Mandarin Mashup May 7, 2012
- New month's work
seikinsou has added a photo to the pool:
The very first attempt, photographed so as to check later whether any progress was made...
- The first attempt of May
seikinsou has added a photo to the pool:
... and the teacher's corrections. Hoping to improve as the month goes on!
- BBC Radio 5 live - BBC News
Mandarin Teacher: Iris Cai
Hongbing Iris Cai is the Director of Positive Speaking, strategic consultant, Mandarin teacher and international speaker.
She lectures on 'Business in Chinese' which uses a combination of language, culture, and Chinese ancient wisdom to provide insights and practical applications into conducting business with Chinese people. She has taught in the China Club of London Business School and in a number of blue chip companies since 2009. Her consultancy specialises in supporting companies to have effective communication with Chinese people and business.
Iris is also a prolific writer, she has published a series of articles in the "UK-Chinese Times" to promote an understanding of Chinese ancient wisdom and traditional values.
Iris received a Mu-Lan Achievements Award, which celebrates Chinese women's achievements in the UK at the House of Lords in 2009, in honour of her dedication and contribution to cultural bridge building between the UK and China.
From 1999 to 2009 Iris worked as a finance professional for several international advertising companies. Iris was a Finance Manager at WPP Group in China, and also Saatchi & Saatchi China from 1999 to 2003. In 2003 she transferred and worked for its UK group until 2009.
From 1990 to 1999 Iris worked as Personal Assistant to the Group CFO of a large PLC company Midea, the main producer and exporter of home appliances in southern China. She also used to work as a part time TV presenter in a regional TV Station. In 1998 Iris took one year work break to go to university to study business English full time.
Iris was born in Beijing China in March 1968, grew up in Shanghai, was university educated in Xi'an - majoring in accounting and then worked in Guangzhou China. Iris now lives in London.
- 九龍皇城 Kowloon Kingdom
Hajime Chan has added a photo to the pool:
King of Kowloon and Kowloon Walled City, the beauty of Chinese calligraphy and complex building structure are enhancing each other. Both of them are passed but I won't forget them, they are the cultural icons of Hong Kong and they will keep inspiring Hong Kong people in the future.
- U.S. college students speak up in Mandarin - Xinhua News Agency
By Katherine Harbin
CHICAGO, May 5 (Xinhua) -- It was all Mandarin Chinese all of the time as dozens of American college students spoke of their hopes and dreams during the Chinese Bridges Speech Competition at Northwestern University.
Crowded into campus classrooms Saturday with their Chinese teachers standing by to take photos, each student gave a five-minute presentation in Mandarin on topics ranging from family life to their Chinese dream.
One student shared how he first became interested in Chinese culture, saying "it all began with the Kung Fu movies I watched as a child."
"Once I discovered I was unable to fly like the martial arts heroes of the films, I decided studying the Chinese language would be the second best option for me to explore Chinese culture," he said.
Another student discussed how different China was from her expectations and marveled at how Shanghai's Pudong district seemed much like Las Vegas while the Puxi buildings across town bore many similarities to European styles.
One of the most memorable performances in the Midwest Division competition came from Dalian Urbonya, who took the top prize in the final Fourth Year Speaking Competition.
The contest was divided into four levels according to how many years students had studied the language. In addition to an individual speech, each participant also shared a Chinese cultural talent such as a song or dance.
Speaking at breakneck speed and in almost perfect tonal pronunciation, Urbonya impressed the judges both with her speaking skills and traditional Chinese dance.
After the competition, Urbonya told Xinhua that she was just as interested in China's culture as she was in its language. She said that she hoped to study Chinese dance and music more in the future.
Urbonya said she was greatly inspired by media personality Mark Henry Rowswell, a Canadian better known in China by his Chinese name of Dashan, when she watched his performance for the first time.
She hopes to one day be like Rowswell and plans to participate in the speech competition in China in July.
Alicia Montague-Keels, another student who won a gold medal in the speech competition, told Xinhua that she was actually inspired to study Chinese so that she could teach others.
After a few years of studying French, Montague-Keels switched to Chinese. She found the change so "fresh" and interesting that she moved to Beijing to study last summer.
"It was just an amazing experience, and every opportunity I get to go back China, whether it be two weeks or three months, I take advantage of that," Montague-Keels said.
Montague-Keels, set to graduate with a major in Chinese education, said her experience in learning mandarin has helped her recognize a long-held ambition.
"My ultimate lifetime goal is to open an immersion school focusing on critical need languages. I always wanted to be a teacher," Montague-Keels said.
Fifty-three students from a number of Midwestern universities including Northwestern, the University of Chicago, DePaul, Purdue and the University of Wisconsin participated in the competition.
- (二) 疊
- (三) 睡
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