Tag: Language Learning
Language vs. Attitude
If you intend to live and work in China, France, or wherever, check your attitude. With an attitude of acceptance, participation, immersion, you will not only develop meaningful relationships, but language acquisition will be enhanced.
Out of the Fog
A Review of ACTFL Language Proficiency Tests
If you need an accurate assessment of what you can do in a language—and every language learner does—then the ACTFL offers one of the best options.
Putonghua: Uniting a Linguistically Fractured China
During my travels around China people often said to me “Your Chinese is better than mine.” When I adamantly denied even the remote possibility that their assertion may be true, they would clarify: “Your Putonghua is better than mine.”
9 Language-Learning Resources Online
Today there are almost unlimited resources for learning Chinese, and many of them are available online for free. Herewith is my list of nine recommended online resources.
Stinky Tofu and Language Learning
Earlier in the summer, I had the chance to meet a family that was in the process of moving to China. Among other things they wanted to know about resources to help their young children learn Chinese.
What Does “Ju” Mean?
When I was living in China, newcomers, especially those who had been around for a few weeks or months and had started to pick up some new words and phrases, would often ask me, “what does ju (or some other word) mean?”
Matteo Ricci
The First Western Chinese Language Learner?
Learning Chinese is a big task, but learning how to use the language to accomplish simple, everyday tasks is not. You may never, like Matteo Ricci, translate Chinese classics or write books in Chinese yourself. But even Ricci had to start with the basics, learning the sounds, the tones, and the simple vocabulary to accomplish the stuff of everyday life.