chinesepode.com - question

[ayala]

hi everyone,

i've been listening to some dialogues from chinesepode.com thruogh this forum, it's pretty helpful.

do you - the ones who use this website - listen to the dialogue which are available at the website or did you sign in as subscribers? (i mean, paid?)

thanks!

[gamerfu]

i listen, but do not pay. Although, I do study Chinese at school. If you are on your own, this site is excellent for self study. i'd recommend it to anyone self studying.

[ayala]

i'll consider paying...

[md1101]

i think you accidently added an e in there.

i guess the paid version would be good for beginners. getting a transcript and vocab list and all. but for me i can just look up anywords i dont know. wenlin is the master for that. i gotta say i really like chinesepod. expecially considering its free. cant complain there.

[gamerfu]

$30USD for a month is extremely cheap. I pay about $475USD for 3 months at my college (~$175USD per month). If I didn't need the college proof, then I would totally go with ChinesePod Premium all the way! (sh)

[self-taught-mba]

$30USD for a month is extremely cheap. I pay about $475USD for 3 months at my college (~$175USD per month). If I didn't need the college proof, then I would totally go with ChinesePod Premium all the way!

I think those are apples and oranges. I would hope that the teacher would come with a whole lot more personal interaction, explanations and more speaking practice. But then again, maybe not considering what I know about the typical classroom environment.

I think Chinese podcasts are a good idea. However, I've met some people and got some feedback that say they're getting some listening skills but not the aking skills they need out of them. It just doesn't have the repetition or set structure like courses like Pimsleur have.

I think it's a good supplement to classes especially to increase your listening ability.

Total replacement: not even close. You may think I'm biased because I want to convince people to study Chinese in China at our Chinese language school in Beijing. But I'm not biased against podcasts. We also have started loading lessons in MP3 format on to our students Palm pilots/MP3 players, that are in a similar format to ChinesePod. It does help with the conversation skills, but it is only a part of complete learning . So not saying it doesn't have value, but I don't think you can compare it to the personal interaction a teacher. I personally think you should combine both (that's what we do of course).