We're now working with the Confucius Institutes

I always thought that CPod should look out for public funding and cooperation with national or international official bodies - it might be a powerful lever boosting both the ressources and audience. I also still think that midterm a cooperation with the HSK guys would be clever. As Praxis fans out its business model there should be more organizations willing to support this superior model for language learning. On the other hand Praxis should not give up its independence on the way...it would be terrible if this would lead to giving up the more controversial, silly, or spicy subjects that are tought here and that compose the beating heart of this service.

Why is this conversation at the top of my conversations list?!

incidentally, I like this idea way better than expanding into other languages à-la SpanishPod. Seems to me that it's building on very solid foundations, capitalizing on well-tested content, processes, goodwill, with a language that simply has no equivalent in today's (and probably tomorrow's) global environment - I'm talking about geopolitics here, but it applies equally to language specificities (tonal, hanzi, not inflected etc.)

My first reaction is that it sounds like the Greens teaming up with the logging industry. I'm sure you will give them many priceless insights into what our form of learning is really about, where our tolerances lie, and how to reach out to us on our terms. Great move. Now I'll go read about it.

Goulniky, Good question about how CPod isers will benefit. Let us get into the details a bit more befiore we can share that with you.

Aunty, The greens and the logging industry - let me think about that for a while... OK, I've thought about it and you're right! The CIs are very active in Oz. It might give us the chance to head down there and meet you (on your terms, in your natural habitat, etc.)

Will this be a one way street in terms of delivering content, expertise etc. or will Cpod incorporate CI content or things to help with e.g. HSK on return?

this sounds like great news. I'm curious though, how do we, faithfully active supporters of ChinesePod benefit from this venture?

Joachim, It's stil learly days, but we do see it as a two-way street. Anything that creates more value for our learners is good and we will try to leverage that. They have resources. Let's see what we can come up with. This also kind of spills over to Art's question. I agree that video can add a whole new dimension to the learning, but video is tricky to do well, from a language learning perspective. Recording lectures is one thing, but the vast majority of language instruction video I've ever seen has been really poor. I've spent some years in instructional design so I'd love to have a shot at it, but it woul have to be a systematic solution that is sound, both pedagogically and from a business perspective. I'm not sure that that is the most compelling need we have right now but we are giving it some serious thought. (In fact we go into the studio in March to try some!)

I've read a lot of words but gained little information. Ok, so you've informed us about the partnership. What benefits, potential or actual (since you haven't mentioned any) will this have for Chinesepod users? Why do you need a new website? Will it compete with this one?

Very cool to here this. I actually do volunteer work for the Confucius Institute here in Edinburgh, Scotland that the Chinese government set up, going to their Chinse corner (like English corner, where you practice Chinese with Chinese who like to come see how westerners learn Chinese) as well as their Chinese New Year party tonight. They even have a life-size statue of the first Chinese guy who came to Britiain to study centuries ago... very interesting. So just wanted to say that it is great to see CPod, the other organize I am crazy about in making a mark in the world of Chinese, working with the Institutes. Awesome. Keep us posted. -Rich

If there will be a video I hope it´ll be like the greatest Saturday Show (no " " needed :-) ). With a Table where the hosts are sitting at and those cool micro´s so you can "see the talk". That would be great "_" ^_^

I always enjoyed watching the Happy Journey series on television (they are the same videos you can see on www.linese.com). Even though they are very formal, and they talk really fast, the hosts are quite good. I was watching them on television, then to my great disappointment, they stopped airing them. If ChinesePod could add videos to their web sites, or just sell them on dvds, it would be awesome.

Dave, To be clear, the collaboration with CI has nothing to do with ChinesePod. It is totally separate and it will not compete with CPod in any way. We do not need such a website - han ban does. The focus will not be on learning as such, but more of a community for teachers and learners within the CIs globally. We're willing to do this because they asked us to help them out. There will, I hope, be some benefits for CPod, but I can't say too much too early about the specifics.

Ken, I hope the partnership would result in some Vodcasts! I think Cpod can provide even more creative teaching through engaging the subscribers' visual senses. I have recently watched a few Computer Science lectures and technical talks from MIT, Yahoo and Google, and they were wonderful. I think Vodcasts may enhance the terrific value that Cpod already provides. I also hope the partnership between CI and Cpod are mutually beneficial.