Rather than filling up the first video lesson discussion with the more technical and commentary side of things about the new video lessons, I thought I would start a new thread here where we can discuss what we like, dislike and want to see done with the new video lessons. Of course, this is not to say that the ChinesePOD team did not already do a lot of brain-storming and design to bring this to us, just that I think some feedback will definitely be forthcoming now that the first video lesson has been released and everyone has a taste of what these lessons might be like. Who's to say that this initial lesson is even going to be the regular format/style that the lessons take but hopefully with some constructive feedback from the members of ChinesePOD, the ChinesePOD team might be willing to bend their ideas a little to suit the needs of the learners.

If you don't like something about the video lesson format be sure to say why you don't like it, and offer possible solution(s) to your dislike. If you do like something in particular, please make sure you say what it is and also why you like that element of it. As members of this site, it is our responsibility to not only ourselves as paying learners but also to those who learn with us, to ensure that the best quality lessons are delivered to us all.

Hello everyone,

  I had a relatively good learning week! My technology problems seem to be solved right now, and I am back into a good grove. I have flashcards made for about 520 words and word combinations. Out of this, I have proficiency on about 339. I have acquisition on an additional 90 terms. The verbal part is going slower than the written part, but I am doing better on both areas. The past week, I had done the taxi conversation series and a couple of other lessons. I like the idea of an audio phrasebook, and I also like when the lessons are grouped together like that.

  As I have stated in an earlier post, I have found a way to print flashcards. This has the benefits of being faster than writing, and being more accurate. For example, it took between 50 minutes and an hour and 15 minutes to do 15 flashcards using the handwriting method. Last night, I printed off 100 flashcards in about 3 and a half hours. What I do is I use ms paint, do print screen and set up a paper with 5 terms as if I were going to print them on a sheet of 8.5 X 11 paper. What I actually do is use packing tape and tape my flashcards to the paper, and feed the paper through the printer. It uses very little ink, and it never jams up. I use the same flashcards that I was using for the handwriting method, so there is no conflict there.

  My greatest gains are in reading. I am at a point where I can read much of the newbie expansions. I would say that half the time (50%), I get the essential meaning of the sentence right. another 25%, I might understand all the terms, but my lack of knowledge of how the terms are actually used prevents me from understanding correctly what is being said. For the remaining 25%, I generally will not understand a word or two in the sentence, or flat out get the sentence wrong. Elementary level expansions are more difficult for me. I would say that 15% of the time, I am able to get the essential meaning of the sentence right. another 15% or so, I might understand all the terms, but my lack of knowledge of how the terms are actually used prevents me from understanding correctly what is being said. For the remaining 70%, I generally will not understand a word or two in the sentence, or flat out get the sentence wrong.

  Much of my study time is spent going through the lessons trying to find terms and words that I don't know. I don't bother going through the newbie lessons doing this anymore because I might only find one or two unknown words. I currently do well doing elementary lessons, but I figure it is just a matter of time before I feel like I am panning for gold in my bathtub. I notice that in the community page, people build vocabulary lists. I also notice that I can set to share my vocabulary lists. Is there a way to find lists that others are sharing so that I can get words from them? I am guessing that there is such a way, but I havent figured it out yet.

  Guess that is it for right now, below (hopefully) you will find two photos that will show my progress that I have had since joining Chinapod. In the first photo, I have a small stack. It was taken about a week or so after I started the chinese lessons. The Bottom photo was taken on the 3rd of this month. I guess I will be doing these updates on Thursday/Friday instead of Sunday as I am scheduled to work on the weekends for the time being.

not quite sure where to put this, but i searched on all the lessons, and I didn't see anything particular to "Tīng huà" or "shuō huà".  Our ayi keeps saying to my daughter, Nǐ tīng huà ma? I think this means, "Are you listening?" but then i'm not clear about Nǐ shuō huà ma?  any clarifications on what these mean is greatly appreciated. 

Is there an automated way to download all 1300 lessons?

Hi, I'm a new user of CPod and I just found what I think it's a bug.

Previously I've added a few sets to my lessons lists, by mistake I deleted these lessons on "My Lessons" page and when I go back to the Set to bookmark it again I just see an "Added" Image where the Bookmark button used to be.

As a consequence I need to bookmark all the lessons manually.

Is there a way I can add the whole set again instead of doing it manually?

I'm curious how others treat the lesson tools here in terms of marking lessons as studied? In my case, I'm having a bit of trouble, because I'm just starting to listen to intermediate lessons. 

Previously, with newbie and elementary lessons, it was easy. I'd listen, maybe a couple of times if needed, go through the additional tabs, read the expansion, then do the exercises. If I felt I'd got a good grasp of the grammar and vocab, I'd mark it as studied, problem solved, lesson off the list and I can move on.

With Intermediate, there's so much more grammar and vocab to learn that I would find it very hard to get to this level of "studied" on any level, so although I'm studying them, I'm not yet marking any of them as studied. For example, I was looking at the "a fated meeting" lesson, and on the vocab page I count 17 words that I've not seen before. Along with the extended dialogue, and longer exercise, I've no chance of getting a good score, and it will take me several nights of study to get even half of this into my head.

What it means is that my lessons feed is filling up with Intermediate lessons. I'm not sure how I will progress into intermediate if I can't move on from any of the lessons! 

How do other people handling it? Chinesepod, I know it's "learning on your terms", but do you have a suggested method?