September 12th, 2022 is Qian Xuantong (钱玄同)’s 135th birthday. In 1923, when he was 36 years old, he proposed to simplify Chinese characters, which was the first step to his ultimate goal of making Chinese into a phonetic writing system. He wanted to abolish the Chinese characters.

This year’s Zhong Qiu Jie (中秋节), Mid-Autumn festival, is just around the corner, Sep 10th to be precise, and it is a time for Chinese learners around the world to take a break in their regular study routines and to enjoy some of the festivities. Let’s remind ourselves that learning Chinese is also about gaining insights into Chinese cultural practices and about participating in the cultural activities. And you don’t have to be in China to enjoy Mid-Autumn festival.

NCACLS (National Council of Associations of Chinese Language Schools ) annual conference is a great place for ideas. I was in one a few years ago and I still remember that a teacher shared how she used kites to inspire her students and to build connections between learning Chinese language and doing scientific experiments.

A few days ago, I returned to this marvellous event, the eighth annual conference this time, sharing my idea to a roomful of (or rather, a screenful of) Chinese teachers from the other side of the world. 

It’s time for a beautiful folklore to be told again for anyone who is interested in learning Chinese and learning about Chinese culture, as the seventh day of the seventh month is coming. It is August 4th this year. On this day, two lovers will meet on Queqiao (鹊桥), the Magpie Bridge, to celebrate their eternal love for each other.

This is an important question! I’m glad it is asked.

For people who get their creativity going, it’s very likely that they can write more than one story or poem or mini play. All writings are written using the 320 Chinese characters, and all are really good.

This question has been asked a few times. One of them was particularly elaborate on why the limitation of Chinese characters made no sense.

When reading this particular email, I was really touched, as I knew this email was from someone who really loved the Chinese language and really enjoyed writing in Chinese.

Things happen in Google often make into the news. This time, it is about an engineer who was placed on paid leave because he claimed that Google’s A.I. is sentient. 

From a language learning point of view, this story reveals the power of A.I.’s ability to process language is far better than any human beings. It probably won’t be long when we think that “artificial intelligence” is convincing enough to be considered as “authentic intelligence”. 

Chinese Writing Contest is intended to be an open event that connects people. Anyone can have some fun with it. Therefore, the requirement is about what to write, not about who can participate. It is also about how to let everyone have a say in selecting the winners.

How to keep the selection process as open and as fair as possible is an important question. Voting on Twitter makes it very transparent and open. But, will that be fair?

Chinese people are very proud of Chinese food. One important aspect of learning Chinese is to learn about Chinese food. 

During the Chinese New Year, it’s about dumplings and all the auspicious good food. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, it’s about moon cakes and those wonderful seasonal fruits. Right now, it is about zong zi (粽子), as Duan Wu Jie (端午节) is here!

Learning Chinese has so many layers of meanings. To capture some of them, new products are now offered at MSL Master. They are printable posters with drawings and printable Chinese character posters. 

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 2022! It's bragging time! 😀

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

May 4th 2022 is here. 

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

Attending a big event, such as NCLC, was always something worth talking about. It was especially cool to be a speaker, even a small one as I was among all the big shots. It was a good opportunity to learn and to share some of my experience.

April 3, 2022, is the third day of the third month in Chinese lunar calendar. 1669 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. His 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.

Occasionally I receive some good questions about learning Chinese. I never thought about publishing any until today, as it suddenly occurred to me that other people might also be interested in these questions. Below is one I received from a 79 years old grandma from Australia, Pat.