The Learning Guys

I started learning Mandarin (again!) 4 weeks ago. The question you ask, is why? A couple of reasons:

The first reason is purely utilitarian. I’ve worked on a couple of projects in Shanghai recently, and have been to China a few times over the past 3 years. The enterprise learning and communications market in China continues to boom, so learning Mandarin is a good business decision.

The second and more important reason is this: As a Learning Guy I spend most of my days recommending blended learning solutions to my clients. Recently, the learning solutions I have recommended have included the use of  cutting edge social media and collaboration tools (podcasts, blogging, webinars, wikis and others to name a few).

My clients are always wowed when I show them something like a corporate video presentation delivered via iPod. Or when I show how to set up a blog as a companion to a classroom based training session. Once clients get over the “cool” factor, they always ask a valid question- “Are people going to learn anything? ”

My answer is- “They are!” I am a walking and Mandarin talking example of a guy who is achieving measureable results through blended learning. A few weeks back I stumbled upon a podcast on iTunes called ChinesePod (www.ChinesePod.com). I subscribed to the podcast a now receive a daily Mandarin lesson.

The daily lesson is approximately 10 to 14 minutes in length, and consists of vocabulary building and dialogue practice combined with language and cultural insights. This is the real stuff! Not classroom based language, but practical everyday language that you can use on the streets of China. 

Here’s where the blended learning part comes in: When you visit the website (and sign up as a premium user) you have access to companion learning activities, a community forum, blogs, a wiki, flashcards that you can download to your mobile phone, and other seriously cool learning stuff.

But here is the best part: I receive a daily 10 minute phone call (via Skype) from my teacher in Shanghai! I have a chance to practice speaking each day. And this is the missing link in many learning programs isn’t it. You need to take what you have learned and put it into action.

And the results: I am speaking Mandarin, and am progessing very quickly. I have tried to learn Mandarin in a classroom based setting on a couple of occasions, but with only limited success. The ChinesePod approach to blended learning is working for me.

And I am certain it will work with my clients. So I have promised each and every one of them that I will continue to use myself as a guinea pig for blended learning. Over the next few months I will document my progress in this blog. I am interested is discovering what works and what doesn’t work, and then applying the lessons I have learned to the unique needs of my clients.

As always, the Learning Guy keeps on learning!

As most blogs are virtually unread by outsiders, Seth Godin asked If no one reads your post, does it exist? He doesn’t have this problem, of course, but for the rest of us…why do we blog?

Well, in our case, Paul and I are doing this to give ourselves a place to think and possibly share the insights that we glean from running our businesses, the projects that we do together and just living our lives.

The name of the blog is The Learning Guys is meant to work in a couple of ways. First, we have completed many learning projects for our clients and feel that we have something share professionally. However, we are also lifelong learning junkies. For example, Paul and I took a Mandarin Chinese course at a local community college a few years ago. That was OK, but Paul is now continuing on his journey using a web based blended learning toolkit that involves podcasts, blogs, wikis, and most impressively, a 10 minute call daily with a tutor from China! I’m sure he’ll tell you all about it himself.