General Discussion - Farewell to the ChinesePod Factory - Lip Dub Video for our Poddies!

Here it is:
POD only knows from PraxisLanguage on Vimeo.

brilliant (can't believe I'm the first to comment, from Brazil this week as it turns out) quite nostalgic too, turning over a new leaf I guess :-) good luck!

哈哈！ 很好Amber! :) Finally we get to see the surprise. You're all completely crazy.. you know that right? :) I laughed a lot at some of the people attempting to sing along with the tune, especially the guy doing the "ba ba ba" bit in the middle just after we see John Pasden doing the "oooh" bit. :) Who is that? Would have been nice to see captions of who each person is flash up on the screen but I understand how much extra work that would have been. I bet your neighbours are glad you are not being so noisy outside in the alleyway now.. haha :) 我们中文POD! - 路加

Thanks so much. It's nice to have a visual on all of your enthusiasm than we normally hear on the podcasts. How many times did you have to rehearse this? JP is quite the showman, Connie looked super-cute and Clay - what's with the eating (you can't take that guy anywhere!). Well done and good luck at the Factory 2.0.

We only loosely rehearsed once and did it all in one take!! so a few slip ups hehe! We have an Italian genius in our midst, Marco... he did this one too from some pics we took the other day for the site:
ChinesePod::behind the podcast from PraxisLanguage on Vimeo.

Alll of you at CPOD are such wonderful people... watching this video was an emotional experience. I wish you all a happy future in your new home! Thank you SO MUCH for everything you do for us.

I hope for more 中文pod videos in future! :) 我爱 seeing all the 人 and hearing them speak. Please do short interviews about the 中文pod 人.. may be about who they are and what they like and all that. 谢谢

That's so cool! Looks like you guys had a lot of fun.

Wow! You have grown quite a bit since I visited you last September.... And there are even slots to fill for GermanPod, JapanesePod, RussianPod, and ArabicPod...

I always knew you were a silly lot (and I suspect the silliness hasn't diminished in any way after JP joined the company). Thank you for making learning Chinese so much fun!

Wow, Thank you SO MUCH Chinesepod for giving us such a surprise. It is really wonderful video. Look at you, you just rehearsed once and it came out so wonderful that I was moved by this surprise. It seems that i were there and hold the video and... I agree with light487, the chinese man who sang"ba ba ba" was very funny. And JP, it is no doubt that he is a funny guy in this clew and can bring you happy and humorous every day!^_^哈哈哈 Oh, which one is Clay? I have no idea about that. Connie is very cute and lovely, i like her smile. And for our dear Amber, You are so wonderful and charming, words can not express my appreciate for you right now. Also, John, Jenny and Ken, well done, keep on the good work.

Oh, I knew who is Clay from the second vedio now, ha ha! It is cool, thank you Marco for the good work.

Does the staff for SpanishPOD also work out of the same office in Shanghai? I've been wondering that since I discovered SpanishPOD and tried to convince my spanish-studying mother to try it out. (No soap, though. She liked the idea but insists she can't find the time.) Will the new French and Italian PODs also operate from the same office? If so, that office seems like a potentially awesome linguistic place to work!

I'm imagining the job listing: "Help teach English speakers Italian, out of an office in Shanghai, China!" Anyone applying for that job automatically gets on my cool-person list.

哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈！！！ i like how some of the people looked very confused....like they had never heard the song before!! very funny indeed...Thanks POD. Good luck in the digs and keep those wacky videos updates all coming. I know that we all love them. -亚当

This is the surprise!!! Yay!!! I'm gonna miss the office though since that's where Chinesepod started out...:) Thanks for the video Amber!

