User Comments - John
John
Posted on: Updating Old Lessons
March 12, 2008 at 9:57 AMOK, the first batch of lessons (0007-0026) has been successfully removed from the system.
Posted on: Updating Old Lessons
March 10, 2008 at 6:54 AM@suburbanite: Yes, there will be "vocabulary refreshes." @misterjess: No, the free DVD is purely MP3 files. @RJ: Thanks! We'll keep doing it... @quasifrog: I don't recommend starting at the "beginning" and working forward. The lessons are not designed to be sequential. The best way to study is to choose the lessons that most interest you.
Posted on: Updating Old Lessons
March 7, 2008 at 9:39 AMmemmifer, Yes, the "redone" lessons will appear as all-new lessons, and will show up in your feed as a new Newbie lesson. This makes the first promo DVD sort of a historical ChinesePod collector's item, because future DVDs will not have these removed lessons! Sorry, I don't have a full count of the lessons to be redone yet... I will have to get back to you on that! (For more information on this project, see this thread and this thread.)
Posted on: Flowers and Bugs
March 7, 2008 at 6:13 AMsparechange, Yes, we re-calibrated the pauses in the Fix as per user requests. 为人民服务！ Enjoy.
Posted on: Flowers and Bugs
March 7, 2008 at 2:32 AMGarry, Thanks! The lessons are never really pure entertainment, because we're always teaching you stuff, whether you're aware of it or not! (Ken calls this kind of learning "sneaky Irish style.")
Posted on: Stargazing
March 5, 2008 at 4:09 AMWho originally requested this one, Clay? Was it Bazza? Henning? Seems like Henning would be less interested in the "pickup line" aspect of the lesson, so maybe that part was for Bazza... ;)
Posted on: Stargazing
March 5, 2008 at 1:45 AMYou are very welcome, guys!
Posted on: My Scooter Won't Start
March 3, 2008 at 4:22 AMtexastochina, That's what I do! Glad it's working.
Posted on: 河莉秀
March 1, 2008 at 6:40 AMwennytao, I'm responsible for the content, and I understand your viewpoint. One of the challenges we have is presenting the material from an authentic Chinese perspective (we won't have lessons about buying an SUV, for example, because it's not something that a relates to the vast majority of Chinese). You talk about presenting both sides of the issue, but what exactly "both sides of the issue" really are depends upon cultural perspective. Our Advanced hosts are Chinese people. Surely you're not asking them to adopt a viewpoint based in foreign values that they don't even fully understand? That would be betraying authenticity. There are Chinese people who oppose transgender operations, of course, but their objections are certainly not based on traditional Christian views (whereas an American's objections typically would be). To be fair, the way our hosts dealt with the issue is much the same way the Chinese media has dealt with the issue. So the challenge, in its full form, is not only balancing the argument, but balancing the cultural bias. I daresay we will never please everyone, but at least you can be sure that the views represented reflect the opinions of Chinese lesson writers and hosts, and those viewpoints are part of what we're all here to study, aren't they?
Posted on: Going Dutch
March 13, 2008 at 5:43 AMHa ha, Jenny, that's hilarious. I think the situation is similar with my in-laws...