Currently, i have a subscription to a website called chineseclass101, I got a years sub back when i first decided i wanted to learn Chinese but i haven't used it much since then because i started taking actual lessons.

Unfortunately it looks like there isn't going to be enough people interested to run the next set of lessons and I'm looking at going back to it. Problem is, it boasts quite a few users but has one of the most inactive forums I've ever seen.

Chinesepod on the other hand (from what i can see) seems to have plenty of people actively using it most of the time.

Has anyone used both and can give me a comparison as to which is better? (Bare in mind i can only afford the most basic package).

Failing that, does anyone here use Chinesepod regularly and is it worth signing up for at some point?

I have a basic subscription to Chinesepod, and I'm somewhere between giving it a lukewarm recommendation and saying don't bother.

It's certainly good for listening practice in the car/out walking/etc, but the other stuff on their website is pretty bleh. If you subscribe to Skritter, there's a bonus in that you can import your vocab from Chinesepod, and Skritter's "flashcards" are far better than how CPod does it.

In any case, there's a free trial, so you can see if it's good for you. No harm in trying.

I am a satisfied user of Chinesepod. I would recommend it highly to anyone. It is probably a bit frustrating at first to those addicted to "structure" due to its "top down" approach. (Taking apart real language instead of putting it together from basic building blocks). It does require some discipline on the part of the user. I sometimes get drawn in to the sheer enjoyment of the content and forget to do the exercises / drills /reviews. Chinesepod with Skritter is a powerful combination, since Skritter is somewhat the opposite in that it has an externally imposed structure made automatic.

I have an iPod Touch now which opened up a whole other dimension of Chinesepod for me thanks to the mobile application, which has good flashcard management and display, though it lacks Skritter's spaced repetition system capability.

I agree with podster. Chinesepod is great for fun learning and learning useful words and phrases of the real language. However it does lack structure and can not replace a real class in my opinion. I think that it is a very good supplement to learning.

It's great, but the basic package is pretty rubbish (unless you really just want one every now and again). I've got the premium one (access to all content) and the amount of stuff available is great. They are a lot more enjoyable than books, and it's nice I can integrate the vocab into Skritter as well as copy and paste stuff into Anki.

The structure thing does worry me a bit though.

I've been subscribing to ChinesePod for a few years, only to the basic package. I would say it's been worth the subscription.

I look at the forum very occasionally, but never really got into it. At the higher levels, most of the discussion is in Chinese which is probably quite helpful.

The best thing about it for me is being able to study vocab in Skritter. I don't really study the lessons as such - I just listen to them over and over again. It's helped my listening ability enormously, as the lessons are entertaining and of a range of difficulties.

I have been using Chinesepod for the last couple of years, and I love it. With the top-down approach, I can choose a podcast at random and learn something new. There is no need to follow a strict pre-determined structure, which really suits my style of learning. Added to that, the content is consistently interesting and of high quality. I haven't tried any other podcasts, but I am not going to stop using them anytime soon.

I think Chinesepod is better at the intermediate level and above though. For some reason, I find Ken's teaching style annoying.

I think it depends on your level. I rotate between CPod, Skritter and Popup Chinese (http://popupchinese.com). CPod has the best lessons for total newbies and some good Chinese-only advanced lessons, Skritter blows away everything else for character retention, while Popup Chinese has the most interesting podcasts for anything above the total beginning level.

The best thing about CPod for more advanced students is the Skritter integration with vocabulary lists. It's the only reason I'm still a subscriber honestly. If I could export characters to Skritter from Popup Chinese I'd probably drop the CPod subscription.