Just like every dish needs the right spices to really bring out the flavor, so too does your Chinese. These phrases will help you to make your Chinese sound much more "flavorful", so let's get started with today's lesson! 雖然- even though；often used in conjunction with 但是 suī rán […]
Hey guys, long time no see! I apologize for taking such a long hiatus fom blogging, but life has been chaotic of late! My wife and I have relocated to the USA and have been working very hard to get re-established here, and so I have had little time or motivation to blog. But I […]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP40g_OjxRY] Have I mentioned that I love dogs? Well, I do, and this week I am going to fill you in on two awesome places that you can bring your dogs for the day in Taoyuan County. The first is called 綠風草原, and it's located in Zhongli. You'll need to take a car there, because […]
(Bark at the moon!) I have had so many amazing experiences living and traveling in Taiwan, and I'd love to tell them all! So today I'm going to share a hitchhiking dā biàn chē 搭便車 experience I had in my early years here in Taiwan. It was mid-October, 2009 and the weather in Keelung was […]
(Ruby and I preparing for the wedding…not ours, at least not yet!) Not too long ago, Ruby and I were invited to her friend's wedding hūn lĭ 婚禮. This was the third wedding I'd been invited to since I've been in Taiwan, so I knew more or less what to expect. There are lots of interesting […]
[youtube=http://youtu.be/qZivq1IgyQU] …So I had to go get my fix, and it was FANTASTIC! In fact, I decided to film the experience and let you all take a glimpse at every-day life in Taiwan. Now I do love me a nice, hot cup of traditional, loose-leaf tea, but the stuff is expensive and much better to […]
Languages: I saved this section for after we had gotten to be familiar with different countries of the world and their nationalities in Chinese, as it is a little more complex to form languages. Now don't go getting discouraged on me, you can do it, it just may take you a little more practice. The […]
If you missed it, check out the first two posts in this three-part series here and here! And now, for the grand finale… On Sunday I went with a group of friends to go exploring in shī tóu shān 獅頭山, Lion-Head Mountain. The mountain park is huge and borders both Xinzhu and Miaoli […]
Okay, since most of you who will be coming to Taiwan will probably be teaching ESL or doing some other kind of work, I figured I'd outline the tax filing bào shuì 報稅 process for you, since I filed mine the day before yesterday, for the second time this year. Taxes are filed in May, and […]
This past Thursday, I went to Yangming Mountain Park with a few friends. This place is huge, the air is fresh and the scenery is beautiful. There are tons of hiking trails, hot springs and scenery to take in, and it's also a famous place to go to see Taiwan's national flower, the beautiful plum-blossom […]
Adios, arrivederci, bon voyage, good bye, so long, goodnight. ..what do these phrases have in common? They are all ways to say goodbye, in one way or another. In fact you could assemble another list entirely out of negative ways to express the same idea, such as: beat it, shove off, get lost, hit the […]
How many times do you say hello to someone on any given day? Unless you're a hermit, or just plain rude, chances are a few times at the very least, and most likely more often than that. No matter where you are in the world, or what language is being spoken, people are saying hello […]