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Geo - 從澳洲出來Out from Down Under July 17 Second Semester Grades @ NTU可壓縮流體力學 (賴君亮) Compressible Flow 76
計算流體力學 (顏瑞和) Computational Fluid Dynamics 84
氣體物理 (潘國隆) Physics of Gases 88
專題討論 (顏瑞和) Seminars 86
碩士專題研究 (黃美嬌) Masters Research 88
July 12 Politics AsideMy Comments
The article link above (and also replicated below) describes very
well my personal opinion on the subject of Traditional and Simplified
Chinese Characters. Regardless of your Political affiliation, no
language deserves to be trashed as much as the Traditional Characters
of Mandarin. I signed this petition and I hope, after reading the
history of this below, that you will also consider signing it. If you
live in China, and have had any experience with traditional characters,
i'm sure you will agree that 5000 years of China's history is
important, and so is the language that describes is. Sure traditional
characters require a bit more effort to learn, but it is not
impossible, and my personal experience is that the characters
themselves are much easier to recognise.
Judge for yourself.
Description/History:
The Chinese language has many dialects spoken yet Mandarin has always been the official language.
In Mandarin, there are two present types of writings: Traditional and Simplified Chinese characters. Traditional Chinese has been the official form of writing for thousands of years. And from it, the Simplified form was born. In recent decades, China's effort in trying to make Chinese easier for both her youth and foreigners resulted in this push of Simplified Chinese. However, at the same time, Traditional Chinese is still studied and widely recognized. The purpose of Simplified Chinese was meant for an easier reading (with less characters) and less pen-strokes in writing characters. It is the attempt of making Chinese more phonetic rather than having many words pronounced the same. The two forms of Chinese have always co-existed peacefully for many years. The importance of Traditional Chinese lies in the fact that each character represents a very specific meaning. This is of extreme importance because it allows the reader to understand a written word even without the word being in context. Simplified Chinese, although convenient, fails to incorporate meaning into its characters. Many words of same phonetic sounds are replaced by a single character that possesses the same sound but lacks in meaning. The major downfall of Simplified Chinese is that it lacks meaning. Currently, historical texts are in Traditional Chinese, (simply because one can read and understand based on the author's choice of words) however, if Traditional Chinese is to be replaced by Simplified Chinese, one would not be able to understand these texts/writings because words have lost their meanings, they simply represent a way of pronouncing the texts. As time progresses, this would result in the loss of history and culture. UN's action to "unify" the Chinese characters and recognize ONLY Simplified Chinese will have devastating impact upon the Chinese language, culture, history. Internationally, Traditional Chinese would be forgotten and neglected, it would only be a matter of time before Traditional Chinese becomes the next "Latin". (the dead language) Along with this loss of language, would be a culture and history lost forever. Although Simplified Chinese is an easier way to learn Chinese, but it should not be the only form of Chinese written language. It should be a convenience, not an absolute. By allowing it to become the "official" writing, the Chinese language would be in regression. ------------------ Example of Simplified VS Traditional (provided by a fellow supporter) The word Noodle in Chinese Traditional: 麵 = 麥 + 面 (wheat + surface) Simplified: 面 (surface/face/noodle) *meaning in brackets The Traditional form has two parts which helps to identify it as noodles. Simplified character only provides the pronouciation so the reader would be unable to determine the meaning without it's context. ------------------- The above has been confirmed that the UN never used both Chinese forms. IN FACT, Traditional Chinese does not even exist in the UN anymore (except prior to early 1970's). In truth, I am uncertain what will become of this petition. After all, it is a few decades late. Although, what saddens me, is the fact that Traditional Chinese has already lost its ground. People signed this petition to fight against Traditional Chinese being abolished. YET, now that we know it's a fact, why should we not fight harder. Some have claimed this to be a hoax. Others have supported and sent emails. I personally thank everyone of you who took time to come here regardless of your positions. June 27 Pinyin, Zhuyin and all that Jazz.To
see a huge article on HanYu Pinyin and Zhuyin, go to Wikipedia and have
a gander. You will note that they are two methods for writing "sounds"
to paper. I must then ask; How do the Chinese learn mandarin? How do
they learn to speak words? are they instantaneously gifted with the
ability to recognise ALL 500,000 of their language's characters? The
answers all lie in phonetics, written sounds. The mainland Chinese, as
for most westerners studying Chinese for the first time, learn by Hanyu
Pinyin. The Taiwanese and other more traditional countries learn by the
earlier method called Zhuyin. But what's the difference? See below for
a lookup table.
