Website Evaluation for CCTV.com “Learn Chinese”

Website URL: http://english.cntv.cn/learnchinese/

Grade/Age/Proficiency Level: College Aged, Beginner to Advanced Level

Language & Content: Mandarin Chinese, Listening and Speaking

This website by China State Television provides various multi-level video lessons (beginner to advanced) for learning Chinese. Although a couple of the programs teach how to write some characters, the website is most useful for those who want to improve their listening and speaking.

The programs strive to be both educational and entertaining, and include titles such as “Easy Chinese” (teaches basic survival phrases using real people on the street), “Growing Up with Chinese” (teaches common phrases through skits aimed at teenagers), “Travel in Chinese” (teaches language in different settings aimed at intermediate learners), “Happy Journey Across China” (teaches advanced phrases while traveling to various interesting locations throughout China).

Explaining a grammar pattern in "Growing Up With Chinese"

Explaining a common idiom in "Happy Journey Across China"

The website is very easy to use, with videos organized in relation to the target level of proficiency. One of the ways the website could be improved in this area of usage is to be more consistent with the available viewing features on each video; for example, some of the videos (including "Travel in Chinese" and "Sports Chinese" don’t contain a pause or scroll option, which I think are very helpful for a learner. For example, with a pause button a viewer can quickly and easily review an important structure or phrase that he/she might have missed. 

Videos organized by proficiency

The videos vary in extra resources provided; for example, several include the script ("Growing Up with Chinese" includes the English translation), "Happy Chinese Season 2" includes an overview of the grammar pattern to be learned, "Survival Chinese" includes the key phrases to be introduced, and a couple of them (such as "Travel in Chinese" and "Sports Chinese") don’t include any sort of guide. I think this is one way the website can be improved, by being more consistent with the extra resources they provide for each video.

Script with English translation: "Growing Up With Chinese"

The videos offer students the chance to see different places in China, see phrases acted out in real life situations with people in China, and learn aspects of Chinese culture. Most of the videos are well-designed with colorful graphics, animations, music and English subtitles (which are important for a beginning level non-native speaker who wants to learn the language).  Finally, most of the foreigners presented in the videos (as both hosts and actors/actresses) are all highly proficient in the language and offer a great example to students from other countries learning the Mandarin.

On the Great Wall in "Travel in Chinese"

A non-native speaker as an actress in "Happy Chinese"

This website is not connected with any textbook, but it can be very helpful as a supplemental resource for learning; the programs contain many topics related to common textbook lessons such as telling the time, ordering dishes, and giving and receiving thanks. Teachers can have students complete a handout based on the video, and review it together after watching.  On this topic, another way the website can be improved is to offer online quizzes to test one’s comprehension of the content after viewing.

Overall I think the CCTV Learn Chinese is an excellent resource for supplemental learning for listening and speaking areas, with the recommendation for more consistency in extra materials provided and user viewing features (such as pause and fast forward options), and also for an online activity to test comprehension after each video. Also at the time of this writing one of the videos ("Happy Chinese season 1") was not showing up for some reason, and is an issue that should be fixed as soon as possible by the web managers (these "Happy Chinese" videos also can be found on youtube.com).

I've used "Happy Chinese season 1" in my Chinese classes this past year and they have proven to be a great tool to supplement textbook/powerpoint learning as well as help attract interest and stimulate motivation for learning the language and culture. I'm still learning how to best use them effectively for optimal student learning, and hope to learn more about that in my LCLE program.