User Comments - Matt_T

Posted on: Do I Need To Learn Chinese Characters?

Wow, that máobǐ stylus sounds amazing. I have primarily using a cheap rubber tipped stylus that came with the tablet case I bought off ebay. It's worked well so far so I will just keep using it for the time being.

For those who are interested here is a good video comparing different stylus options.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEjhzOgx-j8

I have found that skritter has helped my character recgonition a lot more than I thought it would. I'm still having trouble remembering how to draw the characters entirely and usually have to use the "show me how to draw" button but when reading the same characters later on I find I remember more than just using Memrise.

So far I have just been starting with the HSK 1 and a few characters from Chinesepod lessons but it's mostly vocab that I already know so it's now always the most interesting.

Posted on: Movie Time!

sm146, I know that it's your choice but I wouldn't suggest leaving just yet as Chinesepod is in the process of a transition and it seems that in 2015 there is going to be a large push towards new content and different forms of media such as video content.

Based on some of the comments from Gwilym in the past it also seems like the Chinesepod team is looking to possibly upgrade and add more features to the website as well. If there are some changes you would like to see I suggest perhaps posting about it otherwise Chinesepod can't add features we want if we don't tell them about it.

Posted on: Do I Need To Learn Chinese Characters?

I ended up getting the Skritter app on my tablet and use a normal stylus for that. It works really well and lets me study while on the go.

Posted on: Christmas Present Trouble

Gwilym, the hyperlink worked. Thanks :)

Posted on: Christmas Present Trouble

Gwilym, for some reason your URL is cut off when viewing on mobile devices so I wasn't able to access. I tried from both my android tablet and phone. The link works just fine when viewing from a laptop.

Posted on: Check Out That Woman

You're awesome Gwilym, thanks for always being on top of things and quickly resolving any issues we bring up with regards to the lessons or content.

Posted on: Please Speak Mandarin!

I live in Canada and as bad as it sounds I specifically made friends with Mandarin speaking people in my office to allow me to help build up my practice speaking. From there I slowly built up a network of Chinese friends that I can hang out with and practice speaking Chinese.

I wish that I lived in a more immersive Mandarin speaking environment as I feel it could help with my speaking quite a bit but sometimes you just have to do the best with what you have.

I'm currently on vacation with my Fiancee and her family and they are all native mandarin speakers so it's amazing practice and opportunity for me. I'm loving it and learning lots of new vocabulary but also find that sometimes my brain gets a bit overwhelmed and needs a break to let the new grammar and vocab soak in.

The most frustrating thing for me currently is that I can understand a lot of what they are saying but when I want to participate in the conversation I first think in my head about how I should phrase what I want to say using the correct grammar and by the time I'm ready to speak they have moved on to a new topic.

Posted on: “停用死囚器官”的伦理与法治进步

There is a farewell video? That would be nice to see. Thanks everyone for transcribing and translating the dialogue for us less advanced mabdarin speakers.I tried listening to it myself and got a few things but still missed details that you were able to share.

Posted on: Souvenirs of your Baby's Birth

Oh no, Jenny and David are leaving? :( it's sad to see many original members leaving, especially sad that they only said goodbye in a super advanced lesson that not a lot of the subscribers would normally listen to. I'm curious to see what will come in the future.

Posted on: Christmas Present Trouble

I didn't realize that this was the case, is this only in Shanghai or other major cities in China as well?

One of the earlier podcasts had mentioned Christmas eve as a night to party in the city. Seems pretty cool and fun to me.