We have retested the torrent file, and it’s working great. To download a torrent file, you need a BitTorrent client (for example, BitComet or Azureus).
After your BitTorrent client is installed, your system should recognize the torrent filetype. Click on the link below and open the file with your BitTorrent client. That will get the download started.
ChinesePod 500 Lesson Torrent (3.1 GB)
Enjoy!
中文 Chinese
AZERDocMom 易新 Says:
May 19th, 2007 at 7:25 am
How long should it take to download the CPod Torrent? I started to download it with BitTorrent and it was going to take 2-3 DAYS…does that sound right? Thanks in advance for replying.
exuter Says:
May 19th, 2007 at 11:11 pm
Hi AZERDocMom,
it takes as long as it takes ;-), meaning:
it depends on your downloadrate(kbpersecond), how fast the tracker is,
how many people download simultanously, etc… .
I needed about to nights (download start 10pm stop 4or6am in both nights). I aktually only downloaded at night and maybe there was not so much data traffic.
For me it was a very fast download for a torrentdownload, because it is easily possible that it takes to nights longer to download such a big file as torrentdownload.
excuter
AZERDocMom 易新 Says:
May 20th, 2007 at 4:57 am
Thanks, exucuter. I just wanted to be sure it wasn’t really out of range of normal.
Daniel Says:
May 21st, 2007 at 9:07 am
Hello
I have already used 2 another programs, and still in the beginning level of Chinese I POD i found a lot of new and useful words.The torrent idea is brilliant, as all lessons are together so is a better way to download, that downloading them one by one.
One little suggestion if possible: put in the torrent, or make new torrent just with the Chinese dialog and the transcription text. I use to make a large mp3 with the already learned lessons, by using just the Chinese dialog, because after learning, there is no more need to hear the english translation just repeat the chinese pronunciation.
Maybe is not the place to ask, but the chinese dialog is just the beginning dialog, but, in the lessons, when explaining the text, you use other new words that are very interesting and I wold like to repeat. Can you also put them in the chinese dialog?
Tim Says:
May 21st, 2007 at 12:55 pm
AH! Finally got it downloaded and on to my ipod.. but this seems different then the files I downloaded directly from lesson..
On those push the middle ipod button twice and walla! You have the Text of the chinese dialogue. Not from the torrent files though???
Daniel Says:
May 22nd, 2007 at 12:04 am
I don’t have Ipod, just an ordinary Sony Ericsson W810i… So no same technologies, but no so bad…
Daniel Says:
May 22nd, 2007 at 9:56 am
I finish downloading and i see the folowing
chinesepod_A0047pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0048pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0050pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0051pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0052pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0053pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0056pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0058pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0061pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0062pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0064pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0065pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0067pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0071pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0073pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0077pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0080pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0083pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0088pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0090pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0092pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0094pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0095pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0097pb.mp3 chinesepod_A0099pb.mp3
Ok I can see that some titles are not in the torrent (49,54,55,57,59,60,63,66,etc). Is this because the torrent is incomplete? I think is not this the reason(i also downloaded them one by one from the site and have same problem ), but you made one lessen for newbie(like me)A then for beguiner B, then for intermediate C, then for advance E etc.., and this explain the missing titles. Maybe for next torrent (if yes please include also *dlg.mp3) you can correct the index counting of titles
Sorry for my english , also learning english.
Br Daniel
admin Says:
May 22nd, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Daniel,
Sorry, we can’t put premium content in the torrent files. Dialogue-only files and PDF transcripts are both premium (or basic) content.
Also, the lessons are not missing; they are organized according to level. The reason there is no A0049 is because lesson 0049 is not a Newbie lesson. You can refer to the spreadsheet files included to see what levels each number is. Just do a search for “0049″ and you’ll find it easily.
-John
admin Says:
May 22nd, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Tim,
The torrent file contains only the public MP3 files (64 kbps bitrate). The public MP3 files do not have the transcripts embedded.
Premium users can download high quality MP3 files (128 kbps bitrate) that contain the transcript, as well as low-quality MP3 files (32 kbps bitrate, suitable for mobile devices) which also contain the transcript.
