by Hanifa K. Cook | Mar 15, 2009 | Environment
10 weeks ago, I was still in Australia enjoying summer vacation. When I arrived back home, I received a phone call from my daughter’s Mandarin tutor. She spoke to me in English with a very heavy Mandarin accent, “Hello! Is your daughter coming to register...
by Hanifa K. Cook | Feb 25, 2009 | Childhood, Language, Personal Blog
His grandmother turns towards him and says, “Cepat! Bus dah nak datang. Cepat pakai sepatu.” As she says this, she points her finger towards the pairs of school shoes and socks which are lying near the door, one hand holding the keys and the other carrying...
by Hanifa K. Cook | Jan 25, 2009 | Chinese, Language
If you turn to any page in a Chinese dictionary for names in Mandarin, you may not come across a name like Sugiarto or Gunawan. Honestly, it may not even matter to you now because you will never come across them in your part of the world, say the United States of...