In many respect, I also find that the newer lessons are much more difficult than the older ones of the same level (holds for all levels). However, I like it, and the level given here corresponds indeed to the standard international nomenclature for foreign languages.
TO be honest, Iād almost just like my money back for my yearly subscription for a few reasons. I feel like I was duped into buying a yearās subscription, because there was absolutely no warning about Fiona and Gwilym and Constance leaving, you offered a yearly subscription, and the day after, they announced they were leaving. I am greatly disappointed to see them go. To be honest it seems like there must have been a falling out of some kind and it taints all of the content. I donāt see any assurance that there will be as interesting of content or as interesting of hosts. So Iām very worriedā¦
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I would like to see:
- the list of my studied lessons to be arranged in chronological order, from latest studied to older one, with info on the date last opened. This will help me go back to review old lessons.
- suggestion function: when I am learning a lesson, it would be good to have suggestions of old lessons in the archive with similar topic/vocab so that I can choose to enhance my memory of the same vocab. It is great to have new lessons ptoduced, but I do feel that Chinesepod has a fantastic library of old lessons that are underutilized.
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ChinesePod is so sad. Please get the site up soon so I can decide whether to contune with it or not.
Bill Aufderheide
Seacoastpet
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I have missed some of the information about the changes that are coming, but I can get the general idea from the posts. However, I would ask, Why any changes? Has the business been losing money?
I have been a subscriber for most of the years that ChinesePod has been operating, I believe, but in any case for a very long time. I am pleased with the current team, and with the video lessons in particular. The personalities of the current team are a great asset for promoting learning.
I am also pleased with the content they have had during these years. The only shortcoming has been the IT functionality, which nevertheless has improved somewhat over time.
I wish that an email notice of the issues had been sent to me. But anyway, I fully support the current program and will bear with the management while they you make any changes. Hopefully they will result in just as good a learning system as you had before.
Unlike some of the posters, I do not want any free lessons. I feel that anything that I/we can do to support this admirable teaching program for the Chinese language is worthwhile. We must all realize that this is unquestionably the best Chinese language learning system available anywhere on the internet.
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Hi Bill! Please make sure to let us know at support@chinesepod.com if you cannot access our services. Weāre not seeing any issues from our end.
Iāve been a member, and raving fan, of ChinesePod for the last 10 years. What Iāve been paying for is new up-to-date lessons designed by an amazing team of language teachers. Iāve not been paying for access to archives. This is what the new management fail to understand. Youāve cut off the head of the goose that laid your golden eggs, and so Iāve cancelled my subscription.
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I liked the start of ATWTI but those needed to be a bit higher level. Frankly, I think the jump from elementary to intermediate is the tough one.
Also, I have been a basic member on and off and on for 10 years and am just not a candidate for a more intense learning level. I think even at 14 a month (I usually pay $39 quarterly) the services/components I get are a bit sparse. I would like to see this level also include a bit more of the learning aids.
I get that you need to make money so I donāt have an idea on your cash flow but I would like to see some of these features? Maybe some slimmed version as stepping stone to premium?
Lesson dialogue and audio review mp3ās
Grammar and expansion sentence breakdown
I agree, especially with a history function for the leesons past studied. Here is what I think could be improved
Add a personal history function that shows recently read together with studied/non studied status and exercise score. Link it to the progress page so that users can measure their progress as well as easily find and review or improve on past performance - this can be quite motivating for improvement and I have been motivated by it on other sites.
For the find lessons function, I find it really annoying that Chinesepod does not remember last search setting (such as level, studied/non-studied, keyword etc). When you go to find a new lesson, it should be showing the same search options, and Ideally list the last 3-5 lessons read as well so it is easy to return to them. At the moment it remembers nothing and shows latest by default, so you have to set up a new search each time and remember which ones you were up to.
If you have been using any of the playlists - all is forgotten on next lesson search. I think that if you have selected a lesson from a playlist, the next search should should the playlist and show it highlighted at the last lesson read. This would both help and encourage users to follow a suggested order leading to more learning styles. It would be great if you could create a personal playlist - this might be an extension of a history function where past lessons are shown and yet to be studied lessons can be added to the list. It would probably lead to users wanting to share a suggested progress order of lessons.
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It has been 2 weeks since the last Intermediate or above lesson. As a long time subscriber, who has already listened to all the archived lessons from even the days of Jenny Zhu, I feel very disappointed especially after having my account just auto-renewed without any communication as to when lessons will resume or if my subscription will be extended. Is pissing off long-time subscribers the business strategy for the new management?
