Pnyin - Online today, Adsotation and new BB Code -

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Online today, Adsotation and new BB Code
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roddy -

A few odds and ends . . .

At the bottom of the Forums listing there is now a list of all members who've been online in the
last 24 hours. We're currently averaging somewhere around the 200 members online daily mark, which
is pretty decent for such a small forum.

The Adsotate pop-up (look below the smilies box when making a new post) now works a lot more
smoothly than it did previously - it no longer fails to work if you use obscure, rarely-seen
symbols such as spaces . . .

If you want to use your own information for the pop-ups it's now easier thanks to the new button
on the message editor screen. Select the text you want to annotate, press that button and you'll
be prompted to enter the text you want to appear in the . This is obviously to be used for
annotating 汉字

You can also use the spoiler button to post
Spoiler Below
crucial plot details
of films or books, if you so wish.

The button meanwhile allows you to link directly to a (Chinese or English) word's definition on
iciba.net, like this one and 那个.

The tags for the new toys are as follows, if you prefer to type them in directly


HTML Code:

[pop="hanzi / characters"]汉字[/pop]
[spoiler]crucial plot details[/spoiler]
[dict]那个[/dict]

If any graphical genii want to come up with better looking icons, you will be thanked.



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roddy -

Oh, and I also tidied up the home page a little, the latest new topics (the bit down the center)
now tells you how many replies there have been. Which I should have done ages ago. And there are a
whole load of icons in the footer now for subscribing to Chinese-forums on various 'my homepage'
type things.












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Pnyin - tips on speaking better chinese - Page 2 -

> Learning Chinese > Speaking and Listening
tips on speaking better chinese
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赫杰 -

Okay, in hopes of improving my speaking I have been doing lots of 自言自语 lately. Usually
while walking to places and classes I quietly talk to myself, which I am sure makes me appear a
little crazy, haha o well. I created a bunch of common questions that, in my experience, is often
asked, you know, questions relating to government, law, society, weather, food, stuff like that.
So this where I meet a problem:

After I answer the basic question, and say a couple of sentences I just don’t know what to say,
which is understandable because there is no one there to ask questions to initiate a response. So
I am like, well I will start thinking of what to say in English, that should help...not at all, I
just can't think of anything more to say on the topics. And a couple of sentences is not enough, I
need an initiator, a spark, to create that feeling of the need to express something, so this is
what I was thinking:

Doing some translating from English to Chinese. I was thinking about reading some English articles
on the topics and searching for some expressions that I don’t know that I don’t know how to
say in Chinese, this way, when those feeling come up in English, I will be prepared to use Chinese
to convey the meaning?

Anyone tried this? What do u guys think?

Thanks

HJ



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赫杰 -

yeah...so...im back, still working on speaking here, haha, as expected, ok just wanted to add
something real quick for those who are still having the problem, like myself. Personally, just to
reiterate what Roddy said on the subject three years ago, no matter how much you think about it,
or how many different ways you think of to improve your speaking, I think it all comes done to
putting yourself in situations that forces you to speak and doing this as much as freaking
possible (like many many hours a day in many people's case). But I just wanted to add something,

If you are a kind of naturally quiet introvert person like myself that does not like to keep many
friends and usually just likes to listen, then getting better will definitely be a big
challenge...on any level. But whatever the case I just wanted to say, be yourself, try to act like
your usual self as much as possible.

In comparison to me being with my friends while in America, I have recently realized I act really
differently around my Chinese friends in one aspect, I don't make a lot of jokes. It is naturally
for me to be quiet, but with my good friends I will often say random things and act like a retard
just to get a laugh out of them. But here, perhaps because of the culture difference, it was only
until recently that I have started to make jokes, and have realized something, I think all
countries like a good retard, haha. Anyway, just be yourself and don’t let the culture change
you into something you actually not. If you like to make jokes, than do that, I have also found
they will make similar jokes (but of course will seem more funny to them) which is good for you to
mimic later when you want to get a rise out of them or something.

Just some quick random thoughts

HJ










heifeng -



Quote:

Okay, in hopes of improving my speaking I have been doing lots of 自言自语 lately. Usually
while walking to places and classes I quietly talk to myself, which I am sure makes me appear a
little crazy, haha o well.

Are you in Beijing b/c I know I saw some foreigner talking to himself last week! hahah

Well other than just talking to people as much as possible, maybe take a class just on speaking.
Even something like a class aimed at the advanced HSK speaking portion of the exam may help....










赫杰 -

Thanks Heifeng and no I am still here in lovely Wuhan actually. It's interesting actually to look
at those post as they were written around six months ago...somewhere amid all that studying the
time just slips away, you know? Since then I am happy to say I had made signifcant progress in all
aspects of my chinese, maybe it was from all that 自言自语, I still do that a lot by the way,
haha~~

But now I usually listen to talk shows and news reports while walking the roads, wheras last year
i would 朗读课文or自言自语 while walking, that takes a lot concentration to do in place
like wuhan, lol.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Peace,
HJ












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Chinese Online Class - Cantonese practice! blogging in Cantonese... -

> Learning Chinese > Non-Mandarin Chinese
Cantonese practice! blogging in Cantonese...
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wai ming -

I've started a journal in Cantonese for me to practise sentence structures, vocabulary and
pronunciation (and also for me to procrastinate while I'm meant to be studying for university
exams! XD). You can find it here: 月光

It's written in traditional characters, in Cantonese as it is spoken (ie not Standard Chinese) and
I've included Yale romanization beneath the characters for reference.

