User Comments - tingyun
tingyun
Posted on: Podcast Language 2
June 1, 2009 at 7:06 PMI really think, a member of Cpod staff, should go through and create "transition sets" for each level transition, of say, 10 or so lessons that are relativly lower level, and involve some useful vocab. Then feature them promimently so people know they are there and are reminded to try them out. It would take several hours, but I think would do alot to answer this line of complaint.
Posted on: Podcast Language 2
June 1, 2009 at 6:41 PMFor those working on the transition from ele to int - in my opinion, there are some Int level lessons that are significantly easier - whether because the vocab is easier, the dialogue is spoken slowly, or the grammer patterns are fairly simple. Here are two places you might look (though I'm working from memory here)
The lessons "Knitting a Scarf" "Buying Batteries" "Flowers and Bugs" "Here she comes" "Language Power Struggle" "Birth by Chinese Zodiac" and "Internet is Down" are all fairly recent and don't seem to involve very complicated vocab or patterns.
Also, if you go into the intermediate archive, and go to the last page and work from oldest to newer, you'll have a run of 20+ lessons that are pretty easy. The dialoges are easy because Jenny reads them rather slowly and very clearly, and the podcasts themselves, featuring Jenny and Ken (John wasn't there yet), are also easier, for the most part. In some cases, for example, the second oldest, "Weather, Man" is barely ele in difficulty.
Posted on: Podcast Language 2
May 31, 2009 at 5:35 PMJenny – 我觉得你的说法一点都没有什么烦。很多人都迷上你的口头禅。我自己一点不高兴，因为我很喜欢听Ken的口头禅，比如说“很有意思”. 我觉得我再升级的时候，我就很想念John的说法。
If any fellow poddies notice any mistakes/odd usages in the above, please email me! Thanks,
Posted on: Podcast Language 2
May 31, 2009 at 3:35 PMbobt - The FSI program is available at http://www.fsi-language-courses.com/Chinese.aspx . I agree its a nice thing, though of course a bit dated. Probably best to be careful of who you refer to as tong2zhi4, though FSI couldn't have predicted that.;) Also, it suffers from the flaw of virtually every language program besides CPod - it stops at a relativly low level. CPod having UI and Adv and Media is a really special thing in the world of language learning products.
Actually, I'm right there with you in being an anylytical learner, and not really following the CPod method. Lets count the ways I violate it - I work through all lessons in a level back to back, exercising no choice over which I find more interesting. Before I do anything else, I study the pdf - make sure I know all the vocab (and the charecters too) by heart, then read through the dialogue twice, the first time looking up any new charecters combinations, the second trying to read the charecters smoothly enough to read it aloud in a natural manner (has done wonder for my charecter reading speed). Now, finally, I turn on the dialogue (not the podcast). I listed to it once in a relaxed manner, then the second and third time, I follow along with the pinyin, ensuring that I'm percieving every word (ie sometimes the de's get a little soft and I might miss them) and am identifying the tones as I listen. After this, I just relax and let it play on repeat 10 or so times, just to reinforce. I then load it into a playlist and review it daily for weeks/months.
And, maybe, after all of this, I might listen to the podcast. Generally, as I menotioned, only in the middle of my tour through a lesson, when it feels about right. Again, at the begining, until I've absorded 50+ dialogues of that level, like you I percieve it as too difficult. And, happily, at the end, its too easy and feels boring, so i don't bother. Which, honestly, causes me to think the difficulty of the podcasts are about right.
See, I think the greatness of CPod isn't about any method - its that they give you MASSIVE amounts of material, in the form of dialogues and pdfs (also, of course, the awesome community;). Then, you're free to study them however you like, and use these resources to fit into your study plan.
Despite the fact that I only listen to half or so of the podcasts in a lesson archive, I think they are a good level. Reducing the level would just make me all the sooner abandon them for the dialogues. More importantly, restraining Jenny from her natural unscripted speech would destroy the only purpose I have for listening to the podcasts - to hear some relativly relaxed conversation that I haven't prepped for, so that I ensure my brain is working to process it. Honestly, if I didn't have native speaker friends to talk to and practice this, I'd probably listen to all the podcasts, as I'd be relativly more starved for this. But speech on a script - well, thats what the dialoges are for.
