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  Tags: Website | Mandarin
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion Post Reply
Sprachprofi
Nonaglot
Senior Member
Germany
learnlangs.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 6469 days ago

2608 posts - 4866 votes 
Speaks: German*, English, French, Esperanto, Greek, Mandarin, Latin, Dutch, Italian
Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written), Swahili, Indonesian, Japanese, Modern Hebrew, Portuguese

 
 Message 1 of 8
30 September 2014 at 10:49am | IP Logged 
I'm working on a huge new free website to teach Chinese from zero to HSK 6
(professional fluency). You can try it at http://www.learnyu.com - if you
have Facebook, you can log in without needing to create an account, otherwise go to
http://www.learnyu.com/users/sign_up .

It was inspired by Khan Academy and Duolingo in that the computer keeps track of how
well you have learned the vocabulary and grammar and then automatically provides an
unlimited number of exercises for you until you master it.

The lessons are designed with a communicative approach in mind though, so they focus
on phrases that you'll actually use in conversation. There are also conversation
exercises integrated in the course. Plus the vocabulary was chosen to match the
requirements of the HSK (standardized test for Chinese), so that you can easily use
this site along with easy readers, grammars, character study books etc. that also
usually use the HSK as guidance.

I've already invested a year's work and my savings into this site. Since I do want to
make the lessons available for free (premium features will be extra materials; access
to lessons won't be restricted), I need your support to expand the course. Can you
contribute? The campaign ends Wednesday night.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/learnyu-automagic-chinese -course
5 persons have voted this message useful



Ezy Ryder
Diglot
Senior Member
Poland
youtube.com/user/Kat
Joined 4348 days ago

284 posts - 387 votes 
Speaks: Polish*, English
Studies: Mandarin, Japanese

 
 Message 2 of 8
30 September 2014 at 12:56pm | IP Logged 
Sprachprofi wrote:
HSK 6 (professional fluency)

You sure about that?
1 person has voted this message useful



Sprachprofi
Nonaglot
Senior Member
Germany
learnlangs.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 6469 days ago

2608 posts - 4866 votes 
Speaks: German*, English, French, Esperanto, Greek, Mandarin, Latin, Dutch, Italian
Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written), Swahili, Indonesian, Japanese, Modern Hebrew, Portuguese

 
 Message 3 of 8
30 September 2014 at 1:32pm | IP Logged 
Ezy Ryder wrote:
Sprachprofi wrote:
HSK 6 (professional fluency)

You sure about that?


The Hanban releases very detailed information on everything you should know to pass each
level (unlike the CEFR, where the advice amounts to little more than "be awesome"), so I
have already crafted a plan of how to cover everything for the 6 levels of the newest
edition of the HSK. How much my team can implement and how fast depends on the support we
get - if we can employ the Chinese team full-time, we can release a new level every 1-2
months, so covering the HSK 6 is not a far-off dream at all. Seeing that the Indiegogo
campaign is not going so well, it will probably take longer (also talking to potential
investors on the side), but I'm not planning to stop until we cover it all.
3 persons have voted this message useful



rdearman
Senior Member
United Kingdom
rdearman.orgRegistered users can see my Skype Name
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881 posts - 1812 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Italian, French, Mandarin

 
 Message 4 of 8
30 September 2014 at 4:13pm | IP Logged 
Is indiegogo all-or-nothing like kickstarter?

1 person has voted this message useful



Sprachprofi
Nonaglot
Senior Member
Germany
learnlangs.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 6469 days ago

2608 posts - 4866 votes 
Speaks: German*, English, French, Esperanto, Greek, Mandarin, Latin, Dutch, Italian
Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written), Swahili, Indonesian, Japanese, Modern Hebrew, Portuguese

 
 Message 5 of 8
30 September 2014 at 4:20pm | IP Logged 
rdearman wrote:
Is indiegogo all-or-nothing like kickstarter?

Indiegogo has both all-or-nothing or variable campaigns. This is a variable campaign,
because I'm definitely going forward with the project, it's just a question of speed. If
I have to keep paying the Chinese team and audio editor from whatever money I can save up
every month, completing one new level of lessons (= one HSK level) may take a year when
it could be as quick as a month. I'm also exploring the option of getting outside
investors, but they are likely to want me to turn this into a paid site, when I want to
keep it free.