Unfortunately it's pretty boring - some vocabulary lists, some new words I've picked up - and
almost everything I've written somehow relates back to Cantonese. Not to mention my Cantonese is
far from good - but hey, that's why I have to practise, right?

Anyway, please feel free to post comments, corrections, suggestions etc. I'll try to update when I
can, although I probably won't be writing a lot in the next couple of weeks due to exams.

EDIT: I've been too busy to work on the SBS Children's Radio Program transcription project, but I
promise I'll get back to it once exams are over!



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skylee -

Nice blog. Re the names of vegetable and fruit, you may wish to know that cucumber is 青瓜 in
Cantonese (well at least in HK it is 青瓜). And durian is written as 榴槤.

Personally, (I must emphasise PERSONALLY), I dislike writing in Cantonese. It is a background
thing, I suppose.










wai ming -



Quote:


Originally Posted by Skylee

Nice blog. Re the names of vegetable and fruit, you may wish to know that cucumber is 青瓜 in
Cantonese (well at least in HK it is 青瓜). And durian is written as 榴槤.

Personally, (I must emphasise PERSONALLY), I dislike writing in Cantonese. It is a background
thing, I suppose.


Thanks, Skylee Yeah, I'm quite prone to making typos when typing in Chinese. As for 青瓜 vs
黃瓜, I actually copied the vocabulary from that list from somewhere else, and I didn't really
think about it. I checked the Yahoo! HK dictionary, which has 黃瓜 = cucumber and no entry for
青瓜, same as for my paper (Mandarin) dictionary. Is this one of those differences between
Mandarin and Cantonese perhaps?

As for writing in Cantonese, I guess I know what you mean, perhaps it looks too 'vulgar' or messy
with all the unstandard characters. My reason for writing in Cantonese is not actually for the
sake of writing in Cantonese, but rather so I can practise Cantonese. If I wrote in standard
Chinese, my mind would keep switching back to Mandarin pronunciations and grammar, when what I
really want to do is just get used to thinking in Cantonese.



Quote:


Originally Posted by wannabeafreak

How good is your oral cantonese? If you could be specific on the fluency, would be a good thing.

Such as:

1) how many ORAL words you know
2) do you think in cantonese
3) do you talk fluently (not much pauses or hesitations)
4) tones
5) listening skills


Also how long have you been learning for and are you an ABC?


Wannabeafreak, I'll be as specific with you as I actually can. I'm an ABC who grew up in a
completely English speaking environment. My father doesn't know any Chinese at all, my mum's a
Malaysian-Chinese who grew up speaking Cantonese at home, but went to a Mandarin primary school
and an English high school. She never taught me Cantonese until recently when I started to get
serious about learning it. All my relatives speak to me in English, or don't speak to me at all.

I started learning Mandarin when I was 9, first at Saturday classes (where we didn't learn much),
and then in high school (where we learnt just enough to probably be able to survive in China).
However I did a lot of self-study outside of class so I can actually read fairly well, and I do
have passive knowledge of a fair amount of Mandarin vocab. In total, I learnt Mandarin formally
for 7 or 8 years.

I only really started learning Cantonese last year. Prior to that I'd learnt to sing a couple of
Cantopop songs, and say a couple of phrases, but that was about it. From last year onwards, my
Cantonese-speaking boyfriend and good friend have been speaking a lot of Cantonese in front of me,
as well as introducing me to Cantonese songs/media.

Over the summer, I used Betty Hung's "A Cantonese Book" and TY Cantonese to learn vocabulary and
to practise reading out loud to my mum. I also started trying to have conversations with my mum in
Canto, very slowly and a bit painfully (tones!) but I did make some progress. I can speak to
people now, at a normal speed for words I'm sure of, and slowing down when I'm not sure how to say
something, but the range of topics I can speak on are pretty limited.

In the last few months, I've had a couple of actual conversations with native speakers. They can
almost always understand what I say, but then again, I've only spoken on limited topics. And we've
always had Mandarin or English as a fall back. Often I can understand what they say, but then I
don't have enough vocabulary to give a more detailed response. Other than that, my speaking is
limited to occasional words/phrases/sentences with my boyfriend and conversations with my mum. I'm
pretty shy about speaking, so I've never had experiences ordering meals in Cantonese etc.

Overall, it's pretty hard for me to say how many oral Cantonese words I know - the best indication
of that is to see how I write on my blog. Or talk to me in person

Thinking in Cantonese - I can do that fairly easily, but I tend to fill in the gaps with Mandarin
where I know the Mandarin or English - by gaps I mean vocabulary gaps, or much less frequently,
grammatical gaps.

