The world's most typical person: Han Chinese Man

If there was any doubt that your Chinese would be put to practical use, National Geographic has concluded that the most common-looking man on the plant is like the one pictured below.  Once you look at the picture, check out a full article in the link under the picture.


http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/03/04/worlds-most-typical-person-han-chinese-man/

Typing Pinyin with tones

I know some of you have brought up how to type Pinyin with tones.  There is a great online tool if you follow this link: http://www.csulb.edu/~txie/Itool/type_pinyin_with_tones.htm.


Once you click the link called "Click here to begin," a basic web application will open and allow you to first type the spelling of the word, then type a number to automatically add the corresponding tonal mark.  I still recommend writing out your homework by hand, since this is how you'll be taking tests throughout your language learning process, but this app is here if you feel you want to use it.

Dictionaries

While the book we use, Modern Mandarin, has a dictionary of all pinyin we use in the back of the textbook, the following online resources may be helpful as well.


1. nciku.com - Excellent dictionary where you can save any words you look up in a list, as well as being able to trace a character with your mouse (for when we get to writing characters)


2. zhongwen.com - interesting web site that provides roots and philology of the written character.  Make sure you click on "search" at the top of the page in order to look up a specific word.


If you want to purchase your own personal dictionary, I would recommend the Oxford Beginner's Chinese Dictionary.  We will have a dictionary usage lesson when we begin using characters, but it is not necessary for you to go out and buy one at this point.