- ChinesePod
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ChinesePod Other names CPod Genre Educational; Language Course; Mobile Learning Running time Lesson Shows – 8 to 17 minutes (average) Country China Languages English; Mandarin 官话 Syndicates WordPress Starring Jenny Zhu
John Pasden
Ken CarrollRecording studio Shanghai Air dates October, 2005 to Present Date No. of episodes 1774 lesson shows – 595 extra shows (as of November 21, 2011) Audio format MP3 Website www.chinesepod.com Podcast chinesepod.com/lessons/feed ChinesePod is a web-based Chinese language-learning service composed of three key components: audio lessons, mobile & online review tools, and live speaking practice with professional Mandarin teachers. The service was founded in October 2005 in Shanghai, P. R. China, by Hank Horkoff, Ken Carroll, and Steve Williams.
Contents
Overview
ChinesePod Mandarin lessons, study tools and teacher services are designed for adult learners of every level. The company mission is "to make language learning easier for adult students by taking advantage of modern pedagogical principles and the latest web and mobile technologies."[1] Learners can access content via mobile phone, mobile apps, RSS feed, and directly on ChinesePod.com.
Since 2005, ChinesePod has published over 1,400 self-contained audio lessons, each from between ten and twenty minutes long. Lesson content is divided into six difficulty levels, from “Newbie” to “Advanced Media”, and learners choose their own courses through the lessons, depending on their interests and needs.
Local Shanghainese Jenny Zhu and American John Pasden are the lead hosts and public faces of ChinesePod, with Ken Carroll in the Newbie and Elementary levels. Together, the hosts break down the lesson dialogs, each of which is recorded by native Chinese speakers at the company’s studios in Shanghai.
Accompanying every lesson is a range of review tools, including flashcards, comprehension exercises, tests, “expansion” sentences, and interactive character writing practice.
ChinesePod is based on a “Freemium” business model similar to English as a Second Language Podcast; 300+ “Newbie” audio lessons are available free. For access to all levels of lessons, plus review tools and teacher services, it is necessary to sign-up for a free trial account, then purchase one of the various study packages available.[2]
Before September 2008, all levels of audio lessons were available free. They were irrevocably released under a Creative Commons license, and may be legally redistributed by anyone, though they are no longer freely downloadable from ChinesePod channels.[3]
Popularity
A March 8, 2006, NPR article cited ChinesePod as the 3rd most popular podcast show in China with over 10,000 visitors a day.[4] In January 2007, Yahoo! Podcasts listed ChinesePod as the fifth most popular podcast.[5] ChinesePod also made Time Magazine's Top 10 Podcasts of 2006.[6]
References
See also
- SpanishPod
- FrenchPod
- EnglishPod
Categories:- Audio podcasts
- Educational podcasts
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