Summer Study in China

Chinese Language Education Forum (CLEF) 2015 call for proposals! Please tell your Chinese language teachers to submit proposals to the annual conference!

Say NO to SCA 5. Send signed mails to your Assembly Representative now! http://www.no2sca5.org/

It's time to apply for our CLERC-PKU Summer Chinese Language Program 2014. Our first admission rolling will start in March! Do not miss the opportunity to be enrolled in the first round.

Happy Chinese New Year-the Year of Horse! !! :-)

High school student who are living in the US West Coast? Do not miss the opportunity to complete on the world stage. All awardees are eligible to receive a travel stipend of $500 if they are accepted by the CLERC-PKU Summer Chinese Language Program 2014 (www.nanhai.com/ep/pku)!!!

11 things to know about Lunar New Year 1. Locals don't call it Chinese New Year In China, the festivities are known as spring festival () or Lunar New Year () -- the new year is determined by the lunar calendar....Continue reading

In the Chinese zodiac, the Snake is listed after the Dragon, but its place and its significance as a symbol of worship is far less than that of the Dragon. it carries the meanings of malevolence, cattiness and mystery, as well as acumen, divination and the ability to distinguish herbs. In some places, people believe that a snake found in their court can bring delight. During Spring Festival, people like to paste onto their doors and windows the paper-cut 'Fu' character (happi...ness), combined with a snake twisting around a rabbit onto their doors and windows as a popular pattern indicating wealth. Strengths They often have a good temper and a skill at communicating but say little. They possess gracious morality and great wisdom. They are usually financially secure and do not have to worry about money. They have tremendous sympathy for others and would like to take actions to help their fellow human beings. They are determined to accomplished their goals hate to fail. Although they look calm on the surface, they are intense and passionate. They have a rich source of inspiration and understand themselves well. They are people of great perception. Women under the sign of the snake do well in housework but are irritable. Weaknesses They are likely to be jealous and suspicious. They should be cautious about what they discuss with others, as it might cause them to lose friendship and opportunities. They tend to overdo things. They prefer to rely on themselves and have doubts about other people's judgment. They are courteous with polite manners, but they can be headstrong. They are fickle and usually have problems in relationships or marriage problems.

The 23rd day of the 12th month in Lunar Calendar is called (Xiao Nian) or Minor Spring Festival. For this year, it will lands on Jan 23, 2014. It is believed that on that day, the Kitchen God will returns to the Heaven to report the activities of every household over the past year to the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor, the emperor of the Heaven, will rewards or punishes a family based on Kitchen God’s report. Chinese family will offer malt sugar candies, Tang Gua to the Kitchen God. Chinese people believe that the Kitchen God will say something good after taking the sweet candies. :-)

Do you know? Chinese new year is approaching quickly. The New Year's Eve dinner is the most important dinner for Chinese. Normally this is the family reunion dinner, especially for those with family member away from home. In the New Year's Eve dinner, normally fish will be served. Dumplings are the most important dish in northern china. These two dishes mean prosperous.

Multiple ethnic groups populate China, where "China" is taken to mean areas controlled by either of the two states using "China" in their formal names, the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China ("Taiwan"). The Han Chinese are the largest ethnic group, where some 91.59% of the population was classified as Han Chinese (~1.2 billion). Besides the majority Han Chinese, 55 other ethnic groups are recognized in mainland China by the PRC government, numbering ap...proximately 105 million people, mostly concentrated in the northwest, north, northeast, south, and southwest but with some in central interior areas. The major minority ethnic groups are Zhuang (16.9 million), Hui (10.5 million), Manchu (10.3 million), Uyghur (10 million), Miao (9.4 million), Yi (8.7 million), Tujia (8.3 million), Tibetan (6.2 million), Mongol (5.9 million), Dong (2.8 million), Buyei (2.8 million), Yao (2.7 million), Bai (1.9 million), Korean (1.8 million), Hani (1.6 million), Li (1.4 million), Kazakh (1.4 million), and Dai (1.2 million).

Mandarin is the national language of China and Taiwan, and is the dialect you should choose if traveling to those countries, or if you're learning Chinese for academic/business purposes. China's large population makes Mandarin the most spoken language on the planet. Cantonese is the primary language of Hong Kong and China's Guangdong province. It is also the most common dialect spoken by Chinese overseas. Choose Cantonese if you're traveling to Hong Kong, doing business in Gu...angdong (a major economic region), or if you wish to speak with the majority of Chinese in the US, UK, Australia, or Canada. Difficulty: Mandarin is more structured and a bit easier to learn, while Cantonese has more tones and an ever-changing variety of slang terms. However, this characteristic also makes Cantonese a rich and enjoyable language to study. While there are similarities between Mandarin and Cantonese (learning one can help with learning the other), attempting to learn both simultaneously would be very confusing and inefficient.