tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66934440117545488612024-03-19T03:21:18.458-07:00Learn ChineseD Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693444011754548861.post-85074483755002152242010-11-12T22:22:00.000-08:002010-11-12T22:22:00.487-08:00Chinese Class on Chinese YoukuJust finished watching a very nice Chinese class on Chinese YouTube site: Youku. <a href="http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTQxNjM3MDUy.html">The video</a> is under teaching section. Youku is a very popular Chinese video sharing site.<br /><br /><embed src="http://player.youku.com/player.php/sid/XMTQxNjM3MDUy/v.swf" quality="high" width="480" height="400" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"><br />对外汉语教学视频</embed><br /><br />I like the way the young Chinese teach used in her class. By using flash cards and playing games in the class. It is really fun way to learn Chinese. She even say some common Chinese sentences, with some words she may not teach before. That's actually the way to learn Chinese. You don't need to know every word. Just try to find out the words you know.D Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693444011754548861.post-43854970690715827992010-11-10T18:45:00.000-08:002010-11-10T19:11:06.942-08:00iTunes U: Basic ChineseThe Open University of Hong Kong provides a serials of classes on iTunes U, 9 items up to today. The following is a snap-shot of the podcast in iTunes:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0pUkYhQH3zfJL2qpbV38wDf-0l8fc82vPtznGIbqsSz9qnirRX_kteWK5hBjjazOHyV9O0Sadw71MYzs6d9vStROgQZiwj7pkN7WMIHW707tjIBi60rD638Sbm0_CWzNStGlBolUqbA/s1600/HK_BasicChinese+1.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 137px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0pUkYhQH3zfJL2qpbV38wDf-0l8fc82vPtznGIbqsSz9qnirRX_kteWK5hBjjazOHyV9O0Sadw71MYzs6d9vStROgQZiwj7pkN7WMIHW707tjIBi60rD638Sbm0_CWzNStGlBolUqbA/s320/HK_BasicChinese+1.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538123824899979890" /></a><br /><br />To find the podcast, search for "The Open University of Hong Kong" or "Basic Chinese 1" in iTunes.D Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693444011754548861.post-44611742263285806462010-11-06T14:57:00.000-07:002010-11-06T15:25:59.687-07:00Type Pinyin in MacI found <a href="http://robrohan.com/2007/02/03/typing-proper-pinyin-on-mac/">a way to type in Chinese Pinyin in my Mac computer</a>. It is very simple to set it up. First, you have to enable the U.S. Extended input from System Preferences|Language & Text|Input Sources. This is one time setup:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiegjDXfkIGRep7OBKehC8FCbECn9xwwkrj6hO68Ueqc0f1wHghxB6nY2akV55yOXvRvDiIrEeL3bQCj1W8ukaCmVWPR0hgIUo9seSqUmb-Ahetui304t080nu6t3_hWxx4t5HghCEcHQ/s1600/LanguageText.png"><img style="float:center; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 161px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiegjDXfkIGRep7OBKehC8FCbECn9xwwkrj6hO68Ueqc0f1wHghxB6nY2akV55yOXvRvDiIrEeL3bQCj1W8ukaCmVWPR0hgIUo9seSqUmb-Ahetui304t080nu6t3_hWxx4t5HghCEcHQ/s320/LanguageText.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536561004280945394" /></a><br /><br />This input has a list of phonetic or dialect symbols which can be added to a character. Those symbols include Pinyin four tones and special ü:<br /><br /><pre>First tone: option+a<br />Second tone: option+e<br />Third tone: option+v<br />Fourth tone: option+`<br />¨: option+u</pre><br /><br />To input pinyin, type a tone first, and then input a vow, such as a, e, i, o, u. To type in ü, type in u after option+u. Those key combinations are straightforward and it takes very short time to get used to.<br /><br />I use this method to edit a document of transcript for a podcast by Sun Yat-Sen University. The application is <a href="http://www.neooffice.org/neojava/en/index.php">NeoOffice</a> for Mac. In order to align up Pinyin with Chinese characters, I define my tabs first with 1.5cm interval. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaTQJnBs-91EoGiX-26NcRA4xLAODrZ_MTeHZ5584Jfq3HTgYBxpN9dRTOUVE60OJtKVcZAh3xfFa9KpxYZzE5f9yGDNwbHMjANs0qETzQFFhxUTLZZmHv5DhARJ41sDWUPvj5_uYNkg/s1600/Transcript.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 170px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaTQJnBs-91EoGiX-26NcRA4xLAODrZ_MTeHZ5584Jfq3HTgYBxpN9dRTOUVE60OJtKVcZAh3xfFa9KpxYZzE5f9yGDNwbHMjANs0qETzQFFhxUTLZZmHv5DhARJ41sDWUPvj5_uYNkg/s320/Transcript.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536564304013628850" /></a>D Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693444011754548861.post-66463365866562229392010-11-01T21:25:00.000-07:002010-11-01T22:02:08.654-07:00Learn Chinese Podcast by Sun Yat-Sen UniversityThere are many podcasts available for people to learn Chinese. I found this is a very good one for beginners: Dui4 Wai4 Han4 Yu3, by Sun Yat-Sen University. It is available in iTunes U. For example this dialog is about <a href="http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Feed/sysu-edu-cn-public-dz.4451541568.04451541570">ordering food</a> in a MacDonld-like restaurant.