Other names Melnyks Chinese Language(s) English; Mandarin | Country China, Canada Starring Serge
Pauline
Summer | |
Genre Educational; Language Course; Online Learning; Mobile Learning Running time Lesson Shows – 15 to 30 minutes (average) | ||
Mandarin Chinese Lessons with Serge Melnyk is a Website for learning Mandarin Chinese. It was founded in January 2006, to help people interested in learning spoken Chinese for free. Currently the Website provides Mandarin Chinese podcasts, audio lessons, and other study materials used for learning Chinese: 200+ professionally recorded audio lessons, PDF transcripts, videos and study tools. The podcasts are produced by Serge Melnyk and his team of native Chinese speakers.
Content
As of September 2013, Mandarin Chinese Lessons with Serge Melnyk has recorded and published online 200+ podcasts, individual audio dialogs, and over 100 hours of listening materials. The site offers free and premium model subscriptions. Subscribers are able to enjoy full access to everything on the Website, including bulk downloads of lessons and PDF transcripts. Mandarin Chinese Lessons with Serge Melnyk has thousands of listeners worldwide, it's the highest-rated Chinese podcast on iTunes Apple store (TOP 3), As of September 2013, it has 198 five-star reviews.
Much of Melnyks work is a public service, free to download. But users also pay a subscription of $127 (777 yuan) a year to access written materials that accompany the podcasts. He also offers private classes: $50 an hour, conducted over a Skype video call.
Melnyks chooses "new vocabulary… everyday language" often not found in the often notoriously out-dated textbooks which typically focus on student dormitory chat, Enid Blyton-style. Melnyks.com dialogues put protagonists in an everyday setting, opening a bank account, going to court or even talking about politics and newspaper stories.
Apart from the reality of his content, Melnyks said his other advantage is his flexibility: Users can write back, "you can't easily write to a publisher for feedback... this is a live course, with live support."
The site offers services on a wide variety of subjects, from answering Chinese grammar questions to advice on where to study in China. An advantage for a regular person that wants to learn Chinese is that he/she can be directly involved in the lessons production process. Lessons are created together with podcast listeners on any topic. For example, if someone is interested in a lesson on Chinese martial arts or doing business in China, they can directly communicate their needs with the producers and the team will record a customized / personalized lesson.
Podcasts are good as additional listening materials," Melnyks said. "You can't substitute a real good 'human' teacher with audio recordings. But learning Chinese through podcasts is also different from just recordings. It's an audio on demand, it's more personal than just audio tapes or CDs. There is a lot of communication and interaction with listeners".
Melnyks offers some tips on how to learn another language from a podcast:
• Have some time. Set aside a chunk of time in your schedule to study. • Find a good course. Look for one that is systematic and where all the lessons are connected. • Prepare yourself mentally. Anybody can learn it if they have determination. • Listen to the text and see the text. All inputs are important and being able to see the text helps. • Write the text. Every time they hear a new word, write it out. • Speak the text. • Practice it somewhere. Find speakers in the area or go to a restaurant. • Repeat. Repetition is important, go back from time to time. • Be determined. In the beginning it’s difficult.
Mandarin Chinese Lessons with Serge Melnyk is one of the recommended online Chinese courses by Dr. Tim Xie, a professor in the Department of Asian and Asian American Studies at California State University, Long Beach. Melnyks Education Group, the parent company of Mandarin Chinese Lessons with Serge Melnyk, operates language schools in Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei and Vancouver, Canada