When I first started learning Chinese, it was an almost torturous experience.
Here’s a character. Here’s what it means. Write it down until its been imprinted into your brain. Repeat ad infinitum.
Pure, unadulterated rote memorization. In other words, hell on earth.
When I found out that ancient Chinese characters were actually pictorial in nature, I thought it was going to get easier. In my mind, all I had to do now was look up the original characters and voila! Instant comprehension, easy memorization.
Reality was not that simple.
Delving deep into the etymology of Chinese characters was not as simple as I had anticipated. First, I had to find the ancient character itself. Then I had to figure out how to see the picture within the ancient character. After that, I had to understand how the picture in the character related to the character’s meaning, and finally, interpret in into the modern character.
It ended up taking even more time than rote memorization had.
Eventually, I succumbed to habit and went back to normal memorization. Learning Chinese characters via their ancient forms was an interesting idea that could have spiced up the process, but at the time, it wasn’t a viable option.
Luckily enough for modern day students of Chinese, this is no longer the case. Books like David Su Liqun’s Mastering Chinese Characters: A Modern Approach make the whole process a lot easier.
Personally, my favorite thing about this book is the cartoon visualization of the ancient character. Here, for instance, it shows a man speaking in a court of law–a clear call back to the ancient character, but much easier to visualize than the character itself. The ancient character is also compartmentalized into its separate parts so an inquisitive student can understand why the cartoon is drawn in the way it is, and the example sentence further reinforces that intent. In this manner, the reason why the character is written in such a fashion is quickly and simply inserted into the mind of the student.
Once the etymology of the character has been given to the student, and thus ingrained into their mind, the other necessary elements (stroke order and phrases using the character) are given.
Pages like these make up the bulk of the book, although there are extra segments detailing the relationships between characters for students yearning for even more information.
Although this book is most suited towards beginners, it’s still an interesting acquisition for those better versed in the language. Having a concise lesson on a character’s history is intriguing even if you already know the characters. I, for instance, found myself flipping to various random pages out of sheer curiosity, and they definitely resonate more now that I know the history behind them.
If Mastering Chinese Characters had existed back when I was still a fresh young initiate, maybe I would’ve enjoyed learning the language more. Maybe it could have been less of a memorization slog and more of a true learning experience. It’s not something I can change anymore, unless I one day have a sudden bout of selective amnesia. But for those of you still in the process of learning, picking up this book could be a hugely beneficial step in facilitating your learning experience.
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