Chinese version of this website.
Are you wondering why an American would prepare a website with Chinese characters? Here's the answer. I tired of those who say "everyone should learn English" when they were unwilling to learn another's language themselves. In reality, I think the real reason is prejudice under the disguise of nationalism. Many people argue that we should not let people from foreign countries into the United States, especially illegal aliens. I would contend that anyone on the planet is not an alien. People are people. Sure, if you want the US to be something it is not, such as a Christian nation, then you need to wall it off and not let anyone in. I would say that the same principal applies to non-Americans that once applied to some races of Americans. I think people need to realize that my Native American blood can accept my English and German blood, and that I can also accept people of other countries. Some day perhaps we will realize we live on a planet and not in a fishbowl. If we import cheap stuff from elsewhere, then we are supporting the forms of slavery that occur elsewhere. "Protecting" our lifestyle from foreigners is not different in my mind than the "protection" some Americans once felt they needed from African Americans and other people of color. I wanted to get to know people in China and let them get to know me. In this way, we will all realize we all have the same struggles, goals, and desires. We're all human and until we acknowledge that others are also just as human as us, we will keep a level of prejudice.
With that in mind, another goal I have in reading and writing Chinese is that I wanted to be able to leave notes on my desk which none of my coworkers able to read. After all, most soon-to-be minority white Americans cannot read Chinese. I have no friends or co-workers here in this county who read Chinese, even though Orientals are our largest minority. Agreed, this town is whiter than a winter snow. So I started learning Chinese in Feb. 2004. Progress is slow, but I'm determined to re-write my own biography into Mandarin.
The Mandarin tools website has great translation options.
Several languages at Freetranslation dot com make free rough translations for Spanish, Chinese, and other languages.
Return to Sedgehead dot com!