Download or read book The Keys to the Chinese Characters written by Shizuka Shirakawa and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2014-10-30 with total page 590 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maybe you think learning and really understanding Chinese characters (called kanji in Japan, hanzi in China, hanja in Korea) is impossible. Perhaps thus far, it has been. Fortunately, however, the times have changed with this character dictionary. This translation of Shirakawa's bestselling Japanese dictionary gives you the correct explanations with an introduction to their mindset. It is the long-awaited true system of Chinese characters revealed for the first time and the only help for understanding and memorizing Chinese characters that works. Shizuka Shirakawa (1910-2006) was a terrific Chinese character scholar who is now widely acknowledged in East Asia. Christoph Schmitz is lucky being the only western scholar to have met and exchanged letters with him. He made East Asia's foremost Chinese character research available in English for the first time. * SHIRAKAWA METHOD -- Includes vocabulary and a commentary on the Shirakawa approach. * FULLY INDEXED -- Alphabetical vocabulary and classifier index. * THOROUGH CHARACTER FORM EXPLANATIONS -- Practical commentary explains the history of each character, revealing the hitherto undisclosed secrets of Chinese characters. * FOR ENGLISH SPEAKERS -- This amazing resource is the world's first truly independent look into kanji-guru Shirakawa's work and gives English-speaking readers an unbiased, beautifully printed and time-saving access to the best kanji method available. A practical comment explains the history of character research and its failures in East Asia and the West, the hitherto undisclosed secrets of Chinese characters, and also their political usage. (Paperback) First publication January 2016 (earlier date is merely that of ISBN allotment)
Download or read book written by 馬盛靜恆 and published by Chinese University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Self-paced learning pack, designed to address common problems faced when learning the orthography of Chinese characters. Textbook is divided into four parts: Lessons and worksheets on strokes and stroke order; Lessons on the 18 most frequently-used radicals; Quizzes on strokes and stroke order; Answer keys for radical lessons. Accompanied by a DVD which demonstrates how to write Chinese characters
Download or read book Hacking Chinese written by Olle Linge and published by . This book was released on 2016-03-26 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learning Chinese can be frustrating and difficult, partly because it's very different from European languages. Following a teacher, textbook or language course is not enough. They show you the characters, words and grammar you need to become proficient in Chinese, but they don't teach you how to learn them! Regardless of what program you're in (if any), you need to take responsibility for your own learning. If you don't, you will miss many important things that aren't included in the course you're taking. If you study on your own, you need to be even more aware of what you need to do, what you're doing at the moment and the difference between them. Here are some of the questions I have asked and have since been asked many times by students: How do I learn characters efficiently? How do I get the most out of my course or teacher? Which are the best learning tools and resources? How can I become fluent in Mandarin? How can I improve my pronunciation? How do I learn successfully on my own? How can I motivate myself to study more? How can I fit learning Chinese into a busy schedule? The answers I've found to these questions and many others form the core of this book. It took eight years of learning, researching, teaching and writing to figure these things out. Not everybody has the time to do that! I can't go back in time and help myself learn in a better way, but I can help you! This book is meant for normal students and independent language learners alike. While it covers all major areas of learning, you won't learn Chinese just by reading this book. It's like when someone on TV teaches you how to cook: you won't get to eat the delicious dish just by watching the program; you have to do the cooking yourself. That's true for this book as well. When you apply what you learn, it will boost your learning, making every hour you spend count for more, but you still have to do the learning yourself. This is what a few readers have said about the book: "The book had me nodding at a heap of things I'd learnt the hard way, wishing I knew them when I started, as well as highlighting areas that I'm currently missing in my study." - Geoff van der Meer, VP engineering "This publication is like a bible for anyone serious about Chinese proficiency. It's easy for anyone to read and written with scientific precision." - Zachary Danz, foreign teacher, children's theatre artist About me I started learning Chinese when I was 23 (that's more than eight years ago now) and have since studied in many different situations, including serious immersion programs abroad, high-intensity programs in Sweden, online courses, as well as on the side while working or studying other things. I have also successfully used my Chinese in a graduate program for teaching Chinese as a second language, taught entirely in Chinese mostly for native speakers (the Graduate Institute for Teaching Chinese as a Second Language at National Taiwan Normal University). All these parts have contributed to my website, Hacking Chinese, where I write regularly about how to learn Mandarin.
