Americans are fond of referring to their country as "the greatest nation on earth". Until recently, I didn't believe any country deserved that description. But today I think there is a strong contender for the title.

China is the world's oldest living civilisation. It has recovered from over a century of colonial oppression and lifted its citizens out of poverty. As its growth continues, China is poised to become the world's largest economy and a technology leader that is second to none. By 2030, I believe it will be an indisputable fact that China is the greatest nation on earth.

I need to understand China, from a Chinese perspective. This is my journey.

Friday, 10 September 2021

What The Du Chinese Logo Means

When I first signed up to the Du Chinese website, I didn't pay much attention to either the name of the site or the logo. I guess I must have stumbled upon it based on some favourable review, and signed up after skimming through its content.

[No regrets at all, by the way. It's a fantastic resource, and it has nicely complemented Duolingo in enriching my knowledge of the language. Just two of the texts at the elementary level, "Did you do it for nothing?" and the humorous story "The Nose" packed so many useful words and phrases that it greatly accelerated my learning and made future Duolingo lessons easier. You can change the speed at which the text is read. I always run it at half speed, both to understand the text better and to learn the correct tones.]

Just recently, I thought again about the name of the site, and what should have been obvious to me from the beginning finally struck me. 读 dú ("read") is such an obvious name for a site devoted to helping learners read Chinese texts.

And then I looked at the logo again. Sure enough, it was the Chinese character 读 dú, with the top part stylised to make it look like an open book.

我 终于 明白 了 wǒ zhōngyú míngbái le ("I finally understand")

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