Celebrating Learning Mandarin with Rachel... Collaborative Blog #2

Celebrating Learning Mandarin is a collaborative blog with Rachel Thomas, the lady in the above photograph on the left. How we did this collaborative blog was really interesting. Rachel contacted me and requested to do an interview with me about my blog and my whole social media project, Let's Learn Mandarin. I happily agreed and was quite excited about this! I was so flattered when I realized that someone else wanted to highlight my project in their own. It really began to make me feel as though all my hard work was actually not only being recognized but appreciated as well. 

Rachel's project is entitled, "Celebrating Existence". It is about celebrating all the positive and wonderful things that life has to offer. She says that this world has way too many negativity and her aim is to remind as many people as possible that there is so many things to be positive about life. Her philosophy concerning her project is:-

1.      I’m too blessed to be fully stressed.

2.      Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)

3.      Carpe diem! (Seize the day!)

When I asked Rachel why she decided to highlight my project, this was her exact words... I wanted to put her response word for word cause it was truly inspiring for me!

 "I chose to highlight your project because I like the focus of your project and an opportunity to learn a new language appeals to me. Your idea is one that I found refreshing, creative and also one that provides so many avenues to explore. Added to this it allows different ways to engage an audience. As an English and Spanish teacher often times I see students and many others building a barrier towards a new language. Your effort and the mediums as well as the platforms you have chosen are helping to bring “Let’s Learn Mandarin” more and more alive."

She admitted to me that she has learned a whole lot from my project especially about Chinese culture and also said that she even learned a few phrases in Mandarin and was quite pleased with the progress of my project. The most important thing I have learned from this collaborative interview blog is that it made me realize that I have a True passion for linguistics and this could definitely be a career option for me in the future.

Celebrating Existence & Let's Learn Mandarin Collaborative Interview:-

Celebrating Ms.Gayle Simmons and Let's Learn Mandarin

You want to Learn More about Rachel Thomas' project, Check Out her Social Media Links:-

Celebrating Existence WordPress Blog

Celebrating Existence Facebook Page

Celebrating Existence on Twitter

Awesome Inventions Made by Chinese People!!!

All Photographs were taken from Business Insider.com

Hey Folks, As you already know, I am extremely fascinated by China, Chinese people including their main language, Mandarin. Well, you all also know that I share everything I happen to discover in my research of everything Chinese related. It so happens that this particular article fell into my lap, well, more like my page, my Facebook page. I have a few Facebook friends who post articles from well respected news sites such as Business Insider, Time and The Economist. The most recent article concerning ordinary Chinese people came from the Business Insider. I thought that this story was a Must Tell story because it is so intriguing to see the really out of this world inventions that these Chinese made so I simply had to immediately write a blog about it.

Ok, so this article is about 31 innovative, unique and somewhat crazy inventions made or which are currently still being worked on! The inventions are generally HUGE in size ranging from various types of robots, air crafts, water bicycles, homemade submarines and even miniature submarines! It is not that these inventions were never made before but they used the already existing idea or prototype for the product and modified it for a different purpose or possibly to market it to a different niche audience. This to me is what exemplifies ENTREPRENEURSHIP!!! These Chinese are Truly Great examples of the True Spirit of what an Entrepreneurship embodies!!!

Read The Full Article and See More Pictures of these Incredible Inventions here:-

Business Insider Article on 31 Chinese Inventions

Celebrities Who Speak Mandarin!!!

Celebrities Who Speak Mandarin

I have compiled a list of several people including several well known celebrities who know how to speak my new favourite language, MANDARIN!!!! Whether it's a personal goal or a for just a couple of minutes or seconds for a scene in a movie or television show, this list of celebrities spoke Mandarin! I have also included a few short video clips of them speaking Mandarin. I do hope you enjoy it... 

#10 BRUCE WILLIS (Bruce Willis plays a retired Special Forces agent named John Malkovich in the movie, Red! He speaks one line of Mandarin in the movie however most critics were not impressed by this with even some saying that it was "fake Chinese" that he spoke.)

#9 JIM PARSONS (He spoke one line of Mandarin on the show while having a conversation with his neighbour, Penny (Kaley Cuco) on the sitcom, The Big Bang Theory. His character on the show is Sheldon Cooper.











#8 JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE (Justin spoke a few lines in Mandarin, Chinese in a Sony commercial a few years ago... I really tried to get a copy of it but couldn't get a copy of it for this blog)












#7 STEPHEN SEAGAL (Seagal played the role of Jack Cole in the movie, Glimmer Man when he spoke a few lines of Mandarin however it has been said that he is fluent in the language)

#6 LAWRENCE FISHBURNE (He played the  the role of the senior detective, Dr. Raymond Langston  in the show, CSI when he joined the cast in Season 9 after the departure of the main character, Gil Grissom played by William Peterson. He spoke fluently in Mandarin during a telephone conversation during an episode). 

