Lessons generally last between 22–30 minutes. Let’s look at what the actual lessons are like now. There’s a good balance between following the natural curiosity and questions that Mark has without going down the rabbit hole and losing focus. It seems like they aren’t following a strict script though but obviously had taken time to make a clear plan for the lesson beforehand.Īs often happens when learning a language, learning one new thing will inevitably lead to questions about other things. Material from previous lessons also comes up again in later lessons, providing a natural opportunity to review what you’ve learned. This makes it so that the content builds upon itself, from words to sentences to longer dialogues. The lessons have a nice combination of structure and flexibility. Even though it’s still in the first season, they cover quite a bit of vocabulary and important phrases.Ĭrystal also adds some interesting cultural information throughout. One thing you’ll notice is that the lessons are quite relaxed but that doesn’t mean that they don’t cover much material. She guides Mark by answerwing lots of questions, helping him put together sentences, correcting mistakes, and just generally being helpful. I imagine being a host provides a lot of extra motivation to study.Ĭrystal is Chinese, from Guizhou, and acts as a teacher throughout the course. I’m actually pretty impressed with how much Mark has progressed with his Chinese throughout this first season. He brings up a lot of relevant points about things that could be confusing for a learner. As a learner himself, he’s in a similar position as the listeners. Mark is the learner and as such, makes mistakes and asks questions throughout. Hosted by a Chinese woman and a Scottish manĬoffee Break Chinese has two hosts – Crystal and Mark. There’s also a paid version of the course which includes a video version of the lessons, the audio file which is exactly the same as the free podcast, lesson notes, and bonus audio materials. While there are quite a few podcasts for learning Chinese, I doubt you’ll find a better free one for beginners. One great thing about Coffee Break Chinese is that they release all of their lessons as an audio podcast for free. There’s a free podcast and a paid course. In the future, there will be additional seasons that will take learners further in the language. When the season is completed, there will be a total of 40 lessons. So far, they are still releasing content for the first season which is aimed at beginner students. However, the Chinese course is still quite new. Course Overview Listen for free on iTunesĬoffee Break has previously created comprehensive courses for various languages, including Italian, French, and Spanish. It’s fairly relaxing and you’ll learn alongside one of the hosts. However, if you’re an experienced language learner or want to make progress as fast as possible, you’d probably be better off with another course or reading my advice on how to get started learning Chinese.Ĭoffee Break Chinese excels at simplifying the Chinese learning process, providing well-designed content that is comfortable to use.īecause the way the lessons are created, it feels like you’re sitting in on a language lesson between friends. Given Mandarin’s reputation as being an exceptionally difficult language to learn, there are quite a few people that fit this description. People who are quite intimidating about learning another language or feel like it’s impossible would benefit the most from this course. But for lots of people, it could easily be the perfect tool.Ĭoffee Break Chinese would be more suitable for people who have very little, or even negative, language learning experiences. In fact, it wouldn’t be my first choice to use personally. Coffee Break Chinese isn’t for everyone but it wasn’t designed to be for everyone.
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