-John
Tim Says:
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:47 am
Hi John,
That makes sense. But that just opens up a great possibility! How about a high quality Torrent accessible only by Members. That would be amazing and a great asset to learners. Can we do it!?
Tim
admin Says:
May 24th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
Tim,
That would indeed be convenient, but the problem is that torrent files are not secure. If we make premium content available as a torrent, then anyone could download it. That wouldn’t be fair to paying subscribers, and it wouldn’t be good for the business.
If we could find out a way to do it to keep everyone happy, that would be great.
-John
Free Account User Says:
May 24th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
John said: “That wouldn’t be fair to paying subscribers, and it wouldn’t be good for the business.”
“If we could find out a way to do it to keep everyone happy, that would be great.”
Seems there is no way, because you want to make money.
For all who are looking for transcripts: Google may be your friend…
Tim Says:
May 25th, 2007 at 11:55 am
I don’t agree at all with the last post by “Free account user” and if what is said is true and transripts are available on Google, I think whoever is making it such is short-sided and wrong. Chinesepod is providing an incredible service and we should support that business and encourage it to grow through honest participation and stewardship.
My only suggestion was that for memembers in a members only secure area, be able to download the complete lesson log with transcripts imbedded so we can study it all on our ipods. If this can be done and done securely, I think Chinesepod should definitly look into it.
Ken Carroll Says:
May 25th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Free account user,
Of course there’s no way we could run an operation of 40 people in order to give away everything for free. (I wish I was that rich.) Are you suggesting that everything should be free? Is there something unethical about charging for a service that people like/want? I’m not sure what your motivation for telling people to Google the transcripts is.
Al Wingate Says:
May 26th, 2007 at 12:26 am
Well, Ken, I was told by a friend once that every business man owes it to their customers to make money. Else, CPod would die and that would be a shame.
There are always people looking for a free ride on everything. I call these people takers. I am not fond of that type of personality. It is an other destructive attitude.
Of course, no one is one hundred percent ethical in anything. However there are degrees of greed that reach a maximum density. And for those who are too greedy to pull their own weight, they ought to know that greed kills. It does. It kills the spirit and if everything is free then everything is devalued.
Anyway, that is my two point five cents.
Trevor Says:
May 26th, 2007 at 12:55 am
Can the embeded transcripts only be seen on an iPod or does this work on any other device / windows media player?
I’m trying to decide on an MP3 device purely for the lessons (I’ve never been a big music listener) and this might help me pick the right one.
As for the transcripts being in the free files….we’re lucky to be getting anything for free and I am truely greatful for this as it has made me realise that I do have the dedication necessary to learn this language. I plan to put a subscription on my birthday list with the MP3 player
Michael McMahon Says:
May 26th, 2007 at 1:33 am
Ken,
I have had a free account at Chinese pod for over a year. I download and listen to the pod casts often. As with other foreign languages I studied I do not do very well, but I keep listening. I am up around newbie lesson 100. I plan on downloading the bit torrent file you have made available. I would like to thank you and your staff at Chinese pod for all your hard work. As a way to say thank you I have upgraded my account from free to basic. I may not subscribe every month, but I will endeavor to subscribe when the funds are available.
Once again,
Ken, Jenny, and Chinesepod staff,
Thank you!
Mike
SallyBR Says:
May 26th, 2007 at 3:51 am
Free account user:
I have the premium subscription, got it a few days after trying the system for free. And I am very glad I did.
Of course they are trying to make money - can you imagine the amount of work it is to have a place like this up and running, sending daily podcasts with transcripts, exercises, extra material for anyone interested in learning Mandarin?
It is a real shame that folks are posting transcripts in the net, and even a bigger shame that you would come here and advertise it.
Free account user Says:
May 26th, 2007 at 6:18 am
I understand that CP want to make money with their great service. Sorry that I gave an unproper hint to one of the previous posters. But many people are unable to spend 360$ (quite a lot of money) because they just don’t have enough funds. Why should those people be barred from learning Chinese? It’s not always a destructive attitude or greed.
