Lesson 32 added

I've just added lesson number 32 to the third flashcard file. This one is called "Going to see the doctor". It is basically sentences like, "My head hurts", My throat hurts", "You have a temperature" etc...

All the flashcards are available by clicking on the link at the top of this page.

Taroko National Park - Part 3

Here is part three of the trip to the Taroko National Park in the Mountains near Hualien in Taiwan. Parts one and two can be seen HERE and HERE. This video is very short and shows the visitor centre and nearby Buddist monastery. It’s hard to think of a more picturesque spot for a monastery.

Why Beginners should skip learning to write Chinese Characters by hand

When I first started learning Mandarin I spent far too much time trying to work out what would be the best way to learn writing. In the end I decided to forget about writing for the moment and just use pinyin input on the computer and concentrate on learning to read.

Now it seems that this may have been the best way to go about it anyway. This post on Pinyin.info points to a paper by two Professors of Mandarin in the U.S. advocating the Pen-less approach.