Introduction
It’s Easy! It’s Intuitive!
Download worksheet​ It's Easy! It's Intuitive
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You’ll love this book if you
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Feel giddy looking at Chinese characters
They just look like a pile of entangling pickup sticks . . . you had a hard time figuring out which stick to pick out first.
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Have been confused by twinlike characters which look almost identical.
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Have been frustrated by unproductive writing drills that are supposed to help you remember the characters.
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Are a teacher
looking for creative activities to engage students in your lessons..
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Want to get some sensing
before deciding whether to pick up the language.
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Is it Necessary to Learn to Write by Hand?
Is it necessary to learn to write Chinese characters by hand? Many teachers and learners think it is a good way to remember the stroke order and to distinguish between similar-looking Chinese characters. Research also suggested that studying Chinese and learning to write Chinese characters may train a whole array of cognitive abilities not developed by studying other writing systems.
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However, the reality is many learners dread writing practices and are unable to appreciate its benefits. One possible reason could be writing exercises in textbooks often lack meaningful purposes. So, learners find that they are doing a mundane task ... copying the characters stroke by stroke. They probably could remember these characters better than those that they have not written but it is certainly not the most productive use of time, and probably not the most enjoyable activity for some learners. To make the matter worse, many young learners are so burdened by it that they resorted to ‘drawing’ these characters like any other patterns they come across in art classes, without an in-depth understanding of their stroke sequence, composition ...
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Perhaps we should start learning Chinese with NO writing! Like in art classes, before you start to draw you have to observe the lines, curves, shapes ... of the objects you are going to draw and learn to appreciate beautiful art creations. You play with colours, dabble in playful colouring ... only then are you ready to draw and paint seriously. Similarly, in Chinese lessons the first task is not to write or to read (for meaning) but just analyse the composition of these characters ... observe their curvy figures, solid bends, cute dots ... see how they combine and interact with one another to form beautiful characters. What is missing in Chinese lessons is explaining to learners the intricate composition of characters and showing them how to appreciate Chinese characters like art.
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In this book Learn Chinese WITHOUT Writing (LCWW), we are advocating other ways to learn Chinese characters. Characters can be analysed visually and explained using geometry concepts (e.g. angles, arcs, shapes). Instead of giving repetitive handwriting practices of the same characters, we introduce activities that engage learners' other senses. These activities could be colouring, drawing, solving puzzles, using different tools or art and craft. More importantly, learners will be encouraged to do the activities in multiple ways and devise their own ways of remembering the ideas learnt. If you really hate writing (or are unable to write), just find your own way to learn the concepts taught in that activity and skip the writing part.
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Next: Triple ABCs Concept
Prev: Preface
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