Talk fluently - I'd say not, just because I don't know enough words - or maybe I know the 'actual'
Chinese words, but not the Canto pronunciation. Guess it depends on how familiar I am with what I
want to say - if it's stuff I've never talked about before, for instance, I'd probably hesitate a
lot more than if it was something I'd talked about a lot before. Also, if I've kind of "trained
myself" to talk about a topic before, ie thought about what kind of vocabulary and sentence
structures I'd use, I can obviously speak a lot more fluently than if I haven't.

Tones - generally not too much of a problem, except when I actually don't know what the correct
tone is or sometimes when certain words are preceded or followed by other words.

Listening skills - by far my strength, and a lot of that has to do with my knowledge of Mandarin,
as well as listening in on my bf and friend's conversations. Even if I've never come across a term
in Cantonese before, I can often map it to its Mandarin pronunciation immediately. I can usually
understand everyday-type conversations, as long as the speaker is speaking plainly and not playing
with word puns, using 成語 (four-word phrases/idioms) or talking about something like Chinese
history which I have very little knowledge of.










yinkda -

I have just visited your blog. I appreciate very much your effort to learn Cantonese.

I would like to make a few comments. Please don’t mind.

點呀呢排
Although many Cantonese dictionaries use 排, I think that it should be 牌. 排 has nothing to do
with time, but some kind of tablets (牌) were used to announce time in ancient time.

如果真係同你一生一死
Is this the exact lyrics? It should be 一生一世 IMO.

男人老狗
Instead of old dog, it may be 耇, old man, by extension respectable man.

冇原因咁發生嘅
I think that it should be 冇原因噉發生嘅.

扯 to leave
Many Cantonese dictionaries use 扯, but it doesn’t mean to leave in standard Chinese. An
alternative may be 誃, which does mean to leave. The only problem is that it is pronounced ci2
instead of ce2, but there are many examples of “i” pronounced “e” colloquially: 青
cing1/ceng1.










wai ming -

Yinkda, thanks for your comments. I always appreciate feedback.

I think you were right about almost everything, and I've made some corrections to my entries. The
only thing I'm not sure about is 男人老狗 - I don't think 耇is appropriate, since the meaning
was meant to be something like "Men are always dishonest", I think - it might be slang. I only
used 狗 for the sound.

But anyway, thanks for taking the time to comment, and I'll try to update my blog soon.










yinkda -

I discovered the expression 男人老gau2 on the forum dayoo.com a few years ago. As far as I
know, it is not pejorative. Hereafter are some examples.

http://hanyu.chi.cuhk.edu.hk/chetio.asp?chetio=20962
男人老狗 = 大男人的

http://hanyu.chi.cuhk.edu.hk/chetio.asp?chetio=4591
男人佬耇 = 男子漢大丈夫﹐大男人

http://www.pkucn.com/archiver/?tid-28446.html
男人老耇，点可以认低威

From various links:
男人老狗怕什麼？！
男人老狗小小事就喊!
男人老狗，流血不流淚。










skylee -

I've also written something in Cantonese in my blog, mainly to practise my Cantonese input skill.
Take a look (it's a blogspot site and in unicode) ->
http://voidsky.blogspot.com/2006/08/blog-post.html










Mugi -



Quote:

Originally posted by yinkda
點呀呢排
Although many Cantonese dictionaries use 排, I think that it should be 牌. 排 has nothing to do
with time, but some kind of tablets (牌) were used to announce time in ancient time.

Actually, this word isn't of Chinese origin, so it's kind of arbitrary how you choose to write it
in Chinese characters. The word is a 百越 remnant and can be found in many (if not most)
southern Sinitic languages. In Cantonese dialects it usually refers to a "period of time" (M:
陣子, 會兒), whereas in Minnan it is used to denote "number of times" (M: 次, 回, 遍 etc).
The most common repesentation of "paai4-2" in Cantonese is 排, although some people do write is
as 牌.










wai ming -

Thanks skylee for posting about the Jyutping input function on mdbg (Jyutping input for Cantonese)
真係容易過copy+paste嘅方法。












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Pnyin - dominant language in ShenZhen -

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dominant language in ShenZhen
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hidden12345 -

mandarin or cantonese? Question refers to both on the streets and in business.



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johnd -

Mandarin










flameproof -

Mandarin by far. It's even hard to find a cantonese speaker.










Quest -

Hakka and Cantonese before the development boom, Mandarin now.










taschenrechner -



Quote:

Mandarin by far. It's even hard to find a cantonese speaker.

No way. I live in Shenzhen and it's really easy to hear Cantonese here. Everyone can speak
Mandarin, though.










flameproof -

>No way. I live in Shenzhen and it's really easy to hear Cantonese here.

Not in a taxi. Maybe 1 in 20 drivers can speak it.










johnd -

A lot of taxi drivers seem to come from Hunan, and their accent was a bit confusing for me at
first. A lot of their 'h' sound like 'f'. I say Yinhu, he says Yinfu, I say Yinhu, he says Yinfu.
Then I just wait to see where we'll arrive!










flameproof -

johnd
You give me a chuckle here! It really confused me first when a girl told me she was from "Funan".

