Asia Blog: China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam

Hanzi Smatter ????
Dedicated to the misuse of Chinese characters (Hanzi or Kanji) in Western culture.

This blog reminds me of the French language ministry, keeping the language pure. Nonetheless, Hanzi Smatter is a great resource in the fight against misuse of Asian language–and the analysis is quite good. Take this soccer player for example, who either wears the characters for “faith” or “Germany.” Intriguing.

The best part about Hanzi Smatter is that while it is similar in theme to many of the “engrish” sites you see that make fun of bad English in Asia, its purpose is to educate rather than amuse. And, it focuses on Western abuse of Eastern language, a reverse viewpoint rarely found in the blogosphere as it is today.

I’ll be linking them in the blogroll, of course!

In a move to attract global market share, Apple has added more than 1000 Chinese pop tunes, from Kelly Chen, Alan Tam, and more. The launch, reports the Financial Times, is timed to coincide with the Lunar New Year tomorrow.