Posted on: Podcast Language 2
May 31, 2009 at 4:31 AMbobt_2062 - Hmm, language such as covered in this QW is used over and over again by Jenny in the Int podcasts. But the majority of what she says isn't some study-specific vocab like this, that they could pop into a couple of pdfs or a lesson series - she tells stories, gives opinions, makes jokes, explains the meaning of words, etc...and in doing so just used normal, everyday speach (but being careful to keep it somewhat low level). And so, you're mistaken to think that you don't encounter the vocab she uses in Cpod lessons. In fact, you do - because the story she tells might use much of the same vocab of a dialogue you studied 20 lessons ago, or, more likely, involves different pieces you studied in a variety of different lessons.
Now, I haven't studied exclusivly with CPod, but not in a way that changes this analysis. I've practiced my pronounciation with native speaks (fortunate to have many chinese friends), and charecters with specilized material. But, truthfully, I'd say 95% of my vocab I have learned from a CPod lesson - and its worked fine to understand the podcast language. Perhaps try exhausting more of the Ele dialogue archive? Honestly I see no reason not to do 200 or so before moving on.
Posted on: Podcast Language 2
May 31, 2009 at 1:31 AMWhen I first graduated to Intermediate, the podcast itself was too hard. So I just studied dialogs and transcripts for awhile. After studying about 60 or so lessons this way, I found the podcasts were now the right level for me (ie I was able to understand pretty much everything, except for a handful of words, which I could guess the pinyin of and look up, and the speed seemed right). So I studied both podcasts and dialogs for another 80 or so - and then the podcasts started to seem too easy, and so I wasn't getting much out of them, so I finished up the intermediate archive just with the dialogs and moved on to UI.
Something seems right about this pattern - when you first reach a level, the podcasts seem too difficult. Midway through, they are just right. And when you're close to graduating to the next level, they are too easy. Obviously its a bit tough at the begining - but trying to change that would just make it too easy in the middle and end.
Besides, John does a good job of making the important grammar points, and comments on word usage, in english. I thus don't think restricting Jenny's use of chinese would be a good idea.
However, as a side note, I've always been a bit skeptical that one can learn mandarin words "the natural way", as xiaophil puts it, in normal conversation speed mandarin. For one thing, tones go a little funky on all but the emphasized words (http://www.sinosplice.com/life/archives/2008/12/10/toward-better-tones-in-natural-speech )...and there's always the tone sanhi (was that new word really 2nd tone or actually a 3rd tone?). So without a dictionary to confirm, I'd feel a little unsure of internalizing a word I just heard (not to menotion you can't pick up the charecters...). But luckily, in the podcasts, Jenny usually places special emphasis on some of the more difficult terms, and looking it up in a dictionary is easy enough...Still, I'd prefer it if, in making the pdf lesson transcripts, more attention was paid to listening through the podcast and trying to pick out words that might be new to the listener. This would be very helpful, and less burdensome than trying to produce transcripts.
Posted on: Podcast Language 2
May 30, 2009 at 10:03 PMBy the way, Jenny's love for 接下来 persists even in her dialogue voice acting role. See the intermediate lesson, Complaining to the Waiter.
Posted on: Podcast Language 2
May 30, 2009 at 9:51 PMYah that one is definitally a judgment call. Thanks again for doing all that work rjberki - some of those bits were certainly new for me. Particularly the ju4shi4 for "type of sentence".
Tim
Posted on: Podcast Language 2
May 30, 2009 at 9:38 PMHi rjberki,
Thanks for posting that. A few possible corrections (though I could be wrong about these)
关于和说的是 guan1 yu2 he2 shuo1 de shi4 -
I think generally, they either say 关于 or 说的是, I don't remember Jenny using both together in the lessons (though they obviously did during this QW to discuss the idea of them). Perhaps best to list them seperate
系列 xie4 lie4 - in a series
Should be xi4, not xie4
Posted on: Podcast Language 2
June 1, 2009 at 9:31 PMI'm definitally different in that respect - for me, the most efficient learning is when I have vocab words handed to me in a written form, and then hear them in a dialogue. Looking up in a dictionary is just a timewasting hassle.
Actually, Mike has been kind enough to post some of the fruits of his labor in past lessons, which has been very helpful for me. Thanks again for all that help Mike.