JNobbi Posted March 9, 2018 at 11:01 AM Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 at 11:01 AM There is a YouTube-Channel called Mandarin Corner https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2fAiRQHRQT9aj9P_ijYeow which was established one year ago and offers a lot of videos for learning Chinese conversation and free transcripts, audio files and flash cards for those videos on the web site http://www.mandarincorner.org/. A Chinese friend from Xi'An told me that the pronunciation of the presenter Eileen is not so good, because she has a strong accent and does not speak standard Mandarin. Do you believe it is possible to use this YouTube-channel for learning Chinese nevertheless or should I skip the audio and just use the written material? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy_hyaena Posted March 9, 2018 at 03:24 PM Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 at 03:24 PM How good are you? I think if you're a beginner, you should focus on learning to emulate Chinese speech from someone with very good pronunciation. But eventually, you'll reach a point where you need to listen to a wider range of pronunciation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Publius Posted March 9, 2018 at 05:26 PM Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 at 05:26 PM Eileen comes from Jiangxi Province where Gan Chinese is spoken. Technically her native language is not Mandarin (though very close, much much closer than Cantonese or Shanghainese for example). She has a Jiangxi accent. Most notably ng->n, e.g. 欢迎 *huānyín, 经常 *jīncháng, 称 *chēn, 热情 *rèqín (because there is no -ing and -eng in Gan Chinese, only -in and -en). There is also no retroflex sounds in Gan, so her zh/ch/sh/r/er is a little bit unnatural. Her pronunciation is not very standard compared to the channels in your other post. But the video has pinyin subtitles and she speaks really slow. To echo happy_hyaena's opinion, I think it's fine as supplementary material, but not recommended for beginners who are still struggling with the basic sounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
889 Posted March 9, 2018 at 08:27 PM Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 at 08:27 PM I just watched some of the Wet Market video, and apart from her accent -- which I'm not too fond of -- I found the content/fluff ratio far far too low. Mostly she's strolling through the market and every once in a while she'll throw out a very simple sentence. That is, it's essentially a five-minute video stretched out to an hour, and that's just a waste of your studying time. So many of these YouTube language videos, not just Chinese, are like this: not enough content to be worthwhile. I also thought the audio quality wasn't as good as it should be for a language lesson, and the captions too small as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy_hyaena Posted March 9, 2018 at 10:01 PM Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 at 10:01 PM She has better videos, like this one where she walks around with a lady in a fishing village located somewhere in Guangdong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flickserve Posted March 9, 2018 at 11:23 PM Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 at 11:23 PM The wet market video is too slow. I think the others are mostly ok. I would rather have shorter videos in bitesize pieces but everybody has a different listening ability and concentration span. Since she is based in south China, I think that is good for learners who have been exposed mainly in north to practice listening skills. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luxi Posted September 7, 2019 at 11:58 AM Report Share Posted September 7, 2019 at 11:58 AM Note: there is another thread with additional news, comments and links on Mandarin Corner here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcdefg Posted September 8, 2019 at 09:47 AM Report Share Posted September 8, 2019 at 09:47 AM On 3/10/2018 at 7:23 AM, Flickserve said: I would rather have shorter videos in bitesize pieces but everybody has a different listening ability and concentration span. Agree. I watched the first part of the wet market one, actually I watched the 20-minute fruit-buying segment and then stopped. Enjoyed it and thought the slow pace and repetition were helpful features. Went back later and watched her buy a fish. This is the kind of practical learning experience I always valued when starting out. Even today I picked up a couple of useful things. (But it's easy to tell she doesn't shop for food in the wet market often.) Much better than the stale dialogue most textbooks feature. I got so very tired of textbooks which assumed I was a 19-year old college student: lots of classroom vocabulary, stuff about the dorms, and "What is your major?" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balthazar Posted April 11, 2020 at 02:57 PM Report Share Posted April 11, 2020 at 02:57 PM FYI: Mandarin Corner has made all their videos and audio files freely available to download, until 1 August 2020. You no longer need to provide a (voluntarily sized) donation (although, stating the obvious, you probably should if you find the content worth your while), but you must sign up in order to access the material. Their home pages are a bit of a mess, but I personally find their content (based on the sample of 20 or so videos I've watched on youtube) to be pretty good, in particular the "Expressing Opinions in Chinese" series. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan Finster Posted April 11, 2020 at 03:17 PM Report Share Posted April 11, 2020 at 03:17 PM 20 minutes ago, Balthazar said: FYI: Mandarin Corner has made all their videos and audio files freely available to download, until 1 August 2020 Did they say why or what happens thereafter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungouk Posted April 11, 2020 at 03:23 PM Report Share Posted April 11, 2020 at 03:23 PM Because someone made a very generous donation, apparently, and in response Eileen felt like doing something positive for the world: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ipaEHTR__k&feature=youtu.be Good for you, Eileen! