The benefit of ebooks is that they weigh nothing, well, apart from the device that holds them. As the distribution cost is next to nothing, they are also available worldwide (publication rights and DRM permitting). This makes them perfect for people who are learning Chinese in their home countries but want access to Chinese language media, and people like myself, who want to avoid shipping big boxes around the world.

The ebook service that I’ll be looking at in this post is Taiwan’s POPO 數位書城, which is operated by Taiwanese publisher Cite (As Cite is Taiwanese, naturally all of the books are in Traditional Chinese). This is not meant to be a review of the service, more a guide on how to buy books using it, though at the end I will look briefly at the platforms you can use to read the books and give a few words about the ones I have used.

Note: If you are planning on running the POPO software on Windows then try installing and opening it first. As I mention below in some cases there is an error that prevents it from opening if the date format of your computer is set a certain way

1. Create an account

To be able to purchase and download ebooks from the PoPo website you’ll first need to register for an account.

Click on the 加入會員（jiā rù huì yuán）member join link on the homepage

Scroll down to the bottom of the terms of service and click 我同意（wǒ tóng yì）agree

Fill out your new account details -

The following fields are required:

• 帳號（zhàng hào） account/username
• 筆名 / 顯示名稱（bǐ míng / xiǎn shì míng chēng） screen name
• 密碼（mì mǎ） password
• 確認密碼（què rèn mì mǎ） confirm password
• 電子郵件（diàn zi yóu jiàn） email
• 生日（shēng rì） birthdate

After completing the form, click 確認送出 （què rèn sòng chū）submit

Check your email account the account activation email and then click the link to activate your account.

2. Add Credit to your Account

After your account is activated, you’ll see the following welcome message – click on the third link to add credit to your account 儲值看好書（chú zhí kàn hǎo shū）top up your account and read.

Choose how any credits you want to buy and click 下一部 （xià yī bù）next.

Note: $30NT (New Taiwan Dollars) is about $1US, so you can work out how much you are spending on points – It might be worth having a look around the shop first and seeing how many you’ll need before buying.

Choose credit card as the payment method.

Enter your credit card details click 確認付款（què rèn fù kuǎn）confirm payment.

After your payment is successful click the 回首頁（huí shǒu yè）return to homepage button.

3. Buy some Books!

Find a book that you would like to buy and then click on the title, you’ll then see the details page for the book where you can choose to 線上是閱（xiàn shàng shì yuè）read a sample online (usually you can see the first 10 pages or so), 暫停租閱（zhàn tíng zū yuè）rent the book, or 我要訂購（wǒ yào dìng gòu）buy the book.

After clicking on the 我要訂購（wǒ yào dìng gòu）’I want to buy’ link, you’ll get the following message that says it has been successfully added to your cart.

You can then click on the 我要結帳 （wǒ yào jié zhàng）checkout button which floats to the right hand side of the page.

Check that it’s the correct book and price, then click on 結帳（jié zhàng）checkout.

You have one last chance to back out – are you really, really sure? If so click on 確認，付款（què rèn, fù kuǎn）confirm payment.

Note: After the last confirmation a box will pop up for you to enter your username and password, this happens even if you are already logged in. Enter your details then click on 登入, then click OK on the “login successful” box that pops up.

You’ll now see the 完成訂購（wán chéng dìng gòu）finished checkout confirmation.

That’s it! You can now view the book you have purchased on your Windows PC, Android device, or iPad (depending on the devices that your purchase was available for).

4. Read your Books

Currently, POPO supports three platforms – Windows, Android and iPad. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be an iPhone version, or a Mac version either. Though I imagine these are in the works since the iPad version was only recently released.

Similar to the iTunes model, you can install the POPO ebook reading software on up to 3 devices. A nice touch is that you can easily delete devices when you want to install the software on a new device – In the process of writing this guide I installed it on 3 PCs and then tried to access it on my Android phone and was simply asked which of the 3 computers I wanted to delete to make room for the new device.

Software download links

To read your your ebooks all you need to do is install the software for your specific device:

• Windows
• Android
• iPad

Using the Software

I don’t have an iPad (yet), so I was unable to test the iPad version of the software, but I have used both the Windows and Android versions. From what I can see form the screenshots in the iTunes store, the iPad version is the same as the Android version, except for the addition of a coverflow interface.

First the Android version. This version is easy enough to install, and the app can be found in the Google Play marketplace for free. After logging in using the details that you registered for an account with you can sync your books with your Android device and read them. The only issue I had with the Android version is that in portrait mode the book library menu navigation is squashed together and unusable, though this doesn’t happen in landscape mode, and when actually reading a book portrait mode works just fine.

