what's next Pod?

... would PraxisLanguage be about to launch a new language? French, au hasard? or is the link to SpanishSense a coincidence?

What a clever bunch you all are. Goulniky is quite the sleuth. It's true that we will extend to other languages. Henning don't worry about the funding - we will not neglect CPod. Fu da wei's point is interesting - at this point I agree that it's time to discuss the role of grammar with JP. All options are open as to where the lessons are actually recorded though I think it's necessary to have a team here in Shanghai. The year of the rat will be a very active one over here. We're just trying to keep you all amused.

There's also one for GermanPod & ItalianPod. Probably more. I wouldn't read too much into it. They might just be reserving the name-space -- keeping their options open. On the other hand, no one is doing Hebrew (hint-hint).

do you know that praxislanguage.com reserved 68 such domains (hehe...), some are #Pod others are #Sense. They wouldn't do Hebrew I guess, they may be tempted by Arabic though, but this is a slippery path

I think they're still looking for someone : http://praxislanguage.com/jobs.html

Frankly, I think the CPOD model -- while perfectly suited for Asian languages -- has a few inherent problems when it comes to inflected languages. Especially since they seem to have a phobia about discussing things in grammatical terms (or more specifically, they seem to think their users have a phobia for "hearing" about grammar). How is SPOD going to handle Subjunctive Moods (for example)? Just spout a few sentences and hope it sinks in by osmosis? I dunno ... I hope they prove me wrong. I dearly love SPOD and the way JP is guiding it. It has been of immense practical value to me in a very short time. Perhaps they'll prove me wrong -- and I'll be the first to apologize for doubting them.

oder Deutsch, o o possibilmente Italiano just to lure us?

One downside, I bet the price for the Praxis Pass will go through the roof! I'm sure I could live with that, though. I'm totally geekin' out trying to decide which other language I would dive into first.

Although I like to see this business model blossom, I just hope this is not all subsidized with CPod ressources (financial and people wise). There is so much left to do here at CPod, opening 5 new battlefields at once would be crazy. Besides: Midterm, Shanghai cannot stay the sole base for all these ventures. As my wife commented: "Spanishpod is like eating at a Chinese restaurant in Germany. You might find one that strives for authenticity but it can never possibly be the same - the local ingredients are just not available". But it will surely be fun listening to Ken's Bavarian accent when co-moderating the Upper Intermediate GermanPod shows. :)

Henning ... although the "want ads" indicate that they want to do things in-house, they always have the option of farming the work out to others. They could approach it as a franchise (as I'm sure they've considered); you know -- we provide the template for the site, we hook it into our system to guarantee wide exposure, we handle the billing mechanism and give you a cut -- you provide content that meets or exceeds our own.

I wouldn't worry about funding, they know full well what it takes now, no doubt they got investors supporting this venture. It's a challenge for sure, as for any startup scaling up, it can't be managed the same way anymore, just look at the issues they face with platform upgrade... A challenge for sure, and some people will leave, but nothing insurmontable. I'm with Henning's wife though, there's a limit to de-materialization. When the CPod crew produces a lesson, it is suffused with Shanghainess, albeit through Western / North American eyes and ears. Ken, John, Amber and al. work in an office building in Shanghai with a number of natives, they get local food, pick up local gossip, etc. I don't think you can entirely do away with this, take the weather even, they're living through it. For many of us, there's also the excitement to go and visit them, many of us did/will. How does this translate into Spanish, French, German etc., who wants to go visit their Italian teacher... in Shanghai?

I definitely see the attraction of learning from a language website where the hosts reside in the country where the language is spoken... anyways, I'm wondering how iTunes maintains its top podcasts list. SpanishPod.com was near the top for the last couple of months, way ahead of ChinesePod, but has now disappeared off of the list.

Maybe this is why Ken was asking around today... With all those job openings, it looks like they're pretty serious about branching out. If they actually do, then it looks like I may be a poddie for life. One can only hope... I think with all the feedback they've been getting from users, they'll eventually balance out the need/desire for grammar instruction (did someone say "Grammar Guide"?).