User Comments - mikeinewshot

Posted on: Eating Dinner with a Client

On closer inspection, this would again appear to be a case of the wrong words being put in the vocabulary section.

Instead of words like 计划书 and 百忙, we are given 累 and 客气。

Clearly whoever chooses the vocabulary for a lesson is (dare I say) at fault and completely decoupled - with apparently no quality review process. As I mentioned this problem has recently become 常见的

Posted on: Numbers in Chinese

Actually, I was replying to podster to say that Butt load was not in my vocabulary, but in fact nor is bajillion.

Posted on: Numbers in Chinese

Certainly NOT in my vocabulary, but I am not American!

Posted on: Eating Dinner with a Client

Having now listened to the lesson, I see that that is not an elementary lesson format but is intermediate in style. So maybe I am wrong. Is Chinesepod reducing the difficulty of Intermediate and upper intermediate lessons intentionally, or maybe this is indeed just at the bottom end of the intermediate spectrum ie a relatively easy intermediate lesson?

Posted on: Eating Dinner with a Client

Intermediate lessons that seem Elementary, Upper intermediate lessons that are Intermediate, odd vocabulary choice, issues in the vocabulary section ... A welcome apology from Vera recently but ....

I posted recently that I didn't think there was a deliberate change of level of lesson, it was just a quality issue, but I am not sure now

Posted on: Shadow Play

Thank you Vera. It's also reassuring when someone actually listens to the users. There are a number of other lessons which suffer with similar problems which have not been changed however.

I hope that 'being more careful' becomes part of Chinesepod process in the future.

Posted on: Adjusting the Screen

I have never really worried about this too much. It seems to me that English has a clear distinction between n and ng endings which are easy for us to pronounce and distinguish and which are similar to the Mandarin 前鼻音 and 后鼻音. Maybe I am deluding myself but I have never been corrected by a native speaker including those from Beijing and the North. Surely if you know the pinyin you will pronounce it correctly.

As for comprehension, you have to be able to understand Southerners and Northerners, so you should not be phased too much if you hear them reversed.

Of course I cannot speak for learners with other Mother tongues than English. I suspect that learners with other Chinese dialects as mother tongue may have a problem though.

Much more difficult for me is trying to understand Taiwanese and Guandong people who pronounce shi as si and so on....

Posted on: Shadow Play

I don't think it is deliberate. I suspect it is happening because of lack of quality control and oversight.

Posted on: Shadow Play

Am I being too critical if I point out that 纸板, zhǐ bǎn cardboard, does not appear in the vocabulary,nor does 什刹海; and that 人物 is given as 'person' rather than 'character'. Also with have 下 and 意思 in the vocabulary that really shouldn't need to be in an intermediate lesson.

I had once come to expect a very high level from Chinesepod, but I fear standards have slipped, as I find issues with virtually the vocabulary section of virtually all the lessons I look at.

You need a proof reader/reviewer - you could offer me the job - Just Kidding.

Incidentally Jenny used what I consider a very useful word which I have sought for some time - 语境 - context

Posted on: Tropical Fish

Actually the phrase I liked the best is '养死过‘ which sadly wasn't mentioned by Shanell or Jenny.