This is the kickstart of a project that I have been planning since the first time I joined blockchain-based social media!

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What is it all about?

I'm going to start a Chinese course for English Speakers leveraged on the Steem and Whaleshares Blockchain. It will not be just another tutorial, I'm going to turn it in a contest for participants to earn rewards while at the same time learning one of the most interesting languages imho.

Why Chinese? Well, first because it's the language with the higher number of native speakers on the planet. Second, China is the country with the biggest projection on the decades to come. And third, why not? It is a completely different language from what we western are used to...

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Enough of general descriptions, let's go into the details. I'll plan to gamify this experience the best I can, the early stages will be designed in a way that the best participants will be rewarded with SBI shares every two weeks. The best participant will receive 3 SBI, the second will get 2 SBI and the third participant will get 1 SBI. If you don't know what are SBI shares please visit this post This is just the beginning if things go smoothly more rewards will come. Of course, we have to give back a little to the community that makes all this possible. Thus, each participant will be asked to post on Twitter or on Instagram about his/her thoughts about Steemit (I'm not asking for participants to advertise this course, I just want participants to spread the word about Steemit to have more people aware of Steemit and the Steem Blockchain)

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How the course material will be like?

I have already posted some material for Spanish speakers folks. This was the last one. (Feel free to scroll down to the bottom of the post if you are just interested in a brief preview)

_{Chinese proverb: Before being a dragon, you have to suffer like an ant. Image source Source}

Introduction

In the series of reading practices we will briefly work on the vocabulary of emblematic texts of Chinese culture, articles wrote by native speakers of China, transcriptions of discourses, or any other resource that allows us to get closer and closer to this fascinating country.

Initially we will work with a classic, the book entitled "The Art of War" by Sunzi, series of posts with the text of the book in Chinese characters and in Pīnyīn will be presented. The text will not be translated immediately to give the opportunity for people interested in the challenge activities for this lesson (which involve trying to give meaning to the characters from the context of the sentence) to be carried out. However, a table with the meaning of each word is presented in the vocabulary section. After a week, I will post the text in English in a comment of this post

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孙子  兵法
Sūnzǐ bīngfǎ


始  计
shǐ jì

课文  一
kèwén yī


孙子  曰
Sūnzǐ yuē：

兵    者， 国之   大事
bīng zhě, guózhī dàshì
死生     之 地，
sǐshēng zhī dì
存亡     之 道，
cúnwáng zhī dào
不可  不  察  也。
bùkě bù chá yě

新词汇 / Xīn cíhuì (New Vocabulary)

Below the vocabulary of the text is presented with a brief translation appropriate to the context of the words in each sentence.

孙子 (Sūnzǐ): Proper name.		兵法 (Bīngfǎ): Military strategy.
始 (Shǐ) To start.	计 (Jì): Calculate, plan, measure.
课文 (Kèwén): Text.		一 (Yī): Number one (1).
曰 (Yuē): Say, talk.	兵 (Bīng): Soldier, troop, army, weapons.
者 (Zhě): :Involved in. Particle used to indicate explanations (argue ideas).	国 (Guó): Nation, country, State.
之 (Zhī): Possessive particle.		大事(Dàshì): Great social , political or military event.
死生 (Sǐshēng): Critical event, life or death.		地(Dì): Soil, land, ground.
存亡 (Cúnwáng): Live or die.		道(Dào): CWay, route, beginning, truth.
不可 (Bùkě): It can not be.		不(Bù): Denial (not).
察 (Chá): Examine, observe.		也(Yě): Also, final particle used to express affirmation.

_{All the gifs in this table were taken from the MDBG.net page. These are under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License}

练习 (Liànxí / Activities)

^{Fuente: Soogif}

In the reading lessons, the understanding of the characters is worked, not as isolated units but as entities that make up a meaning according to the context of the phrase. Based on the definitions given in the vocabulary, construct the text in English according to what is inferred from the sentence from the meaning of the words that comprise it. This will serve to internalize the meaning of each word and its specific function within the context.

Within 7 days I will post the text in English in a comment. Do not succumb to the temptation to translate it :)

After 7 days a published the translation.

The answer has a literal and a contextual translation, the idea is that little by little we can do the contextual translation if we know the literal translation of each character. (The literal translation will be placed inside the parentheses)

孙子兵法 / Sūnzǐ bīngfǎ Sunzi, the art of war (Sunzi law of the soldier -law in the context of principle or foundation) 始计 / shǐ jì Laying plans (initiating plans) 课文一 / kèwén yī first text (text one) 孙子曰 / Sūnzǐ yuē: Sunzi said (Sunzi speech) 兵者, 国之大事 / bīng zhě, guózhī dàshì The art of war is a very important issue for the State (What involves the soldiers, it is a great event for the State) 死生之地, / sǐshēng zhī dì It is a matter of life or death (terrain/area of life or death) 存亡之道, / cúnwáng zhī dào It is the path of salvation or ruin (the path of existence or destruction) 不可不察也 ./ bùkě bù chá yě Hence it is a subject of inquiry which cannot be taken lightly. (Consequently it is not possible not to investigate)

I am taking on the challenge of creating a contest where people will be interested on learning stuff. Chinese language will be just the starting point and I am betting on learning to be profitable and funny for all.

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Write a comment below if you would like this proposal and are willing to participate!

Greetings

☯ ☯ ☯ ☯ ☯

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