Note: this post was originally posted to ChinaSource. A couple of months ago, after a morning service at my church, a woman approached me with three books in her hand. She had been born in Beijing in 1948, the daughter of Baptist missionaries (Dale and Alma Bjork). Her mother had recently passed away and she […]
Thanks, Teacher Zhou
In 2011 I wrote a post about Zhou Youguang, the father of the Pinyin writing system. The post was titled “Imagine Learning Chinese Without Pinyin.” Here’s what I wrote about him: For those of you who are studying or have studied Chinese (in China at least), were it not for this man, Zhouo Youguang, you […]
What Languages Are Spoken in China?
Even though I have a fairly high level of fluency in Mandarin Chinese, there are still numerous places in China where I can travel to and not be able to understand a word of what is being spoken by the locals. This map, posted at That’s Magazine, shows why. Image credit: @nick_kapur, via That’s Magazine Related Posts: Chinese […]
State Names in Chinese — Literally
When I began studying Chinese (years ago), one of the first things I wanted to learn how to do was answer the question about where I am from. That meant learning how to say Minnesota in Chinese. It is simply a phonetic translation: ming ni su da (明尼苏达). On top of that, there is Minneapolis: […]
Why Proof-reading is Hard
Now I know why I am such a terrible proof-reader! I found this frighteningly easy to read. Image credit: twitter.com/lingholic
Bilingualism is Good for the Brain
I ran across this interesting info-graphic on the Twitter feed of the good folks at Lingholic.com. It highlights how bilingualism is good for the brain. I like the idea of dimentia prevention. And the next time someone says I’m dense I’ll just tell them it’s my grey matter and that’s a good thing. Image source: https://twitter.com/lingholic Related Posts: […]
