Hit me with your best... lessons.
frank
February 07, 2009, 07:00 AM posted in General DiscussionHiya folks!
A week from today I'll be on a plane bound for my new home: Shanghai! Back when I was writing the Newbie blog (does anybody even remember that?), I had given my thoughts on the top lessons you should know before traveling to China. Now I'm turning it around and asking you. What, to you, are the MUST HAVE lessons on my iPod before the captain turns on the no-smoking sign?
I'm at the early edge of Intermediate, so anything in that range and below is welcome.
Thanks!
Frank
frank
February 07, 2009, 09:41 PMFantastic suggestions, sushan! Thank you so much!
mickeytoon
February 09, 2009, 09:53 PMHi Frank
Three Intermediate lessons that I seem compelled to listen to over and over again (even though I know them virtually by heart) are:
Godzilla in Shanghai - the craziness of Jenny's favourite monster "cuihui-ing" his way through Shanghai coupled with both presenters' obvious enjoyment make this one irresistible. It's a bit taxing in terms of dialogue speed but hte entertainment value more than compensates for this.
London - the vocab is a bit low frequency and specialist but I like the fact that instead of the usual eulogizing over the best points of a city we have the two interlocutors arguing about whether or not London is ‘pants’. A question close to my heart…
Chinese Tea – a nice easy listening lesson and a reminder of the early days with Ken and Jenny. Great on vocab patterns.
Two Elementary Lessons for the road (or the air in your case):
Clogged Toilet
Cold From Bike
Love both of these.
Safe flying!
bababardwan
February 09, 2009, 10:22 PMHey Frank,
How about:
Intermediate - Will you marry me?
..you never know your luck in the big city....
frank
February 10, 2009, 06:04 AMHaha. Godzilla and marriage proposals. Only on ChinesePod. Zod, I love this place. :)
pretzellogic
June 12, 2009, 05:44 AMNow that you're presumably in China, I was wondering what you thought of the lesson suggestions you received. I was disappointed that i didn't listen to more of the lessons as sets. For example, listening and learning all of the taxi related dialogues, and getting myself around. After getting good at the taxi/directions lessons, then listening to all the food related dialogues and ordering in restaurants as a set. I think it anchored my intuition more, and more quickly. Better to know one area really well, than lots of areas badly.
sushan
February 07, 2009, 07:35 AMHere are the ten Intermediates I would take with me. A mix of culture, practical vocab, and humour:
Girly Talk - This is still funny no matter how many times I listen. Pretty high-level intermediate though.
A Trip to the Dry Cleaners great for clothes and measure words
Subway Announcements - would review this one if I was going to Shanghai specifically
The Drug Dealer - a classic
Evading Nosy Questions - very practical cultural topic
The DVD Ploy - though this one is more for humour (spoilers in comments)
Airplane Arrival since you will soon be hearing the vocab reinforced
Tool Delivery for the twist at the end (may be spoilers in comments)
Language Power Struggle you definitely will be able to relate to this one after a short time in China
Stopped at the Gate for security guard and address vocab