I thawt I saw a tumbleweed

podster

Indeed. Keep your shirt on. 不是脱衣服的地方。 而是 一条 的意思。

Right-Wingnut

Please promise you'll keep your shirt on too, Onslow.

I'm surprised I haven't heard this term before. I usually at least recognise Americanisms, even though I might not know what they refer to.

mark

mr_trendy, in this case "strip" refers to the architecture. The stores are all in a line, kind of like a strip of paper. Kind of like a blank strip of paper recently.

Right-Wingnut

Hi Mark. I looked up photos on Google. We have them too - everywhere - but we just call them Shopping Centres.

Has Qingwen gone AWOL before?

mark

I don't recall Qing Wen going awol before, but it could just be a technical glitch. I don't know.

Purrfecdizzo

yeah, not quite the same as a strip bar..

Purrfecdizzo

Yeah, my feeling exactly. It is so strange not to see a lesson of some type on Saturday.

guolan

Just in case Chinese Pod gauges interest by our comments here, I want to say that I also gain the most from the Advanced and Media lessons, and that it matters to me that they are showing up less and less often.

floalvarez

This is not a problem for me yet as I still need maybe 2 years to complete all the Advanced and Media lesson. I will cross the bridge when I get there.

Purrfecdizzo

I am not sure, but the higher levels may require more work than the lower levels, so therefore, maybe they are more taxing in terms of preperation time and cerebral energy. If that is true (and I don't know if it is), then maybe it does make sense that there are fewer of these lessons because they require more labor than the easier lessons, meaning that they are more valuable.

Don't misunderstand, I don't mean to marginalize your consideration, but I simply want to offer a different perspective.

guolan

And I completely understand (and support, albeit grudgingly) Chinesepod's decision to focus on the other levels, seeing as it seems the majority of users are seeking the lower levels.

I just wanted to get my vote in, so that my voice would be heard should they reconsider their decision!

guolan

I actually haven't done most of the back lessons. I think my pleasure in using Chinesepod is participating in the discussion and debate that follows each new lesson in the week immediately after it is posted.

It is true that, if I want more advanced/media lessons, I should simply go to the archives, and, tada, there they are. I think I don't do that because it would be starting a task that seems overwhelming. It seems simpler, and more fun, and more like I'm part of an on-line community, to simply try to keep up with all the lessons (intermediate and up) as they are posted, and to try to master each one.

mark

I like to listen to the Cpod staff chat about random stuff. Occasionally I learn something about China or the Chinese language from their unscripted remarks and it is entertaining. This kind of show seems to be less and less a part of the Cpod format, though. First the cutback on upper level lessons. Now, it seems the weekend shows are going. I used to be able to count on Cpod the provide four or five interesting to listen to shows a week. Now, it is down to one or two. (a UI and sometimes an advanced lesson). The intermediates are getting progressively more formulaic, and the elies and newbies achieved cookie cutter blandness long ago.

(I still have 20 or so media lessons to go through, and I will have completed the archive.)

floalvarez

You enjoy the interaction. I would do that too if I had more time. We just had a meeting at the Orlando Chinese School and we are being encouraged to use more computer in our teaching. I see its value particularly in using clips to introduce Chinese culture and in using games for to learn new words and in putting them in the right sentence order. I plan to get a laptop, create a website and work on these goals for the next school year.

podster

Flo,

Interesting project. I used to use Rosetta Stone, and I always thought it would be best as a review module for some classroom based instruction, even though it is presented as a self-contained immersion package. I know Berlitz was doing something in cooperation with Rosetta Stone, but I have no direct experience. Is Orlando Chinese School a weekend school or is it full week, half day immersion, or what? I think both Rosetta Stone and Skritter have some good discounts for schools. Most of my on-line study is with CPod and Skritter, which are linked, but I don't know if CPod has educator discounts. Please keep us up to date on how the website goes. You will probably get some feedback from the community here, some of which may actually be useful ;).

pretzellogic

podster, just curious, but why you haven't branched out into incorporating other online sites like the Chinese versions of China Daily or BBC News, or Chinasmack.com or the other Chinese online content into your language learning?

podster

pretz,

laziness and ignorance would be the two main reasons. But I am getting a bit better. I am starting to realize I need to wean myself off of solely relying on learning sites and go for more "in the wild" Chinese. thanks for the pointers.