How Chinese Students Navigate American English

I really respect the Chinese students I encounter in grad school. Thousands of miles from home and struggling to grasp the crazy way we use the Queen’s English here in the States.

This little tool is one way they cope. I call it the Bumblebee.

When someone says a word a Chinese student doesn’t understand, she types it into the Bumblebee. The software grabs information from across the Chinese-language internet and gives her a quick explanation as to what the Hell we just said.

It’s a product of dict.cn, another go-to tool for ex-pat Mandarin speakers.