This first post will look at the first two categories in the list : East Asian Languages and Other Languages.

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East Asian Languages :

Learn one new chengyu (成语) or kotowaza (諺) every week – Anyone who has studied Mandarin or Japanese will know that chengyu and kotowaza crop up a lot in written and spoken language, so I feel that learning how to use these effectively would be a good way for me to improve my Mandarin and Japanese language skills.

Learn 5 less commonly-used Chinese characters every week - I come across a lot of unknown characters when reading articles or books on certain specialist subjects (e.g. archaeology, gastronomy) so I thought it would be a good idea to start memorising some of those less commonly-used hanzi rather than look them up in the dictionary every time I come across them. I plan to write down any unknown or poorly understood characters in a notebook and will try to memorize them during my daily commute to or from work.

Learn the Tibetan script - I once attempted to learn the Tibetan script and managed to memorise most of the Tibetan alphabet but I couldn’t quite grasp the notion of subscript and superscript letters or understand how written Tibetan relates to modern-day spoken Tibetan. I also plan to learn how to transcribe Tibetan text using the Wylie transliteration scheme so that I can look up any unknown words in the online dictionaries.

Learn 200 words in Tibetan – Is 200 words enough to learn some basic Tibetan? I honestly don’t know but there’s nothing stopping me from learning 300 or even 500 words. The focus will be on everyday topics, such as food, likes/dislikes, and emotions, and I will try to make a habit of writing (or typing) out these words in Tibetan along with their transliterations. If needs be, I might even create some flashcards to use in my studies.

Learn 50 basic sentences & phrases in Tibetan – What good would it do me if I learnt 200 words in Tibetan without knowing how to use them in a sentence? For this task, I plan to learn basic Tibetan grammar and learn how to construct my own sentences as well as memorize a number of greetings and set phrases.

Take the JLPT Level N4 exam – I’ve been meaning to take the JLPT Level N4 exam for some time now. In fact, I first thought about this when I was still living in Taiwan (2005-2006) and, frankly, I think it’s time that I stopped thinking about it and actually get round to doing it. The only thing that has really stopped me from sitting the exam is the fact that there are no JLPT test centres here in the Netherlands (which I find quite strange considering there’s a Japanese department at Leiden University). This means that I would have to fly over to London or Edinburgh and while this would make for a wonderful (and stressful) weekend break, I would need to take flight and hotel costs into consideration. I haven’t set any dates yet but I would like to sit the exam in 2013 if time and funds allow me to.

Write one blog post in Japanese every month for at least a year – What better way for me to improve my Japanese writing skills than writing one blog post every month? This seems to be an excellent way for me to master basic Japanese grammar and I’ll award myself bonus points if I can squeeze in a kotowaza or two into each post.

Learn all of the words on Japanesewords.net’s vocabulary list - This list contains over 1,200 words and seems to cover quite a wide range of vocabulary. It’s not perfect and I’m sure there are words in there that I don’t really need to learn but where’s the harm in trying?

Read 3-5 Japanese news articles each month & learn any new vocabulary I come across - Reading newspaper articles is a great way to learn new vocabulary and boost reading comprehension, so every month I will select a few articles which deal with topics I’m interested in and will try to learn any new words and grammar points I come across.

Read at least 3 novels in Dutch - While my Dutch has improved significantly over the years, my knowledge of Dutch slang, proverbs and metaphor is still fairly limited. I plan to tackle this by reading a number of Dutch-language novels, ideally at least one each year. One of these will be a Dutch translation of an English-language novel, most likely one I have already read, but the rest will be books by Dutch or Flemish authors.

Read at least 3 novels in French - This task ties in with my quest to improve my French and novels seem like a great way for me to boost my reading comprehension skills. For this task I will avoid translated literature and will only select novels by Francophone authors.

