Page 8 - 文字好好玩

Author’s Preface

௓ᘆථ Li-yun Chen

It is always my belief that traditional Chinese The objective of teaching ¨knowing characters©
characters are the most beautiful characters in the world is to be able to recognize and write characters. I
and the best symbol to express human affection. Take believe knowing characters means more than knowing
a look at the character of mountain, ¨ ʆ ©.Why is it characters, but with methods. Take teaching the character
written in this way? Well, take a look at a real mountain round, ¨ ෥ ,© for example: the outer rim ᝵ stands
and then look at ʆ again.Isn' t it just like a picture? for its meaning (shape), the inner part ࡰ stands for its
Another example would be the character of moon, ¨˜©. pronunciation (sound). Using the same method, students
Isn' t it just like the smiling moon on the sky? See, aren' t will be able to understand characters like ఖ (surround)e
characters fun? ո (solid)e਷ (country) by themselves.

Let' s read this song of chin( ڡ , means blue/green): Therefore, I have used some interesting methods,
with some water ( 氵 ) next to chin, you got river that such as character puzzles, graphic organizers, or songs
is clear ( ૶ ). in the columns of ¨How Fun It Is to Learn Chinese
with some words( Ԋ )next to chin, you can say Characters© to help children know characters easily.
¨please©with sincerity ( ሗ ); These methods are the genuine approach to cultivate
with a sun( ˚ ) next to chin, you got sunshine the ability of knowing characters.For example, to help
without clouds ( ౹ ); children memorize the new character ¨ ၀ ©, we can
with an eye( ͦ ) next to chin, you can see things use the following puzzle:
with big eyes ( ຒ );
with a rice( Ϸ ) next to chin, we are fairies Mr. Wang ( ˮ ) and Ms. White ( ͣ ) sitting on a
everywhere ( ၚ ); rock ( ͩ ).
with a bug( Џ ) next to chin, we have dragonflies
( ႔ ); This is how we use a puzzle as a memonic phrase.
with a heart( 忄 )next to chin, we have a good mood We can use the same puzzle or phrase method to enhance
every day ( ઋ ). memory when it comes to writing as well. When children
It' s rhyming, it' s easy to understand; learning learn how to write numbers, we can use the following
characters is indeed fun! pattern: crutch 1, duck 2, butterfly 3, sailboat 4, pistol 7
and so on. The principle of designing this kind of game
If we want to read at ease yet extensively, to write is to create more ¨clues© to build the connection
affluently and effortlessly, we need to know many between the character and its sound or meaning. In
characters. Knowing characters is the foundation of this way, learners can be greatly assisted to know new
reading and writing; the more characters you know, the characters.
better you can read and write.
There are four main domains of teaching knowing
However, knowing characters isn' t just about characters:
recognizing a character' s shape, pronunciation, and
meaning. We have to use some methods to not just Te a c h l e a r n e r s t o p r o n o u n c e ( k n o w t h e
¨know© many characters, but also be able to determine pronunciation,) to write (know the shape), to speak (know
the pronunciation and meaning when encountering an the meaning), and to use (know the usage).
unknown character. Otherwise, how can we know all the Of course, to learn new characters through games can
Chinese characters? not only make learning fun but also help learners learn
effectively. Isn' t it something enjoyable? I hope you
As a matter of fact, Chinese characters are can all learn how to know characters naturally through
logograms; there are patterns when it comes to formation games. Let' s make learning an enjoyable experience!
and pronunciation. Many people use radicals or
components to know characters, and play characters-of-
the-same-family games. All of these make characters
fun.

作者序 7