Edited by Sprachprofi on 30 September 2014 at 4:24pm

3 persons have voted this message useful



rdearman
Senior Member
United Kingdom
rdearman.orgRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5235 days ago

881 posts - 1812 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Italian, French, Mandarin

 
 Message 6 of 8
30 September 2014 at 5:11pm | IP Logged 
Sprachprofi wrote:
rdearman wrote:
Is indiegogo all-or-nothing like kickstarter?
Indiegogo has both all-or-nothing or variable campaigns. This is a variable campaign,because I'm definitely going forward with the project, it's just a question of speed. If I have to keep paying the Chinese team and audio editor from whatever money I can save up every month, completing one new level of lessons (= one HSK level) may take a year when it could be as quick as a month. I'm also exploring the option of getting outside investors, but they are likely to want me to turn this into a paid site, when I want to keep it free.


I would like to donate, but can't for a couple of more weeks. Have you considered putting the same benefits (or similar) on the website for people that might want to donate (perhaps via paypal) after the campaign is over? Or perhaps just reserve some stuff for "donators" only?

Or perhaps rather than investment you might consider sponsorship instead. For example approaching the University of Peking, or Sponsorship via Pimsleur, etc. I'm sure there would be companies which would grateful for something like your site to sponsor.

Perhaps the people who organized the Polygot Gathering could help? I remember seeing that they'd gotten a lot of sponsorship.

Forgive me if I'm telling you things you already know.
1 person has voted this message useful



Ezy Ryder
Diglot
Senior Member
Poland
youtube.com/user/Kat
Joined 4348 days ago

284 posts - 387 votes 
Speaks: Polish*, English
Studies: Mandarin, Japanese

 
 Message 7 of 8
30 September 2014 at 6:18pm | IP Logged 
Sprachprofi wrote:
Ezy Ryder wrote:
Sprachprofi wrote:
HSK 6 (professional
fluency)

You sure about that?


The Hanban releases very detailed information on everything you should know to pass each
level (unlike the CEFR, where the advice amounts to little more than "be awesome"), so I
have already crafted a plan of how to cover everything for the 6 levels of the newest
edition of the HSK. How much my team can implement and how fast depends on the support we
get - if we can employ the Chinese team full-time, we can release a new level every 1-2
months, so covering the HSK 6 is not a far-off dream at all. Seeing that the Indiegogo
campaign is not going so well, it will probably take longer (also talking to potential
investors on the side), but I'm not planning to stop until we cover it all.

What I meant was; HSK 6 might not really be professional proficiency. I remember reading a
paper estimating it to be only ~B2.

Edited by Ezy Ryder on 30 September 2014 at 6:18pm

1 person has voted this message useful



Sprachprofi
Nonaglot
Senior Member
Germany
learnlangs.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 6469 days ago

2608 posts - 4866 votes 
Speaks: German*, English, French, Esperanto, Greek, Mandarin, Latin, Dutch, Italian
Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written), Swahili, Indonesian, Japanese, Modern Hebrew, Portuguese

 
 Message 8 of 8
30 September 2014 at 6:29pm | IP Logged 
Quote:
I would like to donate, but can't for a couple of more weeks. Have you
considered putting the same benefits (or similar) on the website for people that might
want to donate (perhaps via paypal) after the campaign is over? Or perhaps just
reserve some stuff for "donators" only?

There will be a store with extra materials, where you can get similar things as
through the Indiegogo campaign but at worse rates.

Quote:
Or perhaps rather than investment you might consider sponsorship instead. For
example approaching the University of Peking, or Sponsorship via Pimsleur, etc. I'm
sure there would be companies which would grateful for something like your site to
sponsor.

They're all pushing their own language materials I'm afraid. Peking University is one
of the largest publishers of Chinese-learning materials. Pimsleur has a Chinese
program already, too.

Quote:
Perhaps the people who organized the Polygot Gathering could help? I remember
seeing that they'd gotten a lot of sponsorship.


I was head organizer of the Polyglot Gathering. I wrote to the group of course. Also,
Richard Simcott, who organized the Polyglot Conference, endorsed LearnYu in a Facebook
post. He is one of our early testers.


EzyRider:

Ah, I guess people argue about that. The Chinese government claims that HSK 6 is the
equivalent of C2.

You may also have read about the previous HSK. They keep updating it.

Anyway, HSK 6 is pretty damn good Chinese.

Edited by Sprachprofi on 30 September 2014 at 6:33pm



1 person has voted this message useful



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