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Lesson Introduction
In this video vocab tour, we take you to the bustling streets of Shanghai. As the traffic goes whizzing by, we'll introduce some of the more common Chinese modes of transportation. Learn the Mandarin Chinese for all these words in visual context, no translation required!
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hander says
September 1, 2008
This is a real cool way of learning voacabulary! More of these please! Thanks Cpod.
sebire says
September 1, 2008
That was pretty cool!
john says
September 1, 2008
Thanks, guys!
We're starting out fairly simple with the video, but we've got lots of ideas.
Pedagogically, this kind of "vocab tour" lesson teaches vocabulary without translation, all within a visual context. I think the benefits are clear, but it can actually be extremely challenging to design and film these.
Let us know if you have any requests!
xiaohu says
September 1, 2008
I love it! AWESOME!!! 实在是太精彩了！
dongni says
September 1, 2008
Can I ask, how is gōngjiāochē (bus) different from gōnggòngchē (bus)?
henning says
September 1, 2008
Looks nice & professional and it definately shows the effort and dedication that has gone into it.
But couldn't the same effect be achieved (less impressively but maybe more cost-efficiently) by providing a static image with some hot spots? Or flashcards with pictures instead of English words? Did I hear someone whisper "Rosetta Stone"? No? OK, never mind. :P
Curious: How do you plan to approach higher level content?
amber says
September 1, 2008
hi dongni,
There are 3 commonly used terms for 'bus':
The most commonly used is 公交车 (gōngjiāochē）
公共汽车 (gōnggòng qìchē) is sometimes used
公车 (gōngchē) is used mainly in Taiwan.
john says
September 1, 2008
henning,
Video clearly provides a deeper visual context than mere images can. That's the point of the vocab tour. Adding the motion makes it a vocabulary "tour" rather than a vocabulary "photo album."
There's definitely a reason that the vocabulary is aimed at the Newbie/Elementary audience. For more sophisticated language teaching, this method won't be appropriate. Stay tuned!
xuchen says
September 1, 2008
Am I right in assuming that a ”车子“ is anything that is about the size of a bicycle.. I've heard people refer to what you called a 电动车 as one and even the bigger types as well..
Also, if you have never been to China before BEWARE of the 公共汽车! They don't stop!!
joannah says
September 1, 2008
Wow, thats very cool!
buzzthevegan says
September 1, 2008
The video is a great idea, but would it make sense to also add an "audio review" that could be stashed on mp3 players? Thanks for the pdf.
--buzz
barryb says
September 1, 2008
I like this - relaxing and effortless. I think it will help the vocab to sink in. Is it possible to make it loop? that would make it even more effortless - repetition by default.
mian4bao1che1 - "bread car"? Is that the generic Chinese name for a delivery van, or does it refer only to bread delivery vans? Actually, it looks like what I would call a mini-bus (usually 12 seater).
jennyzhu says
September 1, 2008
Visual learning for the visual world.
jennyzhu says
September 1, 2008
eyux,
面包车is the term for vans, not only delivery vans, passenger as well. But it doesn't sound posh. So now car makers call their pricey passenger vans 商务车/shang1 wu4 che1/business car.
ewilc773 says
September 1, 2008
Terrific!
ewilc773 says
September 1, 2008
One technical observation, though... Playing it through iTunes on my MacBook Pro shows a big interlacing problem. Is this being done on NTSC or PAL?
When I make NTSC DVDs on my computer, they look great on a regular TV, but they have the same interlacing problem when I see the same DVD on a computer screen. I never figured out how to fix the problem.
henning says
September 1, 2008
As the mobile site is still down I could not check how this looks on the iPhone...
christof says
September 1, 2008
Henning,
I just checked the mobile site and it's up !
henning says
September 1, 2008
Just checked: It works in the regular Firefox on the PC but on my iPhone all I get is a blank page. Other sites - including the main CPod site - are still fully accessible.
