ChinesePod School
billglover
April 05, 2010, 03:44 PM posted in General DiscussionHas anyone signed up for ChinesePod school. I let my premium subscription lapse towards the end of 2009 and am debating whether to renew, and if so, what level to go for. Any thoughts?
light487
April 06, 2010, 09:10 PMI had a similar experience with Guided.. while it did provide a deeper level of feedback and actual practise, it really only provided a "plan" to use to attack the learning.
Perhaps ChinesePOD would like to look into this aspect of learning a little closer, so rather than having a full, ongoing "guided" package, students could pay a one-off fee to have their current level assessed and then a plan drawn up and lessons suggested to do with the exception that only one plan could be provided every.. 3 or may be 6 months, thus to avoid people over using it instead of using the guided plan which is a month by month plan.
suxiaoya
Thanks for your feedback, light487. We are looking at ways to add more flexibility to our teacher services, and I think "getting started" with ChinesePod/Mandarin is a key area to address. You suggestion is great and I'll be sure to share it.
trevorb
April 06, 2010, 09:42 PMAs I don't have access to anyone that speaks Chinese the guided plan gives me some pretty useful feedback and some where to listen to the language live.
I've found that listening to a person is harder than listening to the dialogues, as you are never quite sure where the conversation is going. It did take me a while to settle into it, though I think I still force my tutor to have to exercise great patience!
I'm tempted by the virtual classroom thing as a short but intense way to focus on my studies as if anything the flexibility of CPod learning leads me to inconstant studying at times.
Of course if you are in china or have a Chinese confident none of this would be as important for you.
suxiaoya
trevorb, thank you for sharing this. I've also found that speaking/listening practice in a live situation is the best (only?) way for me to actually drum new vocab into my head. Even though I live in China, I still get a lot of value out of reguar practice with my teacher, the ever-patient and good-humoured Amanda.
suxiaoya
April 07, 2010, 01:40 AMThanks for your feedback, light487. We are looking at ways to add more flexibility to our teacher services, and I think "getting started" with ChinesePod/Mandarin is a key area to address. You suggestion is great and I'll be sure to share it.
suxiaoya
April 07, 2010, 01:51 AMtrevorb, thank you for sharing this. I've also found that speaking/listening practice in a live situation is the best (only?) way for me to actually drum new vocab into my head. Even though I live in China, I still get a lot of value out of reguar practice with my teacher, the ever-patient and good-humoured Amanda.
suxiaoya
April 07, 2010, 01:59 AM@billglover - do feel free to contact us directly should you have any questions about the way Virtual School works or would like to look at the curriculum etc. We'd be happy to give you a call and chat through the options.
One thing to note is that Virtual is currently geared around Newbie and Elementary learners. If you are looking at a more advanced level, therefore, Guided is probably more suitable because we can tailor a lesson plan to suit you.
user76423
April 06, 2010, 08:48 PM好久不見！
I signed up to "Guided" two weeks ago. After the first session, which I found not very efficient and useful (for me!), and one week of intensive use of all Premium web features, I changed back to "Basic", which seems to have the best feature set for me with the best price tag.