Now i must say I dont like ANY other methods (like Wade or Roma Pinyin), so I choose Hanyu as my preferred method. After all, it IS the official method chosen by Mainland China. Why then should I choose to understand Zhuyin? Well I'd say because it is the earliest and most accurate method for leaning Chinese word pronunciation. In fact, if you can pronounce all the Zhuyin sounds, and understand how such sounds combine to make chinese words, then you will have near perfect pronunciation.. Give it a go. June 26 SUPERnATURAL (By DC-Talk)Just
a few words from DC-TALK, a Christian band who have moved me in the
past, and it seems, did so again today with this old song.
Supernatural
This world's a tortured place to be
So many things to torment me And as I stumble down this road it takes a toll These days and nights I turn to You No human hand can pull me through No cosmic force or magic brew will ever do But I can see it coming You're not so far away 'Cause I can feel Your power Surging through the whole of me (Chorus 1) God is there and He is watching He tells me all is well (it's supernatural) God is there, there's no denying He's supernatural (it's supernatural) Supernatural Beyond this physical terrain There's an invisible domain Where angels battle over souls in vast array But down on earth is where I am No wings to fly, no place to stand Here on my knees I am a stranger in this land I need an intervention A touch of providence It goes beyond religion To my very circumstance .... Download / Buy it for more info (my best possible translation is below, + creative license)
超自然
這世界是個痛苦的地
多多事情都可熬煎我 當我蹭蹬地走這條有通行費的路 這些日夜都在求助於您 沒人的手可幫我振作起來 也沒宇宙的力或魔法有效 我可以看到它在來
您沒有那麽遠 我可以感覺到您的Power 於我的整體裏洶茫地動 上帝在,又他在照看
他說什麽都會好 上帝在,無法否認 他是超自然的 在這個物質的形勢以遠
有個無形的領域 那裏天使爲了大序列的人靈魂一直戰役 可是我在地球上 沒翅膀可讓我飛, 沒地方可以站 這兒,在這國家,在跪著,我是個陌生人 我需要他的干涉
要碰到巧合,要上天 他要超過宗教 直接跳到我的心裏,我的情況。 June 25 Some online learningWell
I dont know if its rude, but shameless self promotion seems to have
been the theme of a comment on my blog the other day, which i deleted
of course, but i did leave behind one comment from the person(s) /
company that posted it.
A nice comment came from some entity calling themselves "Echineselearning"
Actually I am about 100% positive the only reason it came
was that the entity wanted a link to their website on my blog.. So..
HERE IT IS....
Its an online site for learning Chinese. One on One teachers
will schedule (any) time you want to take an online class with them
(they live in china and are "qualified" chinese teachers).
Now for US$99 a month that seems like a bargain
The catch?
You are limitted to one hour a day, and only 5 hours per week.
That works out to be US$4.5 an hour (not too bad eh?).
Except of course that you have to make yourself available online, you have to book your classes in advance.
Now if this option is not for you and you'd prefer to get
your lessons in the form of a PodCast. Then I'd suggest you take a look
at a good friend of mine in China, he's got teaching it down to an art.
The Apple Ipod Style of art we all love to hear. Add to it PDF
downloads of the texts you listen too, advanced curriculum etc.. and IT
is THE shamless promotion I'm willing to put my name to.
Download all the content you like. Of course if you want the
transcripts there is a fee, BUT the audio is ALL FREE.. from nubie to
oldie.. theres levels there for us all..
I hope you feel as excited as i have been when i started with Chinesepod.
(disclaimer: my personal affiliation with the creator of
chinesepod has no bearing on my willingness to promote it as a good
tool.. AND my use of this method of training is limitted to the
occasional one or two times a month, so my chinese is no reflection of
it's effectiveness either. If you want to know how it is one comes to
learn chinese as I have.. take this hint.. Start Young and dont give
up..)
(For all those who are already Old.. i'd suggest you hold on to part two (dont give up) because it's still worth it.)
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