The PoPo Reader Android Interface

The interface while reading is very good – you swipe left and right (or tap left and right) to change page, pinch to zoom, and single tap the screen to show the menu and page previews along the right hand side. You can also add bookmarks as well as use a highlighter pen on pages and write sticky notes.

In the Windows version I had some issues that stopped me using the program for a week before I gave up and contacted technical support, who responded with a day (less than a day if you don’t count Sunday afternoon).

The issue I was having was related to a date format problem on my computer. The ebook reading software expects the date format to be in Taiwanese date format. I had originally tried to installed on an English Windows XP install, then I tried on an English Windows 7 installation that had the interface changed to Traditional Chinese, neither of which worked. To remedy the problem I actually had to go into the Control Panel, and the Regional and Language Options, and actually change the Standards and Formats option to be Chinese (Taiwan). So I ended up with an English install of XP, but will all formatting set to Taiwanese. Not a huge issue but if you rely on the formatting settings or any other program then this might not be acceptable to you.

Note: No matter how I set the Regional and Language options in Windows 7 I still couldn’t get the program to load without a ‘date conversion’ error. My advice would be to try and install the program and open it, before you buy any books, that way you can be sure it works before spending any money.

Regional and Language Option in Windows XP (Control Panel -> Regional and language Options)

When the Windows program was working, it wasn’t bad, but I wouldn’t say I really enjoyed using it. You can zoom in and set bookmarks, use a highlighter pen and also add sticky notes to pages. The only issue I really found was with the clarity of the words. As the books I bought were all comic books, the text was quite small, so when zoomed right in the text became slightly blurred, making some complex characters unclear, which could be an issue if you are trying to look up a Chinese character by handwriting it into your dictionary app.

The PoPo Reader program running in Windows XP

Conclusion

After using the POPO platform to buy, download, and read a book, the following are my initial impressions:

Pros

• Can install software on 3 devices
• Android interface very functional
• Reasonably cheap books
• Responsive support

Cons

• Possible “show-stopper” bug in Windows version
• No iPhone or Mac version yet
• Selection of books is quite limited at the moment
• Books are all Traditional Chinese (not really a con to me, but might be an issue if you’re leaning exclusively Simplified)

Another possible con, and something that is most likely connected to DRM, or the way in which the ebooks are made, is that text is not selectable. This makes it impossible to copy and paste a word into your dictionary – though this is the same as with paper books, so it’s debatable whether this is a con or not.

The main benefit of platforms like this, is that they are making Chinese content available online, and due to the sometimes limited availability of this content outside of Asia it’s great to see them developing – and accepting credit cards from other countries! If you find a book available on POPO that you want to buy, it’s definitely easy enough to register for an account and buy/download it, so my overall opinion is give it a try.

Which platforms are you using to buy Chinese language ebooks online? If you have a recommendation then please let us all know in the comments!

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The first site is shufaone.com. Shufaone features calligraphy examples of popular phrases and names, along with the Pinyin and English translations – very useful if you’re looking for the phonetic translation of your name in Chinese. Here’s a few recent examples from the site:

The second site, or rather Youtube account, is Learning Chinese with Iris. The format is simple, Iris introduces the words she’ll be writing in both English and Chinese, explains about the characters, and then beautifully writes them. The great thing is that these are everyday words (the latest video being 出口 and 入口) that all learners should find useful and entertaining.

You can also follow shufaone and Learning Chinese with Iris on Google+.

If you know of any more Chinese calligraphy sites then please post them below – I also came across a site that focused on Chinese Calligraphy Idioms, but I couldn’t find it in time for this post.

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Well, this image certainly came out looking more sinister than intended. Samurai on the right is from the movie Shogun Assassin

This saying is made up of two words, 背影 （bèiyǐng）which means “rear view”, or the view of someone from the back, and 殺手（杀手 shāshǒu）which means “assassin”. The phrase meaning that the person in question, usually female, could kill you with her looks from the back, though she may not be that pretty from the front. So the phrase might be used at a time when someone feels cheated that the woman they thought beautiful from the back, did not not live up to their expectations.

How to use it

她是個背影殺手（她是个背影杀手）
tā shì ge bèiyǐng shāshǒu

Easy, 吧！？

Usage around the web

There are quite a lot of results on the web for this phrase, including a few Chinese rage comics – here’s one showing the 背殺 abbreviation:

Here’s a track by Taiwanese rappers MF and 茶米, called 背影殺手, in which they recount their 背殺 experiences. The lyrics to the rap are included in the video comments if you click through. (Apologies if you’re in China, the video below is on Youtube).

Some of the lyrics that mentioned the phrase:

雖然看過的女生那麼多，大部份的都是背影殺手（虽然看过的女生那么多，大部份的都是背影杀手）
suīrán kànguò de nǚshēng nàme duō, dàbùfèn de dōu shì bèiyǐng shāshǒu
Even though there’s so many girls, most of them are rear view assassins

It probably goes without saying that this phrase is a bit impolite, so make sure you don’t offend anyone, unless, of course, that was your purpose.