Steven Says:
May 26th, 2007 at 8:14 am
ChinesePod Could use a private torrent tracker.
I Love The upgrades you Guys have made.
The FREE daily lessons are great,
And If i can’t afford Transcrypts
I Could painstakingly Look through
My Dictionary. But better to pay and see, major expansions, more languages in time
保持真地好工作
谢谢再见
Antti Kivelä (AnQiang) Says:
May 26th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Free account user:
“But many people are unable to spend $360…”
Nobody is barring people without funds from learning Chinese.
Somebody is just trying to tell you that stealing (i.e. taking
without paying the price) is wrong.
At least I’m happy to pay Ken, Jen and John and the whole crew
for the best language service available.
AnQiang
Ken Carroll Says:
May 26th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
I guess John said it pretty well - we wish we could make all of this free, but in real life things don’t work out that way.
The yearly subscription for full premium is actually $240, not $360, if you pay in one go. That works put at 65 cents per day. I understand also that this may be out of reach of satudents, for example. If such a student were to email me, however, I might be able to do somethign to help reduce that for him! ken.paul.carroll at gmail dot com.
Ken Carroll
Anne Says:
May 26th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
I’ve only listened to 3 of the newbee lessons, but have really enjoyed them, and I am seriously considering joining the premium package in July/Aug when I have more time to get the full benefit from the lessons. They are practical and I know with the reading and writing I will learn Chinese. Thanks Guys for hte free stuff, but I intend to pay for such a break service.
Anne Says:
May 26th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
oops that was such a great service
Jeff Says:
May 28th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Even if it were available to only premium members, there are always people within that group that will save those mp3s and give them to a friend who will probably share them with others as well.
I’m considering upgrading from the free account to the pay one and I’m wondering how the transcripts mp3 thing works on the ipod. Is there a link to this question being answered somewhere else? I didn’t think you could drag and drop a .pdf file through itunes onto an ipod or view that kind of file. I know you can drag it to the hard drive of the ipod, though.
Srgjan Says:
May 29th, 2007 at 2:40 am
Hi,
I’ve downloaded the old torrents (in piles of 100). I’ve noticed the filenames are completely different, are the episodes the same as this torrent?
Eileen Says:
May 30th, 2007 at 11:21 am
Hi Srgjan,
Yes, we have changed the filenames after we switched to V3. You can take a look at John’s post: http://blog.praxislanguage.com.....son-index/
Tim Says:
May 30th, 2007 at 11:32 am
JEFF - you’ll notice if you download a podcast after logging in as a member there is a 32 kbps imbedded mp3 file. Imbedded meaning that if you put it on ipod and click the middle button twice while playing.. the transcript is automatically in the file and you can see it on the ipod. I think there is also a high quality 128kpbs imbedded file, but you don’t really need that extra quality in my opinion for a podcast.
CPOD- What would be great is if members could get the low quality imbedded all in one download. Also to those who are worried if that was done then some jerk might share it all, I think people should remember that it could already be done no matter what the way it is now, all you would have to do is go through manually and get all the files. If someone wants to cheat they’ll find a way torrent or no torrent. I don’t think that will happen though at least never on a large scale and especially not if it is perhaps ONLY an option for Premium members.
ALSO cpod might note that having that function as a premium perk might be a great advertising slogan and a way to attract a larger premium membership base!!
I just think for members…especially or perhaps even just only for premium ones with year long membership, who could do so anyway manually anyway only it being a huge hassle… that a ‘download all’ (imbedded with transcript) would be a great help!
Lui Rui Ke Says:
May 30th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
I think Free account user comments were inappropriate,Free account user sair:”But many people are unable to spend 360$ (quite a lot of money) because they just don’t have enough funds. Why should those people be barred from learning Chinese?”
This is life my friend, nobody can barred someone to learn something it is just some people need to use other way to learn. for exemple some people will afford to study in expensive University and some will learn life on the street. Some will eat expensive food but other can only afford rice and noodles.
