China completes historic Mars spacecraft landing. China has successfully landed a spacecraft on Mars, state media announced early on Saturday. The six-wheeled Zhurong robot was targeting Utopia Planitia, a vast terrain in the planet’s northern hemisphere. The vehicle used a combination of a protective capsule, a parachute and a rocket […]
Choosing a Chinese Name
Choosing a Chinese Name? Elephant, Yolo, Little Dragon, Lucifer… we’ve all come across strange sounding English names that Chinese people have chosen for themselves. Clearly, cultural differences are at play here. In English, we (generally) separate proper nouns – names for people and things – and common nouns, the words […]
Advance your career: Bill Gates、Jeff Bezos和Mark Zuckerberg的推薦商業書單
Advance your career 讀書不僅能增添人的智慧，更能藉由書中作者的智慧與經驗，引領我們避免犯下愚蠢的錯誤，而商界成功人士Bill Gates、 Jeff Bezos和Mark Zuckerberg更在不同場合，提過自己鍾愛的書籍，幫助他們在商場或生活上越來越好。 Bill Gates推薦：〈Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street 〉 馳騁華爾街股場的Warren Buffett，曾將這本在1960年代出版的書，推薦給微軟創辦人Bill Gates，當時的Bill Gates並未聽聞過此書。直到幾年前，這位長年佔據全球首富榜前三位的富豪說，「20幾年前Buffett將此書推薦給了我，現在距離這本書的出版已超過40年，但它仍是我看過最好的經商書籍。」 在這本書裡，收集了12則真實故事，且與市面上愛講述商場成功的故事相反，本書提到的多為失敗後再崛起的案例，其中一則描述1962年華爾街股市的閃電崩盤，人們當時面臨的慘痛情景及如何度過難關；另一則故事則描述，福特汽車在經歷Edsel型號車款的大敗後，不但沒有對負責人秋後算賬，反而以禮遇的方式處理，由此可見到一間公司的行事品格，也符合大富豪兼著名慈善家Bill Gates溫柔敦厚的作風。 Jeff Bezos推薦的書：〈Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap And Others Don’t〉 今日的Amazon是全球最大跨境電商，但在從前、大約是2001年時可不是這樣，當時的Amazon才剛成立四年，且需每年回報收益。在當時，Jeff Bezos恰好想到了新的商業點子，但本書作者Jim Collins阻止了他，並決定前往參觀當時的Amazon總部。 在Jim Collins到來並和Amazon的管理團隊對話後，Jeff Bezos決定根據Collins的建議，改變Amazon的營運方針，不專注在短期收益上，而將注意力投向長期規劃；Jim Collins認為，「一間公司應將時間和精力，專注在創造和發展推動力上；而如果你能集結這股推動力，並讓世界希望這間公司日以繼夜地努力在某件事上，那這股力量就變得不可限量。」 Amazon公司從這本書裡學習了很多，並後續將其發揮應用，成為了世界的電子商務龍頭。 Mark Zuckerberg推薦的書：〈The […]
Best Language to Learn for Your Career
What language is best to learn for career? In this increasingly global economy, learning a new language, especially one less-studied by your competitors in the job market, can greatly boost your chances of landing lucrative work. In 2014 alone, nearly half a million job postings in the U.S. specifically requested […]
Is Understanding Chinese Culture Essential to Learning Mandarin Chinese Language?
Is understanding Chinese Culture Essential to Learning Mandarin Chinese Language? Learning Mandarin Chinese goes beyond memorizing words and basic grammar rules. Just because you know how to say ‘tea’ and ‘cup’ in Mandarin Chinese, doesn’t mean you’ll be able to order tea in a restaurant in Beijing. In fact, you […]
EXPAT GROUPS IN HONG KONG
Hong Kong has a population of over seven million and around 8% of these are foreign nationals who have come to live and work in the city. For newcomers to Hong Kong, the pace and way of life may present a challenge not previously encountered and it can therefore be […]