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The key rings come in all different colours and sizes, some of them have ruled paper, while others are blank or have colour coding on the edge of the paper.

While they are really common in Taiwan and other Asian countries, as far as I know they aren’t as readily available in other countries – so I decided to see if I could make one myself. I bought one of the key rings from a local stationary shop for a close inspection and apart from a protective cover they’re just a key ring and some paper, so should be easy to reproduce:

To make the cards I used an old key ring I had laying around, a pack of index cards, and a pair of scissors. You’ll also need a either a clip or elastic band to keep the cards together:

First I cut a piece out of one index card to the size I wanted, to use as a guide for the rest of the cards. I did this by eye, though to minimise paper wastage you might want to accurately measure the paper. If I had a hole punch I could have most likely got 3 word cards from one index card by punching a third hole in the middle.

I then held the guide I had made over a stack of 6 or 7 index cards and cut through them all at once. You might be able to cut through more than this, though the index cards I had were quite thick.

After cutting each set of index cards I slid them into the keyring. I found that the stop the cards from being damaged as they were slid on I had to stretch the keyring out a bit first. Keep cutting and adding cards until you have enough.

Then all I did was add a clip to keep all of the cards together. If you used an elastic band instead you could probably also keep a small pencil with the cards, to save separately carrying one.

Now you have your own word card keyring you can make your own portable flash cards, note interesting words you see, make random notes or write phone numbers, or even use them in lieu of business cards.

Do you have any ideas for similar hacks to make language learning or study easier? Let us know in the comments below!

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The text reads:

可口可樂，食在好樂（可口可乐，食在好乐）
kě kǒu kě lè, shí zài hǎo lè

The play on words comes in the form of 食在 (shí zài) – which is the exact same pronunciation as 實在（实在）meaning “really”, “truly”, or something similar. The result is that the sentence phonetically reads “Coca Cola, truly happy” (可口可樂，實在好樂). Though, after changing 實在好樂（实在好乐） to 食在好樂（食在好乐）the result is that it reads something more along the lines of “Coca Cola, happy with food”, or “Coca Cola, eat happily”. There’s no perfect way to translate this as the Chinese isn’t technically correct, though what we can be sure of is that this is a subtle reminder that your food might go down better with a Coke.

Have you seen any interesting Chinese play on words? Let us know in the comments if you have!

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What we’re going to be making today is an ambient lamp out of a box of “Gold Medal Taiwan Beer”. Here’s the finished result to save you scrolling to the end:

What you’ll need

• A cardboard box (free) – My choice was a Taiwan Beer box, though you could use any brand, and if you can’t source a box with Chinese characters, then there’s nothing stopping you stencilling some on
• A craft/utility knife (about $2US) – You’ll need a decent knife to make a clean cut around the characters
• A lamp (about $8US) – All I could find was a work lamp and just removed the weather shield
• Corrugated plastic sheets ($2US each) – I bought an orange and yellow sheet, both are about 4mm thick, though 2mm would also be fine
• Adhesive – I used a glue gun, but super glue or any plastic adhesive would be fine, too
• Time – About 3 to 5 hours, it really depends on how long you spent cutting out the characters
• Taiwan Beer – for drinking when you complete the lamp

Cut out the characters

Using your craft knife carefully start to cut out the Chinese characters from the cardboard box.

I found the best way to do this was to first score the first layer of the cardboard, the steadily go over the lines applying further pressure to cut through the corrugated layer. This is why you need a sharp knife with a blade locking function – otherwise you’ll end up with a rough cut or damaged cardboard from applying too much pressure.

One of the problems I had to overcome, was that as some parts of the characters were complete blocks, and if they were cut out completely would just leave a big hole, like a silhouette of the character. To get around this I opted to leave a small strip to the right of each such section. So long as you chose a system and stick to it, the characters should look uniform and the legibility shouldn’t be affected.

Cutting out the characters takes a long time, so you’d better get comfy – just don’t drink the beers at this stage, though, as you’ll need all of your fingers for the rest of the project.

Fit the Lamp

Depending on the space within your box, you might want to do step 3 first (affixing the plastic sheets) and then return here, though as my box was quite roomy I opted to fit the lamp first.

I removed the weather shield/shade from the lamp and was left with a fitting that resembled a standard room light. I then unscrewed the light fitting from the cable to measure a hole to insert the light fitting through.

I made a small hole, and then gradually enlarged the hole until the fitting could just about fit through with a push. The last thing you want to do is create a hole that is too big, so cut-and-check until you get the right size.

