Archive by Author
It’s So Stupendous, Riding the Beijing Tube Posted by sasha on Aug 9, 2010
To go along with Steve’s post about riding the 地铁, I put together a short video showing the madness of rush hour on the subway in Beijing. I’m doing my best to provide subtitles that are readable in the video, but it can be difficult at times, for example when I give you a whole…
Studying Chinese isn’t THAT Difficult (学习汉语不太难) Posted by sasha on Aug 4, 2010
As I’ve said before, Chinese can be quite intimidating for beginner learners. Believe me, I’ve been there. The tones (声调) and the characters (汉字) alone can be enough to send you running for the hills. For yours truly, throwing in the towel often seemed like a good idea when I first started learning Chinese. Luckily…
The Summer Palace Video Posted by sasha on Jul 30, 2010
Steve’s most recent post about 颐和园 motivated me to make a video to give you fine folks more insight into this treasure of Beijing. It really is my favorite place to visit here, and I hope you’ll see why after watching this short video about it! This time, I included the English translation in the…
China is #1 (Or Are They?) Posted by sasha on Jul 27, 2010
This past week, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released a report that labeled China as the new #1 in the world in terms of 能源 (néng yuán – energy) consumption, putting them ahead of the United States. Using data from 2009, the IEA’s report claimed that during the year, China consumed energy equivalent to 2.252…
夏天已经来了 (Summer Has Already Arrived) Posted by sasha on Jul 24, 2010
For my second video post, join me on a stroll around 后海 lake to see what Beijing folks like to do outside in the summer time. With a long, cold winter, it is important to get outside and enjoy the warm weather while it lasts! As usual, I’ve included the vocabulary used in the video…
Staying in Tone Posted by sasha on Jul 22, 2010
When it comes to learning Chinese, understanding how to 读 and 写 the thousands upon thousands of 汉字 is obviously the most difficult part of the learning process. However, if you are simply interested in learning how to 说中文, you will probably encounter the most difficulty whilst attempting to learn the four 声调 (shēng diào…
北京的雨天 (A Rainy Day in Beijing) Posted by sasha on Jul 15, 2010
Alright faithful Transparent Chinese readers/viewers, the time has finally come… my first video post has arrived! Despite the weather here raining on my parade and my ideas for outdoor related videos, I still managed to put together something that I think is interesting and helpful for Chinese learners. To supplement your viewing, I typed up…