ChinesePod - Mandarin on Your Terms

I love learning Chinese. For me it is not an academic exercise but a means of communication with Lailai and while she speaks English extremely well I feel it is only right that I should aim for an equivalent fluency in her language. Learning languages for the sake of learning can be a rewarding experience by itself but there is nothing better than the feeling you get when you have the chance to put it into practice. To sit in on a conversation in Chinese and to be able to understand what is going on still makes me excited. Of course my level of Chinese is nothing spectacular but it is amazing what you can pick up and how your ear can be trained to pick up the gist of what is being said even though you might not know every single piece of vocabulary that was being used. It is that ability to train your ear and become familiar with the sounds of the language that can get you through a conversation.

I had been picking my way at the language for years trying to crack open the nut that is Chinese but my success was limited. Using books with dry dialogues that moved too fast, presented too much and got too advanced too quickly compounded my problems. It was when I was searching the internet (yet again!) from resources for learning Chinese that I came across ChinesePod. It was like the hazy fog that separated me from my goals suddenly started to be dissolved by the voices of one Jenny Zhu and fellow Irishman Ken Carroll. Presenting daily podcasts with practical Chinese as it is actually spoken has been a godsend! With varying levels of lessons there is something there for everyone attempting to start or improve their learning of Chinese.

The Chinesepod system allows you to learn at your own pace and tailor your learning for your specific needs by allowing you to dip in and out of their large collection of lessons to make sure your Mandarin Chinese learning is meaningful to you. However one of the most important aspects of learning with Chinesepod is the online community of learners which has developed. The sharing of resources between users and the feedback they give to Chinesepod are what make it so engaging. Furthermore that feedback is listened to and acted upon to bring the lessons that are wanted by listeners.

In short I am a big fan and my increased progress is due in no small measure to Chinesepod which is why I have included a link to their site on my blog. If you want to start learning Chinese and haven't yet done so then head on over to www.chinesepod.com. With free daily podcasts you can only gain from this service.

They offer many more tools to help you to "drill down" the language, to borrow a term from Ken Carroll, which are available when you subscribe to them. At this moment I can not afford to subscribe but I am sure that their learning tools perfectly compliment their excellent lessons from what I have seen from their website. A free preview is also available for one week which I have yet to try since I am waiting for a time when I have nothing else to disturb me and I will blast into it headlong!

Hope this post can steer some people in the right direction when it comes to their studies of Mandarin Chinese. Good luck!