Maybe an issue with the meta tags?
rjberki says
September 1, 2008
is 面包车 used for mini vans because they are shaped like a loaf of bread or did it come from the delivery nature of these vehicles. :-) Or perhaps its a mystery. Nice video.
changye says
September 1, 2008
Hi henning,
If you add 马车 (ma3 che1), 牛车 (niu2 che1), 板车 (ban3 che1) and 三轮车 (san1 lun2 che1) to this video, it would soon become an "advanced" vocab tour, but I know that it's almost impossible to make such a video in Shanghai.
kimiik says
September 1, 2008
Even if short and emotionless, it's an interesting format for people with a visual memory.
wojaojosh says
September 1, 2008
looks great. look forward to more like this. perfect for my low level :)
calkins says
September 1, 2008
Very cool! Like most, I'm very visual, so I know this will be a huge benefit. This video was much better than I thought it would be...simple yet creative.
Like eyux and RJ, I was wondering about the "bread vehicle".
Also curious if the video lessons will show up in "My Lessons" and "My Archive"? I see it in the Lessons tab but not in the others. Probably in the works, but just wanted to ask.
Nice work CPod!
xinjiapo2703 says
September 1, 2008
alot of time and effort was put into this new feature. thank you cpod for the effort! great way to learn some new vocab I love it.
chanelle77 says
September 1, 2008
Like the video, love the music. I think it's great to add vid! Thank you
davoslamos says
September 1, 2008
I disagree that this format won't suit higher abilities. I reckon a video of eg. the Olympics will produce a lot of sports vocab that won't be known by Upper Intermediates.
I congratulate you on continuing to improve your school with new ideas!
How about excercise tasks where we have to place words on pictures of an item? If it works for 5 year olds it might just work for me!
luhmann says
September 1, 2008
what about ka3 che1, = "card car"
How did that come about?
perle2 says
September 1, 2008
Wonderful new addition. I cant wait for more.
jim_parker says
September 1, 2008
This is a very nice addition to the CPOD world. It mimics what I (as a newbie) attempt to do all day: as I see things that I know the Chinese word for, I try to repeat that word to myself over and over.
I would personally LOVE to see a video tour of the CPOD offices (with words for desk, chair, etc). I like to have vocab of everyday words... Maybe a video tour of one of those streets that Amber keeps talking about where you can have done anything you want (fix a shoe? eat a hot dog? get a haircut? It's all available on Amber's street! Very fangbian!)
The bus vocab was interesting to me, because I have only ever heard gonggongqiche, and was surprised to hear Amber say that this word is only "sometimes used." This was good information.
-jim
bazza says
September 1, 2008
It worked for me after subscribing to the lesson channel and the lesson itself. If you want it to download in itunes you need to use the new feed url I think.
It's pretty cool, but the video quality is a bit disappointing. Unless it's intentionally pixelated to look arty. ;)
mmcbridemd says
September 1, 2008
Great idea. Super high yield for a small time investment.
Keep these coming!
grettir says
September 1, 2008
wow very cool, please keep these coming Cpod!
谢谢
joey7f says
September 1, 2008
Loved it! Perfect for my video IPOD while I am at the gym.
--Joey
suburbanite says
September 1, 2008
sweet!
kencan says
September 1, 2008
I also enjoyed this new approach to learning on CPod. The only question I have is why don't more people click on the ranking tab above?
kimiik says
September 1, 2008
As the "Full lesson" (MP4) is supposed to be a PREMIUM content, will BASIC subscribers have access to the VOCAB TOUR in the futur ?
calkins says
September 1, 2008
Thanks Bazza. I was automatically subscribed to the video feed, but I had to manually bookmark it before it would go into my lesson archive. I'm sure CPod will fix that soon.
