Even though the election is still four months away, even though neither candidate has chosen a running mate, even though neither convention has been held, it’s still difficult not to be excited about this November, especially if (like me) you’re a Democrat. According to electoral-vote.com (an indispensable site, by the way), Barack Obama is poised [...]
I came across an interesting thread at the excellent Marginal Revolution blog that wonders how “loan words”, or foreign words inserted into conversation for particular effect, are used in various languages. In English, the majority of our borrowed words and phrases come from French. Some are more useful than others. For instance, the term “faux [...]
Six weeks ago, I wondered which language was more difficult to learn for the English native speaker- Japanese or Chinese. A friend in Kunming told me that getting “OK” at Japanese didn’t require that much effort or time but at more advanced levels the language starts to get really difficult. Meanwhile, in Chinese it’s very [...]
Excellent post by James Fallows articulating his thoughts about China and the Olympic Games. Like Fallows, I want the Olympics to succeed, and for the most part I think it will. Yet China’s public relations problems are largely self-inflicted* because it is trying to have it both ways: gain the respect and admiration of the [...]
Recently I was invited to join the team of gokunming.com, the city’s premier English-language news and listings site, as an occasional contributor. My first article is now up. Go look!
In conversations with Chinese friends, I often surprise them by saying that the vast majority of Americans (or British, Australian, etc.) lead lives that are not entirely different from their Chinese counterparts. Most of us, for example, never stray far from home due to financial or practical considerations. Many marry within their social group, often [...]
One of my favorite comedians, George Carlin, passed away today at the age of 71. What made Carlin unique among comedians was his use of the English language for material, most notably in his legendary “Seven Words You Can’t Say on Television” routine that lampooned prudish American censorship laws. Carlin objected to the dumbing-down of [...]
Robert Kaplan has an interesting article up at The Atlantic concerning Beijing’s relationship with its far-western province, Xinjiang. In the text, he touches upon an issue that occasionally flies under the radar in international coverage of China: As China’s zone of influence expands westward, a network of north-south roads through Pakistan, India, and Burma will [...]
Direct your browsers to Ryan’s interview with NeoCha CEO Sean Leow over at Lost Laowai. NeoCha is a site that serves as a platform for independent musicians in China, ones who slip under the radar screen of the country’s radio stations. For those who scoff that nobody produces good original music in the Middle Kingdom, [...]
Jeremiah writes: Ah the vicissitudes of a government petrified of information€¦after a brief revival this past week, blogspot is YET AGAIN blocked in Beijing. This time joined by the popular workaround site anonymouse which has, until now it would seem, been a decent way to access blocked sites. Hopefully this is all temporary and somebody [...]