Learn 3 new languages to A1/A2 level - It remains to be seen whether I will have any time (or energy) left to study three new languages to A1 or A2 level but the enthusiasm is certainly there. Choosing three languages to focus on will be a challenge in itself but I will most likely choose languages that may be of practical use in my daily life or travels. Linguistic curiosity and cultural interest are usually the key factors in deciding which language I’d like to learn but it might be worth having a particular goal in mind before I devote time and effort to learning another foreign language.

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In my next “101 Challenge” post, I will talk a bit more about the reading, writing and translation goals on my list. Any feedback or advice you may have will be very welcome so please feel free to share your thoughts.

NOTE : Levels A1, A2 and B1 refer to the common reference levels used by the Council of Europe to describe language proficiency. Full details of the six proficiency levels recognised by the Council can be found here.

• Aeri’s Kitchen - Aeri shows you how to eat bulgogi (불고기).
• Appetite for China - Diana shares her recipe for delicious shrimp and chive dumplings (韭菜虾饺).
• Bathhouse Ballads - Nick walks among the totem poles (장승) of Cheollanamdo.
• ChineseQuest - The author tackles the Chinese-language edition of Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone.
• Dale’s Korean Temple Adventures - Dale visits the Mitaam Hermitage (미타암) in Yangsan.
• East Asia Student - Hugh lists ten popular misconceptions about the Chinese language.
• Fili’s World - Fili explores Seoul’s charming Insadong (인사동) neighbourhood.
• Finlando Nadeshiko in Kyoto - The author writes about celebrating the New Year in Nara.
• Fuchsia Dunlop - Fuchsia talks about the joys of green garlic (蒜苗).
• Haikugirl’s Japan - Ali gives her blog a radical makeover.
• Hoops & Homonyms - Ian survives his first Lunar New Year in Nanjing and lives to tell the tale.
• Hiroyuki’s Blog on Japanese Cooking - Hiroyuki explains how to make onigiri (おにぎり).
• Interactive Expat - PJSheeps talks about the costs of raising a child in Beijing.
• Japanese Rule of 7 - Ken explains why kanji must be learnt.
• Just Hungry - Maki explains some of the superstitions and traditions associated with Japan’s setsubun (節分) festival.
• Life Behind the Wall - Jo talks about her New Year’s dinner with her in-laws in the Chinese countryside.
• Life in Kawagoe - The author talks about bingata (紅型), Okinawan traditional dyed cloths.
• Life on Nanchang Lu - Fiona lists seven good reasons to visit Nanjing’s Lantern Fair.
• Living a Dream in China - Sara sets her Chinese listening goal for 2012.
• Mandarin Segments - Greg shares his thoughts on language exchange partners.
• Notes from Xi’an – Richard samples some of the local delicacies in Xi’an’s Muslim Quarter.
• Olle Linge - Olle assess his progress in learning Chinese and reviews his goals for the coming year.
• Out to Lunch - Carolyn serves up some sweet stuffed Asian pears (八寶黎罐).
• Sinoglot - Kellen writes about number taboos in Sino-Korean.
• Sinosplice - John talks about his personal experience with the particle 嘛.
• Shu Flies - Catherine visits the fortune tellers of the Longshan Temple metro station mall (龍山寺捷運站地下街).
• Taiwan Duck - The author shows readers how to cook Taiwanese-style seafood noodles (台式海鮮炒麵).
• Tales from Hebei - Kelly’s guide to roasting a turkey in China in 15 easy steps.
• The China Beat - Daisy reviews Li Miao Lovett’s novel In the Lap of the Gods.
• The Daily Bubble Tea - Todd shares photos of a family day out at the Nantou Sand Sculpture Festival (南投市貓羅溪畔沙雕藝術節).
• The Eye of Tengri - Andrew posts a 4-part series on how a Mongolian ger is erected.
• The Japanese Food Report - Harris cooks up a scrumptious udon-chicken-clam hot pot.
• The View From Over Here - The author partakes in the Seollal (설날) activities at Namsangol Hanok Village (남산골한옥마을).
• This Isn’t HuHot? - The author celebrates the New Year (Шинэ жил) Mongolian style.
• TsukuBlog - Avi writes about the role of dragons in Japanese culture and history.
• Where Mt. Fuji Meets Matterhorn - Sibylle celebrates her 10-year anniversary of living in Japan.
• You’re Not From Around Here, Are You? - Steve’s guide to recreating Chinese New Year from the comfort of your computer.