Kencan, I personally don't use the ranking tab because I don't think it's very useful. What is it ranking? The quality...the dialogue...the acting...etc.? I guess it's an overall ranking, but still somewhat useless in my eyes. What someone else likes, I may not, and vice versa. I always listen to whatever new lesson comes out, and weed through the old lessons for ones I like and find useful for me...pretty much all of them.
barryb says
September 1, 2008
Interesting how one little video has sparked so many questions in my head. More than the other lessons. Is this because I have to think for myself?
面包车 - mian4bao1che1 - minivan - several of us have wondered about this "bread vehicle".
卡车 - ka3che1 - truck. Perhaps it's "up-down vehicle"? 卡 - seems to be a combination of 上 - up and 下 - down. Makes sense for a pick-up truck or delivery van (UPS style), doing multiple "drop-offs" and "pick-ups".
公交车 - gong1jiao1che1 - bus - I'd learned gong1gong4qi4che1, too
It's 骑 - qi2 for bikes and motorbikes, but 坐 - zuo4 for cars and buses. So, it's zuo4 when you get inside it (I imagine tone 4 as I sink DOWN into the seat), but qi2 when you sit on top of it (tone 2 as I climb UP on top of it)?
大巴 da4ba1 - charter bus (UK coach?) is a strange word - the Chinese characters don't seem to make much sense, 巴 - ba1 seems to be for transliterations. So, what's it a transliteration of? Of "bus", perhaps? "Big bus."
Sorry, I realise CPod staff are probably very busy, at the moment.
andrew_c says
September 1, 2008
I loved this video.
I can't wait to try practicing this while running on the treadmill. When exercising, I find it hard to concentrate on pure audio, and it's too bumpy to look at a piece of paper.
Here are some suggestions:
John, I agree that for more sophisticated language teaching this wouldn't be appropriate, but you guys have just convinced me that for memorizing lists of vocabulary (like different types of cars), this is so effective!
About the "bread car" my wife told me that it's because it looks like a loaf of bread.
7dwarfs says
September 1, 2008
面包车 (麵包車) = 迷你巴士 ??
Is 面包车 a PRC idiom?
miami_meiguoren says
September 1, 2008
in the states the bread truck has always been the bakery truck
http://www.meadowlandford.com/morgan-olson-route-star-truck.jpg
GREAT LESSON!!
still waiting on the chinesepod fix
mcisco says
September 1, 2008
Very very cool addition to Chinesepod. I cracked a smile when I saw the "bread car" aka minivan. I have a VW eurovan in that typical boxy shape..I've always called it the 'breadbox'. How funny -- the chinese translation is similar to what I've thought all along :)
greggygate says
September 1, 2008
I was told that 面包车 was named such because it was shaped like a loaf (or bun) of bread.
I love the videos! Great work!
ahorriblemess says
September 1, 2008
I really like this a lot. I hope the videos are permanently for ALL paying members. It's a really great way to learn spoken and written vocabulary. Simple, and to the point. Like teaching a child. I really like it!
user23050 says
September 1, 2008
Yes, Yes, the video tour is great. So many 'real' items for the Newbie to see and hear.
Excellent, thanks. Ron
quasifrog says
September 1, 2008
Standing ovation! Bravo!
barryb says
September 1, 2008
BTW, Jenny, thanks for your prompt reply to my post. My next post sounded as though I hadn't seen your helpful comment - I had (trying to do more than one thing at a time).
So, Chinese marketeers turn 面包车 - mian4bao1che1 - bread vans into 商务车 - shang1 wu4 che1 - business cars with a stroke of the pen. Easier than engineering! British (real-)estate agents have started turning our boring old "flats" into glamorous "apartments" - same old tricks...
chipmunkgeek says
September 1, 2008
I really enjoy the new video style for vocab learning. Great job!
In college, I drove a brown mini-van, and all my friends called it "the bread box." It's amusing for me now to learn that that is what one-fifth of the world also would have called it... 面包车. I love it.
amber says
September 1, 2008
Yes! The 面包车 (miànbāochē) is called such because it's shaped like a loaf of bread... kinda.
hunanfan says
September 1, 2008
First, great job with the video. It's a wonderful idea, and well done.
