Category: Updates

The way to get good at doing anything is repetition, and writing Chinese is no exception. The most important thing with Chinese words is actually to be able to READ them, not write them. But you should also be able to write characters – not all of them, but at least some. The more you write them, the more deeply the concept at the heart of Chinese words is pushed into your brain. It’s pictorial to an extent that is not true of any other written language in the world. Each character is a little picture, so why not draw some pictures? 

Doodling used to be a big deal in life. Everyone had a pen in their hands for most of the day, and in between taking notes, they would doodle in the margins. Now, pen and paper use has fallen away with the rise of the computer and smart phone, but it’s still a great way to take notes, and doodling Chinese characters over and over again as you daydream during a conference call helps you get used to writing.

The important thing with characters is that you write the strokes in the correct order. There are lots of moving gif images on the web that show you how to do each one. Whether the character looks good or not, well proportioned etc, is not crucial, but the stroke order is. 

Choose a character on a printed page, or perhaps a piece of calligraphy, and try and reproduce one character with the same balance of the lines. Then do it again. And again. Until your brain turns off and your hand is doing it on auto-pilot.

Once you’ve done individual characters for a while, choose a simple saying or phrase to use for doodling purposes. And then a short poem, why not. Memorize it, and doodle it out. You are then part of a tradition stretching back thousands of years. You are a Confucian scholar!

Reading news headlines to learn to read Chinese  To communicate fully in a language, you need to be able to speak, comprehend what is said, read and write. Each of the four involves a different road to success, but each involves repetition. Let’s look at some ideas on reading.

The most effective way of learning how to read Chinese words is not to learn long lists of random vocabulary. Always put time into learning words which are structurally basic, or which relate to something that interests you. What is interesting of course varies from one person to another, so everyone’s vocab lists should be different. 

For beginner students, beyond the textbooks, children’s stories are a great way to go. For more advanced readers, try learning to read news headlines. Now, news headlines initially requires a much higher level of new vocabulary than other types of text, but there is a high level of repetition, as there is with most written materials, and before long you will see the same words and phrases cropping up. if you don;t fully understand, don’t get bogged down. Move on to the next headline. And pretty soon, the fact that you learning to read Chinese fades away, and you are reading the headlines in order to glean information that is new and useful to you beyond the context of the Chinese language. 

In other words, Chinese fades into the background, and you are gradually using Chinese as a tool to lead your life. The pure magic and genius of a communications tool in revealed when you are not thinking it as a tool. You are simply using it to achieve a separate goal. Which, with news, is discovering what is happening in the world around you.

ChinaNow’s Mission Statement

ChinaNow aims to meet an important need of our increasingly globalized world – the ability to communicate in Chinese. We provide the tools and expertise for serious learners to achieve that goal.
While English is likely to remain the dominant international language, we believe that Chinese will become the world’s second most important language, and ChinaNow’s mission is to teach Chinese as an international communications tool.
ChinaNow offers both online and offline services, as well as a complete and comprehensive selection of original learning materials. The courses and materials are aimed at teaching Chinese as an international communications tool, and therefore do not stress elements of Chinese culture.

• ChinaNow disagrees with the widespread view that Chinese is fundamentally a difficult language to learn and works to emphasise the many ways in which Chinese is more logical and easier than, for example, European languages.
• ChinaNow believes that learning to read Chinese characters is an essential part of learning Chinese to the level of being a useful communications tool.
• ChinaNow requires a commitment of time and focus from students, and in return is committed to providing them with the most efficient means of acquiring Chinese as a language tool.
• ChinaNow is aimed at all people around the world who are serious about learning Chinese, from school and college students and young professionals through to co-operation with companies and school systems.

ChinaNow’s Courses and Materials

• ChinaNow provides the full range of tools for language tuition, including classes, textbooks, apps, video, audio and other exclusive supplementary materials.
• ChinaNow’s courses and materials are designed to teach the Chinese language efficiently to non-native speakers, and are prepared by a team of both Chinese and non-Chinese mother-tongue professionals fluent in Chinese.
• ChinaNow’s teaching materials are all created in-house with a high level of detail comparable to the most rigorous academic courses, while also being clear and accessible to students.
• ChinaNow uses professional Chinese mother-tongue speakers as teachers but all materials are created and overseen by an international team of non-native Chinese speakers.

Graham Earnshaw
CEO ChinaNow
June 2020