Ahhhh? Funan??? Hunan? - Dui! Funan!

As a side note: OK, taxi drivers don't speak cantonese. But the language they speak to the
operator amazes me often. I usually don't get a single word. Seems they build small language
clusters with their village people.










liuzhou -



Quote:

a girl told me she was from "Funan".

When I lived there it was more like "fulan." I remember arriving in what I took to be Hunan,
Huaihua and being welcomed to "Fulan Fuaifua!" Most confusing.



Quote:

Seems they build small language clusters with their village people.

That was certainly my experience in west Fulan. It was only relatively recently that the railway
and road infrastructure connected the various towns and villages in that mountainous area, so each
village and valley have different dialects. Also, there is a high number of minority people who
aren't even speaking Chinese!

I taught in a university there, and 1st year students, recruited locally, couldn't understand each
other for the first few weeks. Lots of note passing!










geraldc -

My family are from Huanggang, Shenzhen, and they were Cantonese speakers. However the kids of the
original Cantonese speakers, i.e. those mid twenties and below, apparently are better at Mandarin
than Cantonese (well according to my Gt Aunt anyway) as all their classmates and friends are
Mandarin speakers, and they only speak Cantonese with relatives.

Walking through dongmen I only came across 1 shop where the guy hawking his wares via the public
address system spoke Cantonese, every other shop used Mandarin.

The taxi drivers I came across in Shenzhen were much darker skinned than the locals and I had no
idea where they came from. They could understand Cantonese, but we had no idea what they were
saying.












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Learning Chinese - Question on similar accents - Page 2 -

> Learning Chinese > Speaking and Listening
Question on similar accents
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Josh-J -



Quote:

switches his n and l all the time.

Lu, I'd have thought what you're talking about there is more like accent than PTH capability. Here
in the UK, most people in scotland can hardly be said to be speaking with a standard english
accent. But they're speaking english nonetheless. Personally at least, even if they had a VERY
strong accent that I found difficult to understand, I'd still say they were speaking english
unless they were using scot-specific words alot



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Lu -

I should have phrased that differently. Most people, especially young and educated people, speak
putonghua, but many people, including young and educated people, have a local, non-standard accent
to their putonghua, which sometimes makes them hard to understand. It is generally not a good idea
for a foreigner to pick up such an accent. It can easily get them either laughed at or
misunderstood in other parts of China.












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Speak Chinese - Jim Carrey to play Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol"

ENTERTAINMENT / Movies






Jim Carrey to play Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol"

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-07-07 16:46



LOS ANGELES - Jim Carrey, who brought Dr. Seuss' Grinch to life on the
big screen, will soon play another holiday curmudgeon, Ebenezer Scrooge,
and three ghosts who haunt him, in a computerized remake of "A Christmas
Carol," the Walt Disney Co. said on Friday.


Actor Jim Carrey and girlfriend Jenny McCarthy pose for photographers
during the premiere of ''The Number 23'' in Los Angeles, in this file
photo from February 13, 2007. [Reuters]

Oscar winner Robert Zemeckis will direct the movie from his own script,
based on the Charles Dickens classic novel, a Disney spokeswoman said.

The movie will blend live action with 3-D digital animation and a
computer-graphics style called "performance capture," which Zemeckis used
in his 2004 holiday adventure "The Polar Express" and his upcoming film
"Beowulf," the spokeswoman said.

Zemeckis, the Academy Award-winning director of Tom Hanks' 1994 hit drama
"Forrest Gump," wrote his "Christmas Carol" screenplay specifically for
Carrey, who will portray the miserly Scrooge through various periods of
his life. Carrey also will play the ghosts of Christmases past, present
and future who visit Scrooge.

The movie will be produced through Zemeckis' production company,
ImageMovers Digital, and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. No release
date has been set.

Several Internet sites have reported that Bob Hoskins, who starred in
Zemeckis' 1988 live-action/animated comedy "Who Framed Roger Rabbit,"
also has been cast in "A Christmas Carol" but Disney said no such deal is
in place.

Carrey, 45, is no stranger to playing holiday-season heavies, having
starred seven years ago as the title character in the Ron Howard-directed
"How the Grinch Stole Christmas," based on the popular Dr. Seuss story.

"Grinch" was a huge box-office hit, but in recent years Carrey has
suffered through a string of flops such as "Fun with Dick and Jane" and
"The Number 23."

Dickens' classic tale of a bitter, old merchant given a Christmas Eve
chance at redemption has been adapted many times for TV and the movies,
including two Hollywood versions -- 1938's "A Christmas Carol" starring
Reginald Owen as Scrooge and 1951's "Scrooge," with Alastair Sim in the
title role.







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Chinese Mandarin - Lovely ladies die and go to notebook heaven

ENTERTAINMENT / Hot Pot Column






Lovely ladies die and go to notebook heaven

By Raymond Zhou
Updated: 2007-07-05 15:00



Unlike the golden hues shimmering in Richard Strauss' Four Last Songs,
the golden years of a computer are not pretty.

