There have been some changes to the weekend time slots starting with Buzzwords. Buzzwords was a podcast we published every Saturday in cooperation with Shanghai Daily. As some of you have already noticed we are no longer producing the Buzzwords podcast. Similar material is covered in the Word on the Street podcast we are publishing biweekly in partnership with City Weekend magazine. You can find our WOS podcasts inside the Podcast Archive.
The end of Buzzwords means that we have some space available in the Saturday timeslot for a new show. There has been a lot of discussion internally, and we have come up with some rather interesting ideas - Community Update, Another Lesson Pod, User Questions, Game Show, Practice Session, etc. At this point we are still far from making a decision ,and we would like to get feedback from our users. Please send us an email or include your ideas and suggestions in a comment.
Fresh air is also being put into our weekly news update. We are going to start including a feature interview segment starting this week with our very own John Pasden of Sinosplice.com fame. Stay tuned for more information about future guests.
Kind Regards,
Duan Wei 段伟
Hi Duan Wei,
Since you’re the one posting, you’re going to have to be my hackey-sack (object of my criticism) for the moment. Although it occurs everywhere, I have noticed in China that things can change very abruptly, cafe’s will close, shops disappear in a day, and just as quickly new things appear. This is part of the dynamic and fun of being in China today.
However, keep in mind that your audience for Cpod is quite global and heavily weighted toward North America. If I could suggest, the expectations for transition are much higher. TV shows in N. America start and stop exactly on the hour or half hour. When a store wants to remodel there is plenty of notice given. Etc., etc. Why is this so, it is because the customers rely and willingly pay for consistency and quality so as to make their own hectic lives more manageable. Kids carry Palm Pilots to school these days! Families put up a schedule on the fridge.
The recent upgrades, closure of Jpod, the seeminly moving target extra casts, while wanted, are a bit disruptive. Cpod has a nice mout because of it’s professionalism, always keep that in mind, especially with scheduling–and with news whether it is good or bad. Remember, when I order fries at McDonalds it’s ALWAYS the same, day after day, month after month. BTW, KFC in China has this new chicken-burger that is reallly good. Shu tiao.
Now I’m hungry, keep up the good work, looking forward to all the new content, I crave input!
I posted this someplace else since we don’t have a forum to keep all comments on a subject together (hint) Anyways before you asked I thought this might be appropriate :
I also have a suggestion for Ken and the Cpod HQ. Can you consider getting Skype and everyweek doing a practice lessson with a willing volunteer? Record it and let us all hear. I don’t want to put Bazza on the spot but use the lesson plan with he and Jenny. ( Bazza you can only say 我愛你 once to Jenny) See if it works and modify based on real data. Use as many volunteers as possible. Ideally we can hear Newbies, Elementary……. Aric with Faye Wang making a guest appearance!
—> BTW I will figure out what Skype is and get it if you go ahead so I will line up as a volunteer as well.
Hi!
Too bad the Buzzwords are gone - I really loved them.
One idea to fill the gap could be publishing short articles form “real” Chinese magazines and present them like lessons including translations and vocabulary (written only should do for the weekends). Contents could be “boulevardy” & spicy topics that are currently “hot” in mainland China - not too tough to grasp and fitting in the Buzzwords slot (like in the Chinese Super Singer show). Not verbose political or philosphical essays…
The main benefit would be that such articles can act as a baseline for evaluating where one stands in relation to the “real stuff” and not just in comparison to a pre-digested language lesson (which is of course better suited for systematical learning).
I know this would incur some efforts but I think its an idea worth evaluating.
Besides than that another (intermediate) lesson always fits in of course
Best regards from a rainy Cologne!
Henning
(I’m posting this again because since we don’t have a forum like http://wushu.be/ChinesePod it is almost impossible to find or link anything here)
At Someplace Else, I replied…
Mike, we tried recording a demo practice session a month ago, on both Microsoft and Unix platforms, and Skype does not record, even using software designed for the purpose. A few small groups including some of the best Internet protocol and software minds looked at our problem, and no solution could be found that really truly worked. We contacted a place that records skype interviews for a podcast, and they were using a hardware solution.