Good luck to you all. Very moving video. So this is where the buzz is, this is where it all happens.... Time too for a personal note. I have been with you since the end of 2005. I was stuck then in a chinese evening class that was really going nowhere. Partly because the method was not good, but also because most of the students there were not very motivated, so the level was quite low. I was a paying customer too from the beginning. Looking back for more than 2 years now, I want to tell you that I think that the service you offer is incredible value for money. My progress has been incredible. I have been exploring other avenues, complementing my studies with the odd book and course here and there, but I keep coming back to CP because it it the best! And seriously guys, don't see anyone coming even near. In the mean time I have gone from newbie to elementary and intermediate. I can understand most of the intermediate lessons after listening to the podcast one or two times. I can understand even a lot of Upper Intermediate lessons. It is more than I had hoped for. But there is more. I have made a few friends in China, yes...through the internet. Some of them understand English, some of them don't. I use Chinese to write to them and this seems to work. And I can really write about anything I want. It may not be the most correct Chinese out there, but it is certainly clear enough for them to understand. And when they write to me, I also understand them. This is certainly more than I would have hoped for. So for me, Cp has become very important. I hope that I can continue to use your services. Please keep up the good work. We need you out here! Marc (from Belgium)

Very sentimental piece. I started at the old factory in June 2005. Fresh out of uni, I found myself in a run down factory with lime green walls, energetic (somewhat geeky) colleagues and a unisex bathroom. Ah, those were the days. Thank you, super-talented Marco from ItalianPod, the mastermind and hand behind both clips. He's since gathered quite a following in the office. John B said 'you gotta admit that Italians are simply better at some things'. Amber also worked her heart out on the video. We heart you. This is a tribute to us and to all poddies. The end scene in the video with all the pods popping out made me very proud to be part of the family.

Epic! Zui hao de!

The only thing the video doesn't show is how freezing cold it was in there when I visited. It was really, really cold that day! Thanks for the clip(s).

Great video and obvioulsy "FrenchPod rocks !" :o)

Thanks for sharing those videos! And thank you all so much for your work!! I just found cPod about 3 month ago and i am already addicted... very addicted! I have to smile to my self sometimes when i listen to the "...what would you do without cpod... crying in public..." jingle: i am not sure...i think i would be in danger to do so! :-) Looking forward to the brand-new shows, Good Luck for the moving! And also a big thanks to all Poddies! Its so helpful and i am having so much fun learning together with all of you! Thaks again to everybody, hosts and learners! Gesang 格桑

Awww, I loved that. I had no idea there were so many people in the Praxis family! You'll be listed on the Dow Jones soon at the rate you're growing. I must say it was very good for only 1 rehearsal - and no cuts either! Can't wait for French and Italian Pods - this Marco guy sounds very cool. (By the way, great video marco!) The factory farewell video sums up perfectly what i love so much about Praxis - you're excellent language teachers, but never scared to do things in a fun, really enjoyable way. If I was a woman I'd be crying by now... :)

Simply brilliant. Brings back fond memories of my visit. *sniff*

我很喜欢了！ Thanx for that video! Tolles Video - was ist mit GermanPod?? ;-) So, if ever I'm back in Shanghai I'll never be able to visit you in those legendary offices.

I find it very terrible that you all should have that much fun at work!! I'm so jealous! Maybe frenchpod will help this Canadian talk to the other half of the country. And maybe ChinesePod will continue to allow me to see the world.

Wow, I never imagined PraxisLanguage would be such a huge company! Incredible... By the way, who's that man who looks a bit like a Hispanic Shah Rukh Khan? ;-) "Maybe frenchpod will help this Canadian talk to the other half of the country." Perhaps you could shed some light on an issue that I am interested in: are there any francophone Canadians who don't speak English too well?

Dear phalaneng, I believe that the guy who looks a bit like a Hispanic Shah Rukh Khan is Leo Guerrero ("Leo the Warrior" -- wow!!!), who does the marketing relations. I can definitely relate to his looks.

哎呀！太好了！哈哈哈！好笑啊！ That is a fun video! It's so cool because I was there! And, I recognize the factory and the alleyway and the people! I miss being there so much now; I want to go back! 我认识办公室。我也认识大家。我好想念你们！我要回去上海和ChinesePod！

This was very fun to film. A great idea! Eric, the "ba ba ba" guy is also the Taiwanese voice in the recent Regional Accents lesson.

