Skip to main content

Let these 112 YouTube videos help you prepare for this year’s Chinese Writing Contest

Written by April Zhang on Thursday, 11 May 2023. Posted in Chinese Writing Contest

Let these 112 YouTube videos help you prepare for this year’s Chinese Writing Contest

MSL Master Chinese Writing Contest 2023 is receiving submissions on August 1. 

If you’re worried that you have not learned all of the required 320 Chinese characters yet, or how to use them in sentences and paragraphs, these 112 free YouTube videos and more are here to help.

From battlefield to playground: Launching Chinese Writing Contest 2023

Written by April Zhang on Monday, 08 May 2023. Posted in Chinese Writing Contest

From battlefield to playground: Launching Chinese Writing Contest 2023

Hey fellow Chinese language learners! It's that time of the year. Time to show off your creativities and Chinese writing skills with 320 Chinese characters.

Get ready for Chinese Writing Contest 2023! It's bragging time! 😀

In this contest, depth is valued more than quickness, ingenuity more than vitality, and creativity more than erudition.  

Students’ anger after DSE English exam calls for reflection on HK’s education system

Written by April Zhang on Friday, 05 May 2023. Posted in Front Page

Students’ anger after DSE English exam calls for reflection on HK’s education system

One bizarre thing happened last month after Hong Kong DSE (Diploma of Secondary Education) English exam, which used some excerpts from the former US First Lady Michelle Obama’s memoir Becoming in one reading section.

After the exam, many students went on to Michelle Obama’s social media account and left unseemly comments, blaming her for the exam being too difficult and for their own failures.

May Fourth Movement and the rupture it created in Chinese teaching and learning

Written by April Zhang on Monday, 01 May 2023. Posted in Front Page

May Fourth Movement and the rupture it created in Chinese teaching and learning

May 4th 2023 is coming. 

It’s time to commemorate the May Fourth Movement that happened on May 4th, 1919, and revisit the irrevocable changes happened to China and the Chinese language.

2000 years of history imbedded in the Chinese Reading and Writing series

Written by April Zhang on Saturday, 15 April 2023. Posted in Front Page

2000 years of history imbedded in the Chinese Reading and Writing series

April 22, 2023, is the third day of the third month in Chinese lunar calendar. 1670 years ago, on the same day, i.e. the third day of the third month in 353CE, a great calligrapher, and also a great poet, composed and wrote a poem in the semi-cursive script. 

This writing eventually became the most well known masterpiece of brush calligraphy in Chinese history. And it is this masterpiece that appears on the covers of all Chinese Reading and Writing series.

Schools need to have a clear definition for what constitutes cheating when using ChatGPT

Written by April Zhang on Friday, 24 March 2023. Posted in Front Page

Schools need to have a clear definition for what constitutes cheating when using ChatGPT

Despite harsh penalties, cheating has never been stamped out in schools. The advent of ChatGPT, or generative AI in general that is widely available, is making the situation worse. 

Before ChatGPT, the following ways are considered cheating: students pay someone to write papers for them; they copy papers from other students; they plagiarise sections from other sources; they present translated materials from a foreign language as their own; they describe ideas of others as their own; they do not give proper credit to others.

Feel the sorrow from a distance - our very first song “By Myself” released

Written by April Zhang on Monday, 13 March 2023. Posted in Front Page

Feel the sorrow from a distance - our very first song “By Myself” released

I’m not a bar person, but I regularly visit a nearby bar on Tuesday evenings. It is because that night is the jam night. Each musician gets to choose two songs to play or to sing. Other musicians will go along with these choices and stage a performance. The sounds of keyboard, guitars, bass, drums, vocals, and sometimes a saxophone, are fused together and exemplified by loud speakers.

Although I am always a spectator, I find the whole experience fascinating.

