Watch to Learn Chinese

July 7, 2008 2:08 PM

Watch to Learn Chinese
We're using the YouTube JavaScript API to create this Chinese learning site. So all lessons are YouTube videos we collected, and sorted into 3 difficulty levels (from beginner to advanced). We also added descriptive help texts, and created a game for the site with sound recordings. Mefi feedback is appreciated, even the harsh kind :)
posted by philipp (3 comments total)

I did the first lesson, and found it good.
I was considering buying 'rosetta stone' language, but I'll give this a try.

Though the history/description was good, it was maybe a bit long to sit through, but maybe that is just me.

Also, I think it could be beneficial for you to visually separate the different levels, maybe color coded or something.
It can become like a game with levels... how far can you get?
Make it feel that the visitors are making progress.

What happens when I've done 15 videos? How do I know which was the last one i did?
Maybe set a cookie for which videos I've viewed or something like that?
posted by pedalpete at 8:49 PM on July 7, 2008

You have yourself a great resource there. Simple, easy to use, a great listing of videos. I went through about 3 or 4 and it's definitely simple and unobtrusive enough for me to want to visit again. Bookmarked!
posted by 913 at 11:24 PM on July 7, 2008

Thanks for the feedback! A video history is an interesting idea. Even if just cookie-based to not force registration it could be a good start.
posted by philipp at 4:05 AM on July 8, 2008