Tag Archives: Chinese

“Traveler’s Lodestone” out in Hard Copy!

15 Nov

Celebrations abound! At last, “Traveler’s Lodestone” is officially out in hard copy — a great universal translator ready for use!

After a great deal of time and effort, we have put together this great resource for anyone working with foreign languages. Whether that be while traveling abroad or when dealing with non-native speakers in your own backyard.  “Traveler’s Lodestone”  is a point-to-speak book. It uses picture-based communications to cover the basic things a person would need when conversing in any foreign language. The idea is that when the words aren’t at the tip of your tongue, the pictures are at the tip of your finger. Everything from groceries to clothes to hotel amenities to weather, directions, and more is available instantly with this easy to use book. It’s quick and universal!

Right now it’s out on CreateSpace, but coming soon to Amazon and other booksellers near you. At 5×8 and 100 pages, it’s small enough to stick in your purse or bag and carry around, easy to pull out and use. Check out this great universal translator! Now tested in Korea, Japan, and China–it worked perfectly! (the Bathroom/Toilet pic is apparently very popular 😛 )  Trust me; I’ve tried the dictionaries, translation books, etc. and this is the best tool I’ve found so far.

Great for students abroad!

Pick up Your Paperback Copy By Clicking Here

If you are interested in the E-book Version, that’s available here.  The e-book is actually broken up into 3 short Volumes for easier use.

We’re also working on a Android/Apple app. As soon as I figure out how to attach buttons to links, we’ll be adding that.

 

Yummy Pork Buns and other Tianjin Foods

24 Aug Pork

The people of Tianjin, China are very proud of their cuisine; and for good reason.  I am an extremely picky eater due to allergies (Pork, Fish, Tomatoes, Soy, Nuts, and more) and I usually have to subsist on Pringles and Microwave meals from the Convenience stores when I stay in Asia.  So I was pleasantly surprised to find that Tianjin is actually not as bad for me as some of the other places. Most of the food served in Chinese restaurants there are actually vegetable dishes. I expected tons of rice, but found that you frequently only got a teeny tiny bowl at the end of your meal.  Most dishes were pea pods, cashews, leafy greens, mushrooms, peppers (green, red, and yellow), eggplant, and other such organic foods mixed together with varied sauces and meats.  While I did find myself eating a lot of pork; my allergy to that isn’t so bad so I was able to bypass the effects there and they served a lot of beef, duck, and lamb dishes. Amazingly, I found that their concept of dessert was fruit: Watermelon, Cantaloupe, and Grapes were served all summer as a refreshing meal end.  I actually lost more than 20 lbs this summer between the exercise and healthy foods.  To give you a taste, here are some of the great dinners we had!

Nonetheless, while Tianjin cooks serve hundreds of yummy dishes, they are most famous for three different Continue reading

Life In Japan: Week One is Done!

22 May

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Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!  I swore to myself that I would keep this blog updated as I went about my trip and I totally screwed up. I just realized I haven’t posted in weeks, and I sincerely apologize!  Everything has just been so incredibly hectic.  But I hereby promise that from now on I will keep everything updated and going, and I will get up the stuff I haven’t posted on.

The trip getting here was one problem after another; if I didn’t know better I’d swear a poltergeist was working against me.

It started when I started working on getting my Chinese visa. Continue reading

How to Type in Pinyin Chinese on Windows 7

6 Apr

你好!

How to Type in Pinyin Chinese on Windows 7

 

You can enlarge the images by clicking on them

  • Go to your Windows “Start” button on the task bar at the bottom of your screen.

Windows 7

Travel Abroad with a Language Scholarship!

3 Jan

Tap, tap, tap. . .

That is the impatient tapping of my foot as I sit here checking my email every 15 minutes (literally–I’m just that sad) to hear back on a scholarship I applied for.  They say we’ll hear by email in January, and last year the results came out the first Friday of the month.  Ergo, my tap, tap, tapping.  Wait, I need to check my email again. . .

Okay, I’m back!  Since I am stuck here waiting until at least tomorrow, maybe another week, I thought I’d share the news about this awesome opportunity for students interested in studying abroad.

Continue reading