<br /><br />Note: the link does not work in Safari, nor in Chrome. but it opens a fee in Firefox.<br /><br />I like this podcast. Each dialog is very short, less than 1 minutes. The content is very simple, very good for beginners. I watched a few. Many dialogs have very simple and useful phrases. I think that this podcast is very good complementary resource for my class. The podcast program actually has two sets. One is mainly on Chinese culture with dialogs in English, and another set has dialogs in Chinese with Pin Yin. Here is a snapshot of two sets in iTunes:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNq0qs-gMYmGk6Ybd5iGInYfN7NWEu6Gs_LR6Vg-I4RyTGnA0OTyWD5HY6OsO4L9-nPufMve2XrpgtmmGOj2GJnq9aWsIrujNVK3dm60HU7rUJSkb7Y54NHacCR_inMX3nh-9RlxSbtg/s1600/ChinesePodcast.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 119px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNq0qs-gMYmGk6Ybd5iGInYfN7NWEu6Gs_LR6Vg-I4RyTGnA0OTyWD5HY6OsO4L9-nPufMve2XrpgtmmGOj2GJnq9aWsIrujNVK3dm60HU7rUJSkb7Y54NHacCR_inMX3nh-9RlxSbtg/s320/ChinesePodcast.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534811918836079970" /></a><br /><br />To find the podcast, go to iTunes Store. Then search for 对外汉语, just copy the paste those four characters. In Pin Yin, they are dui4 wai4 han4 yu3.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3YimFg11OQ84tL2grLOrlh-8rF4fVDu04uUN6kUm8F1oMnGnuV70a31Ri1WrtACnVWSzySOo0CMJX8osvTzNbBQdpUUxbdiVuTTdb5zGJB3B8BT_eGvinGmQvpPlFTm0fc1693NyyTA/s1600/ChinesePodcast2-1.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 110px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3YimFg11OQ84tL2grLOrlh-8rF4fVDu04uUN6kUm8F1oMnGnuV70a31Ri1WrtACnVWSzySOo0CMJX8osvTzNbBQdpUUxbdiVuTTdb5zGJB3B8BT_eGvinGmQvpPlFTm0fc1693NyyTA/s320/ChinesePodcast2-1.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534813104282367250" /></a>D Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693444011754548861.post-80045459389123309282010-09-27T14:29:00.001-07:002010-11-01T21:25:30.204-07:00Learn Chinese for Beginners Will Start on Sep 28, 2010My Mandarin class for Beginners will start tomorrow at Central Memorial High School 5111 - 21 Street SW Calgary, AB. I have not started any classes in the past two years. The main reason is the low enrolment. I was told that if the class could run this time, the Chinook College would cancel this course from the language program. Fortunately, now I have enough students, 7 people.<br /><br />I am not sure about the certainty of my Chinese class. There are so many other alternatives for people to learn languages, such as iTunes, podcast, and web sites. Those alternatives are not only so rich in terms of technology such as sound, videos and apps, but also very convenient for learners. Personally, I gained so much knowledge and skills by those means. I think that's good for language learners. However, one common thing is missing in those methods: no pressure and easy to give up. I'll try my best to teach my class and share my knowledge with my students.D Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693444011754548861.post-42166358802923703282009-11-17T20:34:00.000-08:002009-11-17T21:24:56.913-08:00Web Tool: Google TranslateGoogle translate has been available for a while. However, I read an article from CNET news about its new feature: <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10399789-265.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0">Google Translate now helps with pronunciation</a>. I went to the web page right away and tested it out. It is very cool!<br /><br />For example, I tried to type in a sentence of "<a href="http://translate.google.com/#en|zh-CN|Today%20I%20rode%20my%20bike%20to%20a%20bank%20in%20downtown.">Today I rode my bike a bank in downtown</a>":<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7dxw8xWzQCH0eEsjsKlJpDVuRKl7UI2jfWCh4ZGM9ptr3BqypdMG4D83mwMLjNL_QSgYm-ReIMG1MguZNEPHXlRqhXqVBaMvBvoDPsoDQBNazLGPdux-nUo2EpTFMEUOQEj_HePNZg/s1600/English2Chinese.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-7dxw8xWzQCH0eEsjsKlJpDVuRKl7UI2jfWCh4ZGM9ptr3BqypdMG4D83mwMLjNL_QSgYm-ReIMG1MguZNEPHXlRqhXqVBaMvBvoDPsoDQBNazLGPdux-nUo2EpTFMEUOQEj_HePNZg/s320/English2Chinese.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405303646465203218" /></a><br /><br />In Chinese, the second character of <i>bike</i> and the first character of <i>bank</i> are the same but with different sounds. Google translate did good job to make them correct in its corresponding romanization! This tool is much better than <a href="http://learnchineseblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/get-pinyin-from-chinese-characters.html">my javascript tool</a> I posted in my blog last year.