My Sony Vaio notebook is on its deathbed. The first signal flared up a
few months ago when it shut itself off without warning. Thinking the
culprit must be a bad power connection combined with the drastically
shortened life of the battery, I didn't cry my way to tech support.

In recent weeks, the frequency of sudden death is picking up. I still
harbored the illusion that it could be a virus running amok until the
master IT physicians ruled it out and zeroed in on the motherboard.

My Sony-san is four years old, which translates to 60 in human years. But
I have to add another 20 years for making it toil for 10 hours a day.
There are blots of smudge on the silvery cover. The palm rest has
darkened to the point that it looks like the skin of a coal miner. Even
the labels on the bottom have curled up into teeny-weeny rolls as if
nature has been playing with them like a mischievous kid.

I would have preferred a desktop if I wasn't so into playing the intrepid
reporter filing stories from the top of a karst mountain in southern
China or a cruise liner that I suspect could be targeted by fun-phobic
terrorists. My Sony has been with me through thick and thin.

I love my Sony. (Mr. Ryoji Chubachi, whom I interviewed last year, please
give me credit if you decide to use it as your ad slogan.) It is slim,
with the figure of a ballerina. Yet it packs a wallop, with plenty of
power to sustain my heavy-duty word processing and well, mostly word
processing and storing digital photos and video clips of my daughter. (I
didn't even venture into video editing.)

For full disclosure, it had an organ transplant at a young age. Just one
year on my watch, it flashed a warning that its hard drive might be
aging. Fearing data loss, I replaced it. Other than that, it did not give
me any trouble, like a concubine who pushes all the right buttons.

My previous notebook was a Compaq, which I cannot describe in feminine
terms. It was bulky and unreliable. I'd have to gain 80kg to make it
compatible on my desk.

Before that was another American brand, which met its maker's maker even
faster. I've owned or used half a dozen notebooks in my life. I was with
a computer magazine in Silicon Valley before I joined China Daily, so I
could play with virtually any new model I wanted.

My virgin notebook was an Apple. It looked sleek and mysterious, but it
ran into fits of temper after only a few months with me, as if I had
married a drug addict who had hidden all her symptoms from me.

Finally, it dawned on me that a notebook computer is like a pet hamster.
No matter how much fun it gives you, it's gonna die on you. So, don't cry
for me, Vaiovina.


(China Daily 07/05/2007 page20)
















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Learn Chinese - Jennifer Lopez poses for Italian Vanity Fair

ENTERTAINMENT / Music/Theater






Jennifer Lopez poses for Italian Vanity Fair


Updated: 2007-07-04 10:56








1 2 3 4 5







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HSK Exam - Disney animator Art Stevens dies at 92

ENTERTAINMENT / Movies






Disney animator Art Stevens dies at 92

(AP)
Updated: 2007-07-03 08:17



LOS ANGELES - Longtime Disney animator Art Stevens, who began his studio
career working on "Fantasia" and went on to co-direct "The Fox and the
Hound" and "The Rescuers," has died. He was 92.

Stevens died May 22 at his home in Studio City after a heart attack,
Disney spokesman Howard Green said.

Stevens applied for a job at Disney in 1939 after he learned that Walt
Disney planned an animated feature based on one of his favorite stories,
"Alice in Wonderland," which eventually came out in 1951.

In his early years at Disney, Stewart was an "in-betweener," who created
the drawings that made the characters move on the screen after the main
animator had outlined the scene. He worked on "Fantasia," "Bambi" and
other 1940s features before becoming a full-fledged animator with the
1953 film "Peter Pan."

Among Stevens' other credits as an animator were "101 Dalmatians,"
"Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day," "Robin Hood," "Mary Poppins" and
"Bedknobs and Broomsticks."

He co-directed the 1977 film "The Rescuers" and co-produced and
co-directed "The Fox and the Hound," which became Disney's
highest-grossing film when it was released in 1981.

Stevens also worked on the Academy Award-winning Disney shorts "Toot,
Whistle, Plunk and Boom" and "It's Tough to Be a Bird," and he helped
animate the title sequences for live-action features such as "Freaky
Friday" and "The North Avenue Irregulars."

He retired in 1983.










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Chinese Pinyin - Cruise film to work around German military site ban

ENTERTAINMENT / Movies






Cruise film to work around German military site ban

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-06-30 09:13


BERLIN (Reuters) - The makers of a movie about a plot to kill Adolf
Hitler said on Friday they had the permits needed to film in Germany
despite being declared unwelcome at military sites because its star Tom
Cruise is a Scientologist.

Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung has made it clear the filmmakers could
not shoot at any military sites if Cruise plays hero Colonel Claus von
Stauffenberg, because of his link to Scientology. Berlin regards it as a
cult masquerading as a religion to make money, a view Scientology leaders
reject.

