The Audio Blog of Steven Sirski

All about studying Chinese and the difference between HSK and 'street speak' learning. What do people do with their time if they're not studying a language? What if someone offered you the money or a scholarship, would you do it? March Motion continues with a 20min tutorial that took three hours to complete! Snow... in March! Actual snow! Weekend is here, stop bombing Ukraine! Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com. Have a good weekend. Slava Ukraini!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Never did have a beer sadly, but I did have chocolate. Snow on the ground and it's a bit cold outside. Productive day as I managed to get some recordings done in the morning and then failed again to get my Automator to do what I want it to do. But... I DID get Episode #29 of my podcast done and up! Interpreter, translator and teacher Qian Wang joined me on the podcast to discuss learning and teaching languages. The FULL download available at my website stevensirski.com. Have a good one!

Homeworking application in, now I believe it's beneficial for me. Isn't that how brainwashing works? Make the subject think they are the ones benefiting?

Uploaded a few new vids for March Motion that I've been working on. Tomorrow no work so I'll have some more time to get things done.

THE VIRUS is back and it seems to be hitting hard. Lockdowns and fears are rising that it could spread. How can this be happening if most of the country is vaccinated?

Russian class rescheduled. I havea couple of teachers, this one is now in France.

Cannot figure out how to get Automator to click play!

Workout in the morning, tracking calories and macros and... I'm just barely scraping by. Gotta drop sugar from my day (or increase my calorie expenditure).

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

Stay safe out there. Slava Ukraini!

Damn generator! When it's quiet it's like dead quiet, nap-time quiet. This is what I miss.

Putin's power struggle, does he care? People say he's evil, I'd say he looks rather composed and his critics are not. But he is bombing his critics, so...

Time. It's important. The older I get the more I realize just how much time is important and that I'd pay to preserve it. Make things simple.

Chinese homework today, working on formulaic language in preparation for the written test. 'As we all know, with the development of technology, the world is round.'

Worked on Episode 29 of the podcast, should have it up soon. Same with Epi 30.

March Motion asteroids!

Show notes and tracks up on stevensirski.com.

Thanks for listening and... get ready for more snow in Beijing?

It's Pi Day! 3.14 bla bla bla. Got pie? Paralympics are over, good thing we didn't try to go see the fireworks... there were none! Russia courts China to get involved, I don't think China wants to. Accusations of Neo-Ns in Ukraine, need to look up Banderista's, followers of Stephen Bandera. This is a skew of historical events and not a broad belief within Ukraine itself. Read Sergy Plokhii's Gates of Europe. SSP30 recorded, look for that and SSP29 later this week. Russian class, teacher says: These politicians should be more like wives: let the man think they are in charge when really the wife is! Haaaa Weather warming up and the willow trees awake! Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com. Have a good week, Slava Ukraini!

NFTs... the modern way of affiliate marketing? But how does it trickle down? How does it work? How can teachers or working people take advantage of this new form of 'contract'? Artists are one thing, but what about the rest of us? Did the Russians make scads of cash prior to this war? Paralympics end this weekend. Warming up in Beijing. Have a good weekend. Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

How do you wind down for bed? A day of reading ELT terminology: grmmar, grammaring, order of acquisition, PPP, TTT. What about studying grammar? How do you help a student's grammar ability? What I'm learning from MY language teachers. Beijing getting warmer, China leading the way in the Paralympics, which ends on Sunday. Russia still bombing Ukraine, is this just the first wave? Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com. Have a good one!

Updated website

Morning spent looking at the ESL landscape, ran some numbers, did some thinking. If not here, then where? If not Beijing, then where?

Reading Latin... cause why not?

Tiktok, snap, and other 'new media', how many do we need? Talked an old friend who decided to situate himself near... Russia. Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com. Have a good middle week!

Last day!

Packed up and airplane ready! Will we or will we NOT be allowed to take alcohol on the airplane even if it's in our checked luggage? I say yes! She says no! We'll see...

Museum day, Chengdu, Sichuan, and Dufu? Should be easy enough.

城里人 - city people

冒险 - adventure

拖鞋 -slippers

Chengdu Museum: downtown, BUSY! FULL of families! Most likely meant for kids anyway. Pretty big, five floors total ranging from animals of the province to traditional Chinese medicine (with flavour samples!), history of the city from ancient times to the present, replica city street, figurines and bamboo writings, to Sichuan opera and Chinese paper cutting. Quite the selection with interactive exhibits along the way.

Cycled over to Sichuan Museum, a little smaller but wider exhibit halls. Water colours on the main floor, ..., was also famous in Taiwan. He painted copies of all the murals at the Dunhuang Grottos. Took him a long time and cost him a lot of gold. Such dedication.

Prehistoric pottery and fragments, how can people tell if a brick is an axe, cutting tool or just a narrow-shaped rock? Same with finding teeth or the bone fragments of little animals... always wondered.

Late Qing dynasty Buddhist figurines, paintings, cloth works.

Clothing from around the province as textile work is a long-standing business here.

Basement floor full of Han Dynasty steles and other artefacts.

Then... the Ba-Shu history which was taken over by the Qin who then went on to become rather powerful in the area. Lots of bronze works, notably some large face sculptures. Neat, but 2/3s of the way through the Museum blinked the lights off to signal closing time.

No time to get to see Dufu's cottage, apparently it's something to see.

Last Sichuanese hot pot at ... Eeeee spicey!

Sound clips: Children at the Museum, Hot pot, Airplane Takeoff

Show notes and tracks up on stevensirski.com

Thanks for listening!

Alcohol is not a reward! Beer or donuts? How does the body metabolize ethanol, carbs, proteins, fats?

Happy International Women's Day! (Isn't every day?! Can't say that!) And all this going on in Ukraine reminds me of literally the first day I stepped into Ukraine: the people actually took it seriously.

Contrast with Valentine's Day.

Russian news showing flowers being delivered to women. Ukrainian broadcasters saying Slava Ukraini / Heroem Slava to each other. Contrast in displays.

Signed up for more Russian classes. Don't hate on me. That language isn't going anywhere.

March Motion updated, check it out! Some neat animations!

Chinese... eeeech, March and I've barely looked at my books. Reading up on language acquisition for the DELTA dip and I can't help but think of my own Chinese language studies.

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com.

Slava Ukraini!