The purpose of 镜 (Jìng – Mirror) is to showcase and promote the activities of the Modern and Classical Languages Department and its students. Learning a language is all about communication, so we endeavor to give students a venue to share and communicate what they have learned, and inspire one another to greater heights.
Spring is here, and we will be printing our first edition of 镜 Magazine this quarter! Each spring the print edition will debut the updated branding for the magazine for the following year, allowing the current editorial team to showcase their unique styles. Choosing the final logo will be put to an open vote by the entire department.
This quarter we will be working hard on the print design. We are currently looking for a print designer to help with magazine layout, and we will be seeking photography submissions for potential cover art, so stay tuned and reach out if you are interested!
The CCC will be hosting a FREE Chinese Painting workshop on Monday, February 13th! Painter Chen Shuguang, Associate Professor of Fine Arts at Shandong University of Art & Design, will be joining us virtually to give live instruction in ink brush painting. Basic art supplies will be provided, but we encourage you to bring your own if you have them.
You’ve taken up learning Chinese but you don’t know where to start. Scrolling through applications, downloading, trying them out, uninstalling, and repeating this process over and over can be incredibly frustrating and discouraging. Every language learner would prefer to spend time learning the language over wasting time trying to figure out which resources are unique, helpful, and easy to use.
While every learner’s needs are different, here are four resources we recommend for you to check out based on our experiences.
There are three different general reading levels to choose from. Clicking on a story to read – a dialogue or article will come up. From there, you can hover over characters to understand their meanings. There is a translation button as well – which will show the story/article in English. There is also a mini quiz at the bottom to test comprehension.
Why We Like It
With an opportunity to practice reading comprehension as well as learning new vocabulary, HSK Reading is one of the best websites for accessible and free reading materials. This resource provides articles and narratives for multiple levels mainly focused around the HSK (The Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi – Chinese Proficiency Test). The creators of this resource have studied Chinese for over 8 years – finding other contributors with varying backgrounds to add new material. Additionally, multiple readings offer audio recordings for listening practice – to help really hone the listening comprehension skills.
After downloading the Chrome Extension on your Chrome browser, you can toggle the extension on/off with the icon next to the search bar. After turning on the extension, you can hover over Chinese characters on your screen by putting your mouse over new vocab words to see the definition of words and see the varying definitions, usages, and the pinyin of each definition of the same character.
Why We Like It
If you are someone looking to take on reading on a variety of websites, rather than reading off of a website like HSK Reading, this extension allows for anyone to see real-world content without feeling lost. Zhongwen helps by providing definitions for unknown characters and breakdowns of more complex words – instead of having to go back and forth between a translator while surfing the web. The extension is easy to download and doesn’t require a long set of directions for set up. Zhongwen also shows the simplified and traditional forms of characters, pinyin, and dictionary definitions – for learners of both styles.
Scroll through the channel and click on any video which sparks your interest! With a variety of information – Grace Mandarin Chinese offers language lessons as well as real-world examples which you might not find in textbooks.
Why We Like It
There are many content creators on YouTube dedicated to teaching languages. However, this channel stands out to us for a few reasons. Grace Guo, a native speaker from Taiwan, offers clearly structured lessons, visuals, and examples in both traditional and simplified characters. Whatever your needs are, this channel has something for you. Some of the most exciting videos are the Chinese Slang videos as well as her culture videos.
After downloading the app from the app store – you can immediately start going through lessons. Each lesson teaches vocab, tests for audio listening, and also tests for pronunciation. HelloChinese also allows users to skip ahead by testing out of levels if you already have previous Chinese knowledge. This feature is incredibly helpful if you are a learner gradually moving away from the basics of Chinese and don’t want to be held back when learning.
Why We Like It
This mobile app shines when compared to more well-known language apps like Duolingo or LingoDeer, because it focuses only on Chinese. Also, this application teaches vocabulary which is frequently used in conversation rather than randomly choosing topics from the language. HelloChinese has familiar features and lesson formatting while also offering more realistic – and more useful – vocabulary and sentences. One feature that stands out is the frequent reading lessons with supplemental questions. Finally, this application is free to use; the premium subscription is entirely optional and does not prevent the non-paying users from enjoying the app.
Kasey is a first year Chinese student who enjoys studying languages so she can communicate with more people. She speaks English, Korean, Spanish, and wants to become fluent in Bahasa Indonesia, Mandarin, and Japanese.
