ChinesePod releases Chinese Olympics guide

With that title, it sort of sounds like they were holding one of those eager English-language students hostage.

Terrorist activities aside, Chinesepod.com has produced a fantastic guide to the Beijing Olympics for visitors, athletes, journalists – or just whelps like myself who can’t be bothered to deal with the crowds, but wouldn’t mind brushing up on how to say things like fly ball and handspring.

The guide includes vocabulary sections for all the sporting events, as well as a large collection of related newbie and elementary level lessons – topics cover pretty much everything, including: cheering, the Olympics on TV, China’s most famous tourist destinations, and (perhaps most importantly) preparing for the heat.

The slick interface also gives you quick access to hanzi, pinyin and audio for all the countries’ names, and includes an interactive map of the event locations (with translations and useful information).

All-in-all a damn handy guide for anyone with even the most arbitrary interest in the Games that will grace Beijing in but a few short weeks.