Convenient
Listen to the audio lessons on your phone or iPod
Effective
Check your understanding with online exercises
Progressive
Each lesson continues where the previous one left off
Vs Books
A tonal language likes Chinese requires a LOT of listening practice that books cannot give you. Save the books for learning grammar rules AFTER you are familiar with the concepts. CLO is focused around listening comprehension. When an important word or concept is taught, you will hear it used over and over in different situations and contexts, so your brain will automatically recognize the sentence patterns. That’s how we learn our native language. However we do include notes for the grammar minded, so if you want to know the rules involved, you still have a resource for that.
Vs Classes
In a class, you have to divide your time with other students. Some students will be above your level, and some will be below your level, so the teacher has to cater to everyone. You can’t stop the teacher each time she says a word you don’t understand, because you have to be mindful of other students in class. With CLO however, the course is designed exactly for you. Anytime the teacher uses a word you don’t understand, you can pause the lesson and easily look up, not only the meaning of the word in context, but also which lessons in the past that it was used in, so you know where you need to review.
Vs Other Podcasts
CLO has two key advantages over many of the other podcasts out there:
Many podcasts use a theme based approach. This means that each lesson is independent of the previous one and centered around a particular topic, with the current topic not related to the previous one. So one lesson might be about food, while the next is about shopping. As a result, all the vocabulary you learned in the earlier lessons gets forgotten very quickly. In the CLO approach, words taught in previous lessons are constantly reused in future lessons, giving you constant review within context.
Many podcast courses out there teach in discrete levels. So there might be a separate level for a beginner student, and a different level for an intermediate student. You’re expected to figure out your own level. Since each student is different, most students find the level they choose either too easy or too difficult when compared to their actual level. There is also no plan in place to get you from one level to another. So students remain at their current level without progressing to the next one. Imagine a school where you repeated the same grade level year after year? How long would you do that, before dropping out in frustration?
Testimonials
First of all, I’d like to congratulate you on your course online. I subscribed 2 weeks ago and have been well impressed by the quality of your teaching methods. I’m also a teacher and I really appreciate how you cover the different aspects of Mandarin Chinese.
Emmanuel P., Spain
I just love this course and tell everybody about it at the Chinese school where I have a 2 1/2 hour-lesson once a week. It complements and puts me several steps ahead of my presential classes - everybody feels awed by the sentences I’m able to build, my vocabulary and sometimes the explanations about a certain term that even the Chinese teacher is not able to explain.
Dirceu C., Brazil
"Just thought I’d drop another line to say that I think CLO is the best! There is so much repetition that my understanding is becoming more “instinctive”, and I’m preparing for each lesson in advance now. I think the Level 4 method is a good way forward !"
Graham S., Pharmacist, England
Pricing Chart
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OPTION
1
Free
Listen to or download individual lessons. You can start at lesson one, our latest lessons, or by going through the course outline to see what words are introduced in each lesson, then click on the orange lesson number link to visit a lesson page, where you can listen or download it, and leave comments.
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OPTION
2
One-Time Purchase
Purchase download access to a single level (60 lessons). Each level has 3 components:
- Bulk downloads of lessons (MP3)
- Bulk downloads of review audio (vocabulary and dialogue summaries) (MP3)
- Bulk downloads of PDF notes and transcriptsEach component sells for $19.95 USD. This option is recommended for those who prefer to do their studying away from a computer.
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OPTION
3
Online Subscription - Recommended!!
Subscriptions start off at $19.95 USD per month, and give you access to comprehensive online tools - transcripts, exercises, videos for ALL lessons. This option is recommended for those who are comfortable studying in front of a computer, and can thus make use of the extensive interactive exercises and review tools available.