Send Factor

America is the cultural melting pot of the world. More so today than even as defined in history. The future looks as though children will have to speak at least one other language than English in their adult lifetime. The second most widely used language in the world, contrary to beliefs, is Chinese.

In classrooms around America, multi-cultural classes are popping up to incorporate traditional lessons with cultural diverse studies. By doing so, children are learning to appreciate the diversity and traditions of other cultures along with their own. On the pacific coast, in Bellevue, Washington, children have the opportunity to learn Chinese along side of cultural traditions and history. The philosophy being the socio-economical need for those who speak Chinese to be available to meet the demands in tomorrow’s world.

Linguistic diversity is impacting schools everywhere. The need to preserve the Chinese language and traditions while co-existing in American is equally as important to the Chinese as the need to learn Chinese is for Americans. Chinese-Americans wish to hold tight to their heritage and merge with English traditions and ways. By learning Chinese, we allow them to do just that. Communication and unity of needs are met by interchange of language dynamics. When learning a second language, like Chinese, human relationships and connections to their cultures become enhanced and reflective of a common goal.

The bilingual classes in Bellevue encourage learning Chinese at a young age when the child has stronger cognition and learning processes. Many programs like these, develop a multitude of different learning schedules to be able to reach out to as many as they can. By being flexible they are able to offer unique programs, like after school, pre-school, or summer school activities. Also, popular in this area, are “meet ups”, or groups where people meet up to engage in cultural exchange. It could be an American wishing to improve his Chinese or a Chinese-American wishing to keep up on their native language or to teach others about their cultural richness. These ‘meet ups’ provide endless opportunities for gaining vast knowledge and application of the Chinese language and culture.

Learning the Chinese language today or teaching our children to be bilingual for tomorrow may fast become one of the best decisions we could make. In looking ahead at world economy, China and America are creating paths to one unified place in financial and social affairs. It is in our best interests to have complete understanding and a working knowledge of the Chinese language in order to keep focus, improve communications, and wean ourselves off the idea of minority status. The future will address more blending of cultures and the need for sensitivity in a diverse one world economy. Ethnic identity remains important for each groups heritage whether Chinese, Spanish, or even Irish. Holding onto those roots encouraged immensely, but also adding knowledge of other cultures mandatory for success in relationships of the future. By learning Chinese now creates those healthy relationships of tomorrow.

The Han Dynasty in 100 A.D. is the first origin of Chinese characters. The Chinese dictionary completed at that time included around 9,353 characters. The next version of the Chinese dictionary came out of Qing Dynasty and was called the “Kangxi” dictionary. The 42 booklets contained over 46,964 characters, which most are not even used today. There are variants on the characters, revised and refined in the current simplified edition of the Chinese language. This edition was put out by the People’s Republic of China in 1956. This book narrowed the characters down to about 6,500. This is considered a simplified form and is the most common form used today, although some remain committed to using the old traditional ways.

Chinese characters have been defined as complicated yet beautiful in their meaning. They are complex in relation to other writing languages. Romanization is used in terms of relation or simple visual information, however the meaning of the character remains mysterious as the art styles behind it. Some Chinese characters mimic similar tones of other characters, yet have different meanings. Some characters written with just an added dot or stroke, turn into something completely different.

Of Chinese history, the crowning achievement to their culture, is the Chinese characters. They are an abstract art form displaying incredible depth of meaning in just a few brushstrokes. This thick symbolism has made it’s way into mainstream art from centuries gone and desirable still today. Words like love, faith, endure, tranquility, written in a one character form creates a personalization amongst the observer admiring it. Many of these characters live on walls in homes to communicate a feeling. Many masters have created their own unique style and now exists over 120 different styles of written Chinese calligraphy.

Learning to draw these characters requires patience, proper tools, clear concise instructions and of course, lots of practice. Acquiring this skilled art form can be hours of entertainment and enjoyment because it is so unfolding in a multi conceptual way. You will learn the proper directions and different styles (one or two you may adopt as your own), and you will also learn each character’s simple, yet intense meaning. More than likely, you will choose a few complimentary to your own personality and self-expression. Rich information and cultural history is born from learning to write Chinese characters. The ability to dive into a whole new world is invigorating and creating the beautiful work is self actualization process all on it’s own.

Whether you embark on learning to write one character well to display as art on your wall, or you continue with the craft to put words together, even learning to read Chinese, it is rewarding. The more you unravel the mystery living inside each of these characters, it seems to create added curiosity and a desire to keep going.

The ancient art of Chinese characters are popularized in cultures other than Chinese. The styles and forms of characters seen everywhere, are now a highly demanded art to learn.

It is said Mandarin Chinese is one of the top languages difficult to learn. The Chinese language embraces so many levels of complex spoken and written components within their language that it can almost seem to frustrating. In order to understand Chinese, you have to dissect the pronunciations, the written characters (and there are thousands upon thousands of them), and the tonal dialects used in each word. If the task of mastering the language becomes to cumbersome, it is often the choice to just give up.

There are means accessible to make writing Chinese somewhat easier. Some instructors suggest learning a few characters first which are most frequently used. Practice them over and over. Learning the direction of strokes, the difference in brushstrokes and pen (like thickness and style), and thorough repetition will be the best beginning point. Once familiarity of common used characters sets in, then a Chinese dictionary will come in handy to put meaning to the characters. A good guide to Chinese characters will encompass pages of most frequently used characters in the Chinese language. Practice writing Chinese and the characters. It is said that if you learn at least 800 of them, you will be able to retain at least, if not more, 86% of the characters commonly used. Double that and the comprehension rises to around 95% recognition. With that much understanding of the characters you are ready to begin grammatical lessons as well as beginning reading.

Lucky for those learning to read or write Chinese, grammar in the Chinese language is not as complex as the grammar and sentence syntax in the English language. Chinese grammar consists of only one form of verb and uses no tenses. To use adjectives, plurals, or past and future tenses, you would simply add one character. Learning to write characters in Chinese is a lot easier than actually speaking it. There is only one format used to write Chinese and is simple to comprehend.

The effect of repetition, practice and continual usage will improve your success tremendously. As will the all the free offerings online to help instruct you. Whatever your capacity or level for learning, most likely, there exists avenues online which will cater to your focus on learning to write Chinese. The most important thing to remember is not to give up. There will be plateaus and frustrating crossroads, but breakthrough always comes. If need be, seek guidance and help from those already proficient in the language for encouragement. Sometimes it is more beneficial to have a one on one instruction, or tutor, especially if you have questions or concerns about the direction you are heading into with the mastering of the Chinese language.

The Chinese language is a beautiful artful language becoming increasingly popular in the world. With the demand to learn Chinese, especially in writing the eloquent Chinese characters, more learning tools are becoming readily available. Explore all possibilities for gaining valuable knowledge on this subject, and persevere boldly into learning to write Chinese.