Download or read book The Chinese Typewriter written by Thomas S. Mullaney and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2018-10-09 with total page 501 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How Chinese characters triumphed over the QWERTY keyboard and laid the foundation for China's information technology successes today. Chinese writing is character based, the one major world script that is neither alphabetic nor syllabic. Through the years, the Chinese written language encountered presumed alphabetic universalism in the form of Morse Code, Braille, stenography, Linotype, punch cards, word processing, and other systems developed with the Latin alphabet in mind. This book is about those encounters—in particular thousands of Chinese characters versus the typewriter and its QWERTY keyboard. Thomas Mullaney describes a fascinating series of experiments, prototypes, failures, and successes in the century-long quest for a workable Chinese typewriter. The earliest Chinese typewriters, Mullaney tells us, were figments of popular imagination, sensational accounts of twelve-foot keyboards with 5,000 keys. One of the first Chinese typewriters actually constructed was invented by a Christian missionary, who organized characters by common usage (but promoted the less-common characters for “Jesus" to the common usage level). Later came typewriters manufactured for use in Chinese offices, and typewriting schools that turned out trained “typewriter girls” and “typewriter boys.” Still later was the “Double Pigeon” typewriter produced by the Shanghai Calculator and Typewriter Factory, the typewriter of choice under Mao. Clerks and secretaries in this era experimented with alternative ways of organizing characters on their tray beds, inventing an input method that was the first instance of “predictive text.” Today, after more than a century of resistance against the alphabetic, not only have Chinese characters prevailed, they form the linguistic substrate of the vibrant world of Chinese information technology. The Chinese Typewriter, not just an “object history” but grappling with broad questions of technological change and global communication, shows how this happened. A Study of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute Columbia University
Download or read book Tuttle Learning Chinese Characters written by Alison Matthews and published by Tuttle Publishing. This book was released on 2011-12-20 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This user-friendly book is aimed at helping students of Mandarin Chinese learn and remember Chinese characters. At last--there is a truly effective and enjoyable way to learn Chinese characters! This book helps students to learn and remember both the meanings and the pronunciations of over 800 characters. This otherwise daunting task is made easier by the use of techniques based on the psychology of learning and memory. key principles include the use of visual imagery, the visualization of short "stories," and the systematic building up of more complicated characters from basic building blocks. Although Learning Chinese Characters is primarily a book for serious learners of Mandarin Chinese, it can be used by anyone with interest in Chinese characters, without any prior knowledge of Chinese. It can be used alongside (or after, or even before) a course in the Chinese language. All characters are simplified (as in mainland China), but traditional characters are also given, when available. Key features: Specially designed pictures and stories are used in a structured way to make the learning process more enjoyable and effective, reducing the need for rote learning to the absolute minimum. The emphasis throughout is on learning and remembering the meanings and pronunciations of the characters. Tips are also included on learning techniques and how to avoid common problems. Characters are introduced in a logical sequence, which also gives priority to learning the most common characters first. Modern, simplified characters are used, with pronunciations given in pinyin. Key information is given for each character, including radical, stroke-count, traditional form, compounds, and guidance on writing the character. This is a practical guide with a clear, concise and appealing layout, and it is well-indexed with easy lookup methods. The 800 Chinese characters and 1,033 compounds specified for the original HSK Level A proficiency test are covered.
Download or read book written by 馬盛靜恆 and published by Chinese University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Intended for beginners of Mandarin Chinese, this is a set of two volumes of textbooks, workbooks, and an interactive tutorial software (CD-ROM). The lessons include: a short text, an annotated vocabulary list with illustrated sentences; sentence pattern drills; a Sentence Building section; and a Questions and Responses section.
