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Copying and pasting tables from word (the best way to keep them formatted nicely) is a bit unpredictable. Pasting one table is fine but pasting another table does some weird things. It either puts them next to each other or creates a huge amount of space between them, and no matter how much tweaking I do I can't seem to get it to display decently. Usually the extra space is invisible in the editing pane and only shows up after you submit. I also get "phantom" cells popping up that can't be deleted if I delete empty rows in a table. Selecting the table, including new lines above and below and pressing delete will only delete the new lines most of the time. The only thing I can do is delete a big chunk above and below the cell, and that usually gets it. I can understand why you wouldn't want to turn HTML editing on since 95% of the time things are better without it. It sure would make things easier for that 5% of the time though.

Apologies for recent downtime and errors, folks - I've only been able to keep one eye on the site lately. I'm hoping to move to a more suitable host in the near future.

Theoretically yes, but it's not something I'd be keen to turn on. What specifically are you trying to do?

Is there some way to be able to edit the HTML of a post? Sometimes when pasting content from other places it can be really difficult to get it to look right, and occasionally things will look ok in the editor but be broken when you actually submit the post or the changes.

Definitely normal for some people including myself to look super-serious when concentrating on getting foreign words to come out of your mouth right. Following identical advice - try smiling when you talk to a stranger - I instantly got a warmer response. Thoughts: 1. I'm sure you know you're actually supposed to squeeze your lips into something close to a smile when making certain Chinese sounds 2. Doing so has the bonus effect of making your voice sound more animated and lively 3. I think smiling will make your eyes seem more sparkling and friendly too 4. East Asians generally ignore the mouth for visual clues about the speakers mood and focus only on brow, eyes and nose area, unlike Westerners who focus them all 5. After a certain age I think foreign men in China typically have to inject an extra bit of cheer into their demeanor when talking to most strangers who don't normally have much interaction with people like us.

Why not speak Chinese like Clint Eastwood? Or if you prefer Jason Statham. The face could just be a mask with no relation to what is inside. I don’t want to take your smile away, but just to appreciate that other cultures have different cultural values- East vs West. When in Rome do as the Romans do. I think you may consider smiling less.

In a book about classical guitar whose (which's?) name I can't remember, the author talks about "sympathetic tension". It's when your muscles that aren't related to an activity that you're learning, tense up to try and "help" the muscles that are. This is probably something similar, and you'll definitely loosen up and become more natural (which includes facial expressions) as you get better and more aspects of speaking become automatic. For guitar they recommended breaking down practice into the smallest unit possible, as well as slowing down to reduce tension and make better progress. I'm not sure what the parallels are but maybe you could do some specific pronunciation drills before as a warm-up, to get yourself primed and more relaxed for general speaking. Or try to isolate the parts of speaking that you have the most trouble with (some grammar points? a particular aspect of pronunciation? vocabulary?) and work on those separately.

I also think that the less control you have over the language, the less ability to express intricacies and shades of meaning, the more you have to make up for it with body language and facial expressions. It is true that you don't have to, but unlike when you are speaking in your native language, the chances of being perceived as rude and unfriendly are higher depending on your mastery of the language. You might very easily say something that is too direct or downright rude (still happens to me when speaking english) and a smile is the best way to make sure people know you don't mean to be aggressive and that you want to establish a friendly relationship (unless you don't want to of course...)

This is great! Thank you!

It's all in the mind. Mine must be riddled with obscurations, Practical Chinese Reader just jumped at me 😨 I agree with those suggestions. @Eibar Even if you're nowhere near, you can email them, they will give you better advice than most of us here can. They might even have some distance learning organised since Covid. As for books, Van Norden's book Classical Chinese for Everyone may be a good start, I'd forgotten about it but it has had good reviews and is relatively cheap.

I agree with @Moshenabove. I would feel like a fool (and look like a fool) if I tried to smile too much in conversation. My lack of a smile is not due to intense concentration on the intricacies of the language. But, after all, I'm not a salesman or a TV presenter. I'm not a politician. Maybe if I had a lobotomy I would smile all the time.

Do you always smile when speaking English? If not, then don't worry about smiling when speaking Chinese. Be yourself. That has a much better impact on others than a fake or forced smile.

Funny I missed this, but as the OP mentioned it in the same sentence as Fuller and Pulleyblank, I just automatically read "Practical Chinese Reader" as Rouzer's "A New Practical Primer of Literary Chinese". Obviously, the latter will be infinitely more helpful for the OP's aims. Where are you based? The Sheng-yen foundation out of Dharma Drum Mountain fund outreach work and maybe even scholarships. When I was in London, I attended a weekly workshop and even a few weekend conferences around the translation and interpretation of Buddhist texts organised at SOAS which were funded by Sheng-yen.

