learning intermediate

cathykee
September 25, 2011, 01:47 AM posted in General Discussion

there are some lessons in the intermediate level where john does very little translating especially the new hard words. And there you find jenny, jabbering away...after all that is said, you are left with a vague what the lesson is ab out. Sorry. but I must say they always do well with the easy stuff. 

catherine

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mark
September 25, 2011, 03:12 AM

I have a different impression, but I understand what Jenny is saying, while she is "jabbering away". I think John does explain all the new vocabulary in the lesson. He doesn't always translate what Jenny says, but his response often gives a clue as to what it meant. Also, what she says is pretty similar to what John says about the lesson content with a little color commentary added. (same goes for the lessons with Dilu)

I think the thing that may be giving you difficulty is that, you have to piece the overall meaning of the lesson together from what you know already and the descriptions of the new vocabulary. However, I think making that effort is a good way to learn.

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jennyzhu
September 27, 2011, 06:07 AM

I think you might be talking about some of the earliest intermediate lessons. The dialogs tend to be quite difficult and we still hadn't found a great format yet.  

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puffpuff

Hi; I think the intermediate pod casts to be interesting and add cultural color to those of us who are not able to live in china.tThe podcasts are well done,also,it sorta makes myself want to learn more...thanks ipod team

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podster
February 09, 2012, 03:22 AM

" . . .. left with a vague idea what the lesson is about".  I experience that all the time, but when I am in China and in a real life situation I may be lucky to get to vague.  I listen to some podcasts 10 ~ 20x, and intermittently listen to the audio review to slowly build up my understanding.   I empathize with your frustration, but I agree with mark that making the effort is a good way to learn.  Also, John is very masterful in bringing out a few key guideposts. 

I would suggest using the tags or the search box to look for related topics in elementary to help build up some listening skills and vocabulary for the intermediate lesson. (you might even challenge yourself with related upper intermediate material -- after that the intermediate format will seem easy by comparison.  )  Best wishes.