Great idea! Great people! Great video! Love the song! Straight out of Love Actually. Haha :) Good job guys! Thanks for all the lessons and looking forward to more! Wishing everyone all the best!

I loved it! Vera, I saw you! Thanks for really making me smile (wei1xiao4).

If I didnt know better, Id swear you guys were lip syncing. JP - what a ham. Amber - you have a nice "toque". I hope there is heat in the new office? Both vidoes were good. Jenny - you look great. Ken - well dont worry, everybody is looking at Jen anyway. I guess Connie really is a little short, but cute as a bug's ear and the brains behind the scenes. Nice to see all of you. Now, how about a peek at the new office? Looking forward to continued service and growth in the new location. You guys deserve some sort of award. The "Nobel pod prize" or something. -RJ

Hehe..can't wait for Pinoypod.:)

How about another video of "settling in" to your new digs. Great video...Great idea... took me a second to realize everyone was lip syncing... ONE TAKE...?? amazing... although two takes would be a waste of time. Great to see faces to names and voices that we all know so well. Thanks... Other video ideas: 1. How a lesson is made. From start to finish. 2. Lunch at Chinesepod. 3. Communication at Chinesepod. 4. A typical day, follow somebody as they get out of bed and get to work and work at Chinesepod... do they use ENglish? Chinese?? 5. Video of a Chinese pod listener's life and use of Chinese pod... you could do a contest...that would be cool. That's all I could think of. Again, great video great idea.

two thumbs up! :)

Next step : The rap video ! ;o) Here's is a great one from Chris Pereira :

Wow. I'm having my morning coffee now and this really brings a big smile to my face! =)

Chinese Rap!!! that is very smooth. I was catching up on some lessons today and Ken was remembering back to 1988. Imagine a post-olympic China. Maybe 2010 or 2012. Will it be all bling? Fancy cars and clothes? Suburbs? Yikes, suburbs eating all that prime farm land! Phalaneng - Yes there are still many francophones who don't speak english. I'm guessing as the globe "shrinks" that number is getting less. The Quebec provincial government fights very hard to maintain it and even embed it into the culture. New immigrants to Quebec must send their kids to french schools and residents who were raised in french schools must also send their kids to french schools. The anglo schools are only for the residents whose parents went to anglo schools. They are becoming extinct ;)

I loved this so much!!!! looks like you people have a lot of fun! (I can tell anyway just from listening) haha Thanks! ^_^

great vid´s 谢谢你们 ^_^ keep up the (more then) great work!

Great videos you guys. Congratulations on bringing such great spirit and learning from the factory. May your work be easier and more comfortable in your new place...but may the spirit of ChinesePod ever grow. Learning and fun, its the best.

You guys are the best! You really made my day. You had me laughing and getting all choked up at the same time. Thanks for all that you do, CPod.

I'm going to miss the old Factory's ... ambience. The new place is nice and clean and modern, but it's missing that certain funkiness (read: creeping mold) the old place had. Thanks to Amber and Marco, though, we'll always have this video to remind us from where we came. :)

Ah... that was so bittersweet. You guys are so cool. Thanks for the memories.

aaahhh, i just got home after a long days work, and after watching that video, you guys look like you have so much fun. What a special job. I hope you appreciate it, and I hope you continue your success Tom

great videos getting better with every time watching. Will you also share with pround your new working environment?

Awesome! Thanks for letting us share in this goodbye. I'm sure there will be many great memories made in the new office. What would WE do without you? Thanks for all you do for us.

I'm wondering if anyone at CPod has made a photographic record of the factory.....from move-in, to expansion, to move-out. Not to create additional work for you guys, but if someone already has a photo history of the "old" CPod, it'd be really nice to see the progression.

French and Italian pod? That's a great idea!