
Todd just blogged on this. I’m also mentioning it because I don’t want anyone to miss it!
Holly has created a new blog which is an online KTV! You can watch videos and sing along with the lyrics thanks to her incredible effort of romanizing the Chinese.
The upshot of this is obvious: now your drunken nights in the local karaoke can actually count for something as you practice your Chinese skills on singing!
Here are a few words from Holly herself:
“After a few months in Taiwan, I began to study Chinese, and I became attracted to the idea of learning Chinese songs to a) improve my Chinese skills, b) expand my selection at KTV, c) impress others with my ability to sing in Chinese, even if only a few songs, and d) increase my awareness of Taiwanese pop culture so I’d know what people were talking about when they were discussing Jay Chou’s latest album or the most recent rumor about Wang Lee Hom. What’s more, I feel that I’m musically inclined, and find it easy to remember songs. I’m one of those people who can sing an entire song, word for word, but couldn’t tell you the artist or title.
Remembering Chinese songs, however, is much more difficult. For me, it’s nearly impossible to sing a Chinese song from memory simply from having heard it over and over. And although these days I can read a lot of Chinese characters, enough to get me by at KTV, I need to visualize the lyrics in pinyin if I want to sing a song to myself while driving my scooter through Taipei.”
Even if you aren’t studying Chinese, Holly’s new site is fun! People around the world love these catchy tunes but most people don’t have a clue how to sing them. Thankfully the romanized lyrics make it easy for anyone to sound like a pro.
Hui-chen and I want to thank Holly for her excellent new site.