User Comments - alwingate
alwingate
Posted on: Where Children Come From
June 2, 2007 at 3:39 PMJenny as to "non-chalant" ------------> psychological sensitivity. I am wondering what this means in terms of a specific behavior. For example: corporal punishment? Yes? born in a garbage can? Yes
Posted on: Where Children Come From
June 2, 2007 at 3:36 PMA couple things on my mind: I am older than Ken. So? Well, I remember the stories Mom and Dad used to tell me. My mother told me the stork brought me. My father said he found me under a cabbage leaf. Still lobbying. It would be nice if: The expanded section of Chinese Pod showed the Pinyin as well as the Chinese characters. A perennial Newbie, such as I am finds it a bit tedious to roll over every character to get the pinyin. Okay, maybe I am spoiled. Mandarin not on the spoiled child's terms. Also, an addendum to the last comment. Rolling over Chinese characters can yield the full sentence in Pinyin. This presented itself on the sight of a slightly over analytic Chinese teacher. It was a very nice touch. My two respectful, I hope cents.
Posted on: What stop is this?
May 26, 2007 at 3:47 PMHey CPod fellow travelers. I hope you all are signed up for the Premium plan. That would be about a cup of regular coffee per day/or a cup of starbucks once a week to sign up for premium status. You owe it to yourself to do. You know you want it. You know you need it. And you won't have to feel guilty trying to pry extras out o' the hands of Cpod staff....couldn't you just give us the PDF files. No Cpod owes it to me, a premium customer to make money so they prosper and I prosper win/win. Now for some realioty. I have been begging for months to add pinyon to the expanision modules. Yes, I know they can be discovered through roller. Too tedius my friends. So, how about it. Technologically, I have seen employed on John P.'s highly regared Sino-Slice the ability to point to a sentence and see the pinyin. Hey I am a pinyin guy and don't think that most newbies are going to benefit from Chiense characters. Hell, the may not even care to do so. So, have many of you fanatics are premium members. I thought so. Hey, keep coming back we need those inciteful comments like: useful lesson, and good lesson. You know, I must back off the guiness as I think it impairs me judgement.
Posted on: Wrong Change
May 19, 2007 at 10:42 PMCute, caught me by surprize.
Posted on: Paying a Bill
May 18, 2007 at 1:16 PMI am really enjoying the new C-Pod format. This should please everyone. I mean the dialogues in Newbie and Elementary are spot on and in the Premium section there is a very high paced version of the dialogue. Problem solved. Also, for those of you who are taking the course on the cheap give up a soda every now and then or don't make that trip to Banana Republic, join the premium section it is well worth the investment and you get Chinese on your terms. By the way, what happened to Word on the Street and the Saturday show. Are they MIA?
Posted on: Chinese Wedding Customs
May 15, 2007 at 10:26 PMWell, Lantian, I would say this as to pace. First of all I accuse you of nothing. But, the point: "People speak at a different pace in all languages." So, whether or not she is speaking at "normal" pace, I do not know. But, I upon reflection, I would say that her pace varies depending on the nature of the dialogue or perhaps whether she has that second cup of coffee in the morning. But, with all due respect, you cannot really accurately arbitrate was is the normal of speech. Henry Kissinger, considered a very bright man in most circles spoke at an excruciating slow pace. Would that be normal? On the other hand, I understand the need for more advanced students to hear Mandarin spoken as close to "street speed" for lack of a better term. However, I think it is unecessary for people to dig at each other over a difference of opinion. I am NOT saying this regarding you of course. From my viewpoint your observations have always been considered and helpful ones.
Posted on: Chinese Wedding Customs
May 15, 2007 at 1:29 PMOne more thing: Thank God for version three where you can block a user mindless patter.
Posted on: Chinese Wedding Customs
May 15, 2007 at 1:27 PMThe bridge between elementary and intermediate is non-existent. I don't know that there is a continuum of objectives which lead to this level. Perhaps those who find these lessons useful are one's who were at the level to begin with. Intermediate hasn't really been defined. A couple of things I find troubling is no pinyin for expansion sentences and no program to teach the chinese symbols. Perhaps this has been addressed in the past, and I may have missed it. But, to me the continuum of skills breaks down here. I am perfectly happy with the Newbie and Elementary lessons where I am enjoying the learning. And, by the way, this is a great object lesson for all teachers of languages. There must be a strategy for success. Getting stuck at this point, makes it imperative for the user to get the necessary help to make the leap. Now, it is possible, that this level is beyond my linguistic abilities. Though, I am an intermediate Spanish speak, learned through high school classes and much self talk, this doesn't compare to the difficulty level here. On the other hand, we who are perhaps linguistically challenged at this level must realize that others who are father along need to be challenged as well to feel and be successful. However, John, by saying that this issued has been revisited before does not mean the issue has been resolved. So, this is my opinion based on very little or entirely no facts and I could be way off base. However, I do have many years in the field of education and I know one thing: If the student does not feel successful, the student will probably drop out, either literally or give up in a spiritual way. On a lighter note the Newbie and Elementary lessons are excellent. They are to me a model of learning which is state of the art. Enough said: Love you Chinese Pod.
Posted on: Internet Cafe Rates
May 1, 2007 at 3:33 PMHello C-Pod. Great lesson as usual. I like the new voice in the dialogue section. Very clear and easy to understand for me. Also, I do like the spin offs ie the Dialogue only option. I like the expanded grammar function ie scrambled sentences. One concern I have though is that the feedback on the lessons do not let you know which problem you have missed. ie: 9/10. Yeah, but which one. Is this bargain hunt? Also, chinese characters for me, the newbie are, daunting. Pinyin is offered in other sections ie Vocab etc. Is it possible to add pinyin to the expansion modules. Thanks for a great site. Don't remember what I paid. Something like the price of a piece of a pepperoni on a pizza per day. :)
Posted on: Where Children Come From
June 3, 2007 at 2:43 AMNi shi cong lajixiang jian lai de. That is a mouthful for me. I have listened to it several times. I still cannot say that complete sentence. I have listened and stopped the recording to no avail. So, what is my next step here? Say "f*** **"