That’s all for this week. The next blog round-up will be posted on Sunday 5th February 2012.

Don’t forget that you can follow Eye on East Asia on Twitter and Facebook.

If you are interested in sharing your expertise and experiences with fellow readers, please let me know by replying to this post or sending me an email to eyeoneastasia_at_gmail_dot_com.

Full details of my 101 Challenge can be found here. It’s ambitious, to say the least, but what fun would a challenge be if it was easily achieved?

Before I sign off for the night, I want to wish all my readers in East Asia (and the rest of the world) a wonderful New Year.

祝大家新年快乐！龙年行大运，身体健康，万事如意!

• Aeri’s Kitchen - Aeri shares her recipe for sweet red bean bbang (단팥빵).
• Appetite for China - Diana compiles a list of her favourite Chinese New Year dishes.
• Bamboo Butterfly - Rhonda talks about her experiences of dating Taiwanese men.
• Beyond Kimchee - Holly shows you how to make Yangzhou-style fried rice (扬州炒饭).
• Confused Laowai - Niel shares his thoughts on a polyglot’s mission to become a fluent Mandarin speaker in just three months.
• Dale’s Korean Temple Adventure - Dale visits the Sujeongsa Temple (수정사) in Ulsan.
• Easy Korean Food - Luna shares her recipe for Korean rice cake soup (떡국).
• Frog in a Well : China – The author writes about the differences between the Chinese long (龙) and the Western dragons.
• Gyeongju Blog - Sherwin discovers a Youtube channel with dozens of videos on Korean cultural heritage sites.
• Haikugirl’s Japan - Alison’s top five things that she loves about winter in Japan.
• Hermitage Hideaways - Gregory posts a slideshow of photos taken at the Geumcheon Market (금천시장) in Seoul.
• Japan : Life & Religion - Doug talks about his recent visit to the Meiji Shrine (明治神宮) in Tokyo.
• Jay Dee in Japan - Jay Dee wonders if bloggers can also be authors.
• Jottings From the Granite Studio - Jeremiah gets ready to celebrate the Spring Festival (春节).
• Lingomi - Steven interviews Hugh Grigg, author of the blog East Asia Student.
• Living a Dream in China - Sara tries to determine how immersed she is in Chinese culture and language.
• My Kafkaesque Life - The author teaches readers some Chinese New Year sayings (in Mandarin and Taiwanese).
• Notes From Xi’an - Richard travels to his wife’s village for a pre-Spring Festival visit.
• Osaka Insider - Patrick announces to release of his new guidebook Osaka Insider : A Travel Guide for Osaka Prefecture.
• Out to Lunch - Carolyn shares her recipe for vegetarian dumplings.
• Roboseyo - Rob shares his thoughts on ddeok (떡), Korean rice cakes.
• ROK Drop - GI Korea reviews the Korean film Castaway on the Moon (김씨 표류기).
• Shards of China - Nicholas talks about one of his least favourite foods: the infamous stinky tofu (臭豆腐).
• Shizuoka Gourmet - The author shares a simple recipe for tasty tonkatsu (豚カツ) sauce.
• Shu Flies - Catherine visits the New Year market in Taipei’s Dihua Street (迪化街).
• Surviving in Japan - Ashley interviews Sam Baldwin, author of the book For Fukui’s Sake : Two Years in Rural Japan.
• Taiwan Duck – The author shares a recipe for a popular Chinese New Year treat : sweet rice cakes (年糕).
• Tigers & Magpies - Eddie writes about his visit to the Noseo-ri (너서리) and Nodong-ri ((노동리) tombs in Gyeongju last September.
• Tofugu - Hashi talks about umami (うま味), the savoury taste that gives many Japanese dishes their distinct flavour.
• TravelWireAsia - Chris gives some tips on how to survive the Korean noraebang (노래방), or karaoke hall.
• TsukuBlog - The author talks about the various lucky charms used by Japan’s entry exam takers.
• Webs of Significance - YTSL lists her top ten Hong Kong films of 2011.
• What Can I Do With a BA in Japanese Studies? - Rachel visits the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka (三鷹), Tokyo.
• Xinjiang : Far West China - Josh bemoans the destruction of Kashgar’s Old City.
• You’re Not From Around Here, Are You? - Steve writes about his recent trip to Lijiang ( 丽江).

