A Great Night

Winning team's drawing when we were playing pictionary. Did you know what these things are?











Only these two people didn't like the movie much.







Mar 25th was such a fun night.

The only problem was that it was kind of difficult to find Gloria's bar at the first time, at least for me and Tim. But once you know where it is, it's just right there.

We watched the movie Yi Yi. It was a nice movie. You can listen to how people liked it through our podcast. We had a drink, and later on played a board game Pictionary. It was hilarious. What you see here was the drawing from the winning team, Paul, Tim and me.

It was such a great time! The plan for the future is that we will have a Mandarin night every Monday. Gloria will be your host and she is very happy to speak Mandarin with you!

Please pass around the words. Let's help each other and creat more opportunities to practice your Mandarin outside of classroom, and also meet some interesting people.

Basic Level B Audio Lessons Now Available!

Check out our online catalog for the newly released Basic Level B Audio Lessons!

Basic Level A audio lessons now available

There are ten audio lessons in total covering the entire Basic Level A.

If you are interested, check it out at our online catalog.

A Movie Night

A couple of days ago, I was planning our next gathering but didn't know what to do was the best. And soon the answer appeared right in front of my eyes. I met Gloria. She is the owner of a pub Ren (yes, that means person.) So naturally our next gathering will be a movie night!

Here's the details:

Date: Saturday, 25^th March, 2006

Time: 5 – 8 pm

Venue: REN

Address: Unit C, 6/F, 8-12 Wo On Lane, Central (On the street of Ben & Jerry in LKF, next to OYSTERS. Alternatively, you can come out from the back entrance of Pacific Coffee on Wellington Street) Call 6055 0638 if you need direction . A map is attached here .

About the movie: It is a Chinese movie (of course), and has lots of good things said about it. The name is Yi Yi (one one). You can read some more about his movie here.

See you there and enjoy the movie!

wu wei - Taoist concept

In an article in Fortune, Making Your Work Working For you, by Jerry Useem, he gave a very clear and easy to understand defination of wu-wei. I really liked his explanation, and wonder if he can speak, read and write Chinese, and if he read Laozi's Dao De Jing.

Here's the quote:

Wu-wei, which translates literally as 'non doing'. A better translation would be more like 'effortless effort'; wu-wei describes a state in which the world seems to be working for us. We feel calm yet alert, focused yet receptive, drawing force from the storm while standing in its eye. Like the marathoner whol feels pulled forward, we accomplish the most with the minimum of energy. In this state hard work does not feel like hard labor. Nor does it feel like play. It feels a lot like the Aristotelian concept of hapiness: the full exercises of the thing we are meant to be doing.

Have you achieved wu-wei in learning Mandarin? In Chinese character wu wei is 无为.

Transcript of podcast

This is a new experiment.

For podcast 11 - About Oscar Winner Li An, the transcript in pinyin and simplified characters is available on the online catalog at the cost of US$1. If you find it interesting and also helpful to read the transcript after you listen to the podcast, let me know.

And if you got any suggestions, do let me know. So I can do future improvement.

Learning Language Enhances (Or Motivates) Trip Abroad

Below is an article from Los Angeles Times. After reading it, you will agree with me that MSL Learning Center students did a far better job in learning Mandarin, quicker and therefore better. If you take lessoons twice a week, and 2 hours each lesson, 30 weeks is what you need to achieve a modest level of proficiency.

"Prior knowledge does seem to help activate the brain," said Renee Jourdenais, an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Language & Educational Linguistics at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

Of course, some languages are more difficult than others for native English-speakers to learn, because their writing and sounds differ so widely, Jourdenais said.

At the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, Calif., which is dedicated to getting U.S. diplomatic personnel up to speed before a foreign posting, basic French and Spanish courses designed to give students a modest level of proficiency last 25 weeks. Czech and Russian programs run for 47 weeks; beginner Mandarin Chinese and Arabic courses take 63 weeks.

Read the whole articel here.

Saying 'nihao' to Mandarin

China's emergence as a world economic power has prompted the teaching of Mandarin in American schools; the Virginia-based American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages estimates between 30,000 and 50,000 American students are studying Mandarin.

Many of those students reside not just in cities with significant Chinese populations, but in the suburbs. Sharon, Milton, Hingham, and -- perhaps more predictably -- Quincy all offer Mandarin instruction, and Norwell may yet join them. But whether the programs continue is less certain than their success to date.

Read more in The Boston Globe.

An eye opening experience

Last Saturday, I went to attend the Chinese calligraphy and brush painting presentation given by Li Slough. It was really an amazing experience!

