roddy Posted February 25, 2005 at 07:01 AM Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 at 07:01 AM There seems to have been an explosion recently in the number of websites offering services to Chinese learners. Apart from the more ‘traditional’ online method of interactive lessons online / to download, a number of places are taking advantage of widespread use of broadband, webcams and voice chat / VoIP to give ‘face to face’ lessons. This is the kind of thing I’ve thought about setting up myself, and may yet get around to. Has anyone tried any of these courses? It seems entirely plausible to me, but the question of quality always raises its ugly head, and the number of websites popping up makes me doubt that they all have decent teachers – although sample materials / placement tests on one or two websites do look promisingly well designed. Out of curiousity I went through a load of these sites to see what they are offering. Here’s a brief rundown. These are NOT endorsements, I just took a brief look at the sites – but if anyone has any experience of them, please do let us know. Feel free to make corrections, I had to go through them fairly quickly, or to add others. UnforgettableLanguages.com The Mandarin Chinese for MEAT is SOWImagine you show everyone a lump of meat. Enough said, I think. The Chinese for MEAT isn't SOW, and if it was, pronouncing it SHOW wouldn't help. If anybody has money to burn, they have downloadable materials and CD-ROMS. Learn-Chinese-Online.net Doesn't appear to sell anything, just a lot of links with Google ads attached. Might find something useful through the links I guess. Chinesehorizon.com Courses online, and at their school in Beijing. This looks like one of the better set-up sites and their online placement test was better than a lot I've seen. Courses are self-study but you can buy credits for 'face to face' lessons. Chenlaoshi.com Has a range of grammar / listening / jokes / readings, with some restricted to members only. Hellomandarin.com. Currently spamming my email box at a rate that has the Viagra merchants look like a distant relative who sends a round robin email at Christmas. This, and the fact that they copied the text for their affiliate page from a webhosting company and didn’t bother to change the word ‘hosting’ doesn’t inspire me. Online lessons $10-$20 per hour. Newconceptmandarin.com Selfstudy online. I think these people have been around a lot longer than most of the others. Roddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
browny Posted February 25, 2005 at 07:43 AM Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 at 07:43 AM oh my god roddy! All these sites are soooo sh*t! I particuarlly like Learn-Chinese-Online.net !! Just google adds! hahaha! In the future man -- try to post decent links -- because this is just misleading people who visit this forum!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Posted February 25, 2005 at 08:33 AM Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 at 08:33 AM There's the good old BBC of course, though it looks fairly basic. I've been been trying out heir Welsh course myself - though the speaker base is slightly lower Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted February 25, 2005 at 01:03 PM Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 at 01:03 PM These are NOT endorsements Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wushijiao Posted February 28, 2005 at 11:22 PM Report Share Posted February 28, 2005 at 11:22 PM Currently spamming my email box at a rate that has the Viagra merchants look like a distant relative who sends a round robin email at Christmas. Great sentence! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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