One of my favorite YouTube channels for learning Chinese is Chinese Buddy Songs. It uses quirky songs and animation to teach basic Chinese words, phrases, and structures. Chinese Buddy is the brainchild of a New Zealander named Timothy. He is a trained musician and is passionate about “using music and technology to grow Mandarin learning.” Awhile […]
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: […]
Learning Mandarin Chinese: 5 Great Ideas to Improve Your Skills
Note: This is a guest post by the good folks at the Learn Mandarin Website. They also recently interviewed me for a post on their site about effective language learning methods. Learning Mandarin Chinese can be undertaken via a wide variety of methods. Recently, we at Learn Mandarin Now spent considerable time interviewing a […]
Chinese Language Learning Infographic
The folks at Learn Mandarin Now recently queried more than 50 bloggers (including yours truly) about their favorite resources for learning Chinese. Based on the responses, they put together this helpful graphic listing the top ten recommended language learning resources. What would you add? Image credit: Learn Mandarin Now Related Posts: How Long Does it […]
Learning Chinese in the 1920’s
As part of her research for a book about Esther Nelson, my friend Noel stumbled upon a digitized version of a Chinese language textbook used by foreign missionaries working in Sichuan Province in the 1920’s. It’s titled Chinese Lessons for First Year Students in West China, by Omar L. Kilborn. Besides the fact that the romanization is obviously not Pinyin, […]
7 Things to Know About Culture Shock
The first time I crossed a cultural boundary; I was but 1 year old! And no, it wasn’t my parents whisking me off to some far-off tropical land; it was my family returning to the US after a term of service in Pakistan. My mother says that my older sister and some of the children […]