Having spent 20+ years in China, working primarily in the field of education, I witnessed first-hand the national obsession with learning English in China. The good folks at China File have now put that obsession into pictures by translating an info-graphic that originally appeared on their Soho Business site. After citing statistic after statistic about the […]
Another Great Reason to Learn Chinese
Last month I hosted a couple of friends from China for two weeks. It was great having them here, but since they don’t speak English I and a mutual Chinese friend traded translation shifts. Wherever we went and whatever we did, one of us had to be ‘on duty.’ Needless to say it was exhausting. […]
My Mother’s Father’s Sister’s Cousin’s Daughter….Whatever!
Sometime during my first year of language learning (back in 1990), our teacher tried to teach us the various terms used to describe family relationships in Chinese: mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter, etc. It was useful stuff, since we were all anxious to talk about our families in Chinese. We usually did fine as […]
Top Ten Posts of 2012
It seems that every other blogger on the planet is doing an end-of-the-year “Top Ten” list, so why not me? Herewith, then, is the list of my top ten posts of 2012, as measured by WordPress stats: 10. Living Well Where You Don’t Belong (full version) A collection of lessons I’ve learned over the years […]
Does a Toddler Need a Tutor?
The China Daily had an interesting article yesterday about a new set of early educational guidelines that has been released by the Ministry of Education. The goal is to help parents and educators have a more realistic picture of what a 3-year old should be able to learn. They are being issued in response to […]
Learning ABOUT Chinese (and Language Learning)
No matter where you are in your Chinese language learning, sometimes it’s good to read books and articles ABOUT the language. These are some of my favorite resources about the Chinese language. Books: Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy, by John DeFrancis This is a good introductory book about the Chinese language with lots of interesting […]
