ChinesePod Does Integrated Chinese
Since I’m spending a fair amount of time on it these days, I figured it’s about time I plugged a blog I’m doing for ChinesePod: The ChinesePod Integrated Chinese Blog.
The idea is to take a textbook that a ton of universities are already using and connect it to other online resources and free materials in digital form. Through this blog, college students motivated to really learn Chinese can easily complement and beef up their IC studies.
Obviously, ChinesePod has something to gain by doing this, but I think the general idea is a good one. The exchange works both ways: the blog could lead to web surfers buying the book, and also to textbook users getting into online resources. More of this kind of online-offline educational exchange (whether it involves either IC or ChinesePod) would be beneficial for everyone.
Anyway, check it out. Especially if you’re using Integrated Chinese.
Related: Sinosplice Chinese Study Book Reviews
- Integrated Chinese: Level 1 (by me)
- Integrated Chinese: Level 2 (by me)
- Integrated Chinese: Levels 1, 2 (by Prince Roy)
That’s awesome. That’s my favorite new Chinese Pod thing I’ve ever seen you write about. The single biggest thing that caused my initial negative reaction towards Chinese Pod was the marketing. It seemed to be positioning itself as a superior alternative to textbook based in-class learning, rather than a complimentary learning strategy. Tying into existing teaching structures is a great idea, though. If you guys don’t make supporting materials, Cheng & Tsui just might.
This is a great idea. I have no doubt that using the CPod and textbook-driven university classes together will lead to far, far better results than either alone. There is one small thing to keep in mind though– many universities, including my alma mater, use traditional characters for the first year. It would be very little additional effort to write both scripts in the IC blog, and it would be a big help to a lot of beginning students.
Wow. Very nice. I really wish this had been around back in 2000 when I used this book.
Thank you very much! It’s incredibly useful. Your hard work is greatly appreciated.
This is really cool! I dabbled in Chinese Pod a little while back but with this feature I’m definitely giving it another go.
Rosetta Stone may soon have a rival from China.
John, Check ur email from me as well when you get a chance. I have a request.
We used Integrated Chinese in my intensive, first-year course during the Summer of 2006, and around the same time I discovered Chinese Pod. I used both resources daily during that course, and it proved to be an ideal combination. I am glad to see this method is being promoted.
From my experiences with the second-year text — which I finished Spring of 2007 — a Chinese-Pod-Integrated-Chinese hybrid structure would be even more useful, because it serves several functions: (1) introduces new, relevant material, (2) reinforces recently-introduced material, and (3) re-uses some already learned material that IC may not re-introduce (although they re-introduce often) — such as, 風景，打針，停車, 語言實驗室, color terms, clothing terms, ext.
I think it would be great if a department took “the leap” and integrated both resources — Chinese Pod and IC — into their first-year and second-year curriculum.
And the above commenter is correct — many universities require traditional characters for the first year, and some teach traditional for the second, but provide simplified versions of the tests. as my alma mater does.
Can anyone provide me with a link to the integrated chinese content on chinesepod or do i need to have a paid subscription?