also been in overseas news, I have seen a few articles on Chinesepod in foreign publications. Holding a press conference doesn't hurt either. Sorry I can't be clearer here, because I don't know myself, but if this matter is very important to you perhaps you can try emailing one of the people listed on the "about/contact" page. As to the question"how did the site wind up getting such a high-profile launch when it was patently not ready for it" I would like to know too. I think the head of the company thought it was better than it really was, and also I don't think they've done enough testing outside of the campus, where certain functionality problems haven't appeared. In addition, all of the employees are Chinese except for two part time workers. I think it's often hard for Chinese to see things from a foreigner language learner's perspective. Anyway, thanks for your feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HashiriKata Posted July 20, 2006 at 08:33 AM Report Share Posted July 20, 2006 at 08:33 AM I've just tried out the Proverbs section of the site and it worked well. (But even if there were hiccups, this should be something expected of a new web site but some of the comments here appear unduely harsh.) My best wishes to the site !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted October 9, 2006 at 09:14 AM Report Share Posted October 9, 2006 at 09:14 AM Any chance of a comment from Linese.com on why the website is copying and pasting content from other sites? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidj Posted October 22, 2006 at 08:09 PM Report Share Posted October 22, 2006 at 08:09 PM I haven't thoroughly reviewed this site again recently, but my initial impression was not good. As well as being totally overloaded and flakey, it seemed to be basically a Windows only site that was heavily dependent on downloading ActiveX controls. The control downloads make it unacceptable for access from the office and the Windows use and general bloat makes it unsuitable for my Linux and modem based home system. I was also confused as to the exact government/academic/commercial status of the site. It was promoted under the linese.com domain name, which well have indicated that it was a US based commercial venture, even though linese.com.cn also worked and would have, at least, indicated a lack of Chinese government disapproval, if not actually that it was being promoted by the government as claimed in the press releases. I found nothing to back the press release when actually viewing the site, and was confused by the lack of reference to BLCU except in the address. Again, regarding domain names, if it was an official BLCU venture, a .ac.cn domain name would have given it the credibility that a government approved language school has over a private company run one. Basically, if the site really is commercial or partly commercial, what I want to see is them to be up front about their business model, and their relationship to BLCU and the government. The lack of that information and the mixed commercial/government message gave me something of a bad feeling, as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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