Download or read book Remembering Simplified Hanzi 1 written by James W. Heisig and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2008-10-31 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At long last the approach that has helped thousands of learners memorize Japanese kanji has been adapted to help students with Chinese characters. Book 1 of Remembering Simplified Hanzi covers the writing and meaning of the 1,000 most commonly used characters in the simplified Chinese writing system, plus another 500 that are best learned at an early stage. (Book 2 adds another 1,500 characters for a total of 3,000.) Of critical importance to the approach found in these pages is the systematic arranging of characters in an order best suited to memorization. In the Chinese writing system, strokes and simple components are nested within relatively simple characters, which can, in turn, serve as parts of more complicated characters and so on. Taking advantage of this allows a logical ordering, making it possible for students to approach most new characters with prior knowledge that can greatly facilitate the learning process. Guidance and detailed instructions are provided along the way. Students are taught to employ "imaginative memory" to associate each character’s component parts, or "primitive elements," with one another and with a key word that has been carefully selected to represent an important meaning of the character. This is accomplished through the creation of a "story" that engagingly ties the primitive elements and key word together. In this way, the collections of dots, strokes, and components that make up the characters are associated in memorable fashion, dramatically shortening the time required for learning and helping to prevent characters from slipping out of memory.
Download or read book written by Jing-heng Sheng Ma and published by Chinese University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gateway to Chinese Language is a comprehensive package of course material for first-year Mandarin Chinese. It is in two volumes, each comprising a textbook and a workbook.Volumes I and II have ten and twelve lessons respectively. Each lesson contains dialogues, annotated vocabulary with illustrated sentences, sentence patterns, sentence building exercises, questions and responses, cultural notes in English, and a reading section. For the lesson texts, both pinyin and Chinese characters are provided. The pinyin text focuses on pronunciation, accuracy of intonation, and fluency of speech, while the Chinese character text stresses character recognition and reading comprehension. The workbook is designed to help students consolidate what they have learned from the lessons. A special feature of this course package is that an interactive tutorial software accompanies the text, aiming to help students prepare class assignments in a focused, interactive, and interesting way.
Download or read book written by 馬盛靜恆 and published by Chinese University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a set of course materials for teaching Chinese to beginners. It includes two textbook, one in Pinyin and one in Chinese, both with English translations; a workbook; a set of flash cards showing the proper strokes of 100 Chinese characters taught in the lessons; and a CD-Rom containing interactive tutorial materials.
Download or read book A Phonological History of Chinese written by Zhongwei Shen and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-06-04 with total page 441 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A one-stop, comprehensive account of the key developments in the phonological history of Chinese.
Download or read book A History of the Chinese Language written by Hongyuan Dong and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-04-16 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A History of the Chinese Language provides a comprehensive introduction to the historical development of the Chinese language from its proto Sino-Tibetan roots in prehistoric times to Modern Standard Chinese. Taking a highly accessible and balanced approach, it presents a chronological survey of the various stages of Chinese language development, covering crucial aspects such as phonology, syntax and semantics. Features include: Coverage of the key historical stages in Chinese language development, such as Old Chinese, Middle Chinese, Early Modern Chinese, Classical Chinese and Modern Standard Chinese Treatment of core linguistic aspects of the Chinese language including phonological changes, grammatical development, lexical evolution, vernacular writing, Chinese characters and Modern Chinese dialects Inclusion of many authentic Chinese legends and texts throughout the book, presented through a rigorous framework of linguistic analysis to help students to build up strong critical and evaluative skills and acquire valuable cultural knowledge Integration of materials from different disciplines, such as archaeology, anthropology, history and sociolinguistics, to highlight the cultural and social background of each period of the language Helpful appendices to aid students with no prior knowledge of linguistics or the Chinese language Companion website at www.routledge.com/cw/dong offering a wealth of supplementary resources such as additional exercises, answer keys and audio recordings of the sounds of Middle and Old Chinese. Written by a highly experienced instructor, A History of the Chinese Language will be an essential resource for beginning students of Chinese Language and Linguistics and for anyone interested in the history and culture of China.
