Favourite Cpod lesson of 2009?

roderick1234,

Ha ha, it's funny that you mention Grammar Lesson, because that one came to mind for me as well, but since none of the users mentioned it, I figured I was just too grammar-crazy... :)

Well, like Bababardwan says, they're all so good... I'm thinking of A Mouse Upstairs, the a bit too fresh seafood in Not Cooked Enough, or the banana-watermelon cocktail in Juiced. But my absolute favorite has to be Grammar Lesson. That perky grammarian is the best, and after years of German lessons, I've come to realize that maybe he's right, 语法是我们的 好朋友! Well, maybe.

Yes it is hard when you're talking the best of the best. I just thought I would wind you up a little.

RJ,

a lousy critic baba

。。I can see why you'd say that mate but I feel that quite the contrary is true.But when you're talking about the best of the best then it's really hard to fault.Very few creative productions create hit after hit.Only two others spring to mind [I'm sure there there may be a handful more];Seinfeld episodes ,and Carol King's tapestry [from memory I think they were all number one hits as well].

you would make a lousy critic baba, but In this case I guess you are right. Im guessing you are an easy guy to cook for?

Sorry ousijia and john.I really liked this thread but I didn't end up responding because I just ended up putting the question in the too hard basket.I didn't know where to start.I mean to me not a single lesson has been a dud..all have been fantastic.Every new lesson that came out was like my new favourite and made me wanna stand up and cheer.My list would be too long.So all I can say is I love it all and keep 'em coming.Thanks for all the laughs and all the fantastic teaching.Wishing you all the best for 2010..I know it's gonna be just awesome.

Thanks a lot, everybody!

I've quoted from this post and used it in my ChinesePod's 2009 Round-up blog post.  (Sorry I couldn't quote everyone!)

Favourite Intermediate: Which Finger?/Terrorized at the Airport

Favourite Elementary: Illegal Taxis

Favourite Newbie: Toilet Types

Second rjberki's vote for John as MVP - his insight, explanations and humour, make listening to ChinesePod a pleasure. His knowledge of linguistics and grammar never ceases to amaze me.

Intermediate - "Drinking Game" - a really fun lesson which challenges both your measure word knowledge and counting ability. (I practised this game with a Chinese friend, but was defeated, of course).

Advanced - "Girl Wearing the Braids" -  a cool story that starts out as a romance and then takes some unexpected twists.

Advanced - "Traces In The Desert" - great sci-fi and fulll of rich chengyu's.

UI - "Love Tangle" series.

:-)

Oh, come on RJ, that bit in the love tangle series where he told that no-longer-a-virgin underling of his to take his money was hilarious! I was in the park when I heard that, and I swear people stared at me!

我最喜欢的：

Well, nothing this year quite rose to the level of the all time favorites:

parking lot rage

the drug dealer

one-on-one basketball

but there were a couple that stood out for me:

personal Ad

which finger?

dog meat and animal rights

two tough ladies

The effort that really deserves mention, was the menu stealer series.

Lets also not forget "Poems with Pete", and Qing Wen always delivers.

If I had to pick an MVP (most valuable player) it would be John. He breathes life and personality into everything he touches.

Favorite poddie - Changye - "The Professor", and he has a great sense of humor. What more can I say.

Looking forward to 2010. I am sure cpod will not disappoint.

bababardwan, yeah, I suppose.  I was thinking how fun it would have been for the NFL lesson to hear a Cowboy fan mix it up about Tony Romo and Eli Manning with a Giants fan, using real NFL terms like "play-action", or "screen". Or maybe a Inter Milan fan mixing it up with a AC Milan (didn't Ronaldinho used to play for them before he went to Barcelona?)fan using real Serie A soccer terms.

For sure I would think Yao Ming would be a useful dialogue discussion, but interestingly, the NBA is actually been the subject of discussions here on CPOD, and I think they do that ok.  I didn't understand the NBA one, since it was an advanced lesson.  Don't know if you're an Aussie Rules football fan, but if you are, you might be better to assess how good the Aussie Rules lesson was on that score. Personally, I wasn't a tennis fan, but I would agree that John McEnroe would add spice to ChinesePod's already plenty spicy and juicy repoirtoire. 

