Customer Reviews

In-Flight Chinese: Learn Before You Land

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a one hour CD containing 10 lessons/categories of phrases.
The best lesson in the CD is the numbers. They speak the numbers in small groups which (as proported by the CD) does make it easier to learn. The worst part about this CD is that you don't practice the initials/finals of the sounds in Mandarin or learn to hear the tones. However, if your pronounciation is --Exactly-- like the speakers, then you will be understood.
This CD carries a few good phrases and is a good starter on Mandarin. A leaflet on the basics of Pinyin with all the phrases on the CD in pinyin are included in the CD. You will pick up a few words, but you won't be a conversationalist by the end of the CD. In order to learn the phrases, you have to listen to the CD over and OVER. So plan to play this in your car a few weeks before going to the airport.

Crap, crap, crap. How many people need to know the phrases, "Can I buy that online?" and "I'd like that in small bills." during their first hour with a language?

This doesn't even qualify as language instruction because they don't attempt to actually teach you anything.

I own this and have found it to be almost useless. There are many free resources that are far better. Almost any of the other similiar products available through Amazon would be better. This product gives a very rapid fire one time recitation of Mandarin phrases. Very few people can learn a language that way. Certainly don't think that you are going to learn anything meaninful on your flight over to China!

I'm trying to learn Mandarin and do not have second language acquisition training, so please consider this review as from an amateur. I've been trying out a number of products, including youtube videos that are free, Pimsleur, Rosetta Stone, and a mix of other products. I just don't agree with the reviews posted on this product so I thought I'd write my own review. You know a lot of people give Rosetta Stone a higher rating than this product, but these phrases on this cd are far more helpful. I didn't see any soccer balls or elephants in Taiwan (lesson 1 on Rosetta). I did ride in a taxi a lot...and this product gets to that in the first half hour. One has to remember that this product is only about 10 bucks, so it's kind of unfair to be too harsh on the level of training it offers in my opinion.

I was just in a taxi in Taiwan a few weeks ago and the driver did not know English. I did not know Chinese. So it was difficult. They teach phrases in this cd that would have helped me out tremendously. These lessons are very short and can be repeated often. Before I return to Taiwan I will know these lessons well, believe me! Most of the lessons seem pretty easy to me.

In essence, if you have had a few basic Chinese lessons in any other method, this cd can function as a quick review of words in broken down into helpful categories. For example, numbers. They have a 5 and a half minute overview of numbers. If you have had a slower lesson on numbers with some other program, but don't know the numbers yet, this is a very handy way to focus on them. And they say basically listen to the chapter over and over until you get em down well.

I don't think there is anything wrong with the Mandarin pronunciation on this CD. It's excellent. It's clear and if you know the four tones, you should be able to discern what the tone is for most words the first time.

Honestly for me after listening to the other ways of teaching for about 20 hours now, I find this method a nice, quick overview that is a refreshing break from the other approaches. The reason I like it is that they give each word just once. So if you have any exposure to the word or phrase it's a nice review. However, some of the phrases are too long for a first timer and I think some of the criticism on some of the reviews does hit on something. It's just overly negative in my mind. So I give this product a 4 star. It's worth the price they are asking and it delivers on what they promise in the promo literature only if you have some Chinese from another method that breaks things down more slowly first. IF you have that (I like Pimsleur the best) then this is a very nice addition. If this is the only product you plan to use, I would not get it. You would be better served getting the introductory level for Pimsleur.

I hope this review helps you out as you try to learn Mandarin.

If, for example, you speak English and you learned Spanish in school, you may be able to learn basic phrases of another romance language on a plane. Not Chinese. It will strike you as random sounds. The sentences they used are long and they speak fast. They repeat once, if at all. Trust me, you will not remember, even on a 17 hour flight. Your time would be better used drinking.

This is a useful tool for picking up a little conversational Chinese fast, especially (if, like me, you are more visual than aural), when used in conjunction with the text that accompanies it.

I purchased this cd/book more than 2 years ago, and I am still struggling with it today. If you really want to learn a language, I don't think these type of quick and easy CDs work. The marketing behind this CD is that if you listen to it on your 18 hour flight to China, you will be able to speak basic Chinese when you land. -- With general phrases you need to get around in Chinese. I would highly reccommend you not do that. While I have gone through the cd dozens of times, even taken a couple of cross country flights with it, and tried leaving one chapter on for hours, I have only picked up a few phrases, such as Hello, how are you?, and numbers. At this point, I am converting everything to notecards. As another reviewer pointed out, it is basically all blind memorization, and Chinese is hard to memorize. Another note, this CD does not include anything regarding written Chinese only Pinyin.

I have used this product in my car to review my Chinese that I learned in another course. This coursebook only has the Pinyin transcription which is Manderin, which is the official Chinese used in Beijing. If you do not pronounce it correctly or if you have not learned the phrase, you cannot point to the Chinese characters which are practically universal in China. The course should have had both. Shanghai uses Wu, Hong Kong uses Cantonese.