Help > Technical Questions
If you can't find answers here, you can always email support and we'll get back to you within a few hours.
Question in this section include:
- RSS Feeds
- Flash Players
- Sign in problems
- Downloading your files directly to your computer
- Downloading your files directly to iTunes
- Getting MP3's onto your iPod
- Reading lesson dialogues on your iPod
- What is a 'podcast'?
- chinesepod-file-types
- Displaying Chinese Characters
- Writing Chinese Characters
- Export vocabulary
- Iphone access
- Firefox plugin for Traditional Chinese
RSS Feeds
Really Simple Syndication (RSS) has the ability to distribute specific content to you when and where you want it. ChinesePod integrates RSS to the site to deliver the podcasts along with (blog, lessons, forum) comments straight into your computer.
Text, images, audio and video can all be incorporated into RSS. For example, when a new podcast is published on the site or a person on your watchlist RSS makes a comment, the RSS feeds can automatically notify you of the changes. RSS feeds helps keep you up-to-date on podcasts, news, information and blog posts, making you more knowledgeable and productive, both at work and at home.
Understanding RSS can be a little daunting at first but it is relatively easy to learn. You can spot a RSS by its universal symbol:
Our website employs two types of RSS feeds: text and audio (podcasts).
We offer two kinds of RSS feed to get the lessons files:
- 1. Public RSS Feed: This is a free feed that you can get through iTunes or any podcatcher (i.e. Juice and Odeo) and will give you the latest 20 Newbie lessons. Also it will provide you with future newbie lesson by default but there is no possibility of setting up a personal configuration as this is the public feed.
- 2. Personal RSS Feed: You can do a configuration of a personalized feed so you can get the kind of files that interest you the most. Go to My Personal RSS Lesson Feed (the "Settings & Help" link on the right of the "Me" page) and customize your feed: select the type of lessons and the type of files you want to receive.
On the other hand, to view your watchlist / conversation, blog and forum feeds, you can survey the different RSS readers available on the net such as Google reader, Bloglines, and Feed Demon. Many internet browsers such as Firefox, Opera and Internet Explorer also now come with built in RSS readers as well.
Flash Players
In order to access the exercises, hear the audio clips or use the flashcards & concentration game, you must have the appropriate Macromedia Flash Player installed for your operating system and browser. Click here to download the latest Flash Player from the Macromedia website.
Sign in problems
If you are having access problems, there is a good chance that the problem is related to your browser cookies. In this case, you just have to delete the cookies from your browser, reload the page, and try again. If you dont know how to clean the cookies from your web browser this page explains exactly what to do depending on which web browser you use:
Also be sure that you are not using your username instead of your email address to sign in. The sign in prompt requires your email address and the password that you chose.
Downloading your files directly to your computer
- Right-Click Download: You can download them directly from the site by going to any of the lessons page. Then you have to right-click on the desire from those that you can find on the left side column, and then click on "Save Target As" (If you are a Firefox user: "Save Link As") and just choose the destination on your computer where you'd like to save your file. Here is a screen shot to guide you.
Downloading your files directly to iTunes
There is two different ways to get the podcasts on your iTunes and here we are going to explain each one of them.
- Personal Feed (only for paying users): You can do a configuration of a personalized feed so you can get the kind of files that interest you the most.
- Go to My Personal RSS Lesson Feed (the "Settings & Help" link on the right of the Me page) and customize your feed: select the type of lessons and the type of files you want to receive.
- Copy your personal RSS
(http://Chinesepod/username/lessons/feed/XXXXXXXX). - Launch your iTunes, and open: Advanced > Subscribe to Podcast.
- Paste the link on the box and hit Ok or Save.
- The podcast has been added, you can now choose to "Get All" or select the lessons you want to "Get".
- Public RSS Feed: If you are not a paying user, or if you'd rather subscribe to Public feed, use http:/chinesepod/lessons/feed in the fourth step of the method described above
Getting MP3's onto your iPod
If you are having troubles with this, just follow the following five steps:
- First of all, you need to get the podcasts into your iTunes. If you have problems doing this is we recommend you to visit the help section: Downloading your files directly to iTunes
- Once you have the files on your iTunes, plug-in your iPod to your computer and open your iTunes.
