The phrase ‘long time no see’ is one of the rare exceptions where it seems that English has absorbed a little piece of Chinese. In this case, the grammar. The sentence structure of 好久不見 (hao 3 jiu4 bu4 jian4) is quite unlike anything else in the English language, and it has been posited that it…
This month, I review two electronic learning aids developed for people learning Chinese. This time, however, they are produced by Asian companies. Read the reviews here: XCome Dictionary for Asus EeePC & Dr Eye Han Easy (html page) (pdf) Enjoy! The story of a British Industrial Designer in Taiwan…
Taipei Times – Chinese Learning Technology It’s two in two weeks, as I am introducing the mobile section of my Chinese language review series. I do aim to catch up with developments in my new job but I have barely had a moment to think thus far – it is making DEM seem like a…
Taipei Times – Chinese Learning Technology It’s been a wee while, but I am back on the writing bandwagon after a ‘sabbatical’ – or rather, a break while I got my head around changing jobs and going on holiday. But here it is – and this is something I want to make regular – a…
Here’s the latest literature that is gracing my bed side table – a hard-hitting commentary on children in the modern educational environment. Written by the controversial and outspoken British author, Michael Rosen, it plots the fate of a small child who decides, one fateful day, to bring a small rock into class to show to…
After many months of almost getting my backside in gear, I have finally got round to creating a blog in Chinese. Finally, I hope that this provides me with an easy way to enjoyably prepare written work for my Chinese teacher! I want it to be a dynamic document, so if you are a Chinese…
I think it is worth talking a little about the technology I use, on a day to day basis, to learn Chinese. Some of it definitely does not work, some of it I think is very effective, and some is just fun. Also, after a while, I begin to forget what the actual systems are…
I just learnt my 3000th word in Chinese! Kind of a magic number for me to reach, because they say I should be able to start reading basic newspapers now. We shall see. I know this because I tap every word I learn into my trusty Palm, and use Supermemo software to give me daily…
Yesterday, I passed rather a milestone – I have now learnt more than 2000 characters! I have not spoken a great deal about my learning Chinese, except for the occasional moments of frustration or amusing anecdotes. But, it does consume an enormous part of my free time here in Taiwan. Six hours tutoring after work…