The Astronaut Farmer Straight Story" and came up with something profound in its simplicity . . . The Polishes set up a classic David and Goliath situation, leaving no question of whom the audience will root for. There are sufficient surprises along the way, so the ending is far from predictable. "The Astronaut Farmer"'s goofy quality makes it totally endearing. It's also super entertaining." Steve Dollar of the "New York Sun" said, "Even for a comedy with dramatic drive, "The Astronaut Farmer" demands that the audience suspend its disbelief on multiple fronts . . . What is believable, however, is the passion of
Chinese as a foreign language late 16th century. Among the first were the Italian Jesuits, Michele Ruggieri and Matteo Ricci. They mastered the language without the aid of any grammar books or dictionaries, and are often viewed as the first Western sinologists. Ruggeiri set up a school in Macau, which was the first for teaching foreigners Chinese and translated part of the "Great Learning" into Latin. This was the first translation of a Confucian classic into any European language. He also wrote a religious tract in Chinese, the first Chinese book written by a Westerner. Matteo Ricci brought Western sciences to China, and became a