In preparation for a trip overseas, I looked around for months trying to find a podcast/website that would help me learn Mandarin. So many were complicated to navigate or had really boring lesson plans. Some podcasts had audio that was not clear or were chanted by dull teachers. Some are just lists of vocabulary or phrases that you memorize, without context. A lot of bad teaching. I had almost given up and then found Chinese Learn Online. What a difference! The lessons are brief, memorable and logically arranged. The audio is clear and the narration friendly and very informative. The amount covered in each lesson is just right for an adult who wants to learn at his/her own pace. The teachers are very responsive to suggestions and to questions about the lesson content. The website design is very clean and crisp and easy to navigate.
I strongly suggest that new learners sign up for the very reasonable Premium content. By downloading the lessons you can always have your studies at hand and the podcast notes are great. Obviously I'm a happy customer and recommend the site to all Chinese learners. For me, the pace of the programs is really fine: they move along quickly enough to keep me thinking "forward" and pushing my concentration, but also with explanations in English, sidenotes, points of interest, etc., that give me chance to breathe let the ideas sink in.
Although I continue to listen to a couple of other podcasts of Chinese learning (and especially to study with a book I found), your podcast series is the centerpiece of my Chinese study. When there is only time to listen to one program, it is yours I go to.