#5 MIRA SORVINO (This actress has accomplished quite a lot in her career thus far. She was the winner of both an Academy and an Emmy Award and is known for her breakthrough film, Mighty Aphrodite (the movie she won the Academy Award for). She went to Harvard University and speaks French and Mandarin fluently. 

#4 CHRIS TUCKER (The well known comedian who is famous for his role in the Rush Hour trilogy alongside Jackie Chan spoke Mandarin several times during all three Rush Hour movies. He is one of my main influences in deciding to learn this fascinating language). 

#3 KEVIN RUDD (The former Australian Prime Minister who is impressively fluent in Mandarin spoke Mandarin in an interview below with Zhou Li of Australian Mandarin News on a YouTube video clip below). 

#2 SANDRA BULLOCK (This highly acclaimed actress who speaks fluently in both German and Mandarin amazed the audience  by saying a few lines in Mandarin at the Oscars some years ago. It was a bit confusing for some critics because she spoke in a German accent). 

#1 MARK ZUCKERBERG (Last but certainly not least, this billionaire and CEO of Facebook both shocked and awed many people around the world by speaking Mandarin in a Q & A segment for about 30 minutes! There were mixed reviews about his fluency in the language but I personally think he deserves an A for effort!) 

Hollywood's Guide to Speaking Chinese

Kevin Rudd's Interview with Zhou Li in Mandarin

Sandra Bullock Speaks Mandarin @ The Oscars

Mark Zuckerberg Speaks Mandarin in an Q & A Segment in China

Progress on Learning Mandarin

Ohhhh My Gosh!!! I am sooo thrilled to share my latest news with you! I FINALLY found someone on Facebook who knows how to speak Mandarin quite well. It is a woman named Jesse who is from Hong Kong. A couple of days ago, I randomly asked her to like my page and she said no problem which brought the likes on my page entitled, 'Let's Learn Mandarin' to 102 likes. YAY!!!! I am relieved that my page has finally crossed the 100 Likes milestone. She was very friendly and soon revealed to me that she spoke Mandarin, Chinese really well. I became really excited especially since she offered to help me learn the language!

A photograph of Jesse

She even mentioned that she heard about the Caribbean but has never been there. She said she would love to visit there one day because of the beautiful beaches and natural scenery...  Her exact words were, "Feichang piaoliang wanmei de daoyu" which means very beautiful and perfect islands. This was exactly how she described the Caribbean. 

A picture of a menu at a restaurant in Hong Kong

I have met other people who speak Mandarin on other social networking sites like Busuu but they didn't know that much Mandarin and seemed to be a little busy. Sites like Busuu was still useful in learning the language especially the basics. If it's two things I've learned in my journey thus far is that when you're passionate about something, you tend to learn not just one but several new things every single day. The other really important thing I've learned is to "Yǒng bù fàngqì. Qízhōng, yǒu yìyuàn, yǒu bànfǎ" which means... never give up, where there's a will, there's a WAY!!! 

Chinese vs Japanese Culture

I've realized after doing some research on both Chinese and Japanese cultures why so many people including myself quite often tend to get them mixed up. There are a number of similarities between China and Japan because of the influence China had in the development of Japan. Their similarities include geographical, arts and culture, cuisine, religious beliefs and a strong sense of loyalty as well as strict work ethics. China and Japan are both located in eastern Asia. China is on the eastern part of the Asian continent near Mongolia, Russia and India while Japan is an island located in the Pacific Ocean to the east of the Asian continent. I will outline similarities and differences between the two countries.

Major Similarities between China and Japan

1) China and Japan have similar religions. One of the religions that is widely practiced in both countries is Buddhism. 

2) Both cultures reflect a strong sense of loyalty. In both countries, Chinese and Japanese tend to be loyal to their families, groups in society as well as the companies they work for. 

3) The two countries have adopted Confucian values. An example of a Confucian value is that the man is the head of the home with the woman playing a humble subservient kind of role and the eldest male is the natural heir to the family's wealth. 

4) Both China and Japan are notorious for having crime syndicates in their society. China has the Chinese mafia which is known as the Triad and Japan has the Japanese mafia known as the Yakuza.  

5) Both countries are found in the eastern part of Asia.

                                       6) A variety of the arts and culture in both China and Japan are quite similar. 

