www.bbc.com
A would-be burglar in Rome was caught after stopping to read a book on Greek mythology in the middle of a robbery, Italian media report. The 38-year-old reportedly gained access to a flat in the Italian capital's Prati district via the balcony but became distracted after picking up a book about Homer's Iliad on a bedside table. The 71-year-old homeowner is said to have awoken and confronted the alleged thief, who was engrossed in the book. News of the failed robbery attracted the attention of the book's author, who told local media he wanted to send the man a copy so he could "finish" his read.
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Truly life being stranger than fiction, in that he was recently in the news after being acquitted in the US.
He had this to say on the American legal system at the time: "the reason I'm sitting here, let's be honest, is not only because I was innocent... but because I had enough money not to be swept away by a process that's set up to sweep you away".
www.bbc.com
British tech tycoon Mike Lynch is among the six people missing after a luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily in the early hours of Monday morning. The 56m (183ft) vessel was carrying 22 people - 10 crew and 12 passengers - including British, American and Canadian nationals. Emergency services rescued 15 people, including a one-year-old British girl. Local media reported the yacht, sailing under the name Bayesian, sank after encountering a heavy storm overnight that caused waterspouts, or rotating columns of air, to appear over the sea. Mr Lynch, known by some as "the British Bill Gates", co-founded software company Autonomy, which was later bought by tech giant Hewlett-Packard for $11bn (£8.6bn).
www.ign.com
Verdict As GameScience’s debut action game, Black Myth: Wukong is mostly a great success, despite some major technical black marks and localization issues that are likely to cause some frustrations at launch. Combat is fantastic thanks to a great balance of careful resource management and lightning-fast, twitch-reaction gameplay that tested my skills as much as Elden Ring ever has, despite being a more traditional action game than FromSoftware’s style. Not only that, but there are a ton of exciting boss battles, a great variety of enemies, and the world they inhabit is an absolute treat for the eyes and ears. Its story has its moments but relies a bit too much on having prior knowledge of the events of Journey to the West, and it really could have used a map to make its rewarding exploration measure up to the strength of its combat. That said, its strengths more than carry it through, making Black Myth: Wukong a great action game that could be even greater if GameScience can squash the bugs.
www.bbc.com
The UK's economy grew by 0.6% between April and June as it continued its recovery from the recession at the end of last year. The latest figure was in line with forecasts and follows a 0.7% increase in the first three months of this year. Growth was led by the services sector, in particular the IT industry, legal services and scientific research. Services are the biggest contributor to the UK's economy, far outstripping manufacturing and construction, both of which saw output fall between April and June.
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Most of my Chinese time has been taken up recently playing a game called Murders on the Yangtze Rivers (山河旅探). It is basically an ace attorney detective style game but with the setting being in historic China. I've really enjoyed it and it has voice acting which is always a plus.
I'd say to play fully in Chinese it's something HSK5+ would enjoy, but someone could also play in English with the audio in Mandarin and get some benefit from it.
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These were the best graded readers I ever came across. I liked that they were a continuous series that gradually expanded the vocabulary as you went along.
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Have finally put attempt no. 3 out there.
As with previous threads, the idea behind this is to have a - not quite - weekly post where learners of all levels, heritage and native speakers can post the Chinese content they have been consuming this week in whatever form. If people also give an indication of their level (or the level of content) as well it can act as a way for people to discover new content which may be suitable for them.
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I can make another post this coming weekend, see if it fares a little better!
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Sad it had to happen, but thanks very much to all involved for working on a replacement. Looking forward to signing up as this UK instance has been the best part of the 'fediverse' for me.
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They're not uncommon in the UK either!
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An extremely uplifting song about regicide.
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This is pure nostalgia.
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I do think the geopolitical angle they are going with is a bit overplayed. It looks like Mandarin is only a bit below the trend for foreign languages in general. Personally, I think part of that is just people realising over time that studying Mandarin won't necessarily lead to business or career success.
www.economist.com
Archive link here: https://archive.ph/4Glyj
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It does explain why all the niche communities I visit have gone from quiet to abandoned.
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Due to being a Chinese learner, I have been playing a lot of Chinese developed games over the last few years. Gujian 3, in particular, makes me less sceptical about Black Myth than others are as Gujian 3 was so close to being a genuinely solid game. I just really hope they don't skimp on the translation.
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Maybe an odd choice - but the original xbox. It had Halo, Morrowind and KOTOR. Some of my favourite games of all time. Yes they were available on PC, but I was a kid so didn't have a PC capable of playing these games.
I'm curious how and when everyone got into this sub-genre. For me, the first band I truly loved was Iron Maiden. I acquired a copy of Power Quest - Neverworld when it first released, and it blew my mind. From there, I picked up Sonata Artica's Reckoning Night and realised I'd found my jam. Almost two decades later, it is still my favourite type of music and the best thing is that many of my favorite bands from childhood are not only still going, but are releasing some of their best content.
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Nothing better than using the language - is tandem mostly text or audio?
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As for me I have been watching:
Blades of the Guardians (镖人）- this is a new animated series, which I have been very impressed by. Probably the best animated series I have seen so far coming out of China, accessible to intermediate plus learners and available for free on YT:
Wave Makers (人选之人—造浪者) - a Taiwanese series on Netflix that has been getting a lot of attention, about campaign staff. It hasn't really captured me yet, but I'll probably finish it as its only 8 episodes.