<br /><br />This web tool does better job to translate English to Chinese than the opposite way: Chinese to English. Here is one example, <a href="http://translate.google.com/#zh-CN|en|我把我的自行车停在银行的门口外面。">I put my bike parked outside the door of the bank</a> as a result of Chinese:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Bkj1Y5uZOiWdtydrGElmJfsHG5zDNSpuffrbcz9TxPQ1ty-qUDXgA_4wFg-wDnxa-efN7AwMNDKd07qIcVwK0PVtUGDKr2wDBuQnSxSsMX-AVDDYQPbKBN5tFtcuqYvi8H_cyOdG-g/s1600/Chinese2English.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 178px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Bkj1Y5uZOiWdtydrGElmJfsHG5zDNSpuffrbcz9TxPQ1ty-qUDXgA_4wFg-wDnxa-efN7AwMNDKd07qIcVwK0PVtUGDKr2wDBuQnSxSsMX-AVDDYQPbKBN5tFtcuqYvi8H_cyOdG-g/s320/Chinese2English.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405303828085452546" /></a><br /><br />I think that the tool actually doing the translation based on Chinese grammar pattern literately, in the order of piece by piece like dominoes in a line . In this sense, it is a great tool for English speaking people to understand or learn Chinese. You just copy and paste a Chinese sentence there to let Goole translate to analyze it.<br /><br />By the way, if you let the tool to translate English to either Simplified or Traditional Chinese, the romanization results are the same, all in Pinyin.D Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693444011754548861.post-48159234619071169402009-07-19T16:02:00.000-07:002009-07-19T16:52:40.922-07:00Don't Eat MarshmallowsThis a TED talk, Joachim de Posada says, Don't eat the marshmallow yet.<br /><br /><object width="446" height="326"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"></param> <param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/embed/JoachimdePosada_2009U-embed_high.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/JoachimDePosada-2009U.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=553" /><embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgColor="#ffffff" width="446" height="326" allowFullScreen="true" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/embed/JoachimdePosada_2009U-embed_high.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/JoachimDePosada-2009U.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=553"></embed></object><br />enable subtitles and select Chinese(Simplified)<br /><br />This is my first translation work as a TED volunteer translator. TED Translation project was launched about a year ago. It has been very successful. With people involved world wide, so many talks have been translated to various languages with high quality. I read an article from TED saying that it was impossible just for TED hired translators to do the job and actually volunteers having done very high quality translation work.<br /><br />I had been kept watching TED shows almost on daily base during my initial period knowing TED. When I saw this one, I immediately decided to join the translation project to do this talk. It took very quick time to get my translator application approval passed. Then I took about one week to finish this talk. Fortunately, when I was doing the translation, the traditional Chinese just finished the initial translation and was in review stage, I used the version as my reference. That's really helpful since both Simplified and Traditional Chinese are very close.<br /><br />The review time took quite a while. It took about more than one week to have a reviewer assigned by TED. I think the reviewer is a Chinese from Mainland China. He is very polite and respect to my work. I took some of his revisions, but missed some. Then he marked it as completed by mistake,may miscommunication during our emails. Soon we realized the editor comments in TED. I make a request to pull it back. We took less than one day do to complete it, removed all the editor notes. Finally, the Simplified Chinese subtitle is available on TED. It has been very enjoyable work on web!<br /><br />Now I just finished another talk and it is in the stage waiting for reviewer. Hopefully it will be available soon.<br /><br />By the way, when I did my first translation, there were only 7 talks with Simplified Chinese subtitles. Now the number reaches to 34!<br /><br />During my translation, I also found out that there are quite a few of Chinese web site related to TED, One is <a href="http://www.yeeyan.com/">YeeYan</a>, which is a web site with a lot Chinese translations from variety of languages. There is one active group about TED talks. I posted my translation there to share TED with people there. Another one is <a href="http://www.tedtochina.com/">TEDToChina</a>. This site was initialized by a group of Chinese university students in GuangDong Province and it has far more Chinese translations in article format there. Recently they hosted a similar talk conference in GuangZhou with great success. From both sites, I contact a key organizer. His name soon appears on TED translation project.