That’s all for this week. The next Eye on East Asia Blog Round-up will be posted on Sunday 29th January 2012.

PS. Details of my new project will be posted on the blog tomorrow (23rd) so keep an eye out for that!

• AFP – China Offers Sri Lanka Help to Find Silk Route Wrecks
• Anhui News - Hefei to Build a Street for Cultural Heritage
• China Daily - 200 Square Metres of Frescoes Restored in Mogao Grottoes
• China Daily - Ancient Royal Ritual to be Reenacted
• China Daily - Chinese Paint the Town Red
• China Daily - Living in the Shadows
• China Daily - Relics from Yinxu Ruins on Display in Sichuan
• China Daily - Six-talent City of Confucius
• China.Org.Cn - The Ancient Bell Museum
• People’s Daily - Relics Shed Light on Human History
• Xinhua - Drunken Dragon Festival Exhibition Kicks Off in Macao
• Xinhua - Xixi Wetland Park in Hangzhou Earns AAAAA Status

Japan :

• Asahi Shimbun - Hiragana Letters on Earthenware Bring Back Memories of Heian Culture
• Daily Yomiuri - Japan’s Blue Pearl
• Mainichi Daily News - Oldest Hiragana Version of ‘Iroha’ Poem Found on Ancient Earthenware in Mie

Mongolia :

• BBC News – Life in Mongolia
• People’s Daily - Mongolian President Calls for Wider Use of Traditional Script
• UB Post - Creating Art with Woodblock

South Korea :

• Korea Herald - Professor Casts New Light on Seoul Fortress Wall
• Korea IT Times - More Temples to Welcome Foreign Visitors Year-round
• Korea Times - Art and History of ‘Hangwa’
• Korea Times - Ways to Enjoy Seollal with Family
• The Hankyoreh - Cultural Rites Provide Key to Understanding Ourselves
• The Hankyoreh - Leave Ancestral Rites Where They Belong – in the Past
• Yonhap News Agency - Government Pushes for Joint Exhibition of Joseon Annals with North Korea

Taiwan :

• Taiwan Today - Film Documents Atayal’s Yearning for Home

Tibet :

• Radio Free Asia - Tibetan Culture Remains Strong

Readers are more than welcome to “like” the page. Come and join in the discussion with your fellow East Asia enthusiasts.