If anyone has a solution, and HAS ACTUALLY MADE IT WORK SEVERAL TIMES, please let me know. (I’m not interested in testing any more of the “I’m certain it will work” theories. They don’t, and they waste time.)
It’s definitely possible to record Skype interviews, they’ve been done on another podcast I follow: Top Of The Pods.
Sure it’s possible. I have emails from dozens of techie types assuring me it is possible to record skype. Funny, convinced as they are, none of them have done it themselves. That caused me to invest a couple of weekends in futility. I’m happy to add anyone else’s name to that list of believers, but I’d be ecstatic if someone who had actually made it work repeatably was saying so.
Duan Wei
I wish you would start sending the pdfs again by email. That was main reason for me subscribing to Cpod. It is now alot of extra work to send to my mobile phone the pdfs.
Please add some advanced classes covering sourcing topics such as forwarding, metals, plastics and other common commodities that us USA guilos are buying from China. I agree with Lantian about the changes. I prefer you add services instead of taking them away. I liked the high spirit of the Shanghai Daily broadcasts even though most Chinese never heard of those buzzwords.
Richard
The show last year with Shanghai hua was very good. Please toss into the mix learning some other dialects as an occasional fun show. I have strong interest to learn Taiwanese but it is very difficult to find good resources. Maybe others have faced the same problem with Taiwan suppliers who switch when they know you speak Mandarin.
I love the podcasts. Do something different on the weekends. I never used buzzwords. I mean I never really used them. I like the idea of interviewing different people. Whatever you do make the weekends totally different from the regular podcast lessons.
I like Henning Baarr’s ideas too. Word on the Street is a nice little segment…the Buzzwords were interesting but slipped in one ear & out the other-probably of better use to more adept students. For me as a Lower intermediate the content doesn’t have to be too (vocabulary) dense but high interest (as indeed Cpod is great at delivering so far!)…& hearing the spoken word with some written explanation would be perfect! I look forward to the interviews too but maybe they too will be better for more advanced students.
Yes, I agree with Sue. I never used the buzzwords either. I guess it depends on your learning level. At an elementary stage I doubt your going to be using the word 白骨精 (baigujing) when you can’t even ask where the restroom is. It may be helpful to those on the streets of China, but I am a long way from the streets of China…
That being said, here’s my suggestion:
Idiom of the week
C’mon C’pod! I have been disappointed somewhat by the lack of attention given to idioms. Chinese is full of them, I come across them all the time when reading (I don’t know how common they are in speech). It’s hard to find an idiom dictionary in America (if anyone knows a good one, please let me know). You could give background details which would make it easier to remember. I think this would be something we all would actually use.
Mike / Liantian
You are absolutely correct. Managing customer expectations is an important part of brand building. Lessons were learned when we discontinued the Japanese version of ChinesePod. And those lessons will be taken into consideration when we make changes to the ChinesePod service going forward. Buzzwords was a joint effort between ChinesePod and Shanghai Daily. When that partnership ended so did the Buzzwords program. We like working with media partners like Shanghai Daily and City Weekend, and we will continue to publish co-produced programs. The constant strive to stay fresh and relevant within the Media industry means that programs change and partnerships evolve. This will ultimately be reflected in the programming we bring you through ChinesePod. As the saying goes “out with the old and in with the new”. The A-Team was great in the 80’s but I don’t think I could say the same thing had it run for 20 years.
Mike / Auntie Sue / Bazza
We plan on leveraging Skype in the interview segments we have planned. Many of the personalities we want to interview are located overseas. Recording interviews over Skype offers a quick and dirty way to connect with interesting people around the world, and share their knowledge and experience with our users. I know Ken is pretty excited about the potential. Other capabilities like conference calling are still being investigated.