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balthazar Posted April 11, 2020 at 03:53 PM Report Share Posted April 11, 2020 at 03:53 PM 35 minutes ago, Jan Finster said: Did they say why or what happens thereafter? Not that I know, but I'm guessing they will go back to the old model (require a donation to get access to everything). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singe Posted April 13, 2020 at 02:39 AM Report Share Posted April 13, 2020 at 02:39 AM Not seen this site before. The site still says that premium content is still only available to 'Supporters'. Having said that, the cost is incredibly reasonable. Despite any shortcomings this site may have, as pointed out earlier in the thread, it is still an extremely good site for resources at a bargain price. I'm certainly happy to become a supporter and will sort out later. To the individual who did pay them a lump sum, if you happen upon this thread - well done for your gesture towards supporting those who are learning Chinese. Top effort. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suMMit Posted May 19, 2020 at 01:13 AM Report Share Posted May 19, 2020 at 01:13 AM I'm not quite to the level of listening to a 45 minute Intermediate video yet(just don't have the vocab yet), which forms a large chunk of the content. I haven't really checked the "grammar structures" videos other than skimming through one, which had good content , but spoken unnaturally slowly. Lower intermediate videos are more or less perfect for my level. People pick on her accent, but jeez you hear a lot of non-perfect accents in China. She also interviews people with various accents(including northern). I actually think its more her voice than her accent - she does not have a really pleasant "host" sort of voice, but neither do I (in English) and neither do most of the people I talk to around town. I think this is some great listening practice as well as vocab building, grammar noticing - not to mention interesting conversations and topics. Imo what makes this better than 95% of Youtube Chinese videos is that there is actually substantial Chinese spoken. Most of the Chinese learning learning videos I swear are made by a Chinese girls who wants to practice there English by "telling you about" Mandarin. I'm looking forward to where I can sit and listen to some of these 45 minute video in Chinese, as listening is my favorite skill and I'd like to move beyond 1 minute listening segments. Overall ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flickserve Posted May 19, 2020 at 02:48 AM Report Share Posted May 19, 2020 at 02:48 AM Yes. Her content is going to suit some people more than others. I think her topics are good. Length of videos are too long. Interviews with local people are good. if there is anybody doing a similar thing but for interviews with northern accents, let me know. I find southern mandarin accents naturally easier so I want to redress the balance - just spoke to a fujianese person this morning and we got through things okay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david387 Posted May 19, 2020 at 09:46 PM Report Share Posted May 19, 2020 at 09:46 PM I have been watching her videos throughout my journey of studying Chinese. What I really like is how is she lets you see life in China while you're learning. It is actually not all that easy to find in learning videos. You can find plenty of videos in China with subtitles, but they are not good learning material either. So I give her the thumbs up! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan Finster Posted July 5, 2020 at 07:42 AM Report Share Posted July 5, 2020 at 07:42 AM On 4/11/2020 at 5:23 PM, mungouk said: Because someone made a very generous donation, apparently, and in response Eileen felt like doing something positive for the world: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ipaEHTR__k&feature=youtu.be It appears they have revoked their offer to download everything for free ? The link is dead and on their website it would not let me download any premium content. Not sure what happened. Does anyone know (?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luxi Posted July 5, 2020 at 10:49 AM Report Share Posted July 5, 2020 at 10:49 AM Maybe it's time to take advantage of this ? I think Mandarin Corner's offer of membership for life for $10 is extremely generous, considering the time and effort it takes to make the videos, put all the additional material together and maintain the websites. Living outside China and far from Chinese people with whom to practice, I'm very happy with the returns I get from such a small investment, and it is a genuine offer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungouk Posted July 5, 2020 at 11:36 AM Report Share Posted July 5, 2020 at 11:36 AM 3 hours ago, Jan Finster said: It appears they have revoked their offer to download everything for free On 4/11/2020 at 3:57 PM, Balthazar said: Mandarin Corner has made all their videos and audio files freely available to download, until 1 August 2020. It was only ever intended to be for a short time. Not so much "revoking" the offer... if anything, they extended it way beyond August. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan Finster Posted July 5, 2020 at 01:33 PM Report Share Posted July 5, 2020 at 01:33 PM 1 hour ago, mungouk said: if anything, they extended it way beyond August. What do you mean by "extended it way beyond August"? It is July 2020...? 2 hours ago, Luxi said: I think Mandarin Corner's offer of membership for life for $10 is extremely generous I do not disagree. It is still great value.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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