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Iām going to cancel. CPod used to be the best, but no more.
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Iām editing (well substantially deleting) this post because I realize ChinesePod DOES now have six levels and not the five I thought. Not sure when they slipped the Preintermediate level in but it could explain why things seemed to have got harder at the levels above. Having six levels is good because it corresponds to the six levels at HSK.
I do hope the resources are available for more Media style lessons though because I think that is a good format. And perhaps it would be possible to bring in some unscripted interview style classes or guided discussions with native speakers. They would require more editing but that might be balanced by the time saved on writing a script. I mean as a supplement to the existing format to create more variety.
Thank you for your constructive suggestions. We agree with you that we need a better way to suggest lessons for you to take next. We have been working on upgrading our technology to be able to do this. I will be sharing your suggestions with our developers.
I would love to see more of the ATWTI concept, a path to follow starting with lesson 1, instead of random lessons. I also like the practice page with links to other (older) podcasts that are about the same subject as the lesson.
Alexyzye, from the way theyāve been answering, it looks like they donāt place a priority on creating new lessons. At any rate, since theyāre not providing new lessons, Iām sure theyāll let you cancel your subscription (as it was auto-renewed). If they donāt, then weāll know whatās really motivating them.
Having messaged the team privately, I am satisfied with the compensation they have provided me with in the meantime, though I would like to see an extension for all those who purchased an annual membership.
In saying this, however, I am a firm exponent of the theory, āif it aināt broke, donāt fix it.ā
My hope is basically that the services will continue as per normal eventually without any major overhaul or drastic change to the format of ChinesePod lessons (that is what I paid for).
One thing I have noticed with more recent lessons is that the āexpansionā section is not quite as exhaustive as it used to be. In the days of Jenny, it used to feature significantly more sample sentences, instructing users how to use the newly acquired vocabulary and apply it in context. This is what what originally justified the difference price between the ābasicā and āpremiumā packages on offer.
If possible, I would love to see a return of that format.
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Sorry guys, but thatās now a bit too much. I accepted the auto renewal beginning of last October. But then in December I recognized that the amount of new episodes seemed to decrease. And now Fioana, Gwylym and Constance have left. But there seems to be not immediate plan. No alternatve. Either this move was surprising, then the internal communication seemed to be sub-optimal, or the consequences were not taken into account, which would be highly unpressional.
For now, I have cancelled the auto-renew of my subscription. If there will be a clear plan, a distiinct schedule, both asap, I will check again. But until then - Iām really annoyed.
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As a very longstanding subscriber, I have some comments and suggestions.
First of all, I am disappointed at the lack of communication regarding the departure of Fiona et al and its consequences.
I only found out what was happening by accident when I had a look at this forum.
As paid subscribers, we should be getting new lessons on a regular basis. The very least one can expect is an explanation and an apology, plus an offer of an extended subscription to make up for the lost lessons.
Regarding the lessons, I had been less happy with them over the last several months, and found myself studying them less and less. The upper intermediate lessons were becoming too difficult and were not focused on language that is usable in everyday conversation.
I suggest the following: formulate lessons around everyday situations. Avoid highly complex structures and vocabulary that is not used day to day. Try to have the lessons follow one from another, so that some vocabulary is used over and over in different situations and possibly in somewhat more complex ways, as the lessons progressā¦ Use more words from the lessons in the review section. Use shorter sentences in the review lessons.
May I add that it is distracting when the hosts are too chatty and overly personal ā¦ with excessive laughing or giggling! I did appreciate the hosts who have left but this was sometimes an issue with them.
thank you
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100% agree. Last night, I reviewed the lesson å½ä¼ē§ęå and discovered a marked difference in quality between the more recent lessons and those with Jenny and other hosts like ä¹č§. The lesson was challenging, the vocabulary was difficult, but you felt that after studying the lesson, you could genuinely apply the newly-acquired vocabulary to real-life situations and high-level discussions.
My hope is that they return to the topics revolving around real-world applicability rather than the ones you previously spoke about. Fiona and Constance had one really strong point, however; their čÆ·é®.
Iām luckier I guess than you other podsters. I just signed up for 99cents yesterday after being really impressed with the site. I wonāt be continuing. When three great presenters leave in one hit, it comes back to management or lack of it. Not one answer to the many suggestions of freezing payments tells me everything I need to know. Sad to leave. Zai jian.
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