Kind of a weird question, but how can I smile more when speaking Chinese? My wife mentioned, while I've Been making speaking practice videos, that I don't smile when speaking Chinese. I agree with her and I'm probably am the same when speaking face to face, especially with people I don't know. I guess it's because it takes all my concentration on the language, I'm not thinking about smiling. Any ideas?

练习口语的问题挑战，第23天。 30 day speaking challenge, Day 23. https://youtu.be/wntHHFplXWw

练习口语的问题挑战，第22天。 30 day speaking challenge, Day 22. https://youtu.be/ZH4Lb7aUzt8

练习口语的问题挑战，第21天。 30 day speaking challenge, Day 21. https://youtu.be/PzGQHuVR3lk

练习口语的问题挑战，第20天。 30 day speaking challenge, Day 20. https://youtu.be/FvVUuIVkIIs

练习口语的问题挑战，第19天。 30 day speaking challenge, Day 19. https://youtu.be/EZPYakw98lc

练习口语的问题挑战，第18天。 30 day speaking challenge, Day 18. https://youtu.be/HT3NQW_CaKA

@SmartHanzi I came to correct the apps mixup in my post, but you'd already done it for me. Thanks! I haven't used the DDB in a long time, obviously 😕 Sorry about the confusion!

Thank you @Luxi for referring to SmartHanzi. SmartHanzi actually encompasses 2 apps: SmartHanzi and DDB Access. SmartHanzi is for general purpose (contemporary Chinese), DDB Access is specifically for Buddhist texts. DDB Access includes the full definitions (meanings) from Charles Muller's DDB. DDB was originally a website, "DDB Access" adds a more comfortable... access from smartphone and desktops. Both apps are free. For details, see www.smarthanzi.net For Buddhist texts, one should use DDB Access since it shows the full definitions with explanations. The point is that DDB is a cooperative work with full access only for contributors. But practically, DDB and DDB Access allow 20 full definitions per 24 hours for anyone. BTW with "guest" login, be careful to use the main server. At the moment, guest access is not available on Japan mirror. The Soothill and Hodous dictionary was removed from DDB Access in 2011, since it seems to be considered now as out of date and inaccurate by most scholars. According to C. Muller: "The Soothill data that resides within the DDB has for the most part been carefully checked, and correct, removed, or annotated as necessary." Current versions: - Android, Windows(*) and Mac versions are up to date. - iPhone, iPad: significant updates to be published (hopefully) in a few days. (*) Windows: be careful to download from www.smarthanzi.net (avoid the Microsoft Store version at the moment, WIP). Let alone the apps and techical issues, some points may need to be clarified. "Buddhism" encompasses spiritual traditions as well as religious, social or political organizations which developed over 2500 years in a huge geographical area (Asia). The core teachings are common but the visible forms may be very, very different. IMHO, the core teachings are not that far from a modern "therapy" (my Buddhist friends might not agree) while many schools have their own views and corpus of texts with different meanings for the same word. "Classical Chinese" also seems to have no clear cut definition: see Kai Vogelsang's "Introduction to Classical Chinese" for a discussion. Moreover, as far as I know, the first Buddhist translators (from Sanskrit) in China were confronted to an Indian view of the world very different from the Chinese tradition. It took much time to "standardize the process". If I am not mistaken this had significant consequences on the Chinese language itself (e.g. description of past / present / future). "Buddhist Chinese" might be more appropriate than "Classical Chinese" for Buddhist texts. Referring to Sanskrit does not necessarily clarifies the issue: - Yes, Sanskrit is the lingua franca for Buddhism. It is helpful to know the original word in Sanskrit. - But the Sanskrit word may also have different meanings in different times or schools. For instance, "Buddha" in ancient Buddhism refers to the original Buddha ("M. Gautama", aka Sakyamuni). In mahayana, it has a much wider and abstract sense. - One should remember that Sanskrit words generally refer to simple, usual things. There is no mystery, the point is to understand them in the context, with our own words. Buddhist texts can often be classified with: - Root texts: very short texts with the main reasoning (concepts), not intended to be directly understood. See for instance the Trimsika (first sample in DDB Access). - Comments for clarification. - Comments of comments for clarification of the comments... For all these reasons, I fully agree with the recommendation above: "Besides reading lots of books, reading the Chinese texts alongside good translations is very, very helpful."

