Is it my dazzling personality? Is it that I smell like a rainbow? Who can say? No matter the reason, I’ve been hand-picked by the splendid folks over at ChinesePod to act as their guinea pig for a new service they’re rolling out.
What is it? Why, I’m so glad you asked! (This, by the way, is the ChinesePod exclusive I hinted at in my last post!)
I can’t say I know what they’re going to call this thing, but right now it’s being called the “8-Week Course.” That lacks swank, but I’m sure we can all help them come up with something sexier. How about… The Octagon? Ohhh, I like it! And it’s even got a hidden Chuck Norris reference. How could you go wrong? (There’s no such thing as ice. There’s just water that’s been scared stiff by Chuck Norris.)
Okay. So what does The Octagon entail?
• It involves a directed course study, chosen by a counselor (in my case Aggie) who will monitor your progress over the course of 8 weeks.
• You’ll do a lesson a day, five days a week, for eight weeks. That’s 40 lessons, kids.
• In addition to this hand-picked course content, once a day you’ll also get a 10-minute phone call from your counselor who will help you smooth the rough areas, check your pronunciation, smack you around over erroneous tones, and answer any questions or concerns you may have.
This raises the bar on one’s commitment, kids. There’s no slacking off here. You’re in for a penny, in for a pound. And if you’re a maniac like me, you’ll also be posting your progress publicly on a highly-visible blog so everyone else can see how you’re doing. Yikes!
Now, I want to make something clear before we start here: I don’t work for ChinesePod. I am not in their employ. I run this blog for them in a kind of barter arrangement, but I’ll be brutally honest about this service as I chart my progress. This blog is not now, nor will it ever be, a marketing moutpiece for The Man. Of course, what works for me may not work for you. You’ll have to take whatever I say and contrast it against what you need. Also, before you ask, I don’t yet know what this service costs, so you’ll have to balance its usefulness against its impact on your pocketbook.
For myself, I have high hopes for it. I’ve been a Newbie long enough. Elementary lessons and I have gone on a few dates, but we’re still sipping lemonade on the front porch swing. It’s time to park the car and get down to some heavy petting.
Bring on The Octagon!
Technorati Tags: chinesepod
Wow, sounds like an awesome idea. A ChinesePod boot camp of sorts. (When Chuck Norris went to ChinesePod boot camp, he head-butted Zhang Liang AND took Li Li out on a date, then created over 10,000 new Chinese characters which all mean Chuck Norris.)
Ha, I almost spat out my coffee at your ‘heavy petting’ comment. I havnt heard that term in an eon.
Anyways, thanks for clarifying that you don’t work for us (*sniff), just say whatever you want, in fact, why not slander us, just to see how far the boundaries are. Have a post called ‘Colleen and ChinesePod are a bunch of Chimpanzees, and when I went to visit they just ate bananas and threw dung at me!” then see if we take your blog down.
The octagon is a much better name. Which brings to mind octopussy as well. I wonder if Steve would let me rename it Octopussy…..I’ll try.
ChinesePod bootcamp is good too Mike, what about “CHINESE AINT GONNA STUDY ITSELF, KIDS!!”
Colleen
Go Frank, go Frank…
I’m thinking of doing the Octagon training as well, so will follow your reports with interest. I’m a bit concerned with being able to maintain the same level of intensity throughout the 8 wks with work and biz travel getting in the way. I can see myself blasting out of the chute with enthusiasm and then slowly losing momentum.
Glad to hear you’re not working for The Man, but you are “the Man” (in a positive sense)!