You’ve decided to participate in this year’s Chinese Writing Contest. 

You have found yourself a comfortable place with a nice cup of tea. You have placed a piece of paper in front of you, or a blank computer screen. You’ve reminded yourself that the submission starts on August 1, 2023.

The only thing that is not here is … an idea that you can write about. 

MSL Master Chinese Writing Contest 2023 is receiving submissions on August 1. 

If you’re worried that you have not learned all of the required 320 Chinese characters yet, or how to use them in sentences and paragraphs, these 112 free YouTube videos and more are here to help.

Hey fellow Chinese language learners! It's that time of the year. Time to show off your creativities and Chinese writing skills with 320 Chinese characters.

Get ready for Chinese Writing Contest 2023! It's bragging time! 😀

In this contest, depth is valued more than quickness, ingenuity more than vitality, and creativity more than erudition.  

One bizarre thing happened last month after Hong Kong DSE (Diploma of Secondary Education) English exam, which used some excerpts from the former US First Lady Michelle Obama’s memoir Becoming in one reading section.

After the exam, many students went on to Michelle Obama’s social media account and left unseemly comments, blaming her for the exam being too difficult and for their own failures.

May 4th 2023 is coming. 

It’s time to commemorate the May Fourth Movement that happened on May 4th, 1919, and revisit the irrevocable changes happened to China and the Chinese language.

April 22, 2023, is the third day of the third month in Chinese lunar calendar. 1670 years ago, on the same day, i.e. the third day of the third month in 353CE, a great calligrapher, and also a great poet, composed and wrote a poem in the semi-cursive script. 

This writing eventually became the most well known masterpiece of brush calligraphy in Chinese history. And it is this masterpiece that appears on the covers of all Chinese Reading and Writing series.

Despite harsh penalties, cheating has never been stamped out in schools. The advent of ChatGPT, or generative AI in general that is widely available, is making the situation worse. 

Before ChatGPT, the following ways are considered cheating: students pay someone to write papers for them; they copy papers from other students; they plagiarise sections from other sources; they present translated materials from a foreign language as their own; they describe ideas of others as their own; they do not give proper credit to others.

I’m not a bar person, but I regularly visit a nearby bar on Tuesday evenings. It is because that night is the jam night. Each musician gets to choose two songs to play or to sing. Other musicians will go along with these choices and stage a performance. The sounds of keyboard, guitars, bass, drums, vocals, and sometimes a saxophone, are fused together and exemplified by loud speakers.

Although I am always a spectator, I find the whole experience fascinating.

On the surface, it may not look any different. But MSL Master website had just went through a massive software upgrade over the weekend. I was told that there were many benefits that this new upgrade would bring. However, an immediate problem is that the upgrade seemed to be able to rewrite old URLs, and my tech support guys couldn’t figure out why.

I admit that it is very very “disruptive”, a fitting term used so often in the technology community. And I’m very sorry about the problems that readers will likely to experience when browsing the website, a ton of “404” pages.

International Women’s Day (March 8) is coming. It is a highly celebrated day worldwide. In Chinese, it is called 妇女节, 三八节, 三八妇女节, or 国际妇女节. 

As MSL Master is 100% female led and operated, and also because I’m in a profession that is predominantly female, I am happy to contribute to this special occasion and introduce three must known Chinese women in history.

The fifteenth day of the Chinese New Year is a special occasion, a festival within a festival. According to Lao She (老舍), this is the climax of the Chinese New Year. It is the brightest and the most beautiful festival. 

In 2023, this brightest and most beautiful Yuanxiao Festival (元宵节) falls on Feb 5.

Meet Luiz Antonio Gonçalves Neto, everyone!

Last year there were a few beautiful poems included in Easy-to-Read Chinese Short Stories, Book 2, a collection of the best entries of Chinese Writing Contest 2022. 

And I said to myself, wouldn’t it be nice if at least one of these poems could be made into a song?

Thanks to Luiz, it’s going to happen.

After January 1st, the next big event is Chinese New Year, 春节 (Chūn jié), also known as the Spring Festival. It’s probably the most important Chinese festival. 

This year, the first day of the Chinese New Year falls on January 22, 2023, bringing the Year of the Rabbit to us. 

For this special occasion, it’ll be handy to know some Chinese New Year greetings. Whether it is for friends or for business connections, for emails or greeting cards, being able to say or write something nice and auspicious is always a plus.

What has magnificent 2023 brought us?

A new office!

MSL Master just moved in to its brand new office, located at Bonham Strand. It’s a very lively neighbourhood with so many restaurants, shops and convenient stores. It is very close to the old neighbourhood where the previous office was, about five minutes on foot, yet it’s so different. It is definitely appropriate to say 新年新气象!

The much anticipated holiday season is here. We are saying goodbye to 2022, and saying hello to 2023!

Got plans? Travelling? Planning multi occasions for drinking and eating? Having time reserved for binge watching? There is also of course playing video games, shopping and what not. I hope it’s going to be a great holiday for you!

What about learning Chinese?