Neat!

A page showing how the symbol for goat has evolved.

I wish Long as  Dragon was back in print. It's a very neat book that shows how Chinese characters have evolved. Hint, Hint Dear Publisher...  Amazon has some used, I am out of stock.

Labels: chinese characters

Writing Chinese Characters helps in Learning

There are at least three different styles of learning:

• Auditory
• Visual
• Kinesthetic

The problem is in most schools, only the auditory with a little bit of visual is used. Think of the traditional lecture, where the Teacher lectures the class. The latest is where Power Point is used for teaching, where the kids can be vessels that are theoretically filled with knowledge. By writing Chinese Characters, the third type of learning is used, Kinesthetic.

Just writing Chinese Characters is only part of a well rounded program for Learning Chinese.

Reference:
Calligraphy aids language learning - ChinaDaily USA

Labels: chinese characters, Learning Chinese

Icons are so cute! It reminds me of the book long is a dragon (out of print, unfortunately), which showed how Chinese have evolved. The author has broken down 2,000 Chinese characters to their components, making it easier to learn Chinese.  Her website: http://chineasy.org/

I look forward to seeing where she is going. Her FB page has more.

Learn To Read Chinese In Eight Minutes - Forbes

Labels: chinese characters

Nice article / editoria discussing on why Cursive still matters. I would surprised at how much faster you can write with Cursive. It's interesting as the generations go, the older the person usually the better the handwriting. My Grandmother has wonderful cursive, and my parents so so, and I don't want to talk about my handwriting - I type everything :-)

My daughter has OK handwriting, but she did go to a Christian school for K-5.

I am seeing some of the same thing with the writing of Chinese Characters, where my Father in law has beautiful Chinese writing. He did the Chinese Characters above teh front door of the Joss House Model my daughter did in school.

Essay on why professors should object to the failure to teaching cursive | Inside Higher Ed

Labels: Best Schools, chinese characters

In the US handwriting has also gotten worse over the past 50 years.  My GrandMother has beautiful handwriting and had required classes in penmanship.  My Mother's is pretty good.  No comment on mine :-)  And my Daughter's handwriting is readable, but does not have the beauty of the older generation.  And with computers, I type so much more than I use penmanship.

And China has a similar issue with Chinese characters, where people forget how to write certain characters.  Nice article with examples of common people in Beijing asked to write characters.

China's Handwriting Challenge - The Atlantic

Labels: chinese characters

A customer E-Mailed me with:

I am interested in getting my kids to learn mandarin but not sure on whether to start them on Simplified Mandarin or Tradional Mandarin.


And my reply:


Here is a blog post I wrote on the pro's and con's of each.

http://blog.childbook.com/2007/11/simplified-vs-traditional-chinese.html

The comments are also useful.

I try to be non-judgmental, since there are positives to both. Most US schools are now teaching Simplified Chinese. I have a personal preference for Traditional (I like the idea of a system, but Simplified is what is used in China.
Sincerely,

Ray
http://www.childbook.com/


On Tue, May 10, 2011 at 3:03 AM, Nicki Steele wrote:



Dear Ray and Lilian






What are the pro and cons?



Regards

Nicki

Labels: chinese characters

I have had a couple of customers call me up and tell me they want Mandarin Chinese XYZ.  The last one was Mandarin Flash Cards.

And then I ask Simplified Chinese Books or Traditional Chinese Books.  The person usually does not know.  Then I ask them where there teacher is from.  If Taiwan, Traditional.  If China, Simplified. 

Usually...  Some teachers from Taiwan are teaching Simplified.  I call customers when I see a mixed order of Simplified and Traditional Chinese.  Often the customer mixed the order by mistake.

And then I tell them they probably want Simplified if they are working with a teacher, and I explain the difference and the advantages of Simplified and Traditional Chinese Characters (longer blog post).  Basically a person from China usually thinks Simplified is the best, and a person from Taiwan thinks Traditional is the best.  Supposedly Simpfilied is easier to learn since less strokes, and traditional is easier to learn since more systematic.  Me, I think both are equally hard to learn :-)  The best comment I heard was when the Chinese writing was "Simplified", they did not simplify it enough.

What I find a bit annoying is a Chinese teacher who tells me that Taiwan does not use Mandarin Chinese. The Chinese Teacher knows better.... Mandarin Chinese is the official language in Taiwan.  My wife has been complimented on her Mandarin Chinese by people from China, and she is from Taiwan.

There is Taiwanese accent, just as there is a Shanghainese Accent, Beijing Accent, as well as what China calls Standard Chinese that is used in newscasts and such that is close to the Beijing Accent. I find the Shanghainese Accent very pretty and the Beijing Accent to be a bit harsher, and the Taiwanese Accent nothing special since I hear it all the time.  The Taiwanese Accent is softer than the Beijing Accent.  If you listen to a person speaking Mandarin Chinese you can usually tell where they are from by their accent.

Labels: chinese accents, chinese characters

It's silly, but Apple launched the iPad in Hong Kong without Traditional Chinese Character support.

Hopefully that will change at the rumoured August PR event by Apple.

