HONOLULU - Peter Leimbigler, a Canadian Chinese and a language linguist, showed off his unique software known as "KEY" at the annual conference of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) that works intuitively for Chinese language learners.

Clicking any Chinese character will immediately pop up the pinyin and English translation. Leimbigler said he has shown his software, which he developed with computer programmers in 1982, at the AAS annual conference exhibition many times. He said the software is now being used by the US State Department and the US Military Academy.

Like Leimbigler, many of the 110 exhibitors attending the show, which opened Thursday at the Hawaii Convention Center, were also looking to show their wares.

The Center for Chinese Studies in Taiwan brought between 300-400 kinds of books selected from publishers in Taiwan. "We have been attending the AAS events for the past 30 years," said Shu-hsien Tseng, director-general of the National Central Library in Taiwan.

The Shanghai Library, which has attended the AAS annual conference for the past two years but will appear in the exhibition for the first time, plans to promote its late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) Chinese language data as well as data of Chinese periodicals, said Lu Jia from the Shanghai Library.

New York-based M.E. Sharp Inc has brought some 50 books and 10 journals, ranging from Chinese sociology to history. "We have been here for the past 30-40 years," said Patricia Kolb of M.E. Sharp.

About 4,400 people are expected to attend the four-day AAS annual conference in Hawaii this time.

China Daily