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Language

Language: My Favorite Mandarin Tool

January 11, 2010

I recently received an email from a buddy of mine that is doing an intensive Mandarin program in Taipei. During his studies, he had discovered many of the amazing tools available on the web for those trying to learn Mandarin. He rattled off all the flashcard programs, websites, and textbooks that I have come to [...]

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Book Review: A New China (新的中国）

October 12, 2009

After a few years of studying with several different books, I have noticed that their is a pretty significant difference in the quality. I think part of the problem is that there are so many people trying to capitalize on the growing number of people that are trying to learn the language. I say this [...]

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Language: Happy Mandarin/快乐汉语 on CCTV

September 8, 2009

My Chinese teacher introduced me to a new show on CCTV 4/CCTV 4’s website. The show is about an American student (Susan) that is living with a family in Beijing, and the purpose is to teach people about Chinese customs and Mandarin.

 
Although the show is not very good, and at times even annoying, I find [...]

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Language: American Politicians Speak Mandarin

August 26, 2009

Here is a post about the comments made during recent US-China exchanges. It is taken from a local article and some comments by my Chinese teacher.
Oh, and FYI – the English following the Mandarin is a translation, in case you cannot read.

美国政治领导说华语

美国国务卿希拉莉2009年2月访华时用了中国成语“同舟共济”。从那以后，我们经常听到奥巴马政府官员引用中国成语。今年七月，中美战略与经济对话在美国召开时，她又引用了一句中国谚语 “人心齐，泰山移”，来强调美中合作的重要性。美国财长则在开幕式上引用中国成语“风雨同舟”，来形容当前美中关系的现实。奥巴马却引用球星姚明的话。姚明说新旧球员之间需要时间调整才能合作。

During US Secretary of State Hillary’s visit to China in Feb 2009, she [...]

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Language: New Approach to Learning Mandarin

August 19, 2009

I am pretty up-to-date on the new technology, websites, and other tools to help learn Mandarin. That was until I found Re-Learn Chinese (no longer being updated). In this blog, the author proposes a new way of learning Mandarin Chinese, and I think it is worth reading about. The author is quite good at Mandarin [...]

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Language: This Year’s Speak Mandarin Campaign in Singapore

April 21, 2009

Now that I have access to Youtube, I thought I would update this post with the video. Below is one of two videos, and I think they might be coming out with more. Enjoy!

2009 Speak Mandarin Campaign on Youtube

After I was finally able to watch Youtube, I checked out the commercials for Singapore Speak Mandarin [...]

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Language: Information Overload and Language Study

April 13, 2009

Studying Chinese alone is probably easier now than ever. There are tons of free/cheap resources that allow you to do different things at your own pace. Those studying the language offer tips on their blogs, and various online communities form to encourage language study.
As I was sitting on my desk starting at the Chinese textbooks, [...]

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Language: Understanding Singlish

April 7, 2009

This immersion program is a great opportunity to continue to study Singlish. I have been fascinated by this ‘language’ since I have moved to Singapore, and now that I spend so much time with my students everyday, I can make observations and start to see patterns.
As a communication teacher, I hope that my understanding of [...]

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Language: Fen Ge and Measure Words in Mandarin

April 5, 2009

What happens if you incorrectly use the wrong ‘measure word‘? Well, for one of my students, it meant getting less than expected for desert. Let me explain.
One of my students was eating a fancy banana desert at a hotel in Hanzhou, and her friend decided to order the same thing. She told the waiter that [...]

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Link: Taiwanese Talk Show Making Fun of Singaporean English

March 5, 2009

This is actually pretty funny…

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