Second, in the future, is there any chance of adding a WMV format for those of us who don't like iPods and don't want to have to convert all the videos?
Thanks.
amber says
September 1, 2008
hi xuchen,
车 (chē) and 车子 (chēzi) both are used for 'vehicles' of assorted varieties. Most often, if you just hear 车 (chē) on its own, it refers to a car.
amber says
September 1, 2008
hey eyux,
卡车 (kǎchē) and 大巴 (dàbā) are transliterations from the English words.
dedsall78 says
September 1, 2008
Nicely done, very professional looking! Definitely makes learning new words a bit more interesting.
I'm sure that adding the visual element will help with retaining the information. I'm sure there's been a study somewhere that proves this :-)
inland says
September 1, 2008
Maybe unrelatedly, "bread truck" in the states is a generic term for the size and shape of what is or used to be used for bread delivery.
urbandweller says
September 1, 2008
哇！ 太精彩了！！我很喜欢了！！
seriously...i loved the music, the characters flashing on the screen, the way it speeds up and slows down and the overall "feel" of the video...very cool cpod!! cant wait for the next one!
urbandweller says
September 1, 2008
i will be watching it over...and over...and over ...and over...until i can identify all with no hesitation....now i can be visually brainwashed by cpod too!! horray!
you know it's acutally quite hypnotizing.....
must watch video...
must obey cpod....
must speak chinese....
哈哈哈哈哈哈！
patp says
September 1, 2008
Well done, that was real good, look forward to some more.
chilaerion says
September 1, 2008
hey this is a great new format!
here's my suggestion for a follow-up: movements like crossing the street, turning around, turning left, walking towards something/somebody etc.
henning says
September 1, 2008
Update: Mobile site runs again on my iPhone.
But I cannot access the video lesson - it just doesn't show up :(
perle2 says
September 2, 2008
I just bought an i-phone today- G3, and it has Safari as it's browser. Right now it is it says "Safari can't download this file" when I try to play the M4V version.
Any techies have ideas about what the problem could be?
henning says
September 2, 2008
Perle,
where did you get the video at all?
At the regular or at the mobile site?
panda_moms says
September 2, 2008
Hey,
Thanks for that! What was the cool music in the background?
Come to that, what's that song on Dear Amber?
Panda
perle2 says
September 2, 2008
Hi Henning-At the regular site, on my laptop, the icon that looks like a blue rectangle will play with Quicktime. But on the i-phone the blue icon displays the "Safari cant download this file" message.
ewilc773 says
September 2, 2008
I think all the suggestions for future video topics would be great. Another idea would be learning colors and shapes.
chiongzibide says
September 2, 2008
John B,
Here are some ideas I'd like to see in a video format:
street food items - and asking their cost.
cooking - with action words and equipment vocab.
clothes in the markets
furniture in the home, plus turning switches on/off
bathroom and toilet items and associated actions (not the disgusting ones), but including cleaning/ washing/ shaving/ etc.
classroom teaching - writing in a book, beginning class, finishing and leaving, cleaning the board, sitting and standing, listening, asking etc etc
mail : getting stamps, affixing, posting
the vegetable market - names of fruit and vegies, asking prices
the hairdresser - asking for different haircuts- and the results
Thanks!
pketh says
September 2, 2008
Wow that's really nifty, and I think because I'm a visual learner more than anything that these sorts of videos would be a lot more effective for people like me. Also having the whole context of seeing Shanghai is extra cool as well :)
Hoping to see a lot more, maybe even with dialogues and acting instead of just vocab!
javcau says
September 2, 2008
Perle2,
The iphone will only play limited formats from iphone safari. the m4v version on the full website should play on an iphone if it is downloaded on a PC or Mac and then copied to your iphone using itunes. I just tried this on my Mac and now have the video on my iphone under video in the ipod app.
