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New Browser-Based MMO Teaches Mandarin Chinese

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the don't-come-round-here-with-all-that-readin-and-stuff dept.

Have you ever wanted to learn Mandarin Chinese? (Yeah, me neither.) However, if you suddenly feel the urge to learn how to welcome your new Chinese overlords, researchers supported by Michigan State University and the Office of the Chinese Language Council International have a game for you. "Zon" is a browser-based virtual world, currently in beta-testing, that helps users to learn the Mandarin Chinese language.

3 of 103 comments (clear)

  1. Yes, you want, too. by Hankapobe · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Have you ever wanted to learn Mandarin Chinese?

    An acquaintance of mine went to China an she found something rather interesting. Young folks right out of college would go to China for a couple of years to teach English or whatever, the Chinese Government pays them and gives them a stipend (more $$$ if you can speak Chinese too!). They just bank their pay and when they come home, they have enough money to put a sizable down payment on a house and start their lives. And they had an adventure that they'll remember fir the rest of their life.

    Considering that the US will be China's bitch in a few years, I suggest you do in fact learn Chinese!

    1. Re:Yes, you want, too. by soren100 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You dipshits don't actually think a copy of a passport is worth anything do you?

      At one of the western embassy's, yes. To a local cop, nope. That's not true.

        I had a French cop stop me on the streeet ask me for ID (there was some kind of local fraudster that was panhandling, and the cop saw that person talking to me) The French cop said he wanted to see my passport (all I had was my driver's license). When I told him I had left my passport in the hotel room, he wanted to know why I did not make a copy of it and take it with me. He said that it was important that I do this. So yes, copies of passports are important to local cops. Sure, they can be easily altered, but they provide a starting point to prove your nationality and identity.
  2. I think this is great by Satanboy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I welcome any free opportunity to learn a new language.

    I might mess with this a bit and see if I can pick up some new phrases.
    I hope there are more things like this developed in the future. Games can really bring people together, and language is a huge barrier that could be broken down if things such as this are successfull.