<br /><br />Here is <a href="http://blog.wenxuecity.com/blogview.php?date=200907&postID=19237">my post regarding this talk </a>on my Chinese blog at <a href="http://www.wenxuecity.com/">WenxueCity</a>.D Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693444011754548861.post-36088644769770370162009-02-12T20:50:00.000-08:002009-02-12T21:47:05.029-08:00My Breakfast in BeijingI had my vacation in China from the last Boxing Day to the Jan 14, 2009. On 13th(Tuesday) I took one day tour in Beijing with my video camcorder. That was a very exiting and eye-opening day.<br /><br />From the early morning, I had my breakfast in a very nice and clean restaurant with variety of typical Beijing breakfast food, which you can only find out in Beijing. I had a lots of food and enjoyed them very much. <br /><br />Compared to the food I had about 30 years ago when I was a student in Beijing, even though the price has been increased from less than one to ten yuan for a meal, the environment and food quality are much better. Still that breakfast costs me only about two US bucks! Here is the first post I shot to my YouTube account:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XfnSQl3B0_w&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XfnSQl3B0_w&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />There are many other videos. I shared them to my friends one day after I came back to Calgary and they got very exited seeing these amazing people and scenes. I am going to post them in series late on. <br /><br />Enjoy it!D Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693444011754548861.post-87257703111802578432009-01-31T11:34:00.000-08:002009-01-31T16:23:18.479-08:00Comtemporary Chinese Audio ClipsContemporary Chinese is a text book with audio CDs for student to learn Chinese.<br /><br />Here are some clips from Contemporary Chinese Audio CD 1:<br /><br /><ul><li><a href="http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/268733/ChineseAudios/CCLesson4.mp3">Lesson 4</a></li><li><a href="http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/268733/ChineseAudios/CCLesson5.mp3">Lesson 5</a></li><li><a href="http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/268733/ChineseAudios/CCLesson6.mp3">Lesson 6</a></li><li><a href="http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/268733/ChineseAudios/CCLesson7.mp3">Lesson 7</a></li><li><a href="http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/268733/ChineseAudios/CCLesson8.mp3">Lesson 8</a></li></ul><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Notes: </span><br />Right click on above links to save mp3 file to your local computer.<br /><br />The mp3 clip files are in my dropbox public shared area. There is a limit to put files there and I may delete them. The service may not be available as well. Therefore, you may not be able to open them if either case is true.D Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693444011754548861.post-57311047856841256632009-01-28T20:27:00.000-08:002009-01-28T20:50:59.334-08:00Chinese New Year TV Program: Poetry in the New YearJust posted my <a href="http://blog.wenxuecity.com/blogview.php?date=200901&postID=75969">new Chinese blog</a> at wenxuecity.D Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693444011754548861.post-83331353308294040632009-01-24T22:22:00.000-08:002009-01-24T22:27:58.010-08:00Foot MasageBack from China for a week. Today is Chinese New Year. By chance, I found this video piece from YouTube.com about foot massage as a way to heal physical problems:<br /><br /><object width="340" height="285"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0OzvXImodkY&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0xcc2550&color2=0xe87a9f&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0OzvXImodkY&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0xcc2550&color2=0xe87a9f&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="340" height="285"></embed></object><br /><br />The video, I think, is from Taiwan's TV.D Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693444011754548861.post-28072089889015680642008-05-14T21:06:00.000-07:002008-05-17T10:03:51.986-07:00My First Post to Youtube: 5.12 Sichuan EarthquakeOn May 12, 2008, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Sichuan_earthquake">disaster earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9m happened in Wenchuan country in Sichuan Province of China</a>. So many people lost their family members in just a few of seconds. There are many sad and heart touching stories available through Internet.