Search - Chinese for Kids: Learn Chinese Beginning Level 1 Volume 2 on DVD

Not as good as Volume 1 - Same Material, Different Presentat

Thomas E. Tweedel | Austin, TX United States | 12/16/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Ok, I've got really mixed feelings about this one. After Level 1 Volume 1 I was really excited, but when we got this one I was just left scratching my head and asking "why"

Objectively speaking its a fine Langauge DVD, its pretty comparable with others I've seen on the market and if you get it your kids will learn something. So its ok, just not great.

My big issue with this DVD relates in its comparison to Level 1 Volume 1 of the same series.
First its THE EXACT SAME MATERIAL! The first disk covered it pretty well, why am I forking out for another disk to go over the same words and scenarios in a slightly different format? Maybe there wasn't enough pizazz in the first disk? There is some material in this disk that wasn't covered in disk one, but its less than 10% of the total content.

The presentation on this disk is somewhat different. The same words and elements (following Billy and Bemboo on his day, family members, trip to the farm, parts of the body etc). Each segment covers more or less the same info it did in disk 1. The differneces are that instead of using flash type animation its now a combination of "live" video and 3D video. The narrator is now some guy named Andre who's dressed up in a really lame tree costume. Instead of Flash animation we now have live video of Billy and his family. Bemboo is now a GCI dog and does more speaking. Different segments (like the farm trip) are now done in full 3D CGI in a style similar to the Animation from Veggie Tales.

I suppose its ok but it just seems to break the continutity up (especially the live action where the freeze the video and voice the word being taught). There is also a segments that if you don't choose movie only that will go into an "interactive" mode where you have to choose the right choice to match the term on the screen. I suppose thats a plus if you happen to be handy with the remote and watching it with your kids. Otherwise it slows it down and their attention drifts elsewhere.

On the plus side they Chinese speakers have better pronounciation (so says the mainlander).

So is it better or worse than Volume 1? Depends on your preferences I guess, I think its a step down and watching my kids lack of interest tends to tell me I'm right. It just falls into the category of an average langauge DVD vs its exceptional predicessor. But maybe your kids will respond better to the new presentation. There is a little bit more material in this one than the first one but its mostly the same, you could skip it and not miss much.

Pros-
Fair presentation
Good selection of material
Good pronounciation

Cons (if you already own the first volume)
Same material as the first one
Not as engaging"

Entertaining and educational once again!

Ming Ming | San Francisco, CA | 09/05/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've already purchased vol.1 and vol. 2 of the Language Tree Learn Chinese videos. My nieces and nephews and family friends' kids really love the videos, especially the songs. These videos were able to hold their attention more so than the Ni Hao or Follow Jade series. The production, which includes pop songs in Chinese, 3D animation, and interactive games, is much more professional than other videos we've seen. We hope Language Tree comes out with a volume 3.

Great gift idea as well -- keeps the kids occupied while learning something at the same time!
"