DAILY PHOTO: Monkey Beach, Ao Nang
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DAILY PHOTO: Dusky Bay
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DAILY PHOTO: Armenian Chapel
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DAILY PHOTO: Buda Spires in Winter
Image
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PROMPT: Favorite Holiday
Probably New Years as it’s the only one that there’s some excitement about no matter where one is in the world — even nations that have their own calendar celebrate it as a secondary new year. No use in getting too attached to single-country holidays if you’re a traveler, it just creates melancholy.
Also, because it’s not one of those roaming holidays that’s on a different date each year. Those are too hard to keep track of.
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“A learned man came to me once” by Stephen Crane [w/ Audio]
A learned man came to me once.
He said, "I know the way, -- come."
And I was overjoyed at this.
Together we hastened.
Soon, too soon, were we
Where my eyes were useless,
And I knew not the ways of my feet.
I clung to the hand of my friend;
But at last he cried, "I am lost."
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Ostrich [Lyric Poem]
"Oh, beware the trotting Ostrich!"
I'd never, ever have thought which
Would be a real concern for me,
As I sit in cafes and libraries.
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DAILY PHOTO: Zebra of Amboseli
BOOKS: “Chinese Grammar Wiki BOOK: Intermediate” ed. by John Pasden, et. al.
Chinese Grammar Wiki BOOK: Intermediate by John PasdenMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher Site – AllSet
I’ve found this series helpful in offering a basic guide to grammar for learning Mandarin through Simplified Characters and pinyin. It provides plenty of examples and is not dense with explanation and elaboration but rather focuses on the core principles as well as demonstrations of common pitfalls. It covers the B1 grammar points which is a designation used by, but not original to, the series. (As far as I can tell, it’s a European standard that has been applied across languages to organize the concepts one should be able to express at a given level of language learning.
This is the second book of the series that I’ve worked through (the third if one counts the “Just the Basics” level which is a subset of the Beginner level book,) and I intend to continue on to the “Upper Intermediate” guide.
This may not be the series you want if you’re a linguist looking for nuanced insight into Chinese grammar, but it’s excellent for your average language learner. [It also seems to be quite affordable compared to many competing grammar books and series.]
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“I shall go back again to the bleak shore” by Edna St. Vincent Millay [w/ Audio]
I shall go back again to the bleak shore
And build a little shanty on the sand,
In such a way that the extremest band
Of brittle seaweed will escape my door
But by a yard or two; and nevermore
Shall I return to take you by the hand;
I shall be gone to what I understand,
And happier than I ever was before.
The love that stood a moment in your eyes,
The words that lay a moment on your tongue,
Are one with all that in a moment dies,
A little under-said and over-sung.
But I shall find the sullen rocks and skies
Unchanged from what they were when I was young.
