Hello Crew of KC101,
First off let me congratulate you on the superb job you are doing and have done thus far. There is of course always room for improvement so please allow me to suggest a few things.
1. TWICE WEEKLY ADVANCED AUDIO BLOGS: It would be great if you offered the advanced audio blogs twice weekly instead of just one per week.
2. NOT JUST FEMALE VOICE: Advanced audio blogs should alternate between a male voice and a female voice. Nearly all of what I have reviewed has been recorded by females. This is good because females tend to speak more clearly than males, but this is not good because in order to truly learn a language one has to be able to understand the male speech pattern and voice, and males should pattern their speech after male examples.
Personal experience blogs are great, but they tend to be narrowly focused and random. These personal blogs tend to cover similar situations in a similar manner and do not provide the variety of exposure necessary in order to thoroughly learn a foreign language. It seems to me that a more systematic approach to providing diverse content is more effective in teaching a foreign language, therefore I also suggest the following:
3. HISTORY AND CULTURE: To truly learn a language one needs to understand and be familiar with both the history and culture of that country. Therefore I suggest that subject matter, especially in the advanced blogs, should occasionally present historical and cultural data in essay format. For example, a general overview of Korean history, or an essay on King SeJong, Admiral SoonShin Lee, or former president SeungMan Lee.
4. CURRENT EVENTS & POLITICS: Subject matter for the advanced blogs should also cover current events from time to time. A recent news story or newspaper article could be reviewed and the instructor give his opinion on the matter.
I look forward to KC101 becoming the premier site for learning Korean on the Internet, therefore I have made these suggestions.
I understand that people are always pressed for time, and that finding people, especially males, who are willing to dedicate the time and energy necessary to implement the above suggestions would be difficult (probably because KC101 can't afford to pay for that time), but perhaps you could find some retired people with time on their hands.
It would nice also to see instructors visit the forums more often. I do not use any of the podcast or electronic gadget options. I am too busy during the day, but when I come home I almost always have an hour or two to visit this site. For me this site is the whole of KC101, so if there is no new activity on the site I feel disappointed.
Thanks for listening,
George Posten