About Common Talk - Common Talk Weekly

Here is what some of our staff and friends have to say about Common Talk:

"Thanks to your collective efforts, this past year we've been able to meet fascinating visitors (who roller-blade through Xiamen), enjoy exotic places (thanks to Leslie Kirby's description of Sri Lanka), enjoy "food experiences, (Thanks to Bill Brown, and Tony Mueller). Thanks to the fine articles on Chinese customs, we've also come to appreciate that we do, indeed, have much "in common". In addition to the many entertaining articles that have appeared, Common Talk has also provided us with useful and important information. I was particularly appreciative of SARS related information that you provided to the community early this year.

"On a personal note, I clearly remember the afternoon that YaYu Wu, Chief Editor, visited my office to discuss with me the possibility of assisting The Xiamen Daily, with a new "English Language" section of the newspaper, designed to bring our local and expatriates readers together in spirit. On that afternoon we agreed that as fortunate residents of Xiamen, we had much in common and that such a new section would give us a chance to share our ideas, thoughts, and hopes. In a way, it would be a place where, in print, we could "talk" about life together, a life in common, and there it was in front of us, the name of the new section would be "Common Talk."

"Once again, congratulations to the Xiamen Daily, to the staff of Common Talk and to the many contributing writers who have helped to transform an idea into an exciting and prosperous reality."

"由于你们的不懈努力，过去的一年，我们才能够接触到如此之多令人振奋的、盘踞鹭岛的顶级人物；领略异国风情（特别是对斯里兰卡的描述）；享受了Bill Brown和Tony Mueller带来的美食与盛宴，还有对中华民俗的精彩介绍，我们感到无比荣幸我们有如此之多相同之处。除了这些娱乐大餐，双语周刊还提供了既实用而重要的资讯。尤其是今年你们为大众提供的非典病情的相关信息，我非常满意你们的作法。

"就我个人而言，我还清楚地记得，那个下午，双语周刊的主编来到我的办公室，和我探讨协助厦门日报创办英文版的可能性，以期能为厦门本土与外籍人士带来精神大餐。还是那个下午，我们达成了共识，那就是身为厦门的一员，我们是如此的幸运，拥有诸多共识，而全新的英文版将为我们提供新天地，让我们一起分享想法与希望。我们可以汇聚一堂，探讨我们共同的生活，而且这还将铅印成册。而全新英文版的名字就叫做″Common Talk″。

" 再一次，祝贺厦门日报和双语周刊的全体成员，以及那些辛勤耕耘的作者，有了他们，才让一个想法变成了令人兴奋的现实，前景无限。"

— Dr. Rob Leveillee

"We are all justly proud of our Garden City, but if we are to truly become an International City, we need to understand that foreign guests don't know the city like we do, and we have to work to help them appreciate what sets our city apart from others. To this end, I have just rewritten Amoy Magic (over 400 pages-double the content!), and my wife, Susan, has an English website, http://www.amoymagic.com . The city foreign affairs are also putting together an English promotional brochure so that foreigners can understand that, in fact, Chinese cities are not all alike! And how do we residents keep up with Xiamen's rapid changes? Common Talk is the key!

"As Common Talk improves and expands, I hope that all of us Xiamen lovers, Laowai and Laonei alike, will work together to help the rest of the world see that Xiamen is not all common!"

"我们为所拥有的花园城市而自豪。但是，如果我们真的成为一个国际化大都市，我们必须知道，外宾并不像我们那样了解这座城市，我们需要尽力去帮助他们领略这座城市与众不同的地方。为此，我重写了《魅力厦门》（超过400页，是以前的两倍），我的妻子，苏珊有一个英文网站，http: //www.amoymagic.com。厦门的涉外事务被专门写成了一本小册子，以便老外知道，中国的城市并不全是一个样。那我们这些市民如何才能跟上厦门飞速发展的步伐？双语周刊就是开启的钥匙。

"随着双语周刊的不断发展与壮大，我希望，所有热爱厦门的人，老外也好，老内也罢，能够一起努力，让世界明白厦门是与众不同的!"

— Dr. Bill Brown

"The International Trade Fair in September was a highlight and a challenge for our team at the paper. We went from publishing two pages once a week which were aimed primarily at English language learners, to writing daily pages about international economics to be read by a foreign audience. This time was a test for us to see how we could work together as a team and I am proud to say I think we were successful.

"Now, as the paper expands, I am looking forward to our paper being a bridge between China and the west in Xiamen. It is exciting to be working between two culture and languages. With help from you, the readers, I think CT has the potential to bring our community close together, making Xiamen an even more wonderful place to live."

"而九月的国际投资贸易洽谈会对我们整个团队而言是一次极大的挑战。从原先的基本只针对英语学习者的一周两个版，到后来每天一个版，为外国读者提供国际经济新闻报道，这对我们所有的人都是一场考验，考验我们能否形成一支富有战斗力的团队协力奋斗。现在我可以自豪地说，我们做到了。我们又即将面临一场新的挑战，扩版——扩成八个版。能够游走于两种文化与两种语言之间，这是非常令人兴奋的，在双语读者的帮助下，我认为双语周刊具有很大的潜能——让我们的社会变得更加紧密，让厦门变成更适合居住的绝妙之处。"

— Angela, Language Editor