It has been a month since the last one of these posts, so a good time for attempt #2. As before, the idea behind this is to have a weekly post where learners of all levels, heritage and native speakers can post the Chinese content they have been consuming this week in whatever form. If people also give an indication of their level (or the level of content) as well it can act as a way for people to discover new content which may be suitable for them. Edit: not sure why all of my posts here get immediately downvoted. Would be great if downvoters could contribute their own content.
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One of my favourite new power metal bands of the last few years. Gives me the same feeling as listening to Power Quest / Rhapsody (etc.) growing up, whilst somehow also sounding fresh.
www.theguardian.com
Police have arrested nine people and issued dozens of dispersal orders after shoppers were locked inside stores on London’s Oxford Street following warnings of a robbery campaign organised on social media. Hundreds of teenagers gathered outside JD Sports on the capital’s busiest shopping street in an apparent response to widely shared posts on Snapchat and TikTok urging users to take part in an “Oxford Circus JD robbery” at 3pm. Just after 3pm, two young men were seized by police who were guarding the area in anticipation of trouble. Both men were detained outside a McDonald’s, three doors east of JD Sports. One of the young men, wearing a green hoodie, was detained by four officers. The other in a grey tracksuit was held by three officers. The incident prompted twitchy security guards at a number of nearby stores, who were on alert for a possible shoplifting spree, to lock their customers inside their stores for several minutes. They included Muji, an opticians, and Boots, which lowered its storefront metal shutters. Four police officers on horseback briefly struggled to maintain order as onlookers crowded the scene to video the incident on their phones. Traffic on Oxford Street was temporarily held up, as private security personnel urged the crowds to move on. Minutes later police chased another group of young men suspected of shoplifting, prompting another surge in young people keen to capture the scene on their phones. One man was searched by three officers as he lay on the pavement. Puzzled older shoppers asked police officers what was going on. They were told it was a police operation to stop shoplifters. An officer was overheard saying the young men were released without charge after being searched. Just after 8pm, the Metropolitan police said it issued 34 dispersal orders and arrested nine people. A statement read: “Four people were arrested on suspicion of breaching the dispersal order, one person was arrested on suspicion of going equipped to steal, one person arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, and one person was arrested on suspicion of a public order offence. “Earlier in the afternoon, officers arrested two people in Essex for conspiracy to commit robbery following online social media posts.” Earlier, the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, urged people not to take part. He said: “I am worried about this nonsense we have seen on TikTok encouraging people to go to Oxford Street.” I’d encourage anybody who’s seen it not to go to Oxford Street. Do not allow yourself to be sucked into an area that could be a high-crime area.” Police in Westminster had warned there would be heavy police presence in the area. In a Twitter post they said: “We are aware of online speculation about opportunities to commit crime around Oxford Street. There will be a significant number of our officers in the area over the next 24 hours.” Some of those who had gathered said they were there out of curiosity. Harry, 14, from Islington, said: “I’m not here to steal anything, I’ve been raised better than that.” Pointing to his phone he added: “I just want to record it.” He said he had heard about the event on Snapchat. CJ, 16, from Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, said: “We’re not here to steal stuff – there’s loads of famous people making videos. We just saw loads of police and want to see what it’s about.” Before 3pm some of the boys who gathered outside JD Sports were questioned by the police about why they were there. They gave vague answers.
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I'm not sure why I am so invested in this story, but I'd love to see some consequences for this cultural vandalism.
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Someone the other day referred to posting in niche communities as shouting into the void currently, which I thought was apt.
These are the learning channels which I have found most helpful over the course of learning Mandarin. Please do share your own as well! 1. Mandarin Corner This channel is well known and has a large variety of videos for all levels, including street interviews, vlogs and podcasts. Where I think this channel really shines is in providing listening content that will help someone bring their listening skills from lower-intermediate to upper-intermediate. I credit the walk around series, where the host walks around various places talking about what she is doing and seeing, with my own breakthrough in listening. Example video: https://youtu.be/b_d-Yf-Gzyw 2. Free to learn Chinese This is another superb channel with lots of content focussing on HSK grammar and vocab. Where this channel really shines is that it provides teaching for all levels entirely in Mandarin. These are great for listening to in the background, and for getting into the habit of doing as much of your learning as possible in the language. Example videos: https://youtu.be/JBZ8UGCKq6A 3. Twin cities chinese tutor This is almost the opposite of the above channel in that the videos are almost entirely in English. This channel provides exceptionally clear and succinct explanations of Chinese grammar principles. Example video: https://youtu.be/jlpo7S4p5HI
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I thought the world was really well realised, but I wish they'd been just a little bit bolder with the story and characters. I enjoyed the first 10 hours, but then put it down.
This is a Malaysian channel which produces high quality videos in Mandarin. Whilst most of their videos relate to Malaysia, they have one series where two sides debate social issues which is really well made. I find this sort of content quite hard to find in Mandarin generally, so quite enjoy using them for listening practice. They also have Chinese and English subs which is helpful for learners.
www.bbc.co.uk
"Under plans due to be announced later, universities in England will be forced to limit the number of students they recruit onto underperforming courses."
I have always thought it would be a good idea to have a weekly post where learners of all levels, heritage and native speakers can post the Chinese content they have been consuming this week in whatever form. If people also give an indication of their level as well it can act as a way for people to discover new content which may be suitable for them.
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