Hello and welcome again to yet another edition of the language vlog newsletter!

Well, if there's one thing I didn't expect in my life it was to live in China for ten years. Had you told Young Steve that he would one day move across the world and live there for a decade, I'm not sure he would have believed you, but he probably would have still thought it would be cool to do.

Next week will mark TEN YEARS IN CHINA!

PODCAST

And we are literally IN THE MIDDLE of setting up a new podcast website for those unable to download the mp3s! We'll let you know when it's up and ready!

Beijing is getting cool enough in the morning to warrant a sweater, but not cool enough to wear that sweater for more than a few minutes because as soon as you start walking, you warm up!

On to the videos for the week...

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Let's learn some Chinese - going to the gym! - This post was inspired by my recent visit to a gym, a first in a very long time. I don't normally go to the gym since I work out at home, but I've been lagging in my reading Chinese as of late, which I usually do on my morning walks. So, by going to a gym I thought I could use their stationary bikes to read and workout at the same time. While there, I read on of their articles about the deltoid muscle group. This stream talked a little bit about the vocabulary in that article and in the DuChinese articles I also read

CLICK HERE to access the deltoid muscle group article screenshots.

Let's write and type in Russian! - This week had me typing and writing Russian. I copy+pasted an article into Apple Notes, made spaces between each line, and then used the visual keyboard viewer to type in (verrrry slowly) the letters in each word. I also tried again to use Apple Pencil + Canva Whiteboard and still faced some challenges so I need to find a better way to display this type of writing.

Let's learn some English grammar! - Wednesday's stream was focused on English grammar and, of all things, Black Myth: WuKong. It also touched on what's involved in teaching English overseas as we had a couple participants in the live chat. This makes me think I should move the livestreams earlier so people in North America have an easier time participating. We covered the website englishpage.com and the book English Grammar in Use by Raymond Murphy, two mainstays in teaching English grammar to students around the world.

光盘行动 - Clean your plate! - And one YouTube Short just for good measure, this one was about one of the public service announcements you'll see hung up on the green barriers they put around construction sites here in China. This sign, 光盘行动 (guāng pán xíng dòng), “Clear plate in action”, refers to ensuring you clean your plate from the food you've ordered, which is to say, don't waste food. This is one of several PSAs you'll see if you ever visit China.

Reading the classics (in English!) - A new series I'm developing, possibly only for the short term, to read some of the classic English novels. To be honest, this is mostly an excuse to read some books that I've heard a lot about, but never sat down to read myself. I figure it could be good practice AND tick a few more boxes off of the "to be read" checklist. So, I've dipped into Pride and Prejudice, Frankenstein, and The Iliad. Have you read any of these? Are there any books you want to hear read out loud?

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In other news, I was re-watching the WuKong "reaction video" we planned and... it sucked. So, new plan! Instead of just doing a reaction video to the game I'm going to set out to PLAY THE GAME myself and record the experience. I figure this will be a good way to show a bit of the gaming culture in China and give me a chance to try out the game that all the cool kids are talking about these days. Have you played WuKong yet, or know anybody who has?

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As the livestreams continue, we're still working on a few long form videos that will address some questions and concerns people have about living in China and learning Mandarin Chinese. If there are any other ideas or questions you would like addressed, please drop us a line and we'll work it into our schedule!

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We'll leave it there for this week. Thanks for reading and we hope this new podcast format, audio on Spotify, video on YouTube, reaches you well and helps you, inspires you, and moves you towards your own language goals. Get in touch if there's anything we can help with!

All the best,

Steve

YOUTUBE