Chengdu Living

It’s easy to get stuck ordering and eating the same dishes over and over again, but it’s important that you not let that happen. Here’s how you can prevent yourself from falling into the trap that we spring on ourselves.

The U.S. Foreign Service Institute is offering its Chinese lessons online for free download. Read more inside.

This particular restaurant offers 150 different dishes: let’s translate them all. This first post translates all 38 of the stir fried dishes on the menu.

Even though it was only announced a few days ago, Apple’s iPad already has me thinking about how app developers will use the large, high resolution display to make learning Chinese easier than ever before.

From immigrants in Chinatown to school boards in Ohio, people around the world are changing their tune on what languages should be taught to children. Resoundingly, they’re recommending Mandarin, the language of Mainland China. Here’s why.

If you haven’t heard of Jin Ke La, you should check this out. A Chinese fertilizer company masquerades as an American government-affiliated multi-national with hilarious result.

In the constant search to find more efficient language acquisition techniques, I’m always adjusting my study routine. The other day I stumbled upon Lingt, a site which offers vocabulary lists for Chinese language learners and creates a memorization schedule for you to maximize vocabulary recall.

Apple’s Character Palette is great for finding problematic characters that can’t be located by Pinyin, and if you’re on a Mac, you don’t even have to download anything! Read about how it works in this post.

Now, since we’re approaching the coldest time of year, is a great time to learn what is actually written on your air conditioners remote control. If you aren’t using the timer, you’re missing out.

If you didn’t know, the iPhone and iPod Touch are incredible study companions for learning Chinese. With so many apps to choose from, however, you might need a little help finding the best options.