The lack of Traditional Chinese support is one of the major reasons I have not bought an iPad. I value my head, since my dear Taiwanese Mother-In-Law might take it if I gave her a computer that only supported simplified. On second thought, she would not, but her daughter (my wife) would.

Labels: chinese characters

China worries about losing its character(s) - LA Times

One point the article missed was with the increase in smart phones that allow the direct input of Chinese Characters, such as the iPhone, I believe this will change. Older phones just had a keypad, and if your lucky a keyboard. Many newer phones have a touch screen so you can draw with your finger Chinese characters.

Labels: chinese characters

Traditional Chinese characters deserve World Heritage status - Australia

Interesting article that has both arguments on which on you should learn.

The headache I have seen with some traditional material is it does not do a great job of explaining the system behind Traditional Characters. I do sell Learning Chinese material in both :-)

References:

• Simplifying Chinese Characters Even More?
• Traditional and Simplified Chinese Characters.
• Simplified vs. Traditional Chinese Characters - Which to Learn
• Name Not on Our List? Change It, China Says
• Not as easy as it looks - The Economist.
• The Chinese Language, Ever Evolving - NY Times

Labels: chinese characters

Per the Telegraph, there was a recent proposal to simplify 44 Characters in Chinese even more. The public reaction in China has been 92% against, and 4% for.

IMHO - many of the arguments seem to be very similar to the ones between Simplified Chinese Characters and Traditional Chinese Characters. The issue of the cost of making the changes to all the textbooks seems to be a major one against the change. It's interesting that some places have already made the changes - my guess is as a way of being more trendy.

Plans to simplify Chinese characters provoke anger - UK Telegraph.

An older post of mine that summarizes the arguments between Traditional and Simplified Chinese Characters.

Labels: chinese characters

Schools a battleground over dueling Chinese scripts - LA Times.

I grew up in the city next to Arcadia (Monrovia) and my parents still live there, so I am very familiar with Arcadia. Good article.

Labels: chinese characters

A customer asked what they should use to write Chinese Characters after getting

Long Is A Dragon - Chinese Writing for Kids by Peggy Goldstein

The book is great since it goes through how the character developed. So for a dragon, it will start with a picture of a Dragon and you can see how the Chinese Characters evolved from this. Yes, it's made for kids, but it's a great read for adults also! It goes through this for 75 characters.

The best is the Chinese Brush with Ink to capture the strokes and the differences in thickness. Stroke direction and how the brush varies in thickness when you are into more of an art.

For fun, any brush with paint. The type used in kids projects will work.

For just practicing, a pen works fine. Many teachers just use pens as a nice simple way to practice.

There is also two books that go into more detail:
The Chinese Calligraphy Bible and A Complete Guide to Chinese Calligraphy that goes into more detail on this (designed for adults).

Long Is A Dragon is one of my favorite books,

				Long Is A Dragon - Chinese Writing for Kids by Peggy Goldstein
				Our Price: $17.95
				Pictures provide wonderful introduction to Chinese characters Kids find characters easy to remember Great teaching tool for parents and teachers Features 75 Chinese characters Plus evolution of character strokes One of my most popular books and one of my favorites.

Labels: chinese characters

The NY Times has several people comment traditional vs. Simplified characters. The arguments are the exact same as in a previous post I did and based on where the person is from, you can tell which side they agree with. The best comment I heard was when China simplified the characters, they did not go far enough so both Simplified and Traditional are equally hard to learn. An recent article by the Economist on how the Chinese government is considering to change some of the Simplified Characters.

Reference:

• Simplified vs. Traditional Chinese Characters - Which to Learn
• Name Not on Our List? Change It, China Says
• Not as easy as it looks - The Economist.
• The Chinese Language, Ever Evolving - NY Times.

And for fun I suggest... Fun with Chinese Characters Book, Volume 1 and Long Is A Dragon - Chinese Writing for Kids by Peggy Goldstein

Labels: chinese characters

Chinese calligraphy candidate for world heritage designation - That would be nice, Chinese Characters can be incredibly artistic.

Fun book for kids that teaches some Chinese Characters - Long Is A Dragon - Chinese Writing for Kids by Peggy Goldstein.

And for adults A Complete Guide to Chinese Calligraphy by Qu Lei Lei and The Chinese Calligraphy Bible: The Essential Illustrated Guide to Over 300 Beautiful Characters by Cathy Yat-Ming Wu

Labels: chinese characters

My first choice is Long Is A Dragon - Chinese Writing for Kids by Peggy Goldstein is a fun book that is a great read even if you are not learning Chinese Characters.

• It's fun to see how the Chinese characters evolved.
  
• It shows for example a picture of an ox (with the horns), then the ancient Chinese Symbol that has a curved stroke that looks like a horn, and the current version that does not.
  
• The book also shows you the stroke order
• And explains what happens when you combine two words. Electricity and language, results in telephone.
• The end of the book includes some scrolls that people put on their walls.

It's a great book and a fun activity is get a brush and paper, and have your child do some Chinese Characters for fun! This is also a great book for class room activities.

Labels: chinese characters, Learning Chinese