neatnik says
September 2, 2008
There seem to be some issues with deinterlacing (at least in the flash vid) :)
josh says
September 2, 2008
Another great extension to C-pod. Keep it up. I also learn much better this way. Is anyone else having problems playing it in Windows Media Player? I downloaded it and Media Player tells me, "Windows Media Player cannot play the file. The Player might not support the file type or a required codec might not be installed on your computer." How do I fix this? I'm running Vista.
javcau says
September 2, 2008
Josh,
You will need the mp4 codec which is h.264 I think. If you download and install ffdshow it will install a whole bunch of popular codecs and runs on XP and Vista. http://sourceforge.net/projects/ffdshow. Qucktime may come with the appropriate codecs as an alternative but with ffdshow you can still use media player. As a bonus it will also allow you to download and display subtitles on movies which can be handy when learning mandarin.
light487 says
September 2, 2008
It's because it's a FLV (Flash Video) not actually h.264 but either way still you will need either a Flash Video (FLV) player or a codec installed as javcau suggests. I'm pretty sure I have the ffdshow pack installed on Vista but it wasn't called that when I downloaded it, even though the ffdshow ivon appears in the system tray whenever I watch videos now.
If you don't feel like installing a codec, no real reason not to, you can always find plenty of free FLV Players around to get the job done.
standuke says
September 2, 2008
I also liked the video, but color me a skeptic as far as this being an effective learning (or social network-building) tool. It looks like a huge time sink to me, getting footage and editing, etc., all for basically one page of one of the little picture books my wife and I bought for our kids in China. I like it, I think it has value as far as promoting the site and adding a little 'bling', but I think there's some lower-hanging fruit video-wise. (For instance the recent upper-intermediate on photo-editing; a few screenshots and you're done)
What I'd really like to see is simple slide-show type 'videos' that show the characters as they are being discussed. Right now viewing the 'lyrics' on an iPod touch is cumbersome and they are tiny. I'd love an mp4 of each lesson that contained nice big screen-filling characters as the lesson goes by. It would be great for the gym. Really this is the one feature I would like before any other 'video' feature, as I don't have time to review the pdfs as often as I would like.
Anyway, just my two cents...
wolson says
September 2, 2008
John,
Very nicely done!
This technique could be used in almost any common setting:
a meal
in a restaurant
on a farm
in a room
in a classroom
in a post office
in a movie
in a hospital
in any store or market (vegatable, meat, clothes, book, computer, etc.)
any sport or game
on a map
Many, many more applications of the technique are possible. And it is effective in teaching vocabulary.
weibwo says
September 2, 2008
Excellent!!! More!!! Travel Agency or Train Station, buying a train ticket.
pinkjeans says
September 2, 2008
Everyone has said it all. I love it, and was amused by the bread vehicle. Thanks, and keep it up!
richyfrost says
September 2, 2008
Video not transferring to iPhone from iTunes feed for me, it says the file is incompatable - I have iPhone 3G.
chipmunkgeek says
September 2, 2008
richyfrost -
I encountered the same problem earlier today when I tried to sync my iPod with the new video. What worked for me was changing the video format that my feed sends me. Instead of using the MP4 format for windows, I have changed the feed to send me the M4V format for my iPod. You can do this by going to your personal feed settings.
It worked for me. Hope it helps for you too.
longbao says
September 2, 2008
This is a very good video. Good job, CPod!
xiaohu says
September 2, 2008
So any possibilities of taking video a step further and doing a Mandarin soap opera like Japanesepod101? I'm positive if you did, it would be way more interesting that what they did with their series.
macallus88 says
September 2, 2008
I would like to see conversation videos with the hanzi and a hidden english translation (which changes with video - somehow) so I could test whether I translated correctly.
You can practice with hearing new chinese sentences easily with listening to new lessons (before translation), but there isn't much regarding translating new hanzi sentences.
