april

Mandarin and Other Chinese dialects

There are a lot of Chinese dialects, probably 250. Among them, Mandarin, Cantonese and Hokkien are the most popular judged by the number of people who speak it. Mandarin was made official and dubbed as putonghua (the common language). All Chinese students study through putonghua at school. There are reasons why Mandarin was chosen to be the official language, but not other dialects. One is that Mandarin is in the... (posted by april 3 years 14 days ago.)

A Parable of Zen Seeking a Cure for Baldness

There was a bald man whose head felt very cold in winter. But in summer, he always got bitten by mosquitoes on the head and found it hard to get a good night's sleep. He was very trouble by this problem, but there was nothing he could do about it. One day he heard about a famous physician who cured many difficult diseases and solved many problems. He decided to consult him. He traveled for days and... (posted by april 3 years 63 days ago.)

Is Bond Still The Tall Dark Handsome Elegant English Gentleman?

People rely on certain things not to be changed, like the sun always comes out from the east, the daily commute train always starts at 7am, and classic line "I'm Bond, James Bond." James Bond, coded as 007, started out as a handsome, elegant and womanizing British government spy with a license to kill. He was witty, smart, charming and able to fight. He could turn around the direst... (posted by april 3 years 80 days ago.)

The Benefit of Learning

There are great benefit in learning. I read this before: learning is the greatest investment you ever made to yourself. But when it comes to Chinese, I heard some different stories. One of them is very convincing at first. Quote: And don't you watch the news? According to CCTV, all foreigners want to learn Chinese. Well, you can't exactly believe what you see on CCTV. There are some people who wish to learn Chinese... (posted by april 6 years 165 days ago.)