Tag Archives: chinese

Expanding the Definition of Avatar: Artists, Avatars and Self-Portraiture

Posted on October 29, 2011 by An Xiao

Artists and avatars. I’m always very conscious about the way I use my avatar, the message it sends to the world. Some call it branding, some call it self-expression, some call it communication. But my avatar represents me in some fashion. Kyle Chayka in LA Weekly wrote a thought-provoking essay about artists and their online [...]

The Enduring Value of Soho

Posted on June 3, 2011 by An Xiao

A sign outside Jianwai SOHO, a home office complex in Beijing’s Central Business District. The enduring real estate value of the word “Soho” is amazing to me. It apparently started as a hunting cry that became associated with a fashionable part of London. Then New York sprouted SoHo, of course, which has arguably outshone its [...]

Oriented

Posted on March 23, 2011 by An Xiao

On the plane to Manila, a screen graphic indicating the direction of Mecca and the number of kilometers.

Modes of Literacy

Posted on March 9, 2011 by An Xiao

Thinking lately about modes of literacy. Ever since moving here, my Chinese literacy has shot up, but I still struggle. While I can scan a heavy text of philosophy swiftly, I read even basic characters slowly, piecing together meaning one by one. Foreigners I know who’ve lived here for years and can carry on conversations [...]

What would Globese look like? Reflecting on a Chinese language future

Posted on December 24, 2010 by An Xiao

Could Chinese become a dominant language, a new lingua franca? Almost certainly yes. A new infographic shows that it will quickly become the dominant language on the Internet in just a few years. But what I wonder is: how long until it’s dominant outside of Chinese-speaking countries, and what will it look like? I’m not [...]

Faster, Higher, Stronger

Posted on September 14, 2010 by An Xiao

One of those funny language problems: in the Western world, how do you make something sound older and more elegant? Use the Latin. Hence, phrases like "e pluribus unum" and "ex cathedra." And, of course, "Citius Altius Fortius". But in the Chinese-speaking world, what do you do? You use the Chinese: 更快，更高，更强.