User Comments - xiaophil
xiaophil
Posted on: Podcast Language 2
May 31, 2009 at 2:36 AMbobt 2062
You know one problem is that there are vastly different language backgrounds here. Roughly, extremely roughly, we can say there are two groups of students here: group one, learns in a non-native environment; group two, learns in a native environment. I are in 'group two'. I guess you are in 'group one'. I have in the past had classmates who are Japanese and Korean who seemed to breeze through the material while I felt clueless. At the time I felt it was so unfair because it seemed like there was no system other than throw a bunch of words at us. While I always did struggle to keep up with Asian classmates, I did notice that what was hard in the beginning had become easier later. This has influenced my view of learning. I'm pretty sure if I was a 'group one' fellow, I would want things to slow down a bit because I don't have the environment to support my learning.
Anyway, I'm not saying that they can't improve their lessons. Quite possibly you are more right than me. However, I do feel confident saying one thing: you are probably absorbing much more than you think, as long as you keep at it.
That's my liang fen.
Posted on: Podcast Language 2
May 31, 2009 at 2:02 AMtimsism
I'm also skeptical of learning the 'natural' way, at least totally. As for me, there is a lot of putting two-and-two together. For example, recently I was trying to explain to a Chinese 'outdated'. She said, "Oh, that is probably 过时." I know the characters 过 and 时's meaning respectfully, but I have never put the two together. Without looking at a dictionary, I knew she must be right, and she was.
I think a good mix of being told explicitely what something means and working out the rest ouselves is the best way. Feel free to disagree with me, but that's what worked/works for me.
Here is my gripe, though (and no, it isn't related to what I was just talking about):
I do wish that the pdf's vocabulary state if a word is primarily a noun, adjective, verb or a combination of two or three different grammar functions, etc. I know that in Chinese a words function is often fuzzy, but I would like an anchor. My crappy textbooks that I have bought in China are so far inferior to everything I have seen on Chinesepod, except they tell me a words function.
Please Chinesepod, can you do something about this? Please?
Posted on: Podcast Language 2
May 31, 2009 at 12:55 AMbobt_2062
Although I understand your frustration (and have lived through it too), I respectfully disagree with limiting the Chinese in the Intermediate level to just what appears in the PDF form.
Not fully understanding every little part has these benifits:
1) Lets you get used to how natural Chinese sounds.
2) Gives you added pressure to try to listen just a little harder so you can get the most out of your lesson.
3) Lets you figure out a few words on your own, the natural way (how kids do it). Even if you don't figure out a word on your own, later when you finally study the word, because you have already heard it several, perhaps many times before, it will be much easier to use.
4) Perhaps most importantly, helps you build a very important skill: grasping the content's meaning without necessarily understanding all the words. Chinese people won't necessarily know how to talk to you at your level, so its best to be able to learn to fill in the gaps the best you can.
So basically, I would have to say that Chinesepod has got their groove and I wouldn't mess with it TOO much. Just some tweaking here and there.
That said, this podcast should have come earlier, but better late than never.
I just hope that someday there is a qingwen that helps me finally figure out the rationale behind 弄 and 搞. (wink, wink.)
Posted on: Business Card Gone Wrong
April 7, 2009 at 3:01 AMThanks Green Leaf! I got it.
This brings up a question I have for Chinesepod. In your pdf's, how come you don't indicate the function of words, i.e. nouns, verbs, adjectives and so on? I think it would be VERY useful.
Whatcha think, Chinesepod?
Posted on: Business Card Gone Wrong
April 7, 2009 at 2:34 AM我想问一下。。。
Is there overlap between 设计 and 格式 as there is in English? For example, we might say:
"I like the format of your webpage."
or
"I like the design of your webpage."
Also, perhaps you mentioned it in the podcast and I didn't catch it, but in the pdf you don't mention which one is layout. Am I right to think that 设计 is more similar to layout than 格式?
Am I splitting hairs?
谢谢！
Posted on: 金字塔销售
April 7, 2009 at 1:32 AMThank you so, so much for this lesson!
Why am I so fervent? I am from Grand Rapids, Michigan, which is home to the head office of Amway.
Actually Jenny, I must respectfully disagree with you. Amway is a scam through-in-through.
Posted on: 赤壁之战
June 3, 2009 at 9:49 AM各人有各人的想法，不过，那我来说，这个课程棒极了，关于历史的podcast越多，我越高兴！