Here's the artist.


She has been learning and practicing this art for almost five years. she shared with us her understaning and experience of this art and showed us her work.

She uses Chinese idioms and traditional Chinese blessings on her painting. The background paintings are all her work. Also, we had the opportunity to do a bit of bamboo leaves and brush strokes!


Li was doing demonstration.





Try!



Li Slough can be reached at 2547-7100. She loves to share her art with people and would like to meet more people who have the similar interests.

Call for pupils to learn Mandarin

Pupils should be taught other languages such as Mandarin in school, a report for the British Council says.

he current dominance of the English language poses "serious" economic and political disadvantages for the UK, the study claims.

UK graduates who speak only English will lose out to multi-lingual workers from other countries, the council says.

Read the full story here: BBC NEWS

Online Intro audio lessons available

All the idea started with a simple fact that intro students sometimes just didn't get enough practice, especially listening and speaking.

So the whole purpuse of creating audio lessons is based on that. To learn Mandarin anytime and anywhere!

Now you can take a look at our online learning page, and get a general idea of how it works. Also I have made purchasing Mandarin Express ebooks version possible. I hope this will help any many people as possible, because learning Mandarin should be fun!

Chinese Brush Painting

Would you like to know a bit about Chinese Brush Painting or Chinese Calligraphy?

Li Slough has been studying both art forms for 5 years and invite you to come to her home and experience them in a new way. She will give a short talk on them and give a demonstration.

The schedule is set at 4 p.m. on February 18th.
If you would like to attend, please write to mslinfo@netvigator.com for the details!

Year of the Dog "good for marriage"

Couples across China are rushing to get married shortly after the Year of the Dog starts on Jan. 29 --a year considered by the elderly to be auspicious for weddings.

Read more from Xinhua.

In FTChinese.com

If you read Chinese, you can read this from Fianacial Times Chinese website:

全球兴起中文热

Type Pinyin

Here I found somebody did a great job in typing Pinyin. Check it out here: http://toshuo.com/?page_id=50

How is language naturally acquired?

A quote from Derek Bickerton, PhD

Languages are naturally acquired by people listening to language. The human brain is built to analyze it. You know, there are a lot of places in the world-not in America-but in supposedly "backwards" places like West Africa, New Guinea, where it is commonplace to find people who speak half a dozen languages. How do they do that? There are no language schools. So, they do it because it's part of their lives. They go down to the market, they find people talking in 4 or 5 languages and if they're going to do any trade-or buy anything-they have to know just enough of the other language to get by. So, this is how languages are learned, whether by adults or by children-by listening and interacting with real people in real-life situations.

Cantonese Is Losing Its Voice

Speakers of the spicy tongue that can make words of love sound like a fight are having to learn its linguistic kin, the mellower Mandarin.

Read more here: LA Times

On line bookstore is ready

Mandarin Express Basic Level B was recently completed and printed!! What a relief! Now the first two levels are nicely put together.

I also discovered Paypal system. That is the reason that the online Mandarin bookstore is ready. So far I have listed Intro Level A and B, Basic Level A and B, and a workbook.

If you want to take a look, click here: http://www.msllearningcenter.com/online_bookstore.htm

New Year's Resolutions

New year - new you!

"New Year's Resolutions" is definitely a western term for me. What do you want to change or improve upon the New Year? Change jobs, better dieting, or learn Mandarin?

In China, traditionally New Year alone isn't the most critical point to make changes. The season spring is. Here I try to compare the differences.

Point one: Time span is different when it comes to making decisions.
Western: New Year's Resolutions
Chinese: A year's plan is made in spring.

Point two: When it's the end of it.
Western: And every year, many people discover that January's best-laid plans are easily broken by March. "People have really great intentions, and then ... resolutions start to become less important," says Lavalife.com's Ms. Miller.
Chinese: Since spring is the season to make plans, if by Summer you haven't got anywhere, you know your year plan isn't working any more.

But maybe this time is different. You made plan and you carry on and you achieve it. So by the next New Year, you will be very satisfied with yourself.

I can't say other things like better dieting, exercises (I am still gaining weight after four years work out.), but if you want to set a plan on learning Mandarin, here's a achievable plan:

If the only thing you can say is hello and thank you now, by next New Year you can easily have a nice little talk with Chinese people by finishing Intro Level A and B. No need to do more than that.

A three and half hours hiking!

A break through thousands of staircases .

A nice view.
Smile the roses.

A group photo.