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Learning Chinese DVD & CD Sale
FAQ CD & DVD's
Q. Should I buy DVD or CD's to Learn Chinese?
A. Yes - They are an excellent method and most of the CD's and DVD's
Q. Why are they on sale?
A. I want to focus the site on Learning Chinese Textbooks, so I have put all the CD's and DVD's on sale.
Q. Do you think DVD's or CD's are going obsolete?
A. Yes and no.
They are not selling for me. My textbook sales vs DVD's / CD's are 20 to 1 at least. So getting rid of inventory that does not sell makes sense for my business. Then I can simplify my website, and focus on what sells.
Q. Do I think they will be obsolete?
A. Personally no.
I
prefer having a CD or DVD. MP3's and video files moving them around are
a headache from device to device for those of us less technically advanced. At least with my current hardware and
software set up. And a lot of the content on the DVD's are not
available online at this time.
The
Video market seems to be moving to an all you can eat, with limited
selection, pricing model such as NetFlix. So DVD sales industry wide
have dropped dramatically. For teachers, I see DVD's as a great solution since the material is not available online, and this is specialized market. Yes, Youtube has some Learning Chinese Materials, but it's nice to be able to play a video without any advertisement. Plus, this way you don't need to worry about having a good Internet Connection.
One of the Learning Chinese Textbook Series I carry went to MP3 replacing a CD and I disagree with the decision. I wish they had kept the CD, and added the MP3 files. They are hosting them on their website, and websites are not always accessible. Plus it's not 100% clear where the actual files are located.
Same with the Chinese Reading Touch Pens, which went from CD to MP3 with no notice, so you have to download, that was a huge headache for me to figure out and caused some customer frustrations I did not appreciate. Plus downloading files from China is not super fast. CD has great usability and no downloading issues.
Q. Are they new?
A. Yes
Q. Are they guaranteed?
A. 100% - which means they will work when you receive them. This does not mean you open them all up, say you don't like them, and return them theoretically without copying them - I am sure nobody would do this... I have more in my return policy about CD and DVD returns. I changed the return policy after somebody bought a bunch of DVD's, opened them all up, and then returned them since they did not like them. All in the same series.
Q. What zone are they?
A. Most are zoneless, but you need to look at each product page. It should be there.
Q. What is a DVD zone?
A. The wonderful people at the big movie studios, made zoning for DVD's. That means a Disney DVD made in China in Chinese, will not play a standard US DVD Player. You can buy a zoneless DVD Player, which takes care of the issue. If I understand correctly, zoneless DVD players are not legal in the US, but they are available. Chinese and Korean electronic retailers carry them. This also applies to Blue Ray DVD's. On the back of DVD's there is a picture of a globe that has a number below it, that is the zone. US is Zone 1. Taiwan Zone 4. China 6. Often DVD's are more expensive in Europe, than they are in the US. Or DVD's are cheaper in China, than in the US. It's frustrating, since in the US it's a pain to get DVD's dubbed in a foreign language (Disney does an amazing job, there US Mulan DVD has Chinese on it).
Q. What language are the DVD's in?
A. Mandarin Chinese with English.
Q. Are there sub-titles?
A. It varies, please check each DVD.
Q. Can you play English sub-titles with Chinese
A. Depends on the DVD.
Q. What language are the CD's in?
A. Mandarin Chinese - check each CD. I have some CD's that are used to teach English.
Q. Do you have CD's or DVD's in Cantonese?
A. No. Back in the days of Cassette Tapes, I bought some Cassette Tapes with Books, and they were very slow to sell. I used to get lots of requests for Cantonese, so I was surprised at the lack of sales.
Q. Which accent of Mandarin?
A. It varies. Look where they are made. If made in China or Taiwan it will have their respective accent. Ones made in the US vary in the accent. I prefer the Taiwan accent over the Chinese, but I am married to a Taiwanese...
Labels: Bilingual DVD's, CD, chinese accents, dvd zones, learning chinese cd
Mulan at Segerstrom in OC
I missed it, the Segerstrom center was showing Mulan in Orange County, CA on July 22, 2013.
Mulan was my daughter's favorite movie when it first came out. We managed to get her the warrior Mulan costume, which unfortunate Disney stopped making. Disney focused on the Princess Mulan costume. Some place I have the cutest picture of my daughter on my Aunt's horse Sam, dressed up as Mulan.
On the Disney DVD of Mulan, there is also a Mandarin track. I am not sure if it's the mainland Chinese Accent or the Taiwanese. For the villain, the Beijing Accent version was done better. The best Mulan voice was the Taiwanese accent version, where Coco did the voice and the singing.
I was selling the Chinese version of Disney's Mulan on VHS. Obviously dating myself, by mentioning video tapes. Listening to Children's Mandarin DVD's is a great way to increase your Chinese ability. Labels: Bilingual DVD's, mulan
Fun Movie - Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame
Fun movie I saw over the weekend with my wife. I found out about the movie from a very positive review in the Wall Street Journal.
Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame
It was sad there were only 20 people in the theatre.
The moview was in Mandarin Chinese, with the titles in Traditional Chinese, with sub-titles in English. Labels: Bilingual DVD's
DVD Revenue down 44% in the US in 2010
The selling of DVD's was a cash cow for Movie Studio's, but times a changing.
The thought was online streaming video would kill DVD's eventually as happened to the music industry, but this seems to be happening faster than expected to DVD's. The bankruptcy of Blockbuster is a symptom of this. NetFlix is pushing that streaming video's, and Facebook, YouTube, and Amazon are not far behind. RedBox has changed the rental market on the low end.
Reference - DVD revenue plummets 44% in 2010, SNL Kagan study says - LA Times
For ChildBook, I have been surprised how slow these DVD's have been selling. They are great!
Discovery Planet Mandarin/English DVDs Labels: Bilingual DVD's
Movie Rules in China
Movie Rules in China
- Only 20 foreign films are allowed in a year (forcing lots of co-production, but then with censorship)
- Censorship Rules -No sex, politics, violence, or time travel.
- WTO Ruling may change the limit.
- Producers who upset those in power, can be prevented from making any new movies for a while.
- Rampant piracy hurts domestic sales of movies.
- The number of movie screens in China is expected to double in China in 2012
- China ranked as #6 worldwide for box office revenue
- Mandarin is the preferred language for mainland China (Hong Kong produces most movies in Cantonese, and then dubs them into Mandarin for the mainland Chinese market).
- Korean Soap Operas with Chinese dubbing are becoming more popular.
References:
Bullets, Love and Beijing's Heavy Hand
At Hong Kong festival, bright vies with bland; China's Jiang scores a satirical and popular bull's-eye
Arts & Entertainment, WSJ, Morgenstern on Film
China still restricting foreign media, U.S. complains - LA Times
Labels: Bilingual DVD's, china's future, movies
Disney encourages sales of digital movies
Interesting way for Disney to test the market for Digital Downloads, while preserving the area that provides their main profits (DVD's).
Disney encourages sales of digital movies - LA Times
Recent efforts include Disney Movies Online, on which people can buy or rent films to watch on the Internet, and a partnership with Wal-Mart to offer digital copies of 'Toy Story 3.' Labels: Bilingual DVD's, disneyland
Chinese Movie Market
Interesting that a major movie studio is targeting the Chinese market, and how they are doing it.
By developing movies for the local market with localization. I remember a teacher who told me, all marketing is local.
Fox gets teeth into Chinese movie market - Inquirer.net Labels: Bilingual DVD's
Bilingual Simplied Chinese English Books
Chinese Bilingual DVD's
I was just talking to one of my suppliers yesterday and they mentioned how well their Bilingual DVD's are selling, and I was thinking, not on my site. So here are some forgotten gems that are: - $19.95.
- Good stories.
- Great Quality!
Full name - Bilingual Animated Chinese English Books on DVD - Home Use Only A couple of them... Monkey King is really good... | | | |  | | The Mouse Bride & Story of the Chinese Zodiac Bilingual DVD Chinese/English | Our Price: $19.95 |
| |  2 Classic Chinese stories in 1 DVD
The Mouse Bride - �Are you the strongest being in the world?� an old mouse leader asks the Sun, Cloud, Wind, and Wall in search of a strong husband for his daughter -- someone strong enough to protect her and the village from the cat.
The Story of the Chinese Zodiac - How were the twelve animals chosen for the Chinese Zodiac? Why did the rat come first? | |  |  |  |  | | | | |  | | The Making of Monkey King & Monkey King Wreaks Havoc in Heaven Bilingual DVD Chinese/English | Our Price: $19.95 |
| |  Enjoy 2 Monkey King stories in 1 DVD!
Magically born from a rock, our Monkey becomes king and sets off on a journey to find the secret of immortality.
Later, Monkey wants to prove his prowess to all of the celestial warriors and ministers. Only Buddha is capable of taking down the rampaging simian - with the strangest of wagers. | |  |  |  |  | | | | |  | | Little Sam's Baseball Dream Bilingual DVD Chinese/English | Our Price: $19.95 |
| |  Smarty hits a homerun, yet the ball is nowhere to be found. This time he applies the Law of Reflection to locate the missing ball. Observant Sam tries the same thing during the game, hoping to win the inning, but reaps an opposite result. | |  |  |  |  | | | | |  | | A Pot Made of Paper Bilingual DVD Chinese/English | Our Price: $19.95 |
| |  A new restaurant opens in Happy Village, claiming to be the first in the country to serve food in a pot made of paper. This peaks the interest of Smarty and the gang. Finally, it takes a conversation with two out-of-town hikers and the understanding of centuries-old wisdoms for them to discover the origin of and the theory behind the paper pot.  |
Labels: Bilingual DVD's
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