One of our listeners has taken the time to create remixes of some of our lesson dialogues and made them available on his website.  I especially like his last one where he created a direct comparison between Kirin's Taiwanese accent and Ray and Heidi's Northern Chinese version.  Thanks James!  You can take a look at his work here.

As stated in the previous post, I'm experimenting with other forms of "input" outside of the lessons themselves. While in Taiwan I listened to lots of interesting music that I wouldn't have heard otherwise. Over the next little while I hope to post some songs along with the video, lyrics and translation in the Premium section.

To begin with, I will keep this in the free portion of the Premium section. A link to purchase the CD is also available at the bottom. I get a small commission for any CDs purchased, so hopefully that will allow me to leave it in the free section. If not, I may have to move it to the Premium (paid) side.

The first song in this format is "Superstar" by a very popular female pop group in Taiwan called S.H.E. The name of the group represents the initials of the English names of the three singers - Selina, Hebe and Ella for those interested. It is available in two formats: Traditional Chinese characters and Pinyin or Simplified Chinese characters and Pinyin. Scan through the Pinyin and see if there are any words or phrases that you recognize. Take a look at the (rough) English translation to gather the context. Enjoy!

Traditional Chinese character version

Simplified Chinese character version

Due to popular demand, I have resumed producing the videos of Ray and Heidi. They are not meant to be fancy, but they do provide an alternate input of the material presented in the lessons. 7 new videos have been added.

I'm working on other forms of "input" for you that should be available during the holiday break.  Enjoy and keep the feedback coming!

The following sections were updated this past week:

• FAQ - a few new questions were added including "How do I keep the transcript from disappearing off my screen when listening on my iPOD?"  If you think of any other questions for inclusion, please let me know.
• About Us - you asked for pictures of us plus wanted to know where exactly I was located so I put some new pictures and our address.
• How to Use - cosmetic touches were added to make it easier to read
• How we touch - cosmetic touches were added to make it easier to read

Thanks to all who have supported this website and my efforts this year.  This website is built around you and your suggestions so keep them coming.  I have a long list of ideas planned for the New year thanks to all the feedback you have given me so far, so I predict a bright year of Chinese learning for all of you.  Happy Holidays!

Here's something cool to try (well I think its cool):

1. Visit the Vocabulary section of Lesson 45 (Premium access)

2. Start the "Test your Pronunciation" recorder.

3.  Scroll down and play Kirin's version of the lesson summary.

4.  Listen to her read each line of the dialogue then repeat after her.

What you should find is that the recorder records Kirin's voice then yours repeating after her.  When you play back your recording you should hear Kirin's voice followed by your voice allowing you to directly compare if the two sound the same or not!

Now wouldn't it be cool if I extended this feature to all the previous lessons...

There are a couple of Traditional Chinese characters in the above lessons that need to be explained.

In traditional form there exist two characters: 隻 (zhī) and 只(zhǐ). The former is the measure word for animals while the latter means "only." In the simplified form both these meanings are combined into 只 with the meaning and pronunciation derived from context.

Similarly, the traditional form distinguishes between 它 (tā) and 牠 (tā) with the former referring to objects while the latter refers to animals. In the simplified form, both are combined using the character 它.

The traditional Chinese vocabulary for lessons 44 and 45 has since been updated to reflect the above.

(In case you didn't figure out the title, it's "Yet Another Tone and Pinyin Practice Update).

Chinese character versions have now been added.  Links can be found at the bottom.  Use the mouse-over function for translations from Pinyin to English or Chinese to Pinyin.  A couple of the English translations are missing for now as I confirm the proper "idiomatic" translation, but they will be added soon.  Enjoy!

The Test your Pronunciation tool has been added to the Vocabulary section of Lesson 45. The Review audio summary has also been edited to remove the intros to allow you to more easily compare how your voice sounds. As well, Ray and Heidi's version has been separated from Kirin's version into two files.  Let me know if you prefer this format, in which case I can extend it to other lessons.

With two weeks left in the December holiday season I have decided to renew a previous promotion I had of $9.95 monthly subscriptions.  I'm doing this for two reasons:

1.  Since it's the holiday season, I'm in a giving mood (yay!).
2.  I'm hoping to have a major feature introduced in time for the New year which would normally warrant a price increase.  However, rather than increase the price I would rather offer a sale till the feature is released.

The benefit to those who subscribe now is that they can maintain their pricing plan for as long as they maintain their subscription, regardless of future price increases so I highly encourage you to take advantage of this promotion while it's available.

Happy Holidays!

-Adam

There have been requests for downloadable versions of the Tone and Pinyin practices as well as Chinese character versions.  The former wish has been granted - download links can now been viewed at the bottom if you're logged in.  The latter wish is on its way.

Be careful what you wish for these days, as it just might come true...

Happy Holidays!