I do try with the expansion. Only trying to see the characters, but a video would definetly be easier.
edgar_brasil says
September 2, 2008
Cool!.. give us more.. , I watched with my 4 yrs old and he loved as well..
Congrats.
Edgar
richyfrost says
September 2, 2008
@chipmunkgeek Thanks didn't know you had to do that, thats great thnk you!
kohiroito says
September 3, 2008
Can I see this lesson by i-pod?
chipmunkgeek says
September 3, 2008
kohiroito -
The Vocab Tour video is not available via the public feed through iTunes. So, I believe that only paid subscribers to ChinesePod can receive the video via their private customized feed. If you are not a paying subscriber to ChinesePod... I highly recommend it. Well worth it!
chillosk says
September 3, 2008
great great great. :) love it. glad Praxis is not "stale" as Ken said. Good job guys!! :)
standuke says
September 3, 2008
FWIW Why not some sort of participatory mashup with Google Maps or Google earth? Video is just so sit-on-your-butt-and-consume old-school, I don't see how video alone advances social networking or participatory learning. Since one of the objectives of the website is to foster participatory learning it seems that labeling/ annotating photos or even video footage might be best turned over to users and curated by CPod staff.
I like the idea of just going out and shooting video (or photos) on the street and labeling in Chinese, but Google already gives you the option of geotagging photos and attaching labels. Why not map out and label the neighborhood around CPod (or Tiananmen square) and assign users the responsibility of attaching labels? Of course, I don't know how many users would get 'into' something like that (I wouldn't, but I don't live in China and my Chinese is marginal), but if CPod curates, edits, and provides a forum for discussing the project it might be possible to construct a wiki/photo/map/discussion mashup of Chinese 'thing-names'...
Just a random idea, FWIW...
scottyb says
September 3, 2008
太好了！ I see myself playing these over and over. Outstanding addition!
ganbei says
September 3, 2008
sweet!
kujira says
September 3, 2008
That was really neat! I like seeing things in Shanghai and China while learning what they're called. It really does imprint on the mind more tangibly that way. Can't wait for more! (^__^)
pretzellogic says
September 3, 2008
Cool video? definitely! effective video for teaching language vocabulary, given the cost to make the video? Unclear. I look forward to seeing more on the topics macallus88, weibwo, wolson,
and others highlighted as video topics.
Did ChinesePod create video because paying customers demanded it, or because they thought it would be a cool teaching tool? I guess my question is really on the priorities behind new functionality released to the community. Video is great, but i've seen suggestions by others on these posts that i would prioritize before video, cool as video is. I don't know anywhere on the site where we paying customers are asked what new functionality we want next, or what existing functionality we want improved next.
edopan says
September 3, 2008
I think this is a incredible method for people that sometimes cannot associate words with the corresponding real objects perfectly, like myself, haha
bababardwan says
September 3, 2008
Congratulations and thankyou CPod on another great effort.The video is great,but even better is the fact that CPod are obviously being innovative and constantly trying to improve and also listen to feedback.Great to have different ways to explore the language.Thankyou for the accompanying pdf also which is helpful.
I also was amused by mianbaoche,and will find this easy to remember knowing where it has come from/making the association.Like Jim Parker,I had only heard of gonggongqiche ,and I wonder if gongjiaoche is the most common word for bus all over China,or if this is more the case in Shanghai [and Beijing for example is different]? Many great suggestions for future video episodes,but I particularly like Jim Parker's suggestion of going on the streets that Amber talks about where you can get anything done.I was also interested in Amber's comment that "kache" was a transliteration from the English."Ka" obviously sounds like "car" and not "truck",so they obviously weren't trying to be too accurate when they transliterated.Interesting.