Sorry about broken links after “disruptive” software upgrade to MSL Master website

Written by April Zhang on Monday, 06 March 2023. Posted in Front Page

Sorry about broken links after “disruptive” software upgrade to MSL Master website

On the surface, it may not look any different. But MSL Master website had just went through a massive software upgrade over the weekend. I was told that there were many benefits that this new upgrade would bring. However, an immediate problem is that the upgrade seemed to be able to rewrite old URLs, and my tech support guys couldn’t figure out why.

I admit that it is very very “disruptive”, a fitting term used so often in the technology community. And I’m very sorry about the problems that readers will likely to experience when browsing the website, a ton of “404” pages.

Three must known Chinese women in history

Written by April Zhang on Wednesday, 01 March 2023. Posted in Front Page

Three must known Chinese women in history

International Women’s Day (March 8) is coming. It is a highly celebrated day worldwide. In Chinese, it is called 妇女节, 三八节, 三八妇女节, or 国际妇女节. 

As MSL Master is 100% female led and operated, and also because I’m in a profession that is predominantly female, I am happy to contribute to this special occasion and introduce three must known Chinese women in history.

Wrap up Chinese New Year with sweet yuanxiao

Written by April Zhang on Wednesday, 01 February 2023. Posted in Front Page

Wrap up Chinese New Year with sweet yuanxiao

The fifteenth day of the Chinese New Year is a special occasion, a festival within a festival. According to Lao She (老舍), this is the climax of the Chinese New Year. It is the brightest and the most beautiful festival. 

In 2023, this brightest and most beautiful Yuanxiao Festival (元宵节) falls on Feb 5.

It’s crazy! We’re making a song

Written by April Zhang on Tuesday, 24 January 2023. Posted in Front Page

It’s crazy! We’re making a song

Meet Luiz Antonio Gonçalves Neto, everyone!

Last year there were a few beautiful poems included in Easy-to-Read Chinese Short Stories, Book 2, a collection of the best entries of Chinese Writing Contest 2022. 

And I said to myself, wouldn’t it be nice if at least one of these poems could be made into a song?

Thanks to Luiz, it’s going to happen.

7 best of the best Chinese New Year greetings for this coming chun jie

Written by April Zhang on Tuesday, 10 January 2023. Posted in Front Page

7 best of the best Chinese New Year greetings for this coming chun jie

After January 1st, the next big event is Chinese New Year, 春节 (Chūn jié), also known as the Spring Festival. It’s probably the most important Chinese festival. 

This year, the first day of the Chinese New Year falls on January 22, 2023, bringing the Year of the Rabbit to us. 

For this special occasion, it’ll be handy to know some Chinese New Year greetings. Whether it is for friends or for business connections, for emails or greeting cards, being able to say or write something nice and auspicious is always a plus.

Hello, 2023! Hello, new office!

Written by April Zhang on Sunday, 01 January 2023. Posted in Front Page

Hello, 2023! Hello, new office!

What has magnificent 2023 brought us?

A new office!

MSL Master just moved in to its brand new office, located at Bonham Strand. It’s a very lively neighbourhood with so many restaurants, shops and convenient stores. It is very close to the old neighbourhood where the previous office was, about five minutes on foot, yet it’s so different. It is definitely appropriate to say 新年新气象!

Chinese learning tips for busy people during the holiday

Written by April Zhang on Saturday, 17 December 2022. Posted in Front Page

Chinese learning tips for busy people during the holiday

The much anticipated holiday season is here. We are saying goodbye to 2022, and saying hello to 2023!

Got plans? Travelling? Planning multi occasions for drinking and eating? Having time reserved for binge watching? There is also of course playing video games, shopping and what not. I hope it’s going to be a great holiday for you!

What about learning Chinese? 

Give the gift of learning Chinese for this holiday season

Written by April Zhang on Thursday, 01 December 2022. Posted in Front Page

Give the gift of learning Chinese for this holiday season

It’s here! 

Time to give the gift of creativity and inspiration!

This year we saw 14 talented writers stood out in the second Chinese Writing Contest. Their works were included in Easy-to-Read Chinese Short Stories, Book 2, which was just released. 

Send this book as a gift and let it encourage and inspire someone to learn and to be creative. 

[12 3 4 5  >>