Inkblots and thrushes and cat pix, oh my!

Readers weigh in on learning heritage languages, the elusive Pollock–Taiwanese modernist art connection, and a Chinese writer who hates parrots.

Dear readers,

It’s been heartening to receive so many warm responses to Catherine’s guest essay about learning Mandarin and Taiwanese. Among the many wonderful outcomes is that we’ve realized how many people are also embarking on their own language-learning journey. We’ve collected a batch of responses to her piece here, along with some older replies to our posts about marriage, Taiwanese modernist art, moving “back” to Asia, and more.

For those who are new to this list, welcome! We send out posts in English on Sundays and in Mandarin on Thursdays. You can unsubscribe to either version by going to the My Account tab on Substack. All our essays have been free so far.

Other updates: This past Thursday, we published responses from jazz musicians and educators in Mandarin. Many thanks to Peter Lin, Hsinwei Chiang, and Jeff Chang for reflecting on their art.

And also, Happy Lunar New Year! Hope everybody has a wonderful Year of the Tiger. 祝大家虎虎生風，虎年行大運！

Readers respond to heritage languages, t…