But how can I fault cpod, when no other language program even discusses sports? At least I know more about sports from cpod than I did from Pimsleur (not to knock Pimsleur, which I think is really good, just not enough content).

pretzell,

So could I surmise from that you'd like to hear dialogues involving the sportsmen and women themselves,perhaps even while competing? ..[or alternatively did you mean like the professional commentators calling the game as opposed to spectators?] I think hearing them puff and pant and grunt out their Chinese could add another dimension to listening comprehension.Yeah,cool.We could also have like a Chinese John McEnroe,etc.I wonder what the position would be on creating a dialogue around a Chinese sports personality like Yao Ming.Would that sort of thing be allowed?

Many of the sports related lessons except basketball are two people talking about the sport (or rather one likes it, and the other one doesn't understand why), so I couldn't get into the sports lessons the way I wanted.  Otherwise, Formula 1,  and NFL Football would have been close to my favorites.

Hmm... yeah, the Star Trek lesson kinda failed to deliver for me as well. It was all too clearly written by someone who just wasn't into it - lol.

Anyway hey mark, romantic relationships are the stuff of life dude! And they have their very own laws of space and motion(s)! ;)

Favorite newbie 'Does it have bones?'

Inter: 'Two tough ladies'

Upper: Star Trek

Adv: '武松打虎'

Media: '水调歌头.明月几时有’

I second both what henning and mark said.  I would LOVE an epic space series.  I also think that more lessons involving spacial relationships and motions would be useful.  I too have noticed the lack of emphasis in that area.

I will cast my vote for Ikea furnature, because I think I am relatively week in being able to describe spacial relationships and motions, and that lesson seemed to do the most to fill in that deficit.

(conversely cpod seems to have a comparative over abundance of lessons on romantic relationships)

Dinosaurs, Pirates, Star Trek

Although, yes, the "they are again just talking about" issue definately is affecting Star Trek. I am still waiting for the genuine CPod Space Opera series. But maybe that would be too challenging for David regarding the sound part? ;)

"Dinosaurs" is also the favourite of my 4 year old, so, CPod is definately reaching out to the next generation of listeners.

Ain't nobody enjoyed the pirate lesson as much as me.

I have to agree with Matt on the "Which finger?" lesson. That is a prime example of how ChinesePod can make a seemingly uninteresting topic and make an exciting and fun lesson of it. Very well done, and one of my favourites.

I really enjoyed the "pirates" lesson -  although not as much as simonpettersson did :P

My 4 favourite lessons of 2009 would have to be:

日本漫画 (Anime)

Which Finger?

Toilet Types

Love Tangle Series

For my list of my favourite lessons, personally produced, from Dec 2008-Oct2009 check out

Matt's Golden Greats Lesson Set 

Also, the intermediate zombie lesson did imitate a zombie flick. It was pretty cool.

However, since I get my lessons by rummaging through the archives, I have some difficulty remembering which lessons came during 2009.

PIRATES!

ok, I see your point... that was disappointing. Especially since the girl was a loser.

The Star Trek and Zombies episodes were sweet, but they couldn't quite top my list because they were only talking about Star Trek and Zombies.  If those two were imitations of Stark Trek and Zombie flicks, dudes, I would have totally been in heaven.

Upper-Intermediate: Dog Meat and Animal Rights (D1119).

Star Trek. Hands down. And I can't believe both _tal_ and xiaophil passed this one up. (Although, I do have to say, nice choices!)

我的天！Boy racer alert! You have to be joking mate!

Anyway, way too difficult to choose just one, so here's my shortlist of 3 from the Intermediate Level.

Lao Wang in the Doghouse - C1166

Two Tough Ladies - C1253

Zombies, Deader Than Ever - C1151

As for Upper Intermediate the Love Tangle Series is pure gold.

That would have to be upper-intermediate's Fast Cars and Dangerous Driving, lesson 1214.  Over-the-top sweetness.