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 […]
Happy Birthday “Beijing”
No, today is not the birthday of the founding of Beijing. That happened too far back in history to be able to pinpoint a date. Recorded history goes back around 4000 years and Peking Man dates back more than 200,000 years. So why wish “Beijing” a “Happy Birthday?” Well, because it was 36 years ago […]
What Does Ju Mean?
Another question that I am commonly asked by newcomers, especially after they have been around for awhile and have started to pick up some new words and phrases is “what does XX mean?” If you are at all familiar with Chinese, you will understand the un-helpfulness of a question like this. The Chinese language has […]
Imagine Learning Chinese Without Pinyin
For those of you who are studying or have studied Chinese (in China at least), were it not for this man, Zhouo Youguang, you would be learning the language without the benefit of Pinyin.This is the guy who decided that the letter q would represent a ch sound, x an sh sound, and an i […]
