Reading Chinese – and indeed the entire idea of memorizing thousands of characters – is often cited to be one of the most intimidating aspect of learning Chinese. However, I have always thought that learning to read Chinese should be easier than learning to read English for a child – there is no logic involved,Continue reading “How I am teaching my 3 year old to read Chinese: iHuman Chinese (洪恩识字) App Review”
Author Archives: mengshagong
3.5 year old update
Hello! It has been a while – where to start? Ro is now three and a half. He has been going to daycare for 2 years now. Up until pretty recently, I would have said that his fluency in Chinese and English were about the same. However, I recently went away for my first workContinue reading “3.5 year old update”
Journey to the West – Chapter 11.2
The general led the way with a banner that draws the spirit, Magistrate Cui followed behind to guard the ghost of Taizong, and they traveled out of the Peaceful Realms. Taizong saw that it wasn’t the path from which he had come, and asked, “Have we gone the wrong way?” The magistrate replied, “No, thisContinue reading “Journey to the West – Chapter 11.2”
Journey to the West – Chapter 11.1
They say that Taizong’s soul, confused, came to the front of Five Phoenix Tower and saw the imperial chariot in procession with the generals on horseback awaiting him to join a hunting trip. Taizong happily agreed and floated over to join the parade. After traveling for some time, the men and horses suddenly disappeared. HeContinue reading “Journey to the West – Chapter 11.1”
Journey to the West – Chapter 10.4
Around noon, the emperor ordered a concubine to bring a chessboard and invited his minister to a game of chess.1 Wei Zheng agreed, and they began to play. Move by move they set up their opening positions. It was as described in the Lanke Classics: Caution and discipline are the way of chess. The valuableContinue reading “Journey to the West – Chapter 10.4”
There are deadlines… and then there are deadlines
Hi. You may have noticed that I took a break from posting between October and February. That’s due to a few reasons. First, I was focusing on finishing Season 1 of the podcast! If you were unaware, I started a podcast telling and discussing the story of Journey to the West in English. We relateContinue reading “There are deadlines… and then there are deadlines“
Journey to the West – Chapter 10.3
The next day, official summons were sent to the Count of Wind, the Duke of Thunder, the Cloud Youths, and Madam Lightning, who came to the ninth layer of Heaven above Chang’an. The clouds were spread between 9-11am, the thunder began at 1pm, the rain fell between 2 and 4pm, and it only rained 3Continue reading “Journey to the West – Chapter 10.3”
Journey to the West – Chapter 10.2
Trading poems and lyrics back and forth, the fisherman and the woodcutter came to the fork in the road and bowed their farewells. The fisherman said, “Brother Li! Safe travels home. Watch out for tigers in those mountains. If you run into some such danger, I will miss you on this road tomorrow.” The woodcutterContinue reading “Journey to the West – Chapter 10.2”
Journey to the West – Chapter 10.1
For now let’s not speak of Guangrui or Xuanzang. Outside of the city of Chang’an, on the shores of the Jing River, there was a fisherman1 and a woodcutter.2 One day, inside the city of Chang’an, after the woodcutter had sold his firewood and the fisherman sold his carp, they ate together in a tavern.Continue reading “Journey to the West – Chapter 10.1”
The Cows on the Bus go Moo, Moo, Moo
Ro has started singing, and it wasn’t a gradual process. He has always loved listening to songs that we sing to him or play for him, both in Chinese and English, but the singing started with Baa Baa Black Sheep. They must sing this a lot at daycare because it wasn’t on our rotation atContinue reading “The Cows on the Bus go Moo, Moo, Moo”
Etymology Adventures 