Which series to start with?

[gillesvdp]

Hi!

I am a bit overwhelmed by the large number of series aimed at full beginners.

There are:
- Basic boot camp
- Beginner lessons
- Elementary lessons
- Introduction
- Survival phrases

I have no previous knowledge of Chinese and so far managed to go through up to beginner lesson 7.

But what about the other series?
Which series is best to start with? What are the fundamental differences between those?

Thanks!
Gilles

[Bouks]

I am working on the three Introduction lessons first. The Bootcamp seems appropriate next, and the content seems to overlap a bit which is good reinforcement.

Before Bootcamp #1 came out, I intended to go through the Survival Phrases series, because Elementary still seemed a bit beyond me as a first-timer. I think Survival Phrases can contribute lots of knowledge that can boost us to higher levels later.

[david]

The beginner series ramps up the grammar pretty quickly. Focus is on working through the basics of the language so that people can move on to the more difficult levels with a good grounding as quickly as they can. I don't know of any other podcast series that takes this approach, but think it works out well in combo with the other earlier series.

Elementary should be a bit hard for a complete beginner, but might be suitable for someone who has had a few months exposure to China either in-country or in-class.

[kashby]

I would say it depends on what your goal is. For long term in depth understanding of the language I would start with the beginner series. If you are going to China next month and need some basic phrases hit up the bootcamp series.