7) China and Japan are known for having call girls who are highly educated, sophisticated and properly trained in the knowledge and practice of various forms of the Arts. These women are referred to by different names. In China they are known as Courtesans and they are known as Geishas in Japan.

  

                                            Chinese Courtesan                                 Japanese Geisha

Major Differences between China and Japan

1) One of the biggest differences between China and Japan is that Japan was strongly influenced by the western side of the world while China was not. This is why Japan is considered to be far more developed and modernized than China.

2) In China, there is one written language which is Chinese and multiple spoken languages while in Japan it is the opposite with multiple written languages and one spoken language which is Japanese.

3) Most Chinese dishes are fried while Japanese dishes tend to be more on the raw side. For example, egg rolls are a popular dish in China which is fried while Japan is known for the delicacy called sushi which consists of raw fish.

4) China had a strong influence on Japan when it comes to martial arts however both styles of martial arts differ. The Chinese practice Kung Fu while the Japanese style is referred to as Bushido.

5) It is quite common to see people talking and laughing out loud as well as public displays of affection in China while in Japan it is frowned upon and often considered offensive and rude to do so.

6) This one really stood out to me and shocked me a bit. In China, they do not flush the toilet paper after using it, they throw it in a dustbin that is usually near the toilet while the Japanese flush their toilet paper similar to most of the western part of the world.

7) Although the both styles of dress may be similar, Chinese and Japanese have two different common styles of dress for women. In China women wear the qipao and in Japan the kimono.

8) Chinese names tend to be monosyllabic which means words that consist of only one syllable while Japanese names tend to be polysyllabic which are words that consists of many syllables usually four or more.

9) Japan is considered to be a warrior state while China is not. Being a warrior state simply means that all aspects of being a warrior is celebrated.

10) China has a President while Japan has a Prime Minister. The President of China is Xi Jinping and the Prime Minister of Japan is Shinzo Abe.

11) China has a high birth rate even though they have a one child policy per family while in Japan there is no such rule or policy. In fact, Japan has a one of the lowest birth rates in Asia.

12) The infrastructure in China seems to resemble walled cities while the designs in Japan tend to be palace style.

  City Wall in Xi'an, China     (Image on the Left)              

Himeji Castle, Japan   (Image on the Right)

Mark Zuckerberg Speaks Mandarin!!!

I was excited and pleasantly surprised to learn that Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook recently spoke Mandarin. Last week Wednesday on October 22nd, Zuckerberg spoke Mandarin for half an hour in an Question and Answer segment at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. The Facebook CEO, whose net worth is approximately 33.3 billion cited three major reasons for learning Mandarin. He said that his first reason was that his wife, Priscilla Chan, a Chinese-American is from a Chinese family and that he learned the language to communicate a lot easier and establish a closer relationship with her family. Another reason was that he was fascinated by Chinese culture which really reminded me of myself because this was also one of my major reasons for learning Mandarin. Lastly, he also said that he loves to challenge himself and that Mandarin is one of the hardest languages one can learn which is yet another reason I have decided to learn it. However, there is the assumption by some news sites that another major reason he is learning the language is to forge closer relationships with officials in China in hope that they will remove the ban on his company, Facebook in China. I am definitely inclined to agree with this view. 

Mark Zuckerberg, who was recently appointed as a member of the advisory board at the Tsinghua university posted the video on Facebook the same day as his Mandarin speech in Beijing. I heard about the existence of the video by a fellow classmate on Saturday but unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to watch the video till the day after. I found the video to be quite entertaining and one of the first things I noticed was that he was not 100% confident speaking Mandarin. To be honest, this made me feel a whole lot better about my own humble attempts to learn this challenging language especially after hearing some of the comments on news site such as the BBC News and the Telegraph. I was most astonished to find out some of the unflattering words which were used to describe Zuckerberg's attempt at speaking the Chinese language. There were mainly mixed views about his fluency in speaking the language. Most sites stated that he did a good job with the grammar and vocabulary however there were various negative comments. Some of them were, "his pronunciation sounded as though his mouth was full of marbles" and that he was definitely "out of his comfort zone". A few news sites stated that his tones were a bit wobbly and that he sounded like an articulate seven year old. 

Overall, although most of the feedback I read about his speech was on the unpleasant side, I think that Mark Zuckerberg was quite pleased by his attempt to speak Mandarin in front of a public audience for approximately 30 minutes in Beijing. This also made me proud at my own personal efforts in learning the language and sharing my journey on this blog and other social media platforms as well. 

