2011 Threads of the Year
bababardwan
December 12, 2011 at 10:52 AM posted in General DiscussionOnce again it's getting to that point in the year where we start reflecting on the year that was and I thought it would be worth getting everyone to nominate their threads of the year. It's hard to keep up with every lesson and every discussion thread and thus sometimes we miss some real gems. Of course we have just under 3 weeks to go, so upcoming bewdy's can still be added, but as some folk may be going away I thougth I'd start the ball rolling now. Please contribute and let us know which lessons and discussions you thought were the best. Seasons greetings to all ! Oh, and of course, thanks CPod for another awesome year. You guys are still the greatest, and each day I look forward to the days lesson with the same enthusiasm and excitement as ever. Jiayou!!
bodawei
December 14, 2011 at 11:26 PM
I think we should give a gold logie to Beijing Standard Time - this is consistently interesting and useful. Thanks guys. I always give it a listen and it conveniently comes on the weekend.
bababardwan
December 14, 2011 at 11:30 PM
oh man, I had a feeling I was missing a whole channel but never got around to it. Thanks for including this one mate. Let's still have some nominations for the best BST , hao ba.
bodawei
December 14, 2011 at 10:55 PM
Best Lesson from the archives.
During discussion about Greg's debut as a voice actor I was pointed to John's effort in 'Girly Talk'. Can I nominate that as the best from the archives?
It is interesting to see how ChinesePod's lessons have changed - usually for the better. This was the last of the high level Intermediates before they were 'dumbed down', for reasons I understand. There was a big gap between Ellie and Intermediate back then.
The structure of this Intermediate from 2006 is like Advanced today.
I used to worry about all the English but now I don't mind one way or the other - you can learn something in any format - I still give the newbies a listen to see if I might pick something up. There is the occasional gem (like Awkward Silence, which Baba mentions above.)
There is value in learning at multiple levels. I spend some time listening to Newbies and I also listen to Media (with varying levels of success.)
bababardwan
December 12, 2011 at 11:14 AM
Most true to life lesson. Of course CPod sometimes use artistic license for entertainment value, but most of the time I think they keep it real. But this is for those lessons where you thought...oh so true, I've heard folk talk like that/ behave like that in China. You know, where it's an uncanny observation..a slice of life.
bababardwan
December 14, 2011 at 11:28 PM
haha, oh yeah. I should then add the category, most true and specific to life in China.
bababardwan
December 12, 2011 at 11:15 AM
awkward licence has to get a nomination in this category also:
http://chinesepod.com/lessons/awkward-silence
bababardwan
December 15, 2011 at 09:52 PM
真，
很好的建议。
“can't post comments”
噢，真可惜
“though you've kept it up, consistently”
哪里，哪里？。。。谢谢你的建议。。。应该多用中文在这里。。。未来一定会。。。
zhenlijiang
December 15, 2011 at 08:14 PM
Hey Baba I can't post comments so I'm Replying here. In the spirit of encouraging us to do it a lot more (though you've kept it up, consistently) I'd like to add the category Best Conversation Conducted (primarily) in Chinese. This would be an exchange in any thread or subthread between a minimum of two people (can also be a question-answer exchange with a student and a teacher), going back and forth twice at least. A real, good effort at communicating in Chinese, in any level. With 中文吧 not nearly as active as it once was, there may not be many of these to choose from in 2011. But hopefully there'll be one good one to note.
bababardwan
December 12, 2011 at 11:09 AM
Any other threads that deserve special mention that don't fit into the above categories?
bababardwan
December 14, 2011 at 11:25 PM
oh yeah. That's the thing with series. I don't like to just chime in part way through. I must go back and work my way through them. I did think it would be very interesting.
bodawei
December 14, 2011 at 11:22 PM
We got a couple more in the pregnancy series this year - this is a kinda outstanding series (although I haven't got through them all.)
bababardwan
December 14, 2011 at 10:58 PM
I did wonder as well if you meant jiayou'd, hehe.
hehe, yeah, pinyin
bodawei
December 14, 2011 at 10:56 PM
sorry, that was 参加'd (participated)
Gotta get into the pinyin Baba, :)
bodawei
December 14, 2011 at 10:41 PM
I can jia'd only the first one or two in the series so I have put these down for the holidays - like holiday reading. Maybe there could be another category 'Best Holiday Reading' of the year.
I thought the first was outstanding and elevated David's status as a writer (I wonder what he uses as inspiration, or whether it just comes out of his head.)
bababardwan
December 12, 2011 at 11:08 AM
Undoubtedly for me this was the Li tanzhang series. Awesome. Can't recommend enough. I would have these lessons winning every category if I could. I just wonder what can be done to induce Litanzhang to come back out of retirement. Maybe that is our final mystery for we poddies to solve this year...what clues were left that this was our mission. Where has he really headed? Supposedly to a small island but I don't recall there being a mention of him wearing his Hawaiian shirts we know he has..so what does that signify...maybe he's really off on another top secret case. I mean he's no wimp...just because he had a bit of a tough time and a guilt trip in the final episode, he's bigger than that right? This "retirement" is just a decoy, right?
bodawei
December 14, 2011 at 11:20 PM
I think they are almost universally good - maybe we need an award for dud of the year, easier to differentiate.
bodawei
December 14, 2011 at 11:18 PM
UI: Noodles and child labour
Raised some interesting culture discussion, while based on a common experience in China. Strangely only 28 comments, but good quality. :)
zhenlijiang
December 27, 2011 at 05:28 AM
Apparently many including Jenny agree!http://chinesepod.com/community/conversations/post/12507
bababardwan
December 14, 2011 at 10:34 PM
Well, if the number of comments in the discussion are anything to go by, "National Stereotypes" :
http://chinesepod.com/lessons/national-stereotypes
currently sitting at 130 comments has to get a nomination for getting a rollicking culture based discussion going.
bababardwan
December 12, 2011 at 11:00 AM
for me, definetly "awkward silence" was an absolute standout:
http://chinesepod.com/lessons/awkward-silence
bababardwan
December 12, 2011 at 10:57 AM
New category: best/most useful transcript [from the transcripts with tal group] of the year
waiguoren
December 15, 2011 at 09:17 AM
I got a lot out of the Intermediate 'A Trip to Nanjing', but that might just be because it was the first one I had a go at...
http://chinesepod.com/community/conversations/post/11874
bababardwan
December 12, 2011 at 11:10 AM
I guess this thread could be for non lesson threads. See below for funniest lesson thread.
waiguoren
December 29, 2011 at 11:12 AMI'm surprised this thread isn't more popular...