User Comments - abelle

Posted on: Endless Summer

Xie xie, xiao_liang. I've just returned from vacation and have to get back into studying again. I will take a look at this list. I did listen to Elementary and Intermediate dialogues on my MP3 while I was traveling and did notice a large gap between the two levels.

Posted on: Progress Tracking and Grammar Guide

I am catching up on News and Features and just watched The Daily Show segment. It's hilarious! Are these people for real? My sister, who lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico near the Mexican border, told me that some teachers from New Mexico State University came to her 7-year-old son's class to teach them Chinese words/phrases and give them information about Chinese culture. I was really surprised to hear that as the area has a very large Hispanic population and of course, Spanish is widely spoken. So I'm very impressed and encouraged that my nephew is learning about China at a young age. (And my sister never indicated that the local community was afraid the little kids would become Communists!)

Posted on: Football (Soccer)

I've just completed this lesson and it's still the same. Tennis hasn't been changed to basketball.

Posted on: I want to play

Thank you, tal_, for that explanation. I also appreciate your taking the time to give me examples.

Posted on: Endless Summer

Hello, where can I find this list of "easier" intermediates? I am still at the elem level, but want to load up my MP3 player with intermediate dialogues which I can listen to while I go on vacation for the next two weeks. I have to travel light so I'm only bringing one small book and a notebook to practice writing characters. But I figure if I can listen as much as possible to CPod dialogues, I can still keep on learning. Thanks.

Posted on: I want to play

Previously I've learned gongke --功课  for homework.  Here in this lesson, I've just learned  作业 -- zuòyè, to mean homework also .  Is there any difference between the two?

Posted on: China’s Supergirl

I am trying to listen to the dialogue, but when I click on either the Radio or CD quality, I get this message:

<Error>
<Code>AccessDenied</Code>
<Message>Access Denied</Message>
<RequestId>32C29555A799A3F6</RequestId>
−
<HostId>
eF0ai9HRc43KxruO7coIbYrTwYPeTmonqhsJ71mJqzQDvyxgo6vdPOkWiopPY674
</HostId>
</Error>

I haven't had any problems accessing the older Intermediate lessons.  Can anyone help me with this?

Xie xie.  --Abelle

Posted on: August, Study Tips and Expo Insights

Thank you for keeping Qing Wen! I find it very useful as many of the same topics have been covered in my Chinese classes at a local college and I need the extra explanations and examples QW provides. My teacher has to keep to a syllabus and often we move along so fast in class that I don't have time to understand her grammar explanations. Sometimes I go to her office for consultations, but even that doesn't completely clear up all my questions. I'm also looking forward to the Study Tips as I have so much to work on, particularly character recognition and tones. Thanks again!

Posted on: Reviewing in Class

Eupnea: I am currently in Chinese 102 using Integrated Chinese books and our class should finish Lesson 7 tomorrow, which is "Studying Chinese". This is where I first saw fuxi and yuxi for the first time on last Friday. Then along comes ChinesePod's "Reviewing in Class" lesson, what great timing! I had taken Chinese 101 a couple of years ago but the follow-on 102 courses either weren't convenient with my schedule or kept getting cancelled due to lack of students. Finally, I got into a 102 class this summer! In between the two courses, I was using ChinesePod to keep up my studies. But I felt lonely in my studies. Much as I love ChinesePod, it really does make a huge difference to actually be face-to-face with a teacher who can engage me in a dialogue and correct my vocabulary and tones. It also motivates me to study harder when I see how more advanced or quicker (smarter?) the other students are. One fellow student grew up in Chinese family here in the US, so his accent and tones are much better than the rest of us who didn't have that experience. I often visit the language department and whenever I see other Chinese language teachers (most of the teachers at this school are from Taiwan), I also exchange greetings with them and try to engage in some basic conversation with them. It's been a fun experience and I have learned not to be ashamed to make mistakes in my conversational attempts and to admit that I don't understand what the teachers are saying and ask them to slow down and repeat themselves.

Posted on: Celebrating the New Year with Visitors

The whole family was impressive!  Now they have motivated me to get back to Chinesepod.  I haven't studied since before Thanksgiving due to the holiday activities and celebrations, travel, visits from family and friends, shopping, shoveling snow, etc.  No more excuses!