Welcome back for Winter Quarter classmates! This quarter the Chinese conversation club will be meeting regularly on Mondays from 4:30 – 5:30pm, typically in Miller hall 131 if it is available. Anyone interested in practicing their Mandarin Chinese is welcome to attend, whether you are a first-year student, a grad student or just someone doing some independent study. Activities during regular meetings will vary. We play games, watch videos, or occasionally have guest lessons from native speakers.
Monday January 23rd we will be learning some techniques of Chinese calligraphy from professor Claudia Liu. Art supplies will be available, but if you have your own materials we recommend you bring some.
In order to stay up to date with the latest club news and announcements about exact meeting locations, we recommend that you join the club discord and say hello: https://discord.gg/cPeMHcAHEK
Chinese Conversation Club
WWU’s Chinese Conversation Club is a place to get together with other language learners to improve their Mandarin speaking skills.
新年快乐大家！ Happy New Year everyone! Winter quarter of 2023 has begun, and we are launching our very first student-run magazine for the Modern and Classical Languages Department. This little baby bird needs all the help it can get to grow strong and fly from the nest, and we’re asking for your help!
Why Contribute?
Looks great on your resume
Get experience with publication processes
Some professors may offer extra credit
Show off your work
Improve your language skills
Meet other students from the department
If you are interested in contributing to the magazine in any way, please reach out to our editors. We would love to hear your ideas and be happy to work with you to design a contribution that suits your talents and interests. If you don’t already have something you would like to share, fear not! We have many article and content concepts that just need the right author, researcher or reporter to step up and take them.
We will be working hard to grow 镜 into a well-respected publication at Western. Our goal is that being published here will be a highlight of student resumes, and serve as examples of your work that can demonstrate skills to future employers or colleges.
How to Get Involved?
The best way is to join our discord: https://discord.gg/rYHcX24e There we will be discussing and assigning article concepts, as well as helping each other with translations, editing, and questions. Join and reach out in a text channel related to your interest.
Alternatively, if you aren’t a fan of Discord, you can reach out to our editors via the form on the contribute page.
Looking forward to reading, hearing, or seeing your submissions!
大家好！Welcome to the first ever letter from the editor of Western Washington University’s brand new student run multilingual magazine, 镜 (Jìng – Mirror). As the first Executive Editor, please allow me to introduce the concept for our magazine.
The core purpose of 镜 is to showcase and promote the activities of the Modern and Classical Languages Department and its students. While core content will be related to department activities, anyone in our community of language learners is welcome to submit contributions to our magazine. As long as the content is related to language learning, our editors will review submissions and work with creators to get their work published. Not only academic articles are welcome, but also short stories, poetry, comics, artwork, and multimedia such as videos or audio.
Though for the time being we are focusing on Chinese program related content, if you are interested in being involved as an editor or regular contributor for another language, please reach out! If there is enough interest we are open to expanding the to other languages in future quarters.
Content of all levels of learning is welcome and appreciated here. We are about progress, not perfection. I myself am currently only in the first year of the Chinese program pursuing the minor. Even if our editors are not yet advanced enough to assist or critique a complex translation, we can help find resources to review pieces above our level and work with creators on an individual basis.
We are very excited to start creating content related to all facets of the language learning programs here at Western, and I look forward to reading, hearing, and seeing your submissions!
This article is awaiting an author. Please check back later for more content!
Author Needed
Do you want to contribute to 镜子？ Some professors even offer extra credit for contributions, and it will look great on your resume. Please reach out to our editors on Discord if you want to start writing!
The Spring Festival, or 春节 (chūnjié), also know as the Lunar New Year, or Chinese New Year, is one of the most important holidays in China. It is traditionally a time when the entire family gathers together to eat, celebrate and welcome the new year. The Festival also marks the change in the zodiac calendar. In 2023 Spring Festival officially falls on the 22nd of January, and begins the Year of the Rabbit.
This year the Chinese Department is hosting a Spring Festival celebration in Miller Hall 121, on Friday January 20th from 4:30 – 6:00pm. There will be lots of delicious food, and performances by students of the department showcasing some of their talents. While there is no dress code and formal attire is not required, you’re encouraged to wear anything red or gold, or traditional attire from your culture. Admittance is free, so come celebrate and get to know your classmates and professors a little better in a fun and relaxing atmosphere.
