User profile: bluppfisk

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Tablets in Kunming

Android 4.0 is scheduled for release on 17 November and it is supposed to be much more suitable for tablets than 3.0 was. It may be worth waiting a couple of days and see which tablets with this new Android version hit the market.

If you buy any Android device, I strongly suggest getting a Hong Kong imported one unless you feel like fooling with the software to make Google Services work properly. Mainland China devices have been altered to pester Google.

I also own a Kindle e-Reader. In my opinion, a tablet and an eBook do not overlap in functionality. An eBook is not suitable for any computing, but its battery life (well over a month), its readability in sunlight, and its eye-friendliness are good reasons to consider purchasing one. Also they're usually smaller and lighter than an actual tablet, and far less expensive so not such a drama to lose.

I personally stay away from anything Apple, but that's just my taste. Apple products seem to make a fair amount of other users happy. Just be aware that the camera on both iPad versions is _under 1 MP_ and therefore completely useless.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Should you study Chinese?

So you have learnt some Chinese. That makes you not arrogant. I know a lot of people that refuse to ever speak it. That is arrogant. I come from a country where my native language has been oppressed by French for centuries (and in many ways still is). So it's an extremely sensitive thing for me. Live in another country? Do an effort to speak the lingo. No one will demand perfection, but even the worst language learners should be able to have a basic conversation. Unless you're mentally retarded, which you, I can clearly see from your discourse, are not.

Sure, some people will take more time than others, but every person with a moderately developed left hemisphere is able to learn another language up to a certain level.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Should you study Chinese?

Again, it depends on how you interpret the question. "Should I ..." does not ask for an objective response. It's not "must I ..." The OP is asking for opinions. I gave mine.

I find that your article raises valid and interesting points, but there are other reasons than career-related ones why one should learn one or more foreign languages. To me, but not necessarily to anyone, the most important is the brain-stretching exercise you get from it. Even though I'm getting older, I find it increasingly easy to get my mind around logical, linguistic as well as mathematical problems.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Should you study Chinese?

The question was never "do you need to", it was "should you". And yes, I think you should, if you want to reside, live or travel in China.

Of course you do not need to do anything. If we completely descend into the realms of relativity, you don't need to learn or do anything. Because in the end you will die and what will it matter.

Cultural imperialism is nonsense because it contains a notion that it's driven. This is about organic growth.

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Forums > Living in Kunming > Should you study Chinese?

Yes. And this is why:

1. if you live or reside in a foreign country, it is plain arrogant not to know the other language. It will make people scream "foreigners out" in due time.

2. People think English as a lingua franca is irreplaceable. Nonsense. Sure, English has established a strong foothold due to its presence in many technologies and the spread of today's media helps carry it around (as did Latin once, as did French once). But the fitness of a language is also closely related to the fitness of its cultural and economical origin. Both US and UK are economically on the decline. English has only been a lingua franca for about a hundred years. In history, nothing lasts forever, but to contemporaries it seems like it will. Latin was toppled even though it was widely spoken in the entire Eurasian continent and beyond. Chinese may well become an important language in the century ahead as China gains cultural and economical influence. Characters may have to be abandoned.

3. Learning a foreign language is never a waste of time. It helps you understand language in general, stretches the brain and will make it easier to learn more foreign languages. I am fluent in five and find it surprisingly easy to pick up new ones now, even if they're not at all related.

4. It unlocks an entirely new world, new cultures, new people... It stretches your understanding of the world and its inhabitants. Language and culture are not easily separated.

5. As mentioned above, it increases your desirability to be employed and/or to make more money. It helps you cut it in tomorrow's real world.

6. You are able to communicate your culture to the Chinese. Think of how important it will be for your own people that the Chinese understand your culture when/if they take over the world in any way. Not feeling superior or inferior, but acknowledging and accepting each other's differences, and reach out to the other are key to cultural and economical co-operation without losing independence.

7. You could hook up with people from that country more easily.

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don't forget that Dulong is a heavily Christian area, AND that drinking there is a serious issue. You can compare it to the droughts and the alcohol bans in both the US and in the Nordic countries in the early 20th century, when drinking had half of the country on its ass. Or Kunming.

"However, the RMB has, despite dropping recently, grown overall against foreign currency, so the real cost in global terms has risen even further, perhaps 15x and 6x. Yes, there has been inflation, but that happens everywhere and not 15x in 15 years, ie. 100% per year!"

That doesn't sound right. If you're consuming domestically, you can't state that food prices have actually risen a multiple of the actual inflation because of a difference of RMB vs foreign currency. At least that's not a good indication of economic situations.

This only holds true in the eyes of the few who shop in Yunnan using foreign currency (I guess importers are feeling it).

Reviews

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First and last experience. Absolutely horrible. I came in late with a big flesh wound. The doctor sewed it up and told me to come back in the morning "perhaps to redo it, and to change the bandage". When I did come back the next morning, they just changed the bandage and sent me off.

When I peeked at my own wound, I noticed it was horribly done. "Like a vet did the stitches," as someone commented. I then had to stay a night in a different hospital in order to do it right, with a 40% chance of getting infections. This cost me a lot more, thanks to Richland fucking up in the beginning.

Whatever X-rays were taken were not printed out and given to me so I couldn't go to another hospital for a second opinion or treatment.

The nurses didn't seem to know where half the things were and the doctors had to repeat orders to get basic things like scissors.

In the next hospital, it was noticed that I had fractured my jaw in two places. On the five X-Rays taken at Richland, they did not notice the fractures.

Pretty sure these people are not actual doctors and are therefore criminal.

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Super place. Really cool interior, lots of good beers and drinks, fun toilet inside the telephone booth, and an interesting clientele.

Cons: pretty hard to find, no matching glasses for the imported beers, and home brews need some work.

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Teaching and support lamentable.

Four people signed up for the highest-level class and got a teacher who does all the talking, refers to herself as 老师 and makes classes absolutely uninteresting. As of this moment, only 1 person is still going on a regular basis.

While staff is friendly, they are absolutely incapable to help out with visa matters in an adequate way. Lack of information beforehand, lack of support and lack of information during the visa process meant that I am waiting forever for my residence permit to be processed, without any information about why it's taking so long, why they can't get started ... I'd say this school is a good option if all you wanted is a visa, but they can't even handle this properly.

Anyone giving this school a 5-star rating hasn't been to any decently-run schools in Kunming, such as Keats'. The only redeeming quality is facilities and space, those are indeed excellent.

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Have been studying at Keats for almost four semesters now and I'm very enthusiastic about the quality of the teachers and the commitment of the school's staff.

One point of criticism is that I think they could put in some effort to group people of the same level together, rather than base it on who was together in last semester's class.

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I stayed here in the early days of March 2013. Dave and his wife are swell owners, the staff attentive, the food good, rooms in perfect order, WiFi fast enough... Much like the old hump, the entire place is an excellent place to relax and make friends. And that is what you come to do in Dali, after all. The location is a bit isolated from the old town, but nothing is really far away in Dali. Besides, it makes for a better starting point to walk up Cangshan.