Recognising Chinese character components
Identifying and naming chinese character components is something that gradually improves over time for someone who has been learning to read and write chinese for some time. I don’t believe memorising the full list of chinese radicals right at the start is a useful activity, but taking a learn as you go approach is important.
Pinyin vs Zhuyin (Bopomofo)
Many people love a debate over the benefits of using either pinyin or zhuyin. I’m not interested in endless debate, but do have some points I think are worth sharing.
Chinese classes at Taiwan Universities
If you have perfect grammar and a limited vocabulary, who can you talk to? If you have a large vocabulary, yet have flawed grammar, who can’t you communicate with?
Taiwan and the EPA
Our experience with Taiwan’s EPA, calling them does something, but exactly what it does is quite interesting.
CC-CEDICT and role of dictionaries
What is the role of a dictionary, especially a prominent Chinese English dictionary used by many learners of Chinese? I am interested in feedback on some issues I have come across with the most commonly used Chinese-English dictionary.
Taiwan sites to visit
Although have not yet had the opportunity to travel throughout all of Taiwan, here are some of our recommended travel destinations.
Antibiotics in animal feed
The practice of loading animals up with antibiotics to speed up their growth and prevent them from getting ill is something that needs to be given more attention.
Internet filtering
Internet filtering is a bad idea, not because the concept of the Government limiting illegal activity is bad, but because of the technical issues surrounding internet filtering.
Removing a tag from remote git repository
It turns out that there is an easy way to remove a tag from a remote git repository.
Giving up caffeine
Making the decision to give up caffeine is what would turn out to be one of the first decision in a long line of experiments to try and get some control over my life and my energy levels.
Asian work ethic
My thoughts on why there is so much difference in attitude about working hours between westerners and asians.
Clean your teeth after you eat?
Did you know that there is a cultural gap between westerners and Asians – even when it comes to things as simple as cleaning your teeth?
The night-time shower
The title of this post might sound quite strange. However for many a mixed Asian western couple, this can quite a contentious issue.
Church in Taiwan
Churches in Taiwan, are they relevant today or out of date reflections of the western church of 50 years ago? This article covers my thoughts from the first time I ever visited a church in Taiwan.
Democracy vs Communisim
Most white people are brought up being taught that Communism is bad and Democracy is good by default, without any discussions of any facts. I can’t recall a single discussion on the issue throughout my entire school education.
ISSN code validation
When working with a system that allows manual user entry of ISSN codes for books, CD’s and other published media, it is worth considering implementing an algorithm to ensure typos don’t sneak in.