Here are some links to the news sites on Mark Zuckerberg Dialogue in Mandarin:-

CNN

BBC News

Telegraph

The Chinese Zodiac

I have been researching the Chinese Zodiac for a while now. There is a wealth of information surrounding the Chinese Zodiac otherwise known as Sheng Xiao. I find this to be quite an interesting and fascinating topic.  There are 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac. They are the pig, rat, horse, snake, sheep, tiger, dragon, ox, dog, rooster, monkey and rabbit. Therefore every 12 years an animal in the Chinese Zodiac recurs which also means that every twelve years a person will meet their birth sign. My birth sign is the pig or boar and the next occasion I will meet by birth sign is in the year 2019.


Do you know that this year, 2014 is the year of the horse? Last year was the year of the snake and 2015 will be the year of the sheep. The new year differs on the Chinese Zodiac calendar from the Gregorian calendar (the Gregorian calendar is the western or Christian calendar that is widely used by many worldwide). According to the Chinese Zodiac, the new year would begin depending on the animal that is associated with it. For example, 2014 is the year of the horse and started on January 31st and will end on February 18th 2015.




The animal year when a person was born is called his/her Benming Niam. The animal for each year carries a significance. For example, I was born in the year 1983 and that year was not only the year of the pig but also known as the year of the water pig. The pig is the last animal sign of the Chinese Zodiac. Lucky numbers, colours and even flowers are paired with certain animals according to the Chinese Zodiac. Many traits, personality types and a variety of attributes are given to each person depending on the year that they were born and the animal that represents that year. Certain careers are even attributed to the year a person is born.

According to the Zodiac, because I was born in 1983, it said that I would do well in certain people based careers such as teaching, social work, Public Relations and several artistic fields. It even went on to say that I could possibly find massive success as an entertainer in the form of actor or singer. However, keep in mind that, just like regular horoscopes most people are aware of, the Chinese Zodiac may not be an exact Science. I find it quite fun to research information like this and I do agree with these findings to some extent simply because I discovered several years ago that I am an extremely creative person and I truly love working in various artistic fields.


Find Out Your Zodiac Animal Sign! It Could be a Clue to Discovering More about Yourself!!!
Also, Check to See Who in Your Life You are Most Compatible with...

Animal Zodiac Sign/Compatibility Test

Chinese Symbols for the 12 Animals

Collaborative Blog with Lil' Bookish

Yesterday was my first collaborative effort in filming a video blog with Christine Dalkan of Lil' Bookish. Two words used to describe my experience  in Mandarin language is "hen youqu" which means great fun! That was how I would describe the 60 minutes that I spent in the company of Christine and her co-worker, Kaelanne at Guardian building.

I was pleasantly surprised at how fast Christine was able to learn the pronunciation of the words in Mandarin. I mean, it was a few sentences in Mandarin but the pronunciation can be a bit tricky especially for certain words like the word for blog which is "boke". It is pronounced  something like 'bo qua'. All the practicing of the words in Mandarin was filmed but only a portion of it was used in the actual video blog.

To be honest, this whole experience has exceeded my expectations by far. I never expected it to be so enjoyable and memorable! I would certainly welcome the opportunity to work with Christine again in the future, both her and her co-worker were extremely co-operative and helpful. We were able to not only film several short clips but take a lot of photographs to complement the videos. This was  my very first video blog collaboration and I look forward to doing several more collaborative projects in the future.

Kaelanne Jordan, Christine's co-worker

History of Mandarin

Hi folks. I thought I would share the history of the Chinese language which I have become so fascinated and engaged in which is none other than Mandarin. Did you know that Mandarin is also referred to as putonghua or guoyu. There are two main forms of Chinese language which are Cantonese and Mandarin. At present, Mandarin is the official language in both China and Taiwan. However, there are some parts of southern China as well as Singapore that still speak other forms of Chinese language such as Cantonese.

Various earlier forms of the Mandarin language can be traced as far back as the Yuan period which began in the year 1260. The standardization of Mandarin in China became official when the Republic of China was established on January 1st, 1912. 

The Double Ten Symbol

I would also like to share an interesting fact about how the National Day of the Republic of China also known worldwide as Double Ten Day began. There was an event which happened in China on called the Wuchang Uprising which began on October 10th,1911 led to the fall of the Qing Dynasty. Thereafter, China was officially known as the Republic of China. This was one of the most significant days in the whole of the country's history.  

If it's one thing I've learned in life is that it is really crucial to understand the history/background of anything you want to do whether its a special project or country you choose to visit. As the saying goes or at least my version of it is, in order to know where you're going, you first need to find out from where you came.