CPod is the best ! Keep up the good work.
jlaw says
September 4, 2008
That was a very cool video! Mien4bao1che1 was in a hurry, must have been hot out of the oven!
ngarrity791 says
September 4, 2008
Hey thanks guys that was pretty cool, I can see it being helpful for other simple noun groups like fruit and veges, place names and animals etc. Definately better than looking through the dictionary for each individual name.
Cheers.
user35883 says
As a teacher I know its good to present materials in as many ways as possible to ensure everyone can learn in a way that is best for them. Good job guys. You could do rooms -kitchens and everything in them - good luck jazzing it up-but it would be very useful. Any way to improve vocab is great. How often will this be presented? 35883September 4, 2008
kybod4 says
September 4, 2008
One of the things I've been doing is to take all those China pictures (both my own) and on e.g. flickr showing signs and written chinese from the streets/stores. Some people use this as "mocking material" and laughs about the chinglish. I've started to use it in a completely different way. I use it as a base for practical useful characters-to-know-material. Translating all pictures and using the pictures as flashcards.
Could of course do this much better as you would be able to choose new and frequent material.
Please use the environment that you are in, but we're not in. (I'm in Sweden).
This holds for sounds as well, of course.
sunnydani says
September 4, 2008
I can't wait to see more of these videos, I think there's a lot of potential here. This format will make the learning more permanent (to me at least), as opposed to flash cards. Keep up the good work!
lilywhytelegs says
September 4, 2008
Great work! This is a wonderful new feature. Now I will never forget the "bread vehicle".
kybod4 says
September 4, 2008
And after I wrote the above I found this; http://lingua.mtsu.edu/qing/signs/
I very much would like to see something similar with chinesepod -> Signs from real life with pronounciation!
channa says
September 5, 2008
Vocab video dance party!
Lizz says
September 5, 2008
Really loved it. Look forward to seeing more in lots of every day situations - restaurant, buying a train ticket etc, etc
azul says
September 5, 2008
It is a very good idea and useful to everyone, it does not matter the level.
I did enjoyed it and wait for more.
非常 感谢
Azul
maike28 says
September 5, 2008
Hi guys,
This is a great new idea! It really targets visual learners. More of these videos would be super helpful.
The one suggestion I have is just to make sure the vocabulary is written in both traditional and simplified characters. I like how you've incorporated this idea on the normal pages when a mouse drags over a word.
Keep up the great work
Mike
marygrace says
September 5, 2008
I agree that this format would be great for *all* levels. Please do video for the upper levels.
感谢!
aryeh says
September 6, 2008
very excellent, I agree with marygrace, xie xie!
marc__d says
September 6, 2008
What would I call my beloved scooter? It's not quite a 摩托车, and neither is it a 电动车.
marc__d says
September 6, 2008
I want to see a video Vocab Tour of an electronics lab. You could tell me how to call all of my stuff:
oscilloscope, soldering iron, network analyzer, digital multimeter
Seriously, there's just not enough science on CPod.
gardener says
September 6, 2008
Very cool way to make vocab sink in! You C-Pod folks are geniuses! THANKS for continuing to find ways to make learning Chinese interesting and effective.
georgeconk says
September 7, 2008
面包车
A van looks like a loaf of bread, doesn't it?
schreck says
September 7, 2008
First I really like the vocab tours. However, for some reason I was not able to synch the Traffic Vocab tour to my I-pod, but I was able to synch the salon vocab tour no problem. Are they in different formats or something?
baishen says
September 8, 2008
Well done team, great idea, great concept and great to watch. Thanks
grammargirl says
September 10, 2008
This is an excellent idea! I'm really looking forward to seeing more of these video lessons. Thanks and keeep it up!
monkeyintree says
September 10, 2008
what do you call a moped? (americans call them scooters no?) Theres enough of them in Shanghai!
pauljazon says
September 12, 2008
Hi everyone,
I'm a new member here, and I just got done watching the traffic video. That's good stuff. I learned a lot, and the music was cool.
I have a quick question. How do you guys get your keyboards to write Pinyin with the four different types of accents?
