Learning a foreign language can be frustrating. When you are attempting to acquire a new language, you have to learn a whole bunch of new vocabularies, pronunciations, grammar, slangs, idioms, etc. It’s literally a life-long process to acquire a new language.

How cool would it be if there was only one language in the world?
Everybody would just speak the same language and communicate with each other effortlessly regardless of race. Is it really possible? Of course it is; take a look at how Beagles talk to German Shepherds, and how Superb Lyrebirds sing with Kakapos. If animals can share the same language with the same species, why can’t we?

With only one language in the world, we won’t have to worry about language barriers anymore. Therefore, we could travel around the world, work across the globe, read the original versions of the most famous literature from different countries, and meet new friends from diverse backgrounds. Moreover, companies will have more business opportunities, because they can produce commercials in just one language, and expand their market across the globe. As far as medicine is concerned, western and eastern medical researchers can exchange thoughts and ideas, learn from each other, and work together to fight incurable diseases.

Everything has two sides. Of course there are both advantages and disadvantages to only having one language in the world. Translators could lose their jobs; local businesses could face fierce competition from international giant companies, etc. However, in the big picture, I think it’s a good thing to unite all languages.

With the development of human culture, many countries promote diversity and equal opportunities by fighting racial discrimination. I think that unifying language is the best way to totally eliminate racial discrimination, because the fact is that people don’t discriminate against skin color; people discriminate against the language you speak.

Read More 0 comments | Posted by Edith Chan

Freelancing sounds like a dream job to many people, because you can make a living by doing something you like to do, and you can have flexible working hours, work remotely, address your own opportunities, have more variety in work, earn your own rewards, and you will be treated with respect. Above all, you can get away from numerous office policies. But is freelancing really for you?

When It Comes To Business

Creative talent is like a unique gift. However, in reality, creating pure art is not always good enough to earn a living. If you want to secure a stable income, you will most likely have to produce commercial art that fits the market. When you are producing art for commercial purposes, you will need to keep abreast with the market trends and new technologies, know how to market yourself, learn to communicate with noncreative clients, create arts under limited conditions, accept criticisms, and make compromises.

Some people choose to be a fine art artist in order to keep their creativity fresh. Some people go for commercial art for a stable income. I manage to have a good balance of both.

What Does It Take To Be A Freelance Designer?

Business Skills - It’s sad to say that having both talent and creativity is not enough to be a freelance designer. Freelancing is pretty much a one-man show. Therefore, you will not only be a designer, but also a business development director, a project manager, an account representative, a marketing coordinator, an accountant, and a filing clerk. You will be amazed at how much you will learn by freelancing!

Initiative - Freelancing is like running your own business. It’s nice that you can be your own boss, but on the other hand, you have to take the initiative to create a business plan, market your business, manage your budget, follow up on projects with clients and vendors, and maintain a long-term relationship with your clients.

Conquering – “Graphic design is to conquer, conquer, and conquer!” – My instructor at design school.

Freelancing is all about conquering. You will need to conquer technical problems with hours of research, unrealistic deadlines with days of sleeplessness, financial pressures with marketing to increase business, technological gaps with continuous upgrades to computer programs and continuing education to keep your skill set up to date, etc.

Planning

If you decide that freelancing is for you after weighing out the opportunities and risks, sit down and write a business and marketing plan. Freelancing is like running a business. The more you plan and prepare for your business, the easier your freelancing business will reach success.

Read More 0 comments | Posted by Edith Chan

Chinese kung fu is like a super power to me. If you were a Chinese kung fu master, you could jump very high and far, attack and defend several people simultaneously, and beat armed people with bare hands. You could literally build up a special kung fu army and conquer the world! It’s hard to that the spirit of this powerful skill is actually about defending peace, not destroying.

In the movie of The Karate Kid, 12-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) moved from US to China and got bullied from local kids with Chinese kung fu. Dre turned to a secret kung fu master, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), and urged to learn Chinese kung fu in order to fight them back. Instead of just teaching Dre kicks and punches, Mr. Han also taught Dre maturity and calm. During the journey of learning Chinese kung fu, Dre has learned to stand up for his fear and realized that kung fu is about fighting for peace.  

The Karate Kid movie is a big hit, not only because Jackie Chan is a real Chinese kung fu master, but also Jaden Smith is a very talented young actor. As you know, Jackie Chan is famous for his kung fu performance. Even though he doesn’t fight much throughout the movie, he definitely ensures the action quality of the film. As far as Jaden, I knew that he is Will Smith’s son for a while, but it was the first movie I watch him. Well, I have to say that I am totally impressed by his talent. The Karate Kid character requires both acting and action performances, and Jaden has totally nailed it. The audience in my theater gave him bursts of applause during the final fight.      

Some people criticized that the name of the movie is confusing, because the movie has nothing to do with karate but only Chinese kung fu. Other than that, I think this is a good movie and is worthwhile watching.

Read More 0 comments | Posted by Edith Chan