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Written by Reed: 9 Roles as a Personal Interpreter, Inside China's Voice Acting Industry, Sichuanhua (dialect primer), Spicing Up you Sichuan Kitchen, and more.
Newsreed:
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Friday, April 27, 2012: Like Premier Deng Xiaoping, I've left my home in Sichuan for a higher-profile career in Beijing, me at the International School of Beijing (ISB) as their elementary school Chinese teacher. Today was "tie-die friday," as you'll see in the video on the right. The classes are split into "academic" and "neo-native" tracks, meaning children with no Chinese language in their homes, and children with some Chinese spoken at home, respectively. I've been pretty comfortable working with both. I'm just interning now in preparation for starting full-time in the fall (and I do hope I'm offered the job). Yep, just like Deng Xiaoping, but taller. Also I'm much younger. And my Mandarin is way better than his. |
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Sunday, November 26, 2011: It's gotten to the point now where I can't meet anyone new, Western or Chinese, who doesn't ask: "You know who you remind me of?" It should be fun being constantly likened to a TV personality, but not when it's the socially annoying, OCD, Asperger syndromed Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory. But I have to give credit to Jim Parsons for somehow, by pure chance, inventing a character who not only looks and moves like me, but also thinks like me: over-calculating seating arrangements, commenting on the minutia of other people's conversations, bossing friends around to stir hot-pot to "get some convection going," and so much more. It feels a lot like when Homer Simpson happened across a Japanese advertisement that resembled his head, by chance. Luckily I have my teaching and teacher-training to apply my over-active mind and quirky personality. "There's your answer, fish-bulb." |
Source: Channel 4 The Big Bang Theory Character Biographies
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Thursday, November 18, 2011: After 2 years of Masters studies in "International Chinese Education" at Sichuan University on a Confucius Institute scholarship, then digging up the necessary research, actually teaching Chinese to Western students so I could finally sit down and write my thesis, Strategies for teaching Chinese Mandarin to Learners from Western Countries, I just now have finally passed my defense, and will soon graduate. Listen to my defense on this page here, completely unedited.
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Thesis Defense recording
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Thursday, November 10, 2011: For those who don't know me well, I love silly humor. I love silly humor and I write silly humor. I also record silly humor. I've been writing and recording mock advertisements, story ideas, full stories and plain random nonsense for over a year now. After getting settled back into Chengdu, finishing up my graduate thesis and teaching more Chinese classes, I've finally found a moment to record my latest installment of The Travel Writer. If you are not usually inclined to enjoy silly humor, then do not download this file (right), and follow the link to my Talent Flies Humor page.
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go to: Talent Flies Humor
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Friday, October 28, 2011: After seeing the outstanding process of Overland's China eco-tours and the geniuses who run it, I'm now giving my fullest endorsement to touring with Overland China. The live-in manager (Rick) runs a tight ship, selecting guides in a rigorous interview process, and even making phone calls to guests while en-route to make sure everything is still as amazing as the trip had been planned.  |
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Monday, September 26, 2011: New facebook campaign to draw viewers to this site. You can browse my list of upcoming status lines here. |
FB Campaign |
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Saturday, September 24, 2011: A list of the languages I've learned over the last decade and a half, and my methods used, is now listed on this page. |
Language Résumé
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Friday, September 23, 2011: My audio/visual CV has been moved to this page. I'll be adding clips from my Learning Needs lectures to it soon. |
RR Audio-Visual CV
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Thursday, September 22, 2011: I just discovered sculptor Oscar Littlefield was married to my great grandmother, Bernice Feiges (the Sioux City Art Center site has misspelled her surname). Our family's own wooden head (right) always disturbed me when I was little. Here's the head in a recent video of a Chinese lesson with my Aunt. |
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September 6, 2011: All set for lecture hall presentation at Sichuan University. "Learning Goals" topic on October 20, "Recognizing Learning Needs" topic on October 27. |
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If your school, company or organization is looking for tailor-made presentations or workshops on language, culture, and/or communication please inquire at: rriggs@reedriggs.com
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