It is classical Chinese but Han and later. Buddhism was introduced to China in the Han Dynasty, texts only started to arrive in the Eastern Han. Kumarajiva lived during the eastern? Jin dynasty. Xuanzang during Sui and Tang. Bodhidharma, 6th Patriarch, and others: Tang. Lots more after Tang. Check cbeta's Text selector > By date and Dynasty at : https://cbetaonline.dila.edu.tw/en/ First, start with traditional characters only. Drop "Practical Chinese Reader" and anything from PCR. If you're a beginner, De Francis (if you can find it) is probably best. There must be good textbooks from Taiwan, but I'm not familiar. On the Classical Chinese front: grammars (Pulleyblank, Archie Barnes, Vogelsang) may help. Definitely Kroll dictionary. What I've seen of original texts, it's not a heavy strict 文言文，more a sort of hybrid 文言文 /百话。 But Buddhist Chinese is a branch on its own, neither typical Classical nor Modern Chinese will prepare you for translating Chinese Buddhist texts. You pick up the Sanskrit as you go along reading texts in translation, most serious translations will include the sanskrit terms. Besides reading lots of books, reading the Chinese texts alongside good translations is very, very helpful. Many texts here as you know 😊 https://cbetaonline.dila.edu.tw/en/ This a very good tool by Jean-Soulat: https://www.smarthanzi.net/en/index.php The app is available for Windows PC, Mac, Android and iOS. It incorporates the DDB (digital dictionary of Buddhism). More about it in this thread: https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/57872-chinese-etymology-in-smarthanzi/?do=findComment&comment=448995 And below an overwhelming cluster of references. Dictionaries W E Soothill "A dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms" online at: https://mahajana.net/texts/soothill-hodous.html If you have Pleco, this dictionary is also free in Pleco, search under Add-ons>Free Dictionaries. Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (Charles Muller) http://www.buddhism-dict.net/ddb/ Translations and more references Lotus Sutra https://www.bdk.or.jp/document/dgtl-dl/dBET_T0262_LotusSutra_2007.pdf Avatamsaka Sutra (better known than Lotus Sutra in China) http://www.cttbusa.org/avatamsaka/avatamsaka_contents.asp.html Bibliography of Translations http://mbingenheimer.net/tools/bibls/transbibl.html Numata Centre for Buddhist Translations / Hamburg Buddhist Studies https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/en/publikationen.html https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/en/publikationen/hamburg-buddhist-studies.html (refs, open access) Khyentse Foundation / 84000 https://84000.co/resources/translator-resources https://84000.co/ ( includes Readinng Room with translations from Tibetan sources) Centre for Buddhist Studies - Universiteit Gent https://www.cbs.ugent.be/node/403 Centre for Applied Buddhism (UK) https://www.appliedbuddhism.org.uk/library Center for Buddhist Studies of National Taiwan University https://homepage.ntu.edu.tw/~ntucbs/info/index_en.html#4 Major Buddhist temples: City of 10,000 Buddhas (Master Hsuan Hua) http://www.cttbusa.org/buddhadharma_tableofcontents.asp.html Dharma Drum Mountain (Master Sheng-Yen) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharma_Drum_Mountain https://ddmba.org/ Fo Guang Shan (Buddha Light Association) (Master Hsin Yun) https://www.fgs.org.tw/en/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fo_Guang_Shan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fo_Guang_Universit Probably in Taiwan, email any of the major tamples and they will help you. In fact, if there is a branch of a (reliable) Chinese Buddhist organization near where you live, visit them and you may even find a teacher, they are so incredibly helpful (at least they were when I was looking for Chinese tutors) Hope this helps.

Certainly plenty of Sanskrit loanwords. If you're focus is purely Chinese Buddhist texts, you might find this webpage useful: here Aside from loanwords, another major issue is the complexity of the Buddhist philosophy. From what I remember, in a number of the key texts, the central idea is one of paradox, so you end up reading lots of sentences which translate as: "A is A, A is not A", or some such meaning. So, translating it is one thing, understanding it something else entirely. The most enjoyable text I remember reading was the origin story of Huineng at the beginning of the platform sutra. This is contained entirely in the first chapter (I never made it to later chapters) and is supposedly very famous. It contains a well-known poetry contest for succession.

How to approach the Chinese of Buddhist texts? Wikipedia says that the Chinese Buddhist canon is written in "Classical Chinese", but what form of Chinese are we talking about? I mean, speaking specifically of the pre-Tang (Kumarajiva) and Tang (Zhiyi, Xuanzang) texts, what other things do we have to consider to fully understand the context of the texts? Issues like Middle Chinese and Sanskrit loanwords. I mean, speaking of books and readers, do "New Practical Chinese Reader", "An Introduction to Literary Chinese," and "Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar" fulfill this purpose, or do they preferably stay in the context of Zhou-Han's literature? It is understandable that linguistic works like Jerry Norman's do not address this at all, I know they are more vernacular and not philological. But I mean that even literarily, the concept of classical Chinese makes Zhou's literature eclipse the Buddhist Canon. If I am wrong, I would appreciate any opinion. In conclusion, I would like to start reading the Taisho Canon in its digital formats, such as CBETA and SAT, as well as tickling the monster of original manuscripts of the Lotus Sutra... The HDC or the Paul W. Kroll are dictionaries that might help? Is there any manual on this form/stage of literary Chinese? Should I learn Sanskrit?