Hi Everyone,

We didn't come out with a newsletter in March, so have a lot of news to share. In the interest of giving you a quick rundown, here are the three big things we think are worth your time:

1. Sinica - Our New Current Affairs Show

2. An April Promotion - Free Telephone Tutoring

3. Free Chinese Translation Software

1. Sinica - Our New Current Affairs Show

Developed and hosted by Kaiser Kuo, the Sinica show is a current affairs podcast for and by people who *get* China. Our first episode covered some of the less public details on Google's recent pullout from the China market. The second speculated about China's curious about-face on Iran, while our third and most recent episode profiled two of China's most famous gadflies. All episodes are available online right here:

http://popupchinese.com/lessons/sinica/

We can't recommend this series strongly enough. In addition to Kaiser, the show features a heavyweight roster of big names from the foreign community in China. We've already heard from Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei (http://danwei.org), serial China entrepreneur Bill Bishop (http://digicha.com), public relations expert William Moss (http://imagethief.com), and Time and Forbes correspondents Austin Ramzy and Gady Epstein respectively. Also Charlie Custer from China Geeks (http://chinageeks.org). So check it out and get your feedback and suggestions for future topics and guests directly to Kaiser at sinica@popupchinese.com.

2. An April Promotion - Free Telephone Tutoring

We haven't had a promotion in a while, so for the next fifteen days only, we're offering a fourth month for free if you sign up for a three month university course. This is a fantastic deal and it's only valid through the end of this month. So if you're interested in really improving your Chinese email Echo at echo@popupchinese.com and ask her to arrange a free trial class.

3. Free Translation Software:

If you ever find yourself doing translation work, know that we've just released a free Chinese-English translation engine for Windows. Our Popup Chinese translation software has been several years in the making. It combines the best of rules-based approaches to machine translation with cutting-edge statistical methods. It lets you add words and phrases, works offline when you don't have an Internet connection, and taps into the Google translation service to improve translation quality when you're online. This gives you:

* total control over your own translations

* really good default translations of proper nouns, dates, etc.

* your own private dictionary for adding words and phrases

We've designed this software for advanced translators looking for a simple translation tool. But even beginner students may find it useful. So please let us know what you think. You can download the software by visiting the address below. The more feedback we get the better this will get, so tell your friends about it and help us spread word online. And please address feedback to us at service@popupchinese.com. [http://popupchinese.com/community/announcements/free-chinese-translation-software]

And that's it for this month. As always, thank you for listening, And an extra special thanks to everyone who's taken the plunge and supported us with a paid subscription. Your support really does make a difference. And if you haven't please do give it some thought. Our subscriptions start at about $4 per month and will really make a difference in improving your Chinese, not to mention shuffling some karma your way.

Best from Beijing,

The Popup Team

p.s. Anthony is taking a charity ride through Southwestern China at the end of next month. This will promote biking while delivering much needed supplies to schools in some of the poorest parts of China. If you're interested in helping out or curious about the trip, you can read all the details on his site http://ride2freedom.org. Good luck Anthony!