• Aeri’s Kitchen - Aeri shares her recipe for red bean porridge, or patjuk (팥죽).
• Beyond Kimchee - Holly shows readers how to make their own savoury mung bean pancakes, or bindaetteok (빈대떡).
• ChinaB - The author responds to Jonathan Levine’s article “Go East, Young Man“.
• Dale’s Korean Temple Adventures - Dale visits the serene Geumgangam Hermitage (금강암) in Busan.
• Finding Fukuoka - Patrick lists his top ten Japanese character mascots (and his three least favourite).
• Fluent Flix - Alan posts a list of useful Chinese food vocabulary with a focus on Shanghai cuisine.
• Gyeongju Blog - Sherwin talks about the odd-looking wooden fish knocker at Bunhwangsa Temple (분황사).
• Haikugirl - Alison visits the “Manga at the British Museum” exhibition and shares her thoughts on the manga Professor Munakata’s British Museum Adventure.
• How to Japonese - Daniel gives a few examples of how one can use the phrase okagesama de (お陰様で) in everyday conversation.
• Kamigata Rakugo & Me - Matt has a fun day out at the Osaka Shitennôji Doya-doya (大阪四天王寺どやどや) festival.
• Ken Lee Writes - Ken tries some chicken sashimi (鳥わさ) and lives to tell the tale.
• Living a Dream in China - Sara sets her language learning goals for 2012.
• Mandarin Segments - Greg explains what he looks for when choosing a Chinese teacher.
• Out to Lunch - Carolyn shares her recipe for laba zhou (腊八粥), a thick, sweet porridge eaten in the twelve lunar month.
• Red Cook - Kian cooks up a Yunnanese -style abalone mushroom stir fry (九層塔炒杏鮑菇).
• Roboseyo - Rob talks about some of the challenges facing cyclists in Seoul.
• Seeing Red in China - Casey reviews Travis Lee’s book The Journey Through Nanking.
• Shards of China - Nicholas talks about his first encounter with chicken feet.
• Shu Flies - Catherine gives advice to those who may be suffering from depression and living abroad.
• Speaking of China - Jocelyn interviews Carolyn Phillips and learns how she charmed her Chinese family through food.
• Taiwan Xifu - Serina visits Chungtai Chan Monastery (中台禅寺) in central Taiwan.
• The Lobster Dance - Leah talks about her recent trip to snowy Shirakawa-go (白川郷).
• The Taiwan Adventure Blog - Chris posts some photos taken in colourful Kenting (墾丁).
• Tsuku Blog - Avi explains what happens at a dondoyaki (どんど焼き) bonfire ceremony.
• Wandering Taiwan - Micki and Kristen explore the Guanghe Temple (廣和宮) in Xinpu (新埔).
• Webs of Significance - YTSL lists her ten highlights of 2011.
• You’re Not From Around Here, Are You? - Steve goes on a walking tour of Chongqing (重庆).

That’s all for this week. The next blog round-up will be posted on Sunday 22nd January 2012.

• China Daily - Channeling the Flow
• China Daily –  Keeping the Wall Standing
• China Daily - Last Living Ancient Falconry Tribe in NE China
• China Daily - Paper Trail to Prosperity
• China.Org.Cn - Official: No Excavation Plans for Wu Zetian’s Tomb
• China.Org.Cn - Redevelopment Akin to Rewriting History
• CNN - Chinese Town Threatened By Modernization
• CRI English - New Head Appointed for China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage
• CRI English - The Decline of Chinese Language Proficiency
• People’s Daily Online - Cao Cao Tomb Protection Proposal Under Discussion
• People’s Daily Online - China to Step Up Protection of Immovable Cultural Relics
• People’s Daily Online - New Palace Museum Head Named
• People’s Daily Online - Shandong to Renovate Oldest Section of Great Wall
• Xinhua - Grass Roots Enjoying Free Admission to Chinese Museums

Japan :

• Daily Yomiuri - Japanese Food Wins Over Foreign Epicures
• Japan Times - Nosing Around Nada, the Nation’s Sake-brewing Mecca
• Mainichi Daily News - ICOMOS President Calls Mt. Fuji a ‘Universally Recognized Cultural Symbol of Japan’

South Korea :

• Korea Times - New Book on Nation-branding Published
• Yonhap News Agency - South Korea Puts 9 Sites on UNESCO’s Temporary Heritage List

Taiwan :

• Taipei Times - Pillars of the Community
• Taiwan Today - Documentary Spotlights Efforts to Return Amis Lost Souls

So what do I have in mind? Well, the project will kick off as from January 23rd (if all goes to plan) so watch this space and you’ll soon find out what I have planned.  :)