<br /><br />I have been kept watching news and stories for this event. Today, I posted a video piece from <a href="http://www.ku6.com/">ku6.com</a>, a very popular Chinese <a href="http://www.youtube.com">youtube</a> like web page, to Youtube. Here is the link:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6Fex5C6iZbo&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6Fex5C6iZbo&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />With Internet, people like me can quickly and effectively provide information about what is happening in this World, and express their feelings. In a sense, learning another language, such as Chinese, is very important to know the background, real and true story about an event like this.D Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693444011754548861.post-80250048205908273182008-05-07T22:19:00.000-07:002008-05-07T22:47:19.512-07:00Beijing Olympic 2008 SongsOne occasional case when I searched for Jane Zhang, one of the most popular singers in China, on <a href="http://www.youtube.com">YouTube</a>, I found so many good songs about Olympic 2008. Now there are so many Chinese participate in various events for Beijing Olympic Games 2008, including singers who contribute many beautiful songs.<br /><br />The Beijing Olympic Game 2008 is a huge event in China. It touches so many people and has so much impact on China and Chinese. As I said, Chinese culture is a part of Chinese language, and Chinese culture has been very dynamic in the past thirty years (since China opened it door to the World). Outside business, sports, art and culture enter China like flood; while China embraces them and melts them into Chinese daily life. This encounter creates a dynamic Chinese culture with power and passion.<br /><br />Here is a list of songs I would like to keep them in my blog.<br /><br />Beijing Welcome You<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_3jey88QwSE&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_3jey88QwSE&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />Everyone is NO.1<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8M7j6_uMYns&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8M7j6_uMYns&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />Andy lau MV 《Everyone is No.1》for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Er-agIt5-jg&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Er-agIt5-jg&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gTqd3l7_UHQ&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gTqd3l7_UHQ&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/v17-NopqFN0&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/v17-NopqFN0&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />We Are Ready<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6QMwk_siFkg&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6QMwk_siFkg&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />Light the Passion, Share the Dream<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zfdHvI9iye4&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zfdHvI9iye4&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />Open Up Your Dream<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vQOyx7Aghyw&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vQOyx7Aghyw&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DynSuueEklo&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DynSuueEklo&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />One World, One Dream by Leehom<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dhRdbPJpOyY&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dhRdbPJpOyY&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />Cheer for Life, Han Hong's Song, Sponsored by QingDao Beer<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/h0KnS45KZX8&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/h0KnS45KZX8&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />Forever Friends, <a href="http://www.tudou.com/">Tudou.com</a><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tOO3UM_vcBo&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tOO3UM_vcBo&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />Love in Beijing<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Mcu3GkYNDt0&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Mcu3GkYNDt0&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />Jackie Chan Olympic Commercial<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RKAtwK1tOaE&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RKAtwK1tOaE&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />Fly together<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Iq4YvO9h_8A&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Iq4YvO9h_8A&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />I'm a Star<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/q5RG48Akg8A&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/q5RG48Akg8A&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />Hero by Chris Yu<br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5oiMGmewZm0&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5oiMGmewZm0&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>D Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693444011754548861.post-85401734415423333462008-05-04T21:44:00.001-07:002008-05-04T21:52:40.046-07:00Beautiful Songs by Jane ZhangThis evening I really enjoy Jane Zhang, 3rd winner of Suppergirl contest 2005, her beautiful songs and story. Here is the site of her <a href="http://liangying.sinastarz.com/youtube.html">series songs by Jane Zhang</a>.