Extra salt, please.

Nick || Part-time writer, full-time shipper, also arts occasionally.

[rongzhi]

English added by me :)

[kaidenchii]

Something dramatic for Weilan

[ruhua-langblr]

Duolingo Sucks, Now What?: A Guide

Now that the quality of Duolingo has fallen (even more) due to AI and people are more willing to make the jump here are just some alternative apps and what languages they have:

"I just want an identical experience to DL"

Busuu (Languages: Spanish, Japanese, French, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Polish, Turkish, Russian, Arabic, Korean)

"I want a good audio-based app"

Language Transfer (Languages: French, Swahili, Italian, Greek, German, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, English for Spanish Speakers)

"I want a good audio-based app and money's no object"

Pimsleur (Literally so many languages)

Glossika (Also a lot of languages, but minority languages are free)

*anecdote: I borrowed my brother's Japanese Pimsleur CD as a kid and I still remember how to say the weather is nice over a decade later. You can find the CDs at libraries and "other" places I'm sure.

"I have a pretty neat library card"

Mango (Languages: So many and all endangered/Indigenous courses are free even if you don't have a library that has a partnership with Mango)

"I want SRS flashcards and have an android"

AnkiDroid: (Theoretically all languages, pre-made decks can be found easily)

"I want SRS flashcards and I have an iphone"

AnkiApp: It's almost as good as AnkiDroid and free compared to the official Anki app for iphone

"I don't mind ads and just want to learn Korean"

lingory

"I want an app made for Mandarin that's BETTER than DL and has multiple languages to learn Mandarin in"

ChineseSkill (You can use their older version of the course for free)

"I don't like any of these apps you mentioned already, give me one more"

Bunpo: (Languages: Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Korean, and Mandarin)

[rongzhi]

English added by me :)

[rongzhi]

Hi ge, hope all is well. I seem to remember you did like an etymology post for the character gǒu. Could you do a similar one for 龙 when you have a minute? Thanks! Was curious as to the pictographic representations it evolved from.

Sure!

[**I'm summarising/translating from Baidu, wikipedia, and hanziyuan btw**]

Variants of the words 龙/lóng (龍) can be found as early as oracle bone script (甲骨文) from the Shang dynasty (1600 BCE - 1046 BCE). Above: (1-2) Shang dynasty variant; (3-4) Western Zhou; (5-6) Warring States; (7) 小篆 /Qin seal script variant as seen also in 说文解字, a Han dynasty dictionary compiled in 100 CE; (8) Han clerical script; regular script, traditional (楷书) ; regular script, simplified. Text at the bottom of the above images cites pages from the dictionaries and pages that the characters can be found in.

龙 is catergorised as a pictogram (象形字), a character that is derived from a picture, so unlike the word 狗, which is phono-semantic (形声字), its composition is unique and you can't breakdown the components to find sound or meaning. There are six methods of character formation (造字法/六书) in Chinese: pictogram (象形), ideogram (指事), combined ideogram (会意), phono-semantic (形声), transfer character/mutually explanatory (转注), and loan (假借).

The character 龙 originally and mainly refers to a mythological creature with a long body, horns, scales of a fish, claws, the ability to fly as well as swim, as well as the power to gather clouds and cause rain.

In oracle bone script, two variants of the character initially emerged (depicted above, labeled A and B), meant to illustrate the "real" appearance of the mythological creature. Later oracle bone scripts would simplify the body and a 辛 character would begin to emerge at the head. Oracle characters and bronze characters (characters inscribed in bronze) would appear similar, with the main difference being that bronze characters often included several "teeth" in the long's mouth:

Oracle bone script variants (甲骨文)

Bronze character variants (金文)

From oracle bone and bronze to seal script and beyond, the character become more complex, with what were once teeth forming the component 月 from 肉, the ribs (flesh), and the head of the long being realised as a 立, from 王 (king). With seal script, the character transformed into a blockier shape, reaching an earlier variant of the traditional regular script 龍.

A Sui dynasty non-standard variant of 龍 was 尨 , which could also sometimes be written with just two 撇/pie (the left slanting strokes). When creating the simplified version of the character, another 撇 was done away with, creating 龙.

Other variants from classical Chinese (古文):

竜、𦱉、𢅛、𠊋、㰍、𥫈、龒、䰱

Pronunciation of the character can be found in the 2nd century dictionary 说文解字 Shuowen jiezi;

【龍部】力鍾切 - (lì zhōng);

切 in such dictionaries stands for 反切 fanqie; this means pronunciation is indicated by combining the two other characters; li + zhong = lóng

Sources:

baidu article

hanziyuan

[rongzhi]

English added by me :)

[rongzhi]

English added by me :)

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

boutta ruin everyone’s life but

why did they mirror flip this shot. ed’s right arm is the one with the tattoos why did they flip it backwards

[oennpellmell]

Ok I can tell you this. It is call "gaze reading". In cinema, movement going from left to right are interpreted (mostly in western civilization because we read text from left to right) as being positive, life driven (from death=left to life=right), going toward life and freedom. But movement going from right to left, are usually employed to give a feeling of threat, suffocation and negativity. But of course, this cinema rule doesn't have the same impact if you read from right to left (mostly eastern culture). Or if you do both. Which is why, this rule only fucking applies to western cinema (See end of post for a more detailed explanation*). Anyway, the initial plan was that Stede drags Edward against the library next to his bed. The door where the scene starts is on the right side of the room and the bed is on the left. They filmed it this way to make really clear where Stede was pushing Ed toward (even the movement with that little twirl makes more sense that way: Grabbed Ed, turned him around and pushed toward the bedside)...