But the head of the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin, which will handle
filming in Germany, said he had all necessary location permits, including
for the so-called "Bendlerblock" where Stauffenberg and his
co-conspirators were shot after the attempt to kill Hitler with a
briefcase bomb on July 20, 1944, failed.

The Bendlerblock is located in what is now the Defense Ministry complex
in Berlin. However, part of it is run by the German Resistance Memorial
Centre and not the ministry, and Babelsberg Studios says it intends to
shoot the film there.

"They have given us permission like they have done for other Stauffenberg
films before," Carl Woebken, head of Babelsberg studios, told Reuters.

The buildings' official owner, the Finance Ministry, had also given
permission, he said. "From our point of view, everything is ready to go."

Woebken said it was important to film at the Bendlerblock for the sake of
authenticity.

A German government official said on condition of anonymity the
filmmakers did not have a green light to begin filming at the
Bendlerblock. This lack of a green light could complicate the shooting,
scheduled to begin next month, he said.

The film, slated for a 2008 release, will be directed by Bryan Singer and
Kenneth Branagh will co-star. It is called "Valkyrie" after Operation
Valkyrie, the plot's codename.

Sabine Weber, a Scientology spokeswoman in Germany, said German
politicians were attacking top Scientologists like Cruise, one of the
producers of the film, to get their names in the press.

"I believe that certain politicians from the Christian Democrats use the
celebrity status of some of our members to step into the limelight,
that's what this is all about. They don't care how much they damage
Germany's reputation," she said.









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Learn Mandarin online - Kidman: My body hasn't change since I was fifteen

ENTERTAINMENT / Gossip






Kidman: My body hasn't change since I was fifteen

(WENN)
Updated: 2007-06-28 11:11





Nicole Kidman

Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman refuses to worry about her looks since
turning forty - she has had the same figure since she was fifteen.

The Moulin Rouge star reached the milestone last week, and credits her
beauty regime to not worrying about what she eats.

She tells Britain's Closer magazine, "I've always had this long, lean
body type and I haven't changed since I was 15. I eat healthily, but I
also love pies and chocolate."










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Learning Mandarin - Paris Hilton released from jail

ENTERTAINMENT / Gossip






Paris Hilton released from jail

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-06-26 15:49





A combination photo shows Paris Hilton posing during a news conference
for the television show 'The Simple Life 5' in Los Angeles April 9, 2007,
(L) and Hilton leaving the Los Angeles Municipal Court May 4, 2007 (R).
[Reuters]

Hotel heiress Paris Hilton, who commanded as much attention behind bars
as on the Hollywood party scene, regained her freedom on Tuesday after
serving three weeks in jail for violating probation in a drunk-driving
case.

The incarceration of the 26-year-old multimillionaire, who lampooned her
own persona as a clueless child of privilege on the reality TV show "The
Simple Life," ignited a worldwide media frenzy and debate about celebrity
justice.

The saga hit a crescendo when Hilton was placed briefly under house
arrest after just three days in jail, sparking an uproar over what many
saw as preferential treatment. Even so, a Los Angeles Times analysis
found her sentence far exceeded those served by most inmates for similar
offenses.

In the end, Hilton served 22 days in detention, counting her day-long
home confinement. The original 45-day term set by the judge was
effectively cut in half under a standard credit applied for good behavior.

Hilton came out of the Century Regional Detention Facility about 12:15
a.m. (0715 GMT) and a swarm of photographers and camera crews awaited her.

Dressed casually in dark slacks and a short-sleeved top, Hilton made no
statement but had a broad smile as she walked down a paparazzi-lined path
to a sports utility vehicle where she was embraced by her mother Kathy.

The Hiltons left quickly with several vehicles full of photographers
tailing them on the freeway.

Whether fame worked for or against her, public fascination with the
socialite who first gained notoriety in a homemade sex video that
surfaced on the Internet never seemed to dim.

SHERIFF VS. PROSECUTOR

The case also led to a rare public showdown between Los Angeles' top law
enforcement officers, county sheriff Lee Baca and City Attorney Rocky
Delgadillo.

The judge sided with the prosecutor in sending Hilton back to jail to
finish her term. But Delgadillo soon found himself under fire for his own
misconduct, including improper use of city resources and revelations that
his wife had been the subject of a 9-year-old arrest warrant.

Hilton has spoken in interviews of being transformed by her experience,
of wanting to be taken more seriously, and of feeling that God had given
her a second chance.

Her stint behind bars stemmed from her arrest last September on a charge
of drunken driving. She pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of
alcohol-related reckless driving in January and was sentenced to three
years probation.

The following month she was caught driving on a suspended license, which
Judge Sauer ruled in May violated her probation. He rejected Hilton's
defense that she had been misinformed about the status of her license by
her publicist.

Her lawyers vowed an appeal, and supporters launched a petition campaign
seeking clemency from the governor.

Her lawyers vowed an appeal, and supporters launched a petition campaign
seeking clemency from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. But
Hilton surrendered the night of June 3 to begin her sentence.

Just hours earlier, the great-granddaughter of the Hilton Hotels founder
had walked the red carpet at a Hollywood awards show where she was the
butt of jokes on national television.

