Upgrading Old Lessons

Thank you, long over due. It's easy for me to say that, because I already have all the old ones on my own "those were the days" nostalgia CD, and occasionally relive the moments, laughing and weeping over them between interludes of Cat Stevens, The Seekers, and Scott Joplin.

I've been listening to the older lessons, and I can definitely tell a difference! I'd prefer a slow-down of new Newbie/Elementary lessons (given how many there are) to make sure everything is the same high quality.

John, especially needy are some of the very first Intermediates: - You Look Exhausted! - Weather, Man - City Comparison that are only at today's Elementry level (if not below) with a handful of sentences repeated 5 times. Also lessons like - Chinese Celebrity -Bruce Lee - China’s Supergirl that were so much fun when I listened to them first need some compressing. Too much English banter. Nevertheless: Please remind Ken that he promised us to reveal his secret Guanxi-teqnique list one day (in the "Learning About Chinese ’Guan Xi’" lesson). Some here have not forgot even after the lesson has been taken "off air" for almost a year now :) Will this revision go along with the Fixing all fixless lessons project? Hi Xiaohu, I bet none of the currently available Advanced lessons will be affected as they were introduced relatively late and the lesson format is already close to today's (except for the review questions that have been cut dropped recently). That includes all lessons with Le Guan and the Chaplin one.

Will this affect the production of new lessons?

John this is a great idea. Aggie and Vera put together a practice schedule for me which included a number of old lessons and I was amazed at the difference in quality. Differences in audio quality aside, the old lessons do have a certain charm in that they often feel more intimate and human. Still, I'll be looking forward to the upgrades. Maybe you could mark the lessons that are going to be targeted for upgrade so that users don't leave additional comments and have a chance to extract any useful information.

Henning: 太好了! I loved all those old lessons with Le Guan and (finally found that old lesson in the index), Jeff (or is it Geoff?). I'm glad those will remain intact!

@henning: Yes, this revision accompanies the project of "Fixing" all "fixless" lessons. We won't re-record supplementary audio if we're re-doing a lesson; we'll just treat the lesson as a new one. And yes, all old lessons are possible targets, but the earliest ones will be the focus of our attention first. @mark: The Newbie re-recordings will count as new Newbie lessons, so the "new lesson count" will have to slow down a bit, but we will continue to create fresh new material. @billgloveruk: It's going to start with lesson 0007 and slowly move upward. Expect quite a few of those lessons 0007-0050 to disappear, only to reappear as a new Newbie lesson. Thanks for the support, everyone!

You haven't started already have you? ;-) Someone's complaining that lesson 7 has no exercises (error #1009) and I notice it has no expansion either.

I know they have to go, but I will miss them, just like Aric and Colleen and Eileen and now Aggie. They are Chinesepod nostalgia. They were the stepping stones to making this program great. They are just like watching the old Saturday Night Lives. You remember where you were when. When will they be...er...done away with?

@AuntySue In my innocence I had stumbled upon great unfolding events. For me all episodes are new -- so I have no emotional attachements yet ;-)

John: Nothing could excite me more than upgrading those older lessons and incorporating them into the new format! Now that Chinesepod has hit the 800 lesson mark, there is plenty of content available on the site for those of all levels to keep us busy for months at a time. I have been thinking for a while that the old lessons have been neglected (many of them won't load at all), and it would be wonderful to have all perfect pronunciation, and a standardization of the material. PLUS another great advantage is that it can become the re-debut of those old lessons, making them fresh, exciting and new again! But I'll be sure to keep my old file of the "Chaplin" lesson though, that male co-host (I can't even remember his name right now), that guest-hosted one time was a RIOT! I wholeheartedly support your decision John, I hope other Poddies will do the same.

I like this idea a lot but as Mark pointed out--I hope it doesn't negatively affect the quality of your newer stuff. How do you plan to notify people when lessons have been redone?

Actually, I think it's a good idea to upgrade the older lessons. I find that I tend to use more recent lessons, and avoid very early lessons as the difference can be rather marked.

My take so far is that you will re-do and then re-release some old lessons as new lessons, and these will be mixed in with the completely new releases thereby slowing down the pace of actual new material. Is that correct? -RJ

Great idea, i look forward to the new and improved old and stale.

Im with TaiPan, not a problem for me. Just like to know whats coming. RJ

Brilliant idea - I support you 100%. I never listen to lessons done before 2006, because the quality is so poor compared to the amazing standard of more recent lessons. One thing I though about the old lessons was they were a bit dull and boring, very unlike more recent lessons. Thanks for telling us what you're doing - it's nice to know what's going on. :) Please find some way of telling us which old lessons have been updated, so that I can make sure I listen to them.

Just in the past week I've started listening to some of the older lessons, and the difference is quite striking. The quality, flow, and Chinese to English ratio has all improved dramatically. Not having been with Cpod from the beginning, I don't have the nostalgia issues.

Should Chinesepod be commended for recycling? Have we gone full circle? Is it perfectionism? Vanity? Is this a recognition that their is a ceiling within the newbie level - do a couple of dozen and jump to elementary so quality is more the focus here than pushing up the numbers? Listening to an older lesson - the differences compared to the newer lessons made them seem newer! Although Ken does meander a little and the unique chemistry that has grown between our two hosts was a little less developed. And the audio was a more "vinyl" just like the golden oldies!

It's funny, just yesterday I was listening to some of the very first newbie lessons, and I could not help noticing the remarkable gap between those, and the current quality level, which is always very good indeed, and running long since, up to now. So, yes, I think it is a very good idea renewing all the old material, and I bet it will be a chance for a new interesting discovery. 谢谢! Michele.