Buuuuuut.... it fucked up the "gaze reading". (*)

Because it would have made Stede physically pushed Ed toward the "death side". Seeing the two moving from right to left was probably giving off the wrong feeling, an ominous impression that would have killed the entire mood of that whole scene. And I know that sound weird, but people that read from left to right, do tend to interpret shots that go the opposite way as something bad. Because it goes against our eyes, and that disturb our brain. It is the easiest trick in the book to generate negative or positive emotion in a shot without much effort. They probably did the shot at first going right to left, because, seeing the room set, it was the most logical pan. But once they did the edit, they realized "fuck this doesn't work, or doesn't feel right" because it goes against their natural reading gaze and was killing the climax of the entire episode. The original shot was certainly conveying a feeling of entrapment and dread as if Stede was forcing Ed in there. It would not have been this romantic moment. OR maybe they planned it initially this way BECAUSE they wanted to convey that Stede was going too fast and Ed was feeling (yes horny but) held in a corner. Which would have echo what had happened in the previous episode ("we should go slow") and what happened in the next ("I asked you I wanted to go slow"). But once again, after putting everything together with the deck singing sequence, they realized that it was not working, and maybe giving away too soon the outcome of episode 7. Or just wasn't nice on the eyes. In any case, it is certain, they flip the shot for a better reading. Even if it was planned differently at the beginning. Flipping shots is an easy fix for a better edit, that prevents having to redo an entire scene, especially with low budget production. Lost of good high budget films and series does it as well, but costume aren't so often asymmetric so we don't usually see it (or have time to register). Here it is more evident because Ed is wearing a very asymmetrical jacket. (*) Now, once again, this work for cinema and public reading from left to right. Obviously, in culture which reading is from right to left, the opposite is working wonders. Their death to life movement is following their own reading orientation. And of course, there are other cultures with both ways reading and even vertical reading which have their own reading gaze rules. Which is why studying other cinema is so fascinating. Personally, I am used to reading both ways, and when I was in animation school, I spend years being yelled at by my teachers because I was "not respecting the "proper" cinematographic reading" until one day, one of them asked me: "What the fuck are you? Japanese? Why all your shots are reversed?". That's when it stroke me, that it wasn't because I was stupid or bad at cinematography, it was because "Yeah, I read both ways, you dumb ass!" So this reading non sense wasn't working so well on me. I am pretty sure countries with different reading orientation than westerners, do not see western cinema the same way westerners do. And vice versa. But David Jenkins is a Westerner, doing a show for western countries, therefore, his shot composition is done with the reading art he has studied and that works for them. And sometimes, it implies a shot flip to give a better breathing and flow.

[oennpellmell]

And for those who are curious, here the whole the end to end shot in its original angle.

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

[ID: Gif of Stede and Ed in season 2 episode 6 of Our Flag Means Death. Stede pulls Ed into the cabin, spins him around, and pushes him towards the left side of the frame. The shot switches to Stede pushing Ed up against a wall and the two of them kissing. The second shot has been edited from how it appears in the show, flipping it so Ed appears on the left and Stede on the right. /END ID]

oooh tysm for editing that gif it’s actually rlly interesting to see that played out!!! i’m very used to western cinematography and it really does feel weird and kinda uncomfortable to see the movement happen in that direction, but that might be because i’ve stared at gifs of that scene for hours today and i’m very used to it he flipped version.

but i honestly feel like even if the original version does mess with the flow by having stede push ed towards the left of the screen, that honestly kind of works? bc they were rushing into things too quickly and they weren’t on the same page. idk, flipping the shot when one character has such a distinctive asymmetrical outfit seems like a very weird editing choice because it makes it soooo obvious that they flipped the shot. but i don’t know shit abt editing so you’re probably onto something here

[oennpellmell]

Well two things: 1/ The singing session and the kissing session were shot separately with their own setting intention each. I don't know in the production which came first, but you usually shot this per background and not following episodes chronology (not teaching anything here but it is always good to remind it). Which means, when during shooting they do their quick shot review on their tablet, they can only see the shots of that day, but not how it look with whatever adjacent scenes it will be paralleled with. 2/ Those two sequences ended up being intertwined. No doubt it was planned from the start with a storyboard, but sometimes storyboard aren't precise enough because they are still images. Therefore the end result might differs a lot from the initial planned sequences. With all of that taken into account, my guess is that they probably went with the idea of doing the initial pan like that for all the reading and practical reasons I named above (and also to not cut Stede's natural movement so it is a logical continuation), then when they start doing the edit and including the shots of what is happening on deck, the placement wasn't working because of the characters' placement in the previous shot and where Stede and Ed were in theirs were conflicting. Let me show you. Let's start with two shots prior: Izzy singing.