So who is Duan Wei anyway?
Actually it is me - Matt. Duan Wei 段伟 is my Chinese name. I usually sign off on my posts as “Matt Park 段伟” but for some reason I typed Pinyin this time. Perhaps this is a sign that my thought process is becoming Chinese? More likely lack of coffee.
Kind Regards,
Matt Park 段伟
I like the idea of a Game Show, that could be fun.
The end of Buzzwords means that we have some space available in the Saturday timeslot for a new show. [… snip ] At this point we are still far from making a decision ,and we would like to get feedback from our users.
How about some “Power” episodes for rapidly building vocabulary with substitution drills?
Such shows (in my dreams) would focus on ONE grammatical aspect per episode: Adjectives, Adverbs, Measure Words, Prepositions, Interrogatives, Numbers, Time, Pronouns, etc.
A show on ADVERBS might be:
–The mother spoke loudly to the children.
–The mother spoke lovingly to the children.
–The mother spoke quickly to the children.
–The mother spoke harshly to the children.
–The mother spoke rudely to the children.
–etc.
A show on PREPOSITIONS might be:
–The hat is on the bed.
–The hat is under the bed.
–The hat is behind the bed.
–The hat is next to the bed.
–The hat is in front of the bed.
–etc.
You get the idea.
UNDERSTAND, this type of lesson done in isolation is next to worthless and the reason many people fail when they study a language. It is “content” without “context” and is quickly forgotten. However, when used in concert with and as a suppliment to the regular podcasts … it can work very well. It’s a matter of approach.
How about a 成语 section, where we can learn more Chinese sayings - some of the interesting ones. There was some interest at one stage in number sayings, and I know there’s a lot using animals, like dragons, horses, phoenices, turtles, qilin, etc. Some o the more interesting and/or high frequency ones would be cool.
I like Fu Da Wei’s suggestion. His examples above are very useful as is one AuntySue mentioned a long time ago. On ” No” when to use 没有,不,無 or on measure words like ones that can often be confused ( at least I do) 位,個,號.
Since the show would appear on a Saturday even though I would assume you would record a day or two earlier. It might be that the show is more timely, in other words go through the blog, comments find something that was hot and more or less put it together quickly or even with no script.
I think we can do a casual lesson on Saturday. BTW if you continue to have lessons like The Monkey King and My Boss Was Fired in one week, then the days the lessons are for brand new Newbies. I have more than enought to digest. Those two are great lessons. I have to put them in my individual lesson plan. Thank you
Mike in Jubei
Mike in Jubei
Adverbs, prepositions, measure words, proverbs, idioms etc all sounds a bit like a return to high school Latin to me, a bit traditional and dry. On a Saturday we should attempt to have some fun? Above are already mentioned games and interviews. Perhaps we could submit our own written (or spoken) and hopefully entertaining articles, in Pinyin or Hanzi of course, to form the basis of a Cpod studio discussion (or dissection!). This would give all levels an opportunity to contribute, with the discussion held at approximately the same level.
Yes, I think Jenny speaks really posh zhong wen, like the chinese we all learned from books, but I cant say that its how mandarin is spoken on the street. Ive talked to people from as north as Shen Yang to as south as Fu Jian. And they all use what I have come to understand as real spoken chinese eg:
Jenny will say Gong Zuo where the ‘z’ of zuo has the ‘ds’ sound thats in all the text books we read. But normally people pronunce zuo as zhuo(strong “jew” sound at the start.) and also the dreded Beijing style ‘R’ sound dose have a function in everyday use, and I really feel its absence when listening to Jenny speak, Like for example when I hear words like gong yuan, Im used to hearing Gong ‘yuar’. These and thing like the Chinese using the word ‘Kuai’ for money really trew me when I first arrived in China.
Maybe a newbi lesson showing some examples of this kind of speech in action would be benifical for learners who might know how to say Gong Yuan but dont know what a Gong yuar is.