Part-by-Part | lcww-lessons

Compare 17 strokes with 6 parts, which is easier to remember?

It is obvious that learning a character Part-by-Part (PBP) is easier. These parts function like English alphabets—they are repeatedly used to create different Chinese characters.

Many learners will counter that they are already using the PBP method, as they can recognise the same components in different characters.

The value-added contribution that we make here is to identify and organise these 200 over alphabets systematically in 32 stroke patterns. This further reduce the mental demand required to remember the alphabets and their stroke order.

Redefining Composition of Characters

Through this series of books, we are seeking to redefine our understanding on the composition of Chinese characters. Chinese characters are composed by parts which consist of qTRAILS Alphabet(s) and/or stroke(s) .

Is it Necessary to Write Chinese Characters in a Certain Order?

Is it really necessary to write the strokes of Chinese characters in a certain order?

Can’t I just start from any stroke? Can I change the stroke order?

Why Write in a Certain Order?

Refer to the activity ‘Write this word’ on page x.

For people who are used to writing words in a left to right orientation, that activity could be disorientating. It requires you to gauge the space that each alphabet takes up and the spaces between alphabets. Was your writing slower when you did not write in the usual left to right order? In the second activity, were the alphabets of different sizes and not as neat and organised?

Only 'One Order'
In many languages, there is only one way to write, that is from left to right, no alphabet is skipped. Hence, there is really no need to teach the order of alphabets or strokes.

Many Possible Orders
In Chinese, there are so many possible starting points within the box and so many possible combinations of alphabets and strokes. Hence, it is easier and faster to write if there is a standard order to write. When the same character is always written in a particular order, it becomes auto-pilot and you develop your muscle memory. It is a procedural memory that helps you to become very good at writing Chinese characters without really thinking.

Who determined the stroke order of these characters?

The stroke order we introduced in this book is based on the recommended stroke order stipulated by China authorities for simplified Chinese characters. There are a few exceptions that we recommended a different order after due consideration and for easier memory. We will explain further in LCWW3 when we will discuss how to decode Chinese characters.

Can I vary the stroke order?

At the beginning, it is easier to start with the given order as it will help you to remember characters and distinguish between similar ones. Slowly, you will develop your own style of writing after learning 'tonnes' of characters.

Use Your Imagination

In LCWW1, we imagined strokes as PERFORMERS whose jobs are to create a FORMATION (character) within a BOX STAGE during actual performance.

Boot Camps

To help the performers remember the routines and perform to excellence during actual performances, they have to go through boot camps. During the camps, they will learn to create PARTIAL FORMATIONS (qTRAILS Alphabets) and each of them has to get into position in the correct order (stroke order).

qTRAILS

The training during boot camps is made more effective by organising parts that have the same stroke order on the same trail. It is called a qTRAIL (quick trail). Performers will learn similiar qTRAILS in a boot camp.

There are five boot camps:

Boot Camp 1: Parallels / Dots
Boot Camp 2: Perpendiculars / Intersections
Boot Camp 3: Split and Cross / Marching & Tick
Boot Camp 4: Flag, Frame & Skewer / Enclosure
Boot Camp 5: Variations / Exceptions

In the first four camps, they will learn basic alphabets and in the last camp they will learn how to vary the basic alphabets to create varied alphabets and exceptions.

Participants in Each Boot Camp
30 out of 35 performers will participate in the boot camps. Only Vertical, Horizontal, RL-Slash and LR-Slash will participate in all the camps.