I am a free user of chinese podcast myself, I use the podcast as a “earworm” while driving but most of my Chinese learning is with Canadian-Chinese members of my comunity, in local restaurant and also at activities organized by my local Chinese Association.Chinese Podcast is very good and it is a very effective tool to build vocabulary.
The way I see it, if i can’t afford to drive to work in a Mercedes Benz, I will take the bus but nobody can’t stop me to visit the free Mercedes Benz website from time to time!!!
Keep up the good work Jenny, Ken and the gang
zaijian
刘瑞克
mfp82393 Says:
May 31st, 2007 at 10:06 am
I’ve installed both Bit Torrent and Bit Comet and tried to open the torrent file. When I click on the link in this blog both programs tell me they can’t read the file.
Any suggestions? Hints? Tips?
Mike
Eileen Says:
May 31st, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Hi mfp82393,
That’s quite strange. I tried running the file on Bit Comet to double check and it both recognized and connected with the torrent file.
mfp82393 Says:
May 31st, 2007 at 7:24 pm
Azureus recognized the torrent file and downloaded the torrent no problem!!
Skye Says:
June 5th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
THANK YOU for this amazing resource!!!!!
Xie xie ni!!!
Panda2 Says:
June 16th, 2007 at 10:35 am
GUYS very little in life is free?
So enjoy what you are getting here for FREE !!
I used it for a year before signing up!
I felt I should contribute something for such a great source.
I will up grade as I progress.
On price $$ how much do you pay for a good book or maybe a computer game or software?? In comparison these fees are good value you just have to weigh up you priorities !
Keep up the good work KEN and the crew at Chinesepod
ChiongZi BiDe Says:
June 17th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
3 GB is a huge amount - that’s why it is a torrent. But some of us poorer broadband types do not have that much download each month.
Could we get it in smaller amounts. There is no point in me getting Advanced lessons - I’m only Elementary level. So, what about, say, the first 100 of each level in separate Torrents. That way one month I could download the Newbie, and then next month download the Elementary.
Tom Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 9:54 am
ChiongZi BiDe - your torrent software should allow you to choose individual files within the torrent, so you can select only those files you need. Then, when you want the other files, select those ones only. Easy!
Jon Brown Says:
August 3rd, 2007 at 1:50 pm
I have to agree with the suggestion to break the torrent up by levels. Personally I’d like to see everything broken up by levels. That way I could just download the Newbie and Elementary lessons for now. Similarly I’d like to see 6 separate podcast feeds that could be subscribed to, one of each level. The RSS feed kind of does this but I don’t love the way you need to find and schedule episodes to get them into the RSS Feed. I study offline, I want to download everything NOW, and go through it at my leisure.
Other than that, I love Chinese Pod, the free portion is an amazingly gracious resource. The $9 a month seems reasonable for what you get for most people. Maybe a teacher/student/non-first world country discount would be nice though.
Sandra Says:
August 6th, 2007 at 7:24 am
We’re about to move across the country from a West Coast urban house (Chinese church around the corner) to a very rural small house on a maritime part of the East Coast, and I don’t think I could be so cavalier about it if it weren’t for Chinesepod. Huzzah, (to quote Bazza) to the whole of Chinesepod.
Mukund Says:
August 14th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
The CPOD is really doing a great service for chinese learner. I have been googling for last 3 months but found CPOD to be best.
I have a free account with CPOD for last 3 months. With the little tweaking, I was able to download all the MP3, dialog and pdf files.
Now even though I have all the files, I want to payback to CPOD, will upgrade my free mebership.
Thanks Jenny, Ken for the excellent chinese resources.
Keep it up!!!
-mukund
liothee Says:
August 16th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
Hello Tim,
I would like to ask you a question referring to your email from May 30th, where you talked about the imbedded mp3 file, which contains the transcript when transferred to an iPod.
The point is I still don’t have an iPod but I’m about to buy one in the next weeks, so this means I still can’t test this.
My question to you: when you talk about the imbedded mp3 file, what file do you refer exactly to:
1) Full Episode MP3 Download
2) Dialogue MP3 Download
3) The Fix MP3 Download
or 4) Lesson PDF Download
Or is this imbedded file not to find at this page at all?