Download or read book Kingdom of Characters Pulitzer Prize Finalist written by Jing Tsu and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-01-18 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST A New York Times Notable Book of 2022 What does it take to reinvent a language? After a meteoric rise, China today is one of the world’s most powerful nations. Just a century ago, it was a crumbling empire with literacy reserved for the elite few, as the world underwent a massive technological transformation that threatened to leave them behind. In Kingdom of Characters, Jing Tsu argues that China’s most daunting challenge was a linguistic one: the century-long fight to make the formidable Chinese language accessible to the modern world of global trade and digital technology. Kingdom of Characters follows the bold innovators who reinvented the Chinese language, among them an exiled reformer who risked a death sentence to advocate for Mandarin as a national language, a Chinese-Muslim poet who laid the groundwork for Chairman Mao's phonetic writing system, and a computer engineer who devised input codes for Chinese characters on the lid of a teacup from the floor of a jail cell. Without their advances, China might never have become the dominating force we know today. With larger-than-life characters and an unexpected perspective on the major events of China’s tumultuous twentieth century, Tsu reveals how language is both a technology to be perfected and a subtle, yet potent, power to be exercised and expanded.
Download or read book The Way of the Linguist written by Steve Kaufmann and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2005-11 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Way of The Linguist, A language learning odyssey. It is now a cliché that the world is a smaller place. We think nothing of jumping on a plane to travel to another country or continent. The most exotic locations are now destinations for mass tourism. Small business people are dealing across frontiers and language barriers like never before. The Internet brings different languages and cultures to our finger-tips. English, the hybrid language of an island at the western extremity of Europe seems to have an unrivalled position as an international medium of communication. But historically periods of cultural and economic domination have never lasted forever. Do we not lose something by relying on the wide spread use of English rather than discovering other languages and cultures? As citizens of this shrunken world, would we not be better off if we were able to speak a few languages other than our own? The answer is obviously yes. Certainly Steve Kaufmann thinks so, and in his busy life as a diplomat and businessman he managed to learn to speak nine languages fluently and observe first hand some of the dominant cultures of Europe and Asia. Why do not more people do the same? In his book The Way of The Linguist, A language learning odyssey, Steve offers some answers. Steve feels anyone can learn a language if they want to. He points out some of the obstacles that hold people back. Drawing on his adventures in Europe and Asia, as a student and businessman, he describes the rewards that come from knowing languages. He relates his evolution as a language learner, abroad and back in his native Canada and explains the kind of attitude that will enable others to achieve second language fluency. Many people have taken on the challenge of language learning but have been frustrated by their lack of success. This book offers detailed advice on the kind of study practices that will achieve language breakthroughs. Steve has developed a language learning system available online at: www.thelinguist.com.
Download or read book The Routledge Advanced Chinese Multimedia Course written by Kunshan Carolyn Lee and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-03-26 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Routledge Advanced Chinese Multimedia Course: Crossing Cultural Boundaries is an innovative multimedia course for advanced students of Chinese. Written by a team of highly experienced instructors, the book offers advanced learners the opportunity to consolidate their knowledge of Chinese through a wide range of activities designed to build up both excellent language skills and cultural literacy. Divided into four thematic units covering popular culture, social change, cultural traditions, and politics and history, with each unit presenting three individual lessons, the volume provides students with a structured course which efficiently supports the transition from an intermediate to an advanced level. The many different texts featured throughout the lessons present interesting and accurate information about contemporary China and introduce students to useful vocabulary, speech patterns, and idiosyncratic language usage. Key features include Lively and detailed discussions of grammatical points and sentence patterns Engaging exercises for developing grammatical concepts and insight into the character writing system Systematic review of earlier material to ensure consolidation of learning Coverage of diverse and culturally relevant topics such as online dating, changing views of marriage, food culture, Confucianism and democracy in China. Extensive cultural and historical notes providing background to the subjects presented Complementary downloadable resources to enhance listening skills. Free companion website (http://duke.edu/web/chinesesoc/) offering a wealth of video content forming the basis of many of the listening activities linked to topics within the book. Extensively revised and updated throughout, this new edition includes new material and activities on synonyms and substantial improvements to the "composition", "Focus on characters" and "Language practicum" sections. The improved Instructor’s Resource