Rapid Mandarin Chinese

Volume 1

By: Earworms Learning

Narrated by: Andrew Lodge

Length: 2 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Earworms mbt© is a revolutionary accelerated learning technique that takes the hard work out of learning.

By listening to these specially composed melodies with their rhythmic repetitions of Mandarin and English a few times, you pick up over 200 essential words and phrases that will not just be on the tip of your tongue, but will be burned deeply into your long-term memory in next to no time.

If you like music, and want to make rapid progress without any formal knowledge of language learning, earworms mbt© Rapid Mandarin Chinese is the course for you.

Volume 1 is your survival kit of essential words and phrases to get you by on your trip abroad.

You will feel you are learning within minutes and might just be amazed by how easy acquiring a language can be!

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio on our desktop site.

©2006 earworms mbt (P)2006 earworms mbt

There just isn't enough of it

I have nothing but praise for the presentation and method. I further give extra high marks for the downloadable text (Audible should make such text availabe with every lanaguage and city guide)! My only complaint is that it does not really supply very much vocabulary. On a price/information ratio, Dr. Blair's Mandarin is better; on price/pleasure ratio, Earworms is tops.

Good

This is a good place to start for the price. I found the music in the background sometimes interferred with the ability to hear the pronunciation clearly. Would be nice to be able to mute it at times.

So-So

While the content was OK, this audio does not have the feel that I was looking for. I felt embarrassed that someone might catch me listening to the ridiculous music that goes along with the words. If you are looking for repetition though this is the audio for you. You could almost not be thinking and still learn something.

use as supplement only

As others have pointed out, this product has a serious flaw. The background music often drowns out the speaker.

I do think think this has some value, but only as a supplement. If you have another source for learning the vocabulary found on this audio (and pretty much any beginner course will cover it) then this is a nice way to help cement things in you head. Don't buy this thinking it is the only beginner source you need.

Great Langauge Learning Tool

This is a great way to learn Mandarin Chinese. I've tried many other podcasts, read books, and this is the most accurate learning help I've found. Earworms uses the correct Chinese words by an actual Chinese person. They aren't singing the words so you can actually hear the tones which is so important for learning Chinese! Thanks so much! I'll definitely buy earworms again!

the format and reputation really help

this book is divided into chapters and it is easy to review each chapter again and again. the first chapter covers how to say," I would like a coffee with milk, and a tea with sugar"; while other chapters are about numbers,days of the week, asking to be taken to different cities , buy tickets, etc. there are two people, a man who usually speaks the English part and a woman who usually speaks the Chinese. it starts by her asking him "If you want something how would you ask it ( or something to that effect)?" He answers, "I would like" she then says that in Chinese, then he says "I " and she says it in Chinese, repeat that about 6 times. he then says, "would like" and she repeat that a few times, then "I would like" a few times, then coffee. I think you get the idea. he points out sentence structure, and little clues to help remember some words. I've been using anki flash cards with a deck called "chinese spoon fed" and they are excellent, but this book really helped me understand sentence structure and individual words meaning. as far as the music, it's fine. I almost didn't get this book because if all the complaints about the music. the truth is that without the pinyin in front of you it is hard sometimes to tell exactly what sounds you are hearing on any type of audio only language tape. so you listen again and again and try your best. I have Chinese friends and I have to do the exact same thing when they try to teach me. I have to have them say it over and over and try to imitate them. This is a great book, learning any language isn't easy.

Quick and easy

As I prepare to go to China, I find this audiobook very easy to learn simple phrases that will help me for the few days I'll be there. I look forward to using what I've learned in the next few weeks.

Delivers what it promises...

This has been the easiest and most effective way for me to ingest vocab and basic grammar skills for Mandarin. It delivers what it says it does and doesn't require a lot of attention, which is good because the music is pretty cheesey.

Somewhat useful

This was useful for simple travel in China, but the background music is annoying, and makes it very difficult to hear the Chinese pronunciation and proper accent.

Best I have found.

I gave this five stars because it is the best Chinese learning material that I have found so far. The music really helps prevent the boredom found with other programs, although if you want to sit and study something like "Chinese for Dummies" may be a better choice. The material is repeated several times with the segment which prevents the need for rewinding. I enjoy the voices of both narrators as well.