It’s my first class!!

TAOISM (pronounced “Daoism”) is a 2,500 year-old philosophical and religious tradition that originated in ancient China.

In this lesson, we will study the history of philosophical (also called “original”) Taoism, its major figures, and take a short dip into its mystical waters, discussing the core tenets of the philosophy based on brief excerpts from its main texts.

The format of this class will be a PowerPoint presentation, supplemented with video and voice from me and voice- and text-based discussion from all of you!

At the end of this lesson, I hope all attendees will have a greater knowledge of and appreciation for this fascinating view of the world and be able to identify its main principles.

This class will likely run about one hour. The cost is $8 and Superpass is encouraged! No prior knowledge of Taoism nor philosophy in general is necessary, and I encourage all with an interest to attend!

I have scheduled two individual, independent sessions to ensure everyone can come! (Please note times listed below are in PST.) They are:

Sat 14 Nov 9am: Saturday Session
Wed 18 Nov 7pm: Wednesday Session

Thank you so much for putting on the 2 sessions. I just registered for the one in my time zone.
See you in class!

When I was doing research on Sun Tzu (a Taoist himself) I read that there was controversy in some circles about the pronunciation. I’m not sure why – seeing you, more of an expert than I, saying it’s pronounced “Daoism” (as I’ve seen some people write these days), it seems rather clear. :)

Great to see your efforts progressing. Hope it all works out.

@ Debbie, thanks for signing up and I’ll see you then!

@ Jeremiah, you’re absolutely right about the controversy; my understanding of it is that the true pronunciation of the ‘d/t’ sound is more of a cross between the two consonants (Arabic has a similar sound); that being said, however, since that sound is hard for English speakers to make, and since I learned it myself as the ‘d’ sound, (and for the sake of simplicity) I have decided to err on the side of the ‘d’ pronunciation.

Ultimately, I think it’s most important the student understand the concept. If that understanding includes a basic grasp of the way the name of the concept ought to be pronounced, all the better! (If I were teaching one of the Chinese languages, of course, my answer would be different.)

Well I’ve learned Japanese for nearly a dozen years and I completely understand the pitfalls of sounds. Japan’s native writing system for loan words from English (and other languages) has limits to how well it can internalize the roman alphabet so what’s especially crazy is when I’m reading something the Japanese translated into their language, and I’m translating back into English.

Thus, I’m extremely sympathetic to both sides of the debate and to how hard that particular sound is for native English speakers. The less we encourage English speakers to butcher the sounds of foreign words, the better. Good, general rule. :)

“The less we encourage English speakers to butcher the sounds of foreign words, the better.”

I agree! It’s an absolute epidemic as far as America is concerned, what with all the names of formerly-Spanish/Mexican towns and land formations: Los Angeles, San Antonio, Sierra Mountains, etc. As a native Californian, I always try to remain faithful to the pronunciation that the first settlers intended in naming places.

….But back to Taoism: anyone reading this thread should sign up for my course! We already have 3 students for the 14 Nov 9am Saturday course, and 2 students for the 18 Nov 7pm Wednesday course. The more, the merrier!

Just got out of the class. Great presentation and very nicely put together. I really enjoyed the class!! Thank you, Amaura ;~)

Yes, I must post too. Joe is very knowledgeable and his presentation is very very very impressive! I will just love to download every word into my head.

Ditto from me! That was such a great class. Thank you Joe!

Well, glad to hear it’s going well. I’ve continued my Sun Tzu materials and I think I’ve come to understand that even though Sun Tzu was a Taoist, his writings were far more directed towards the real world and the practicalities of it than the philosophical side, even though the core ideas – viewing things as they are, for instance – are from the same roots.

….Hey, Joe, I heard from a Japanese native speaker that some Japanese teachers of English pronounce language, “langage” . I had no idea. That’s why I think that pronunciation is a critical thing. I’ve been meaning to teach it, and I think I’ll focus even more on that. It’s just nice when language is used like a musical instrument instead of a blunt instrument.

Thanks for the kind words, everyone, and for the great first experience being a teacher here on eduFire. I’ll be sure to let you all know when I have another class put together!