Days later, Baca released her to house arrest under electronic
monitoring, citing unspecified medical problems that he later described
as psychological. Hilton has since said she suffers from claustrophobia.

The judge overruled Baca the next day and ordered Hilton back to jail as
she sobbed loudly, "Mom, Mom, It's not right!"










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Learn Chinese - Hollywood swaps bad girl look for new wave innocence

ENTERTAINMENT / Gossip






Hollywood swaps bad girl look for new wave innocence

(AAP)
Updated: 2007-06-23 09:46



There is a revolution bubbling in Hollywood and it has Paris Hilton,
Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears in its sights.

Good Hollywood girls are in and the not so well-behaved are on the outer.



Hollywood seems to be turning off its famous badgirls like Paris Hilton
and Lindsay Lohan, and focusing on more wholesome starlets such as Emma
Roberts.[Reuters]

As Hilton sits in jail, Lohan kicks back for another stint in rehab,
Spears wears wigs to hide her bald head and Nicole Richie fights to stay
out of prison, Hollywood studios are grooming a fresh-faced crop of
starlets.

The good girls, led by squeaky clean 16-year-old Emma Roberts and
21-year-old Amanda Bynes, have not been arrested for drink driving and
they avoided the trend of wearing mini-skirts without underpants.

They also are outspoken about avoiding the temptations that trap and then
destroy other members of young Hollywood.

"I'm clean and I don't do any drugs or alcohol," Bynes, who stars
alongside John Travolta, Christopher Walken and Michelle Pfeiffer in the
new Hollywood remake of the Broadway musical, Hairspray, she said in Los
Angeles recently.

"I feel like it's a choice I make.

"I don't need it."

Over the next few months the world will see Roberts, Bynes and other
respectable and marketable young actresses, including Brittany Snow, Anna
Sophia Robb and Abigail Breslin, headline major motion pictures.

The actresses will likely become role models for a generation of tweens
who once looked up to Hilton, Lohan, Spears and Richie.

Roberts, with acting talent and a fine pedigree (she is the niece of
Hollywood's biggest female name, Julia Roberts), is the star of Warner
Bros' rebirth of the Nancy Drew detective film franchise.

She plays Drew, the vivacious, albeit nerdy, teen private eye.

"We're both alike," Roberts said.

"We're both determined, ambitious and curious, but she's much more of a
neat freak than me."

Roberts may even be better behaved than Drew.

1 2










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Free Chinese Lesson - Anna Nicole Smith's will enters probate

ENTERTAINMENT / Gossip






Anna Nicole Smith's will enters probate

(AP)
Updated: 2007-06-20 10:40



LOS ANGELES - Former foes Larry Birkhead and Howard K. Stern sat
side-by-side in a courtroom Tuesday as a commissioner admitted Anna
Nicole Smith's will to probate and ordered that Birkhead, father of the
late model's daughter, would be guardian of the estate while Stern serves
as executor of her will.

"The will dated July 30th, 2001, is admitted to probate," said Superior
Court Commissioner Mitchell L. Beckloff.

The step begins a process in which Smith's assets will be identified and
the court will determine how they should be distributed. The will left
the entirety of her estimated $710,000 in assets to her now-deceased son.

Smith also noted in the will, "I have intentionally omitted to provide
for my spouse and other heirs, including future spouses and children and
other descendants now living and those hereafter born or adopted,"

Beckloff said he will notify Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, of his action
in case she wants to intervene legally.

But a lawyer for Stern and the estate, Bruce Ross, said he believes
Arthur has no standing in the case.

Smith gave birth to daughter Dannielynn in September, a few days before
the death of son Daniel, 20, in the Bahamas. In February, Smith died at
age 39 in Florida. Stern, her lawyer and companion, initially claimed to
be Dannielynn's father, but Smith's ex-boyfriend Birkhead eventually
showed he was the father and is now raising the child.

The baby could inherit millions from the estate of Smith's late husband,
Texas oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II.

Outside court, Ross said he would eventually present testimony from the
lawyer who drafted Smith's will, saying that Smith did not intend to
disinherit Dannielynn.

"There is no provision in the will that names Dannielynn and purports to
disinherit her," said the lawyer.

Ross said the attorney who drafted the will would testify that he and
Smith discussed the possibility of her having future children.

"She said, `I probably won't have future children, but if I do I would
want them to be the beneficiaries of the trust,'" Ross said.

Asked why Smith made a provision to leave everything to her son and to
specifically disinherit future children, Ross said, "Anna was concerned
that someone would pop up out of the woodwork."

In an impromptu news conference, Stern and Birkhead said they were on
good terms, that both are concerned for the welfare of Dannielynn and
will do everything necessary to assure a good future for her.

"I'm going to help Larry any way I can," said Stern. "Larry will be a
good father."

A smiling Birkhead said, "I have another new title today. In addition to
father, I'm guardian. So it's a very good day."

He said he had a wonderful Father's Day with Dannielynn and added, "It's
one I will remember."