- Go to your iPod controller page and choose the Podcast Tab.
- Checkmark the button beside "Sync" (as shown in the following screenshot) and you can choose to sync all of the podcasts that you have on your iPod or just select the ones that you prefer (demonstrated below).
- Finally, press the "Apply" button on the bottom right section of the iTunes window and you will be ready to listen to the lessons on your iPod.
Reading lesson dialogues on your iPod
To view the lesson text on your iPod:
- Select and play the lesson you want to listen on your iPod.
- Press the center button three times.
- Enjoy!
Note: The dialogue transcripts are only available on the CD quality lesson files.
What is a 'podcast'?
Podcasts could be compared to taking your favorite audio and radio programs on the go. The "magic" of podcasting lies in its ability to automatically deliver podcasts whenever and wherever you need them. All you need is an internet connection and pc/mac/mp3 player. An excellent description of podcasting can be found on Wikipedia.
All our podcasts are in mp3 format which is compatible with most computers and digital audio players. Though iTunes has become one of the most popular podcatchers available, you can also use Juice to sync the podcasts and have them delivered to your computer daily.This is ChinesePod's public feed to insert in iTunes or Juice.
CD Quality Lesson
These CD quality audio files play at 128 kbps (kilobytes per second), and are available only to paid ChinesePod subscribers. Besides having the highest quality audio, this file also includes the dialogue transcripts as meta data, allowing you to see dialogue transcripts and translations directly on your iPod screen.
Radio Quality Lesson
These files play at 64 kbps. For the Newbie lessons, they are available to the public free of charge, and may be obtained either from the website or the public RSS feed. When you subscribe to our podcast via iTunes you will receive this kind of file.
Dialogues
These files contain a version of the lesson's dialogue audio. These are useful for reviewing the dialogue after you have studied the lesson without the hosts' explanations or translations.
Audio Review MP3
This file works as a review of the lesson's vocabulary. You will hear the vocabulary words in a random order. During the pauses between each words and its translation, you have an opportunity to guess the correct word and its pronunciation.
Lesson PDF
This includes a transcript of the dialogue, an English translation, and the list of the vocabulary. You need to have Adobe Acrobat reader installed in order to open the PDF.
(To download Adobe Acrobat Reader go to the following link where you can download it: Acrobat Reader Download Page).
Displaying Chinese Characters
For Windows XP users:
- Open your Control Panel, select "Regional and Language Options". Go to the "Languages" tab; under "Supplemental Language Support", select "Install Files for Asian Languages," Then "OK", "OK". Wait for the files to install, then restart your computer.
- Return to "Regional and Language Options" and the "Languages" tab. Under "Text Services & Input Languages", "Installed Services", select Add.In "Add Input Language" dialog, choose "Input Language", "Chinese, PRC," "OK".
For Windows 2000 users:
- Open Windows Start menu > Settings > Control Panel.
- Select the Regional Options icon.
- On the General tab under "Language settings for the system," click Simplified Chinese, and then click Add (if there is such a button). When you click OK, your computer may demand the Windows 2000 or Office 2000 CD-ROM so that it can copy font files to your hard disk.
- Click "Input Locales." Click the "Add" button and, under "Input Locale," choose "Chinese (PRC)."
- Under "Keyboard Layout" choose "MS Pinyin". In the lower part of the dialog, you can set "Switch between Input Locales" to either control-shift or alt-shift. "Switch to English" can be left at "none,".
- Be sure to choose the "Enable indicator on taskbar" box.
For Mac users:
- Open 'System Preferences'>'International'>'Input Menu'
- Turn on 'Simplified Chinese' and/or 'Traditional Chinese.'
- Make sure 'Show Input Menu in Menu Bar' is checked.
- Close the 'System Preference' window.
- Go to the 'Input Menu' (if you are using a US system, it should be a US flag icon) and select Simplified Chinese and/or Traditional Chinese.
