Highlands School China Connection: Where Do I Start?

Monday, January 29, 2007

Where Do I Start?

Are any of you in the middle of several good books?

My bedside table is overflowing with books, and now I have taken over a counter in the kitchen with my "library." Perhaps, you have read some of them or would be interested in reading them. The simple ownership of each book tells me a story. Several are from my new email friend from Connecticut who shares my love of Asia. One is from a teacher I met while in Japan in 2005. Several are from a Highlands parent/trustee who shares my interest in the changing world. One is from the bookstore where my grandfather worked until its closing in 1969.

Here are some of the books:
Good to Great by Jim Collins
The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman
A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink

China Coast Family by John C. Caldwell (1953)
Lipo, The Chinese Poet "done into English verse by Shigeyoshi Obata" (1935)
Questions of Heaven, The Chinese Journeys of an American Buddhist by Gretel Ehrlich
The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang (1937)
Learning to Bow: Inside the Heart of Japan by Bruce Feiler
Preschool in Three Cultures: Japan, China, and the United States by Joseph J. Tobin et al

This is not an exhaustive list of books related to Asia!

You may be interested in reading more about Asia, but you wonder, "Where do I start?" I recommend you start with some children's books. If you are interested in seeing an excellent selection, check out the website http://www.asiastore.org/books-children-s.html . They have three of my favorites: 1 Grain of Rice, Sushi for Kids, and Zen Shorts.

Enjoy!!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: I'm reading The World is Flat too, and it is teaching me so much. I suppose it was written from a business perspective, but it has so many applications to education.; February 1, 2007 at 10:50 AM
Anonymous said...: "The World is Flat" is particularly well received in developing countries, such as China. Chinese version of this book is already available. I have run into many Chinese business people who have read this book. It is a great read (for any profession) to gain further appreciation on "globalization". Connie; May 9, 2007 at 1:18 AM

Post a Comment

Ten Reasons to Learn Chinese

Ten Reasons To Learn Chinese By Frank Middleton 1. Chinese, is one of the Sino-Tibetan languages, or more accurately it is a group of different dialects of which Mandarin (Putonghua) is one. Taken together there are more native speakers of Chinese than any other language. To put this in perspective there are approximately 915 million speakers of Mandarin (without including any of the other dialects such as Cantonese), compared to Spanish, the fourth most widely spoken language in the world with around 400 million speakers. 2. You don’t have to learn Chinese characters to learn to speak Chinese. Pinyin is a method of writing Chinese in the roman alphabet. Hanyu pinyin spells the sound, and includes tone marks to help give the correct pronunciation. 3. Chinese literature. The dialects are not mutually intelligible but the written language is shared between them all. Although you do not need to learn to read Chinese characters to speak the language, by doing so you open the door to an enormously diverse and rich literature. In fact, the earliest record of writing was in Chinese characters although very different in form from modern characters (of which there are many thousand). 3. The Chinese economy is the fastest growing economy in the world, and so in the work environment even speaking a little Chinese will give you a competitive edge, if your company invests in China or is considering doing so. 4. Language and culture are linked and learning something of the Chinese language will help give an appreciation of the cultural heritage of China. 5. China is accessible to the foreign visitor in a way that it has not been in the past and travel to and within China is becoming easier, but to make the most of this opportunity for travel, language at a basic level is important. Mandarin is spoken throughout China. 7. China is becoming increasingly important in the world and may be the dominant economic power in the not so distant future. 8. Food. You can eat in the tourist restaurants in hotels but if you want to see more of China it is more better to try the food and experience the culture in local restaurants. 9. In 2008 the Olympics are being held in Beijing. In 2008 many foreign visitors will descend on China to watch the Olympics. It is an ideal opportunity, if you are lucky enough to be going, to stand out from the crowd by being one of the few who has learnt at least a few words of Mandarin. 10. Like any other language, it is possible to learn a few words and phrases in Mandarin, enough to be polite without spending years in further education. ------------- Frank Middleton is a freelance author and writes occasional articles for http://www.linguata.com/ a site with a practical realistic and fast approach to learning words and phrases in a foreign language, using a combination of sophisticated testing and simple games.

Highlands School China Connection

Monday, January 29, 2007

Where Do I Start?

2 comments:

What time is it in Shanghai?

shanghai

Blog Archive

About Me

Ten Reasons to Learn Chinese