Both men expressed hope that public attention would dissipate.

"Right now, Dannielynn is the most famous baby in America," said Stern.
"Maybe five years from now it won't be that way and she can just be a
normal little girl."

He added, "It's a relief to see a judge in America who's not interested
in getting his own TV show."

Earlier in the day, the Florida judge who decided a dispute over Smith's
remains announced plans to resign amid rumors he will have a TV judge
show.

Stern also said he's been looking through mementos of Smith while he's
been in California and he wished she could see her daughter. He said he
will return to the Bahamas.

Birkhead, who had been a photographer, said he doesn't know what he is
going to do for a career.

"You guys are always taking pictures of me so I can't take pictures
anymore," he said. "Maybe I'll go to law school."

He said of the baby, "She's my everything and I'm making up for lost
time."

Birkhead indicated he plans to live in Los Angeles unless the paparazzi
attention makes it impossible.











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Free Chinese Lesson - Keira Knightley's 'Atonement' to open Venice Film Festival

ENTERTAINMENT / Gossip






Keira Knightley's 'Atonement' to open Venice Film Festival

(ANI)
Updated: 2007-06-18 10:38




London - Actress Keira Knightley's upcoming flick 'Atonement' has been
selected as the opening film at this year's Venice Film Festival.



The 2007 British film based on Ian McEwan's novel by the same name is
director Joe Wright's second release.

As for how Wright felt about the honour given to his film, the newcomer
insisted that going to the Venice film festival is a dream come true and
the feeling is 'extraordinary'.

"Going to the Venice Film Festival is something one dreams of. It is just
steeped in history. I keep imagining I'll bump into Sophia Loren," the
BBC quoted Wright, as saying.

He however refused to comment on the chances of the film winning major
awards this year but insisted that 'opening Venice' is in itself a great
honour.

"Opening Venice is a prize in itself," said Wright.

Wright's first film 'Pride and Prejudice' bagged him the 'Best Newcomer'
award at BAFTA, and the film was also nominated for four Oscar
nominations in 2006 including a best actress nod for Knightley.

The director feels that Knightley has given her best performance ever in
the new film.

"She's developing as an actress all the time and I think her performance
here is the best thing she has ever done," Wright added.

The 22-year-old actress will reportedly attend the world premiere of the
2007 British film on 29 August.

According to film festival head Marco Muller, this will be the first time
that a 'young' director's film will open the film festival.

"For the first time in its history, the opening film is the work of a
young director," Muller said.

Muller insisted that Wright's film is so good that it could beat the
techniques employed by many acclaimed directors.

"It is a film that, in terms of emotive and visual power, is greater than
some of the major films of many acclaimed directors," he added.







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Chinese School - Pregnant actress Naomi Watts secretly gets married

ENTERTAINMENT / Gossip






Pregnant actress Naomi Watts secretly gets married

(Daily Mail)
Updated: 2007-06-13 15:30



Oscar-nominated actress Naomi Watts has secretly married her boyfriend of
two years, Liev Schreiber.

The couple is understood to have had a private ceremony in New York last
week, attended by only close friends and members of family.


Newlyweds: King Kong star Naomi Watts and boyfriend Liev Schreiber were
secretly wed
in a private ceremony in front of family and close friends

News of the wedding - confirmed by the 39-year-old American actor at the
Tony Awards - comes two months before the British-born star, 40, is due
to give birth to the couple's first child.

1 2







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Chinese School - Ocean's Thirteen

ENTERTAINMENT / New Releases






Ocean's Thirteen


Updated: 2007-05-29 16:31





What are the odds of getting even? Danny Ocean and the gang would have
only one reason to pull off their most ambitious and riskiest casino
heist--to defend one of their own. But they��re going to need more than
luck on their side to break The Bank.Ruthless casino owner Willy Bank
never imagined that the odds were against him when he double-crossed
Danny Ocean��s friend and mentor Reuben Tishkoff, putting the distraught
Reuben in a hospital bed in critical condition. But Bank
miscalculated--badly. He may have taken down one of the original Ocean��s
eleven, but he left the others standing and, worse for him, gave them a
shared purpose: to take Bank down on the night of what should be his
greatest triumph--the grand opening of his new casino, appropriately
named The Bank. Their strategy is twofold. First they will ruin him
financially by turning the tables on the precept that the house always
wins. But that��s just money. The knockout punch will be to Bank��s
personal pride and joy: his reputation as the only hotelier who has
earned the Royal Review Board��s Five Diamond Award on every single one
of his hotels. The plan is elaborate, dangerous and damn near
impossible--but there are no limits when it comes to one of their own.

Also Known As: Ocean's Thirteen

Production Status: In Production/Awaiting Release

Genres: Action/Adventure, Crime/Gangster and Sequel

Release Date: June 8th, 2007 (wide)

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for brief sensuality.

Distributors: Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution

Production Co.: Section Eight, Jerry Weintraub Productions, Village
Roadshow Pictures Entertainment

Studios: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.

Filming Locations: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Los Angeles, California, USA













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