Thanks so much,
Jazon
bababardwan says
September 12, 2008
Hi pauljazon,
I had the same question the other day and got the answer from xiaohu to whom we owe our thanks:
Follow this link:
http://www.qualitylanguage.com/pinyin_converter.htm
pauljazon says
September 12, 2008
Very nice, Barbarardwan! Xie xie nǐ!
I notice that the converter does not convert the number 4 tone if it is on the first letter of the word. For example, it won't properly convert X4ie. Please let me know if you know of a work around on this. Thanks so much.
Jazon
pauljazon says
September 12, 2008
Other converters out there seem to have the same issue. Maybe the issue is with me! :) Maybe I'm not supposed to put a number 4 tone in the first letter of a word?
bababardwan says
September 12, 2008
Bùkèqi ,pauljazon
I'm only a newbie,but would have thought/seem to have noticed that when you write pinyin with the tones written in numbers,they seem to go after each pinyin syllable [for want of a better word],so that I wouldn't expect any converter to accept it after just the first letter.But best to confirm with others on this.
cassielin says
September 12, 2008
COOL!
The music matches the image perfectly! I almost missed these three brilliant vocab tour lessons!!good work chinesepod!
tomwilber says
September 13, 2008
I am really liking these videos. They are high-impact, and short enough to repeat several times to reinforce learning. (Also, I recognize the location for this one...only a block from the main office. Keeps the travel budget in control!)
cinnamonfern says
September 15, 2008
I love these vocab tour lessons! Thanks for helping me build up my vocabulary!
calkins says
September 19, 2008
I've started creating vocabulary .txt files for these videos, so that I can import them into ZDT and PlecoDict.
I thought I'd share them if anyone is interested (just right-click the links below and "Save Link As"). I'll keep posting them for each video lesson. Enjoy!
ZDT
Pleco (Traditional)
Pleco (Simplified)
pchenery says
November 2, 2008
There's still a problem with the Video CODEC attached to this file.
It reads H.264 (cannot be played on an IPOD)
The CODEC should read: MPEG-4
Can the CPOD tech team fix this ?
Thanks !
amber says
November 2, 2008
hi pchenery,
Sorry about that, looking into it now! Will get fixed for you as soon as poss! :)
amber says
November 2, 2008
hi pchenrey,
H.264 CODEC videos can be read by iPods. you can see the specs here:
http://www.apple.com/ipodclassic/specs.html
Is your ipod an older version perhaps? not sure why its not working for you!
pchenery says
November 3, 2008
Thanks Amber,
My ipod is brand new. It is just this lesson that does not work.
I just assumed it was a problem with the CODEC, since all the other CPOD videos work OK on my ipod, but have a different CODEC (MPEG-4).
From the comments, I note that other poddies were having the same problem. Any advice on how I can fix this ?
pchenery says
November 3, 2008
Problem solved.
I searched the internet and determined it is a common technical glitch with some files with the H.264 Video Codec.
To get the file to work on your ipod:
1. Go to your itunes page
2. Highlight the problem file
3. Click on "Advanced"
4. Create iPod or iPhone version
5. Wait for the file to be converted
6. Delete the old file from your library
7. Re-sync your ipod
jackfrombelgium says
November 9, 2008
Hello,
I had the same problem with this video.
Now no more.
Thanks pchenery.
Jack
greg11 says
November 27, 2008
love the video section I hope you have one every week Thanks for making learning chinese fun :-)
greg11 says
November 27, 2008
For some reason the little photos of the people that comment do not show on the comments section on the iphone i only see a square
changbiyuan says
December 17, 2008
I love it! I'm looking forward to watching the other five now.
On that note, I noticed that they came out once a week for the first six, and then apparently halted (on October 3). Are there any plans to do more? (Apologies if this has been asked already; I glanced at this comments page and the one for the latest Vocab Tour and didn't see any mention.)