- Click on the 'Input Menu' again, you should see a list of 8 input methods at the bottom half of the pull down menu. You should choose Pinyin unless you are more comfortable with another system.
For other devices and operating systems:
- Search our forums and interact with other users who may use devices and operating systems like yours or do a google search.
Writing Chinese Characters
Before you can type in Chinese, your computer must be able to read Chinese characters. If you can view the following sentence as characters, then this has already been done: 我会说中文. If it shows up as boxes or other symbols, please go to Technical Questions > Displaying Chinese characters page.
Windows:
To switch between English and Chinese, simultaneously press the left “Shift” and “Alt” keys. You should now see this menu bar:
If you don't see this, there should be a small CH in the bottom right hand corner of your screen. Click on it, and choose "Show the Language Bar".
Typing in Chinese is quite simple- in fact you could probably just start right away without reading the instructions and figure it out in a few minutes. However, a few hints and explanations will help you get the most from the software. And remember, clicking on 
on the language bar will give you much more detailed instructions if you want them.
First of all, the default setting uses predictive software to predict an entire phrase or sentence. For advanced users with a good grasp of grammar this is very useful, however for learners, it is recommended that you change the settings to predicting word by word. To do this, go into the ‘Context Menu’ of the Chinese menu bar
select properties, then change the conversion mode from Sentence to Word.
If you are typing Chinese into a word processing document, you will need to enable your word processor to write in Chinese. For Microsoft Word, click on Tools on the menu bar, the Language Settings, and check "Chinese Simplified" and/or "Chinese Traditional".
To begin typing, write the Pinyin for the character you wish to see. Press space. You will see a list of possible charactors like this:
Select which character you wish to use by pressing the corresponding number, or using the arrow keys.
You can type the Pinyin for either individual characters or phrases. This means to write 中心 (zhongxin, center) you can write zhong, and then pick the character 中 and then xin, and pick 心 , or write zhongxin, without stopping, and then pick 中心。
For words such as woman, nu 女 , type v instead of u.
Macs:
To change languages, click on the flag icon on the top right of your screen and select Chinese. As a shortcut, you can also press command (the apple key) and space to switch between languages in your list. To begin typing, write the Pinyin for the character you wish to see. Press space. You will see a list of possible charactors like this:
Select which character you wish to use by pressing the corresponding number, or using the arrow keys. You can type the Pinyin for either individual characters or phrases. This means to write 中心 (zhongxin, center) you can write zhong, and then pick the character 中 and then xin, and pick 心 , or write zhongxin, without stopping, and then pick 中心.
For words such as woman, nu 女 , type v instead of u.
Export vocabulary
The "Export Vocabulary" section is a very simple to use tool. It is found in the Vocabulary Manager section, which is where you download vocabulary lists.
To get there click on the link on the right side bar of the Vocabulary Manager page. Once there, you can choose which lists of vocabulary to export and the kind of files that you'd like to get by checking the desired boxes. If you want to be able to open the list on Excel, download the CSV file (recommended). The XML file is a data file intended for very "techy" users who can play and use this kind of file in quite a complicated manner.
Here's instructions on how to open the XML file on your computer
- Export your personal vocabulary to XML
- Open the XML file using Microsoft Excel
- In the opening file process a new window will pop up "Please select how you would like to open his file:" select "As an XML table"
- Another new window will pop up "The specified XML source does not refer to a schema, Excel will create a schema based on the XML source data." press "OK"
- Dialogue Vocabulary and Expansion section
- Conversations Section
- Personal vocabulary list and Flashcards
Iphone access
If you can access the internet through your mobile phone we offer a special site for you: http://m.chinesepod.com
This site has been modified for quick download and to be readable on a small screen. The mobile site is available only to premium subscribers. On it you can enjoy most of the premium features on the regular website, such as:
Firefox plugin for Traditional Chinese
We have put together a Firefox plugin that translates dialogues and other site resources in traditional, and provides a link to a traditional transcript. You can read more about it here: http://blog.praxislanguage.com/2007/04/25/firefox-plugin-for-traditional-chinese/