If so, could you please tell me where to find it?
I would be really grateful if you could answer my question.
Thanks a lot!
Carles
liothee Says:
August 16th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
Hello Trevor,
Referring to your mail from May 26th, I’d like to ask you what device (MP3 player or iPod) you finally settled for.
I’m in the same situation right now, and would like to be able to read the transcripts when listening to the conversations in order to optimize my skills.
What iPod did you settle for? Any recommendations?
Thanks a lot!
Carles
jerome Says:
August 29th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
hey CPOD,
It think you’re really very confident that you can win customers by giving temporary free premium accounts…but if you really want to straighten things out, you should create free-user and premium versions of transcripts and mp3s.
That way, people will order subscriptions if they like the stuff they hear on see on CPOD.
By the way, I’m a free account user. I guess CPOD is really a people-organisation where the 40 staff trust that potential customers will be convinced by their works to suscribe for them.
The payment is really a renumeration to this great bunch of people who share what they are selling, and let people choose whether to buy it.
Keep up the good work you’re doing to freedom of human choice!
foenyks Says:
October 15th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
It’s just wonderful for my english practice.
I am joking. I begin to learn chinese and this torrent spare me time to download lessons.
Thank you very much for the great work.
Mallory Says:
November 10th, 2007 at 3:24 am
Just came across this site, is there a password?
admin Says:
November 11th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
Hi Mallory,
There is no need for a password if you want to access the bit torrent.
tianwenxuejia Says:
November 13th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
I’m being challenged for a login/password for the Torrent download. Have tried both Safari and Firefox, with the same result. I’ve already downloaded Azureus successfully. Advice?
Gareth Says:
November 13th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Hi
I am also being asked for a password. Any ideas?
Thanks
Donald Says:
November 14th, 2007 at 10:21 am
Thank you for pointing this out. We are now aware of the problem and the tech team is now trying to fix the problem. We will inform everybody on the blog when it is fixed.
Donald
Chinesepod Team
Donald Says:
November 15th, 2007 at 10:46 am
Hi Everyone,
500 torrent is now working.
Donald
Chinesepod Team
jclarkedude Says:
January 20th, 2008 at 3:17 am
In reference to Tom’s posting of June 29th. I would like to download only beginner lessons but I’m not sure which files they are. Is there a convention to the file naming that indicates which level the lesson is?
Blog » Blog Archive » Comment on The ChinesePod 500 Lesson Torrent is Back by jclarkedude Says:
January 20th, 2008 at 4:25 am
[...] Mio Colore wrote an interesting post today on Comment on The ChinesePod 500 Lesson Torrent is Back by jclarkedudeHere’s a quick excerptIn reference to Tom’s posting of June 29th. I would like to download only beginner lessons but I’m not sure which files they are. [...]
marcelbdt Says:
February 3rd, 2008 at 7:19 am
Now it says “The requested URL /torrent/chinesepod001-500.torrent was not found on this server.”
ZammoT Says:
February 7th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Hi, can I download this on a mac? If so, do I need to use BitCommet or can I use Tomato, my regular torrent program?
Thanks for keeping this live for so long.
Hank Horkoff Says:
February 7th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
ZammoT,
It is just a .torrent file so any torrent program should work. In the future, every 100 episodes we will put up a new torrent file (e.g. 1-100, 701-800, etc) to provide better access to the archives. It is too hard to get all the lessons right now.
john Says:
March 9th, 2008 at 3:07 am
Slow to dead torrent! Server please publish again!
john Says:
March 9th, 2008 at 3:07 am
Slow to dead torrent! Server please publish again!
kotei Says:
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:21 am
Thx a lot
Now i can learn chinese HAHAAHAH 
Xie xie 
mar10e Says:
May 29th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
I get a error -404 not found. Please put the file back, would be very helpful!
apelsinic Says:
May 31st, 2008 at 11:09 am
404 - Not Found - no torrent? please seed more..
thank you
Jay Says:
June 6th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Why is the Torrent down? Is there any projected date/time for it’s return?
Thanks!
J.