<br /><br />Interview with Jane Zhang at la18.tv:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y_dMt_rYKdg&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y_dMt_rYKdg&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>D Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693444011754548861.post-74549405848775421872008-04-29T20:34:00.000-07:002008-04-29T20:40:36.320-07:00ChinesePodRecently, I tried to search for "Chinese" in my iTunes' podcast, <a href="http://chinesepod.com/">ChinesePod</a> is the first one on the list. It is a very good resource for all the levels from Newbie, Intermediate to Advanced. I really like this podcast. If you have iPod, you can use iTunes to download daily programs and listen to them.D Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693444011754548861.post-68577961200001516122008-03-23T17:49:00.000-07:002008-03-23T18:13:41.596-07:00Get Pinyin From Chinese CharactersBased on a JavaScript, I have added several functions to my blog page. With these functions, you can type in or copy some Chinese characters in the following text area. Then click the button "Get Pinyin". <br /><br />You will see a list of annotated Chinese characters below the input area. All pinyin have tones labeled. <br /><br />Note: <br /><ul><li>Don't put too many words at a time, it may take a while to find Pinyin for them.</li><br /><li>You may not get the Pinyin for your Chinese words since some Chinese characters have more than one sounds. Only the first one is searched.</li><br /></ul><br /><div align=center class="border"><br /><span class="style4">Input Chinese </span>:<span class="style3">( Less than 100 words)</span><br /><textarea cols=50 rows=5 name="word" id="word">过年好</textarea><br><br /><input id="btnGetPinyin" type=button value="Get Pinyin" onClick="getPinyin()"><br /></div><br /><br /><center><br /><div id="result" class="pincode"><span><nobr>guō</nobr><br>过</span><span><nobr>nián</nobr><br>年</span><span><nobr>hǎo</nobr><br>好</span></div><br /></center><br /><!-- Example:<br /><div id="result" class="pincode"><span><nobr>guō</nobr><br>过</span><span><nobr>nián</nobr><br>年</span><span><nobr>hǎo</nobr><br>好</span></div><br />-->D Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693444011754548861.post-91389427981360463072008-03-20T21:15:00.000-07:002008-12-09T07:46:59.515-08:00Input Chinese on MacI got a new Mac. I like it very much!<br /><br />As I did in Windows, one thing I have to do is to find out a way to input Chinese in Mac. Actually, it is not hard to do it. Mac provides Chinese in System Preference. Select International icon there. There are three tabs available. Two are related to Chinese. One is Language, where Simplified Chinese is in the language list. Another one is Input Menu. Simplified Chinese is there with Pinyin input or ITABC(I am not sure why ).<br /><br />I think you have to reboot Mac to get the input method available. A small language input menu item is displayed on the right upper conner. If you like to input Chinese, select the menu item ITABC from there. Then you can type in Pinyin. Microsoft provides Pinyin input method by installing another package. You have to download it from <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/handson/user/IME_Paper.mspx">Microsoft IME package</a>. If you cannot find the link, you can google Pinyin input for Windows.<br /><br />Mac comes with Pinyin input in the OS X Leopard. It is very easy to use. It also memories your usage. The previous Chinese you input will be moved to the first position when I type next time! The only thing I don't like is that you have to use mouse to scroll down the next page to get more Chinese list. I tried to use page up or page down keys but not working. There may be a simple way to do that.<br /><br />Another good tool or input is available in Mac is Special Characters... in most context menu, or Alt+Command+T shortcut key.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikGNBfxtD-sLtyg9so8wX-cBum2dAeICvcLNjKSmC6IUDe78YMckqDOl3BHUupz6f-fNZz0fBJbwKfsBxiQrq6wNW1jMcetcqikAqgrWJU0Z12vXdJ8TBgzHBDT82vCb-BSSWRswW2ZA/s1600-h/SpecailChara.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikGNBfxtD-sLtyg9so8wX-cBum2dAeICvcLNjKSmC6IUDe78YMckqDOl3BHUupz6f-fNZz0fBJbwKfsBxiQrq6wNW1jMcetcqikAqgrWJU0Z12vXdJ8TBgzHBDT82vCb-BSSWRswW2ZA/s320/SpecailChara.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180264881546728738" /></a><br /><br />Then a characters window is open. Select Simplified Chinese from View. You can insert Chinese by three options: by Category, by Radical, and Favorites. For favorites, it is empty at the beginning. I think you have to add characters to your favorites. The first two are very useful!