The future of Chinese language learning

July 4, 2014 by Jason Li

Victor Mair has some compelling thoughts on the Language Log on the future of Chinese language learning, and how we might soon be rid of brute force “rote memorization (sǐbèi/jì 死背/記 [lit., “deadly memorization”]).”

When I began learning Mandarin nearly half a century ago, I knew exactly how I wanted to acquire proficiency in the language. Nobody had to tell…

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Typography Design

Chinese etymology meets modern graphic design

August 20, 2013 by Jason Li

chineasy1

chineasy2

Entrepreneur ShaoLan Hsueh has teamed up with designer-illustrator Noma Bar to breathe new life into the age old practice of teaching kids Chinese characters using its pictorial etymology. And they need your support for their Kickstarter campaign.

Even though the campaign over sells itself (with prosaic catchphrases like “The real agenda behind…

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China Meme Report

Hong Kong Citizens’ Online, Memetic Protest

September 11, 2012 by An Xiao Mina

Like pretty much anyone else paying attention to the story, I was stunned to see the images of protests in Hong Kong, with people of all ages donning black to rail against Beijing’s plan to enact national education. Hong Kongers deemed it brainwashing, a paternalistic move from Beijing to inculcate the special territory into its ways. The sheer scale of…

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The Image of an Ideal Primary School in China

July 29, 2011 by Jason Li

Above: 10AM Communication’s ad for Capitaland showing off its philanthropic efforts. The setup is that many schools were destroyed by the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, and that Capitaland has helped re-build 15 schools across China. The video features their star project, the first “green hope” (whatever they mean by that) school in China.

The…

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Chinese Mothers are Forced to be Tiger Moms

March 22, 2011 by Jason Li

My Country My People translates a great article from China’s Southern Weekly. My favorite points:

In Sun Yat-Sen University Professor Feng Zengjun’s view, the core of American education is freedom, which “levels up excellent ones, but also brings down lazy ones”. Thus, it’s easy to understand why Americans perform poorly on average scores but succeed in cultivating…

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Virtual China

Chinese Opensource OpenCourseWare

September 8, 2006 by Lyn Jeffery

Continuing on the subject of open access educational resources in China, there are two groups that lie on opposite ends of the education technology spectrum, that I wanted to bring into the picture. The first is the China Open Resources for Education (CORE) which recently organized the 3rd Chinese Open Education Conference 2006 in Xi’an, China, Sept. 6-8. Program with speakers…

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Tag: education