Letter to my subscribers
Dear Subscriber,
Happy New Year!
I have been remiss in sending you weekly Chinese lessons because I was developing an iPad game during the major part of 2012. Its title is PinYinPal.
My husband Bob, nephew Larry and I created PinYinPal to teach Chinese for free over the internet. Hopefully, you will find PinYinPal to be a useful and fascinating educational tool for a long time to come.
PinYinPal will be released by Apple on January 17th, 2013. It is the only Mandarin Chinese word game played with letters of the alphabet. And it’s free.
To learn more about PinYinPal, please click on http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_RpPAl6FXZceNCADEnS-IA
We have exciting news.
This morning, we were informed that PinYinPal has been nominated to be a part of MacWorld’s iFan Favorite App contest. The only way that PinYinPal can win the grand prize is if you vote for our app on the MacWorld Facebook page. Please follow these simple instructions below:
1) Vote for PinYinPal to be MacWorld’s iFan Favorite App here: http://bit.ly/11jKrFy
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Vote! One vote per entry per person. Voting concludes at the end of the month.
2) “Like” us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/pinyinpal) so you can see how we’re doing!
3) Tell all of your friends on Facebook that you can’t wait for PinYinPal to arrive in the App Store on January 17th!
It’s a pleasure and privilege to be your friend and teacher. Let us create something wonderful together.
Best wishes and Happy New Year
Adeline Yen Mah
Something about the wily eunuch Zhao (Cont’d 3)
Most of them were frightened of the eunuch and said it was a horse. (They were right to be scared – Zhao later punished all those who had dared to call it a deer) The phrase pointing to a deer and calling it a horse has become a well-known proverb in the Chinese language. It describes a situation where right and wrong are deliberately mixed up.
82- Something about the wily eunuch Zhao (Cont’d 1)
One day, Eunuch Zhao presented a deer to the Second Emperor at court, all the time pointing to the animal and calling it a horse. The Emperor laughed in disbelief and asked the ministers
around him for their opinion.
Something about the wily eunuch Zhao
Eunuch Zhao was now so powerful that he wished to be the Emperor himself. Only one man stood between him and the throne -the Second Emperor. He decided to test the ministers to see how far they would follow him.
Prime Minister Li V.S The wily eunuch
Prime Minister Li announced that the First Emperor was dead and Prince Hu was now Second Emperor. Not long afterwards, a power struggle began between Prime Minister Li and the wily eunuch. The Second Emperor sided with his former tutor, Zhao. He had Li executed, and appointed Zhao Gao to be the new prime minister.
The tiger tally (Cont’d 4)
To hide the odor, Prime Minister Li filled the coach with salted shellfish and spread the word that the Emperor had a sudden craving for preserved abalone! They continued touring until the messenger returned from the Great Wall and reported that Prince Fu was safely dead. Only then did they dare to hurry back to the capital.
The tiger tally (Cont’d 3)
They announced to the attendants that he was unwell and wished to stay in his coach. But the weather grew hot and the corpse began to smell.
The tiger tally (Cont’d 2)
Meanwhile the conspirators, Prince Hu, Prime Minister Li and Eunuch Zhao, continued touring the country as if the Emperor was still alive