The shot doesn't have a movement. It is a still shot with an focus on Izzy. So during all that shot, our eyes are on his pretty face. Then comes the deck general shot:

Let's look at the composition of the scene. You have the mats that cut in half the screen (creating a vertical barrier between the yellow light and the green light) and you have the banners string creating a bridge between the two. Our eyes starts on the left side, because of the previous shot.

And this shot is composed to make us go from left to right in that manner:

Eyes always target the brighter point on screen (tracking light is literally what eyes ARE for). So it will jump on the first source of light which are the yellow lanterns. Then because our eyes cannot stay still, it will start to wander and the decors is here to guide it careful to what is the real central point: Frenchie playing. Emphasized even more by a slight increase of his guitar sound during the shot. It is subtle but it is there. So the eyes' movement does this: 1- Follows the string of banners to go to Lucius and Pete 2- Is blocked by the mats and forced to go down, led by the frill of the lantern. 3- Stops on Jim whose arm is creating a bridge with Archie's arm, allowing us to pass the mats and go the the right section 4- Jumps again on the nearest light and finds Frenchie at last.

So at the end of that shot, our eyes is on Frenchie, following a left to right movement.

And here is what happened if the original kiss shot was kept:

Where our eyes are when the shot starts and where the action is are two different places on screen. The movement of Ed and Stede goes the opposite way of what the previous shot did. Creating a jump. Which sadly creates a bad or weird continuation flow. Now, here is what happens when it is flipped:

Our eyes are exactly where Ed's head is, following the same natural movement of the previous shot.

The mix of the two sequences is what forced the editor to do that flip. It wasn't working well on screen.

Despite all the thing about left and right reading which still are valid, the rule number one of editing, to not create confusion, remains this one: Where the eyes are on the screen in your previous scene must be where the action start on the next scene. Eyes are not supposed to search for the action focus, it is supposed to be guided to it.

IT was a long post and I hope you found it interesting. Now just a little reward for reaching the end:

[rongzhi]

A mating dance (?)

[rongzhi]

song: 学猫叫 - 小潘潘 & 小峰峰

English added by me :)

[blandings13]

[rongzhi]

Source films: 赤壁 / Red Cliff (2008) & 西游记第101回之月光宝盒 / A Chinese Odyssey Part 1-Pandora's Box (1995)

English added by me :)

[rongzhi]

Having a drink

[rongzhi]

English added by me :)

[shadowoftheforce]

Zhang Yunlong photoshoot before attending the China Huabiao Film Awards, 23.05.2023

[rongzhi]

English added by me :)

[rongzhi]

Hi! I have been learning Chinese for 8 months now, and even though I'm doing okay on HSK3 level, i feel like I'm in need of more content for this level that i can consume and practice. A lot of the shows and tv programs are still too difficult for me and i only understand around 40% of words (at most 😆).

I already watched everything on YouTube channels like Mandarin Click or Mandarin Corner etc, but in general i cant find that much for low levels. Do you happen to know where I could find some more? It could be texts, stories or videos, just below HSK4.

Sorry to take your time. Have a good day!

First of all, great progress!

I would continue just watching some programs for the exposure, even if you can't quite keep up yet.

Aside from apps and standard learning material (which I assume you already have resources for), I think for HSK 3 which I assume is beginner/intermediate, you might just have to bite the bullet and follow along with elementary school content, even if it's boring.

You can probably also find children's programming on Bilibili. I gave a rec in this ask of some Chinese cartoons to check out. Make sure to check out any recs in the notes as well!

This playlist with videos aimed toward Chinese 1st graders. It is a little dry, but the teacher speaks clearly and fairly slowly and from the first few minutes, I think it should at least be good listening practice as well as reading practice with anything visual. A lot of the first videos go over things you should already know since the videos are aimed at teaching Chinese children to read, so you may just want to skip to part 43, 课文1, where the videos will begin class readings of elementary texts.

Check out this site for scans of pages from the Ministry of Education's textbooks. The link should go straight to the page for first grade, but if you find that too easy, the menu across the top of the page goes up to 6th grade. There are just one or two years' books for each grade, I think (you'll have to click around a look). The textbooks contain short stories with pinyin guides.

This youtube channel has Chinese nursery rhymes if you don't mind the ugly ass art

Generally speaking, I think after HSK3/HSK4 is where your language skills will really see improvement so when you're still starting out there's not as much material because that's when it's expected that you just have your head stuck in a textbook.

You might find it useful to give yourself some longer term projects or challenges; translation is a good way to really spend some time thinking about the language, so it might help to find a song you really like and try translating it line by line with a dictionary. Pick a pop ballad or something that sounds cute and simple because other genres like gufeng will probably be too difficult. Later, when your language skills have improved some more, you can try translating the same song again and see if you decide to make any different translation choices based on new insights.

If anyone wants to leave more links for beginners, please feel free to do so in the replies of this post!

[rongzhi]

English added by me :)