?? You do realize the original post was a joke? Also, I’m Taiwanese, so uh yeah I know it’s political. Nationalism: super fraught when you get civil wars and an economic supergiant pressuring you to be ~become one with mother country~! Furthermore, most people who learn Traditional don’t go out of their way to learn Simplified — it’s easy enough to read if you already know Trad. Just. FYI.As an aside, I have no idea what you mean by “literacy rates are generally seen as more important in industrialized countries” — you were the one who brought up illiteracy in the first place?? Consult also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrialization_of_Japan — but lest the main point be de-emphasized by bringing this up, I direct you to the first sentence of this post.
I seem to never get point. Ever.
Thank you for your time.
(via anlamasanda)
things i’ve learned from tumblr: all stereotypes are untrue, except for the ones about canadians
With hard work, I think we can get that down to none.
(via thelibrandy-blog)
They’re Traditional Chinese (fantizi/zhengtizi 繁體字/正體子). And Taiwan, which still uses Traditional Chinese, has a 98.2% literacy rate. I have no doubt that this extremely high statistic has something to do with poverty levels relative to China, but it certainly puts paid to the risible notion that using Traditional characters causes the majority of a population to remain illiterate.
Even so, the context of the question was 1870, and literacy rates are generally seen as more important in industrialized countries. Only some European countries could really be called industrialized at that point.
At several points, written language in Taiwan has been a political issue. I actually had an offer at one point from a Taiwanese teacher who was part of a summer exchange program - at least a portion of the population know both versions fluently, but Traditional is taught first.
(via anlamasanda)
questions I’m not sure who world anseranlamasanda:
[image description: Homework sheet asking student to “assume the role of a Chinese immigrant in 1870 and write a letter home describing your experiences”. The student wrote a letter in Traditional Chinese.]
I’ve seen this around a few times and thought I’d, you know, read it. My Chinese literacy isn’t so hot anymore, but this is what I got:
My life here sucks. It’s impossible to ??? a job, and there’s very few comforts. But don’t worry, only about ten people get severely injured per day, and I’m very careful.
We opened a ???, ideas (?) aren’t ???. Although I can’t understand English very well, I can still sort of figure out what those white people are saying.
Well, I hope I can succeed! I’ll work hard here and take care of my health.
How are you guys getting along?
There’s more, but it got cut off in the photo.
…are these pre-comunist-reform characters? (some of the stoke counts look too high for it not to be, but I still don’t know Chinese…)
…wouldn’t the large majority been illiterate? I mean, the written language was simplified for a reason.
(via anlamasanda)
That face is the most horrific thing I’ve ever drawn.
Homestuck depicted with Interpretive Dance
(via adriofthedead)
I wonder how many people use Snopes to find urban legends to resurrect
If I knew that I’d end up getting married to anybody I knew when I was 16 I’d find the nearest building and fucking jump from it
*checks wikipedia*
*checks snopes*
Hidden assumption of statement : 1 marriage per person
Possibly feasible, but I’m finding no supporting data.
(via adriofthedead)
[enhanced photo of planet formation][artist's render of planet formation] "science vs art" [lightened photo of sponge on sea floor][artist's render of spongebob squarepants]
Good sewing definitely takes practice, yup. I only really got a couple hours in, but I think I’ve got at least a loose hold of managing my lines. I even tried a blind stitch and finishing an edge! Both were pretty sloppy but I did manage to get them done without spontaneous combustion or sewing my hand to my scrap.
A few things I am still having trouble with and I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong:
- like three times I got my top thread jammed. Twice in the top half of the machine, and once in the bobbin area (and then it took 15 minutes to figure out how to put the spinny thing back together again even with instructions)
- where do I start my sewing in relation to the starting edge? I don’t mean the seam allowance, perpendicular to that. Do I set the needle just outside the edge? Just inside? Do I sew off the finishing edge?
- before I’ve managed to sew and inch or so, there is nothing out of the back end of the machine to guide by pulling through. Am I doomed to a wobbly first section of stitching forever or is there a way to stabilize the fabric without threatening the integrity of my fingers?
- is there something special about sewing machine oil, or will any machine oil do?Last memo to self before I fall asleep: the first project I want to do requires interface… stuff. Get on that.
Though my experience is limited:
- Jamming usually is due to thread tension. I think you’d want to turn it up in this case.
- I was trying to get an inch or two of thread before the starting edge. Depending on the stitch, you may be able to tie it in later.
- Do you have enough table space? For small pieces it won’t matter, but it makes a difference with the weight of larger pieces. Other than that, its just a patter of confidence of how close your fingers get to the needle.
- Not particularly, but the applicator makes the difference. You don’t want or need that much oil.
