Conversational Chinese: Ordering Lunch in a Chinese Restaurant

It's going to be the Chinese New Year. It's very easy to think for some people to go to a Chinese restaurant. A post I wrote earlier was about teaching Mandarin through meaningful conversations, not parroting. It's a typical sight for any Chinese teacher to complain or get mad at a student reacting to the memorization. The real constraint is systemic in nature. Chinese teachers are being forced to teach Chinese the way they know how. Hokkien was used as a medium of instruction. If a person didn't come from a Chinese-speaking home, they were actually going to have a much harder time in a one size fits all arrangement.

Now, it's time to talk about conversational again. Sure, this looks like the bon toi (question and answer) found in the Chinese classes. The only difference is with Chinese taught as a second language--it would give students fewer reasons to cry while memorizing Chinese phrases.

This time, the "bon toi" here is more than just a question and answer. The waiter gives the answer. Now, the student must also memorize and understand the third statement. The customer asks a question, and the waiter gives an answer. The customer then says something before the next question. The question is asked by the water and the customer answers. It would involve memorizing not just the answer but also the question that goes with it.

It would take Person A and Person B to memorize their lines. Of course, all five lines have to be memorized and understood. Recitations must be done by saying the lines in both Mandarin and English. It would also mean discussing the meaning of the words. It's not about just filling the minds of students with facts. It's also teaching them to think with the facts given to them. Education isn't just filling a pot but also lighting a fire to cook the contents of the pot.

Wanting Wealth WITHOUT Financial Discipline

Many people want to be rich, but not so many people want the discipline on how to be rich. Isn't that the plain hard truth ? As I do this sideline blog , I contemplated whether I should write another post after writing several posts years back, or when I wrote about Venezuela as a cautionary tale . Back on topic, I thought about how financial discipline is something often overlooked. It's easy to talk about Christmas since that's probably the most wonderful time of the year to be spendthrift , only to find out that one's broke by the New Year . The cycle of reckless financial habits tends to restart in January, even when January becomes that time of reckoning between debtors and creditors! January 2026 will end, February 2026 comes, and then the cycle of financial recklessness continues. It's the same cycle over and over! Last Christmas, I remember how DTI Secretary Christina Roque spoke about the PHP 500.00 noche buena, for a family of four . I called it tactless b...

Venezuela as a Cautionary Tale on #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba, Nationalistic Pride, Welfare State Economics

The Sunday Guardian Years ago, I wrote about Venezuela's pride and protectionism , under a more "formal" style of writing compared to my latest posts. I decided to use an even "less formal" and "less academic" tone since I'm not writing a term paper. Instead, it's like how a professor and a student discuss the thesis using first person over third person, using contractions, etc., while the thesis doesn't use such tones. Back on track, I thought about the arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro can spark debate. Was it a violation of sovereignty? I'm no expert on international law. However, Venezuelans can be seen celebrating Maduro's arrest. Right now, I'm using Gemini AI and Google search to help me find some sources for this blog. It's because I don't want my blog to become another gossip central, but a place to discuss facts with my own personal opinions (making sure they don't derail the facts). I used Venezuela ...

The Philippines will NEVER Get Richer by Blaming Its Richer Asian Neighbors

Gemini AI Updated: September 27, 2025 It would be nice to talk about the typical blame game in the Philippines. I could remember that, as a child and a teenager, I had this habit of blaming people I disliked for my failing an exam. The reasons are mostly imagined. What I remembered in my later college years was when I met a couple of super irresponsible students. They had this attitude to say something like, "My parents don't care if it'll take me 20 years to finish my bachelor's degree." Some people even say something like, "It's the fault of the rich that we are poor." It was a backfire when I told such people, "Isn't it any wonder why your finances are down? It's because your parents don't even value the money when they don't care if it'll take up to 20 years to finish college!" Understanding the blame game and why it feels so good Psychology Today presents this on why some people will always blame others . These fin...

Communist Vietnam's Great Leap Forward in Agricultural Production

I remember reading through Third World to First by the late Lee Kuan Yew. It's very easy to use the book to badmouth the Marcoses but not to learn from the rest of it. The book also talks about Vietnam and LKY's encounter with the late Nguyen Duy Cong aka Do Muoi. It's often said that Singapore only opened because of its lack of natural resources. On the contrary, Do Muoi decided to learn from Singapore how to turn the Communist Party of Vietnam into a powerhouse. Do Muoi, though a communist , was impressed by Singapore during his October 1993 state visit. Vietnam, unlike Singapore, is a country rich in natural resources. The third-world mentality said that MNCs are there to rape the resources . A very huge misconception especially if you know Singapore's history Some Filipinos on social media even say that FDIs will destroy agriculture and nature. This is a meme by the Philippine Anti-Fascist League on Facebook. They say that FDIs equals environmental degradation. Yet...

Filipino Manufacturing's Golden Age ENDED Because of the Filipino First Policy

Here's a picture from the Dose of Disbelief Page on Facebook. Here's something that it wrote: Filipinos once trusted locally made products more than imports. Before World War II, the label "Made in the Philippines" carried prestige, not stigma, reflecting a strong sense of national confidence in domestic production. Local products such as shoes, cigars, textiles, furniture, and food were often preferred over imports. This preference was rooted in the belief that local goods were better adapted to local conditions, tastes, and were often of comparable, if not superior, quality. This period showcases a strong historical era of consumer nationalism and thriving local industries. We need to look into the context of Filipino history If we look at the Philippine history timeline , we must account for 1935-1940, during which the Philippines was under the Commonwealth government. Independence was declared from Spain on June 12, 1898. However, there was a transition period w...

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