<br /><br />I like by Radical method. This is the most common why to find out Chinese by their drawing structure. First, find out the radial part by strokes. Select a radical on the left list, then all the Chinese by that radical is listed on the right panel by strokes. Most cases I use Pinyin input directly. However, if I don't know the pronunciation, I have to find it from dictionary by Radical. Mac provides this handy tool there. More than that, you can also find out Chinese characters' Pinyin and other input codes in the same window. Two more options available. One is Character Info, which provides Pinyin and other input codes. Another one is the Font Variation. This one list all the fonts containing this character! This gives a visual view of all Chinese fonts in your Mac.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicNPKo7ClbxGdiseaPT4J6UrwBo2NvTP6KlTKx7UDphYtWR1YAXFHZHPLKPhfL1J_gwoVRNrTot6lA_UZ_LxGDFXw0mA09vy-2N2F-uRlurC6SpQTIuRHW1UvklAfiIoT6raqyt1Zt9g/s1600-h/SpecialCharaW.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicNPKo7ClbxGdiseaPT4J6UrwBo2NvTP6KlTKx7UDphYtWR1YAXFHZHPLKPhfL1J_gwoVRNrTot6lA_UZ_LxGDFXw0mA09vy-2N2F-uRlurC6SpQTIuRHW1UvklAfiIoT6raqyt1Zt9g/s320/SpecialCharaW.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180265229439079730" /></a>D Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693444011754548861.post-79860240862554272902008-02-03T09:18:00.000-08:002008-02-03T09:46:05.984-08:00Simplified Chinese Character Set GB2312<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GB2312">GB2312</a> is an official standard for simplified Chinese issued in 1980 by the People's Republic of China. It is actually a encoding mechanism originally for PC, now widely adopted by Internet web. If you see Chinese characters in a web site, mostly the Chinese characters are in the computer digitized form of GB2312 encoding.<br /><br />GB2312 include all the symbols, English letters, other language letters, and Chinese characters in the set. All the items in GB2312 are arrange by matrix 94x94 (rows by columns). Row 16-55 contain level 1 Chinese characters(3755), ordered by Pinyin, and row 56-87 for level 2 Chinese characters(3008), by radical then stroke. Therefore, the total number of official Chinese in GB2312 is 6763. In addition to that, GB2312 includes 682 non-Hanzi characters. Here is the link, <a href="http://www.herongyang.com/gb2312/">GB2312 Character Set</a>, with detail information about GB2312 and all Chinese characters by Dr. Herong Yang.<br /><br />It is very interesting to know that GB2312 is using Pinyin to arrange Chinese characters. The encoding is based on ASCII encoding in sequence. As you know that many Chinese are in the same Pinyin symbol such as many shi4 in Chinese. It is very easy to find Chinese pinyin by its encoding. Actually, many tools on the web are programed in this manner.D Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693444011754548861.post-18059290517795710972008-01-26T13:38:00.001-08:002008-01-26T14:17:13.141-08:00Chinese New Year: Feb 7, 2008Chinese New Year for 2008 will be on February 7, 2008. Here is a link with more information about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year">Chinese New Year</a>.<br /><br />Two commonly used greeting phrases on the Chinese New Year day are: <br /><br />新 年 快 乐<br />xīn nián kuài lè<br /><br />过 年 好<br />guō nián hǎo<br /><br />Here are what I did to get and to display above Chinese words and pinyins. I copied the words from the Wikipedia page. I found the pinyin with tone marks for the first phrase; however, there is no pinyin for the second one.<br /><br />To get the pinyin, I googled web and found many tools to convert Chinese to pinyin on-line. This tool <a href="http://www.chinese-learner.com/tools/convert-chinese-pinyin.php">convert Chinese to pinyin</a> can get pinyin with tone marks. The result is very nice. The pinyins are displayed right above Chinese characters(I may to find some time to figure out how to this is done). As well, this tool looks like that a <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/pinyin4j/">open-source library</a> (or http://pinyin4j.sourceforge.net/) is used to do the job. Very cool!D Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6693444011754548861.post-908968327489959032007-12-11T13:06:00.000-08:002007-12-11T13:12:22.951-08:00A Blog for Learning ChineseI have been teaching Learn Chinese with the Calgary Education Board's continuing education program since 1991. I have created my own text box for this special program. I enjoy teaching Chinese for beginners very much!<br /><br />Recently, I finished my Fall program and I promised to my students that I am going to start a blog about my teaching experience and any related topics, as well as my program updates. Wo3 xi1wang4 that I'll continue to add more dong1xi1 to this blog.D Chuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09629765992199855815noreply@blogger.com0