The lamp was then fitted and the the cable end was screwed back on to hold it in place. For a safety measure, I also put the bulb cage back on that came with the lamp – hopefully this will stop the bulb from touching the cardboard and possibly causing a fire.

Affix the Corrugated Plastic Sheets

To test the lamp before properly affixing the plastic, I just placed a large piece of the plastic into the box behind the lettering, then I turned off the lights and tested the lamp.

Looking good so far!

It became clear at this stage that if this was to be a lamp, rather than simply a glowing sign, a panel would need to be cut out from the back of the box to allow more light through – but let’s first affix the orange plastic to the front with the glue gun.

Here’s the finished front after affixing the orange plastic:

As I mentioned earlier, for this to be a any sort of decent lamp, there needs to be a bigger area for light to escape than the Chinese characters at the front. For the back of the box I decided to cut out two panels and cover them with yellow plastic to vary the colour emitted from the lamp.

The Finished Lamp

That is pretty much it. What I did next was to seal any small holes from the inside, particularly in the corners, with duct tape, to stop white light from escaping. I also cut a few pieces of coloured plastic and used then on any large gaps – the box I chose has two large slits on either side.

Here’s the finished product:

If you made it this far, you may now open your beers and sit back while admiring your hard work!

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Generally, the usage of the word 超級 is the same as the English – it means “super”, the image above is a good example of this: 超級英雄（超级英雄 chāo jí yīng xióng）- “super hero”. Though in Chinese 超級, or just 超 is also used to express an extreme degree of a state. When in English we might just say “outside is very cold” or “outside is so cold”, in Chinese you can say 超級冷 “super cold”.

Though the use of this adjective isn’t limited to the weather, you can use this to express anything you want. You can say:

他超級笨（他超级笨）
tā chāo jí bèn
He’s super (extremely) stupid

Or…

她超級辣*（她超级辣*）
tā chāo jí là
She’s super (extremely) hot

* Note – 辣（là） means “spicy” but us also used to say a girl is “hot”

You can literally use this in any situation where “very” or 很 just won’t cut it. Worth noting, however, is that in some cases it might be considered a bit feminine to use 超 instead of 很 – though, as with a lot of words in Chinese, it’s often determined more with the tone of your voice than the words that you say. So if you’re a guy then gruff it up a bit.

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Version 2 of the Simplified Chinese Radicals Printable Pocket Reference is ready!

I’d originally planned not to include any phonetic information on the page, however, I figured that most of the radicals are sort of picto-phonograms, with one part representing meaning, and one part being the phonetic. Therefore knowing the radicals phonetics can also be useful in guessing not only the meaning of the character, but also the pronunciation – for example, in the character 媽, knowing that 女 is a woman helps you guess the meaning, and if you know that 马 is pronounced “mǎ”, you can have a go at the pronunciation, too.

Things to note:

• The list is aimed at simplified learners, and is based on the CASS simplified radicals list. Some of the reduntant KangXi radicals are not present, such as 龜 and some others have been added, such as 其 and 业.
• The main list of larger radicals are the more common ones.
• Below the main list is a short list of characters which are not technically radicals, but are used as such as probably should/could be
• The less frequently seen radicals, along with single stroke radicals, are located at the bottom of the sheet. They are less important because, for example, you aren’t going to find a lot of characters with the radical 赤

Download from MandarinPoster.com

Once again, any feedback is welcomed and appreciated, we want to make this the most useful Simplified Chinese radicals list available.

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Though the idiom is 「自相矛盾」, which is a self-contradiction as demonstrated by the arms trader above, you can also simply use 「矛盾」 to say that something is a contradiction.

The following image from CCTV news illustrates this idiom perfectly.

有害气体不会伤害环境和人员（有害氣體不會傷害環境和人員）
yǒuhài qìtǐ búhuì shānghài huánjìng hé rényuán
Harmful gas won’t harm environment or people

A contradiction in terms if I ever saw one.

Here’s a cartoon on Youtube that tells the story of this idiom:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niYKEF6hQkQ

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The sign behind the Slurpee machines reads:

就是要你凍凍腦（就是要你冻冻脑）
jiù shì yào nǐ dòng dòng nǎo
Makes your brain freeze

The play on words comes from 凍腦（冻脑） being the same pronunciation as 動腦（动脑 dòng nǎo）, which means to “think”, or to “use your brain”. So rather than saying “makes you think”, the sign reads something more along the lines of “makes you want to freeze your brain”.

* While in the context of the Slurpee machine, saying 「動腦」does mean “brain freeze”, though as to whether or not the phrase is in general usage, it’s probably unlikely, and depends on the person you’re talking to. Though, I am sure if you were drinking an iced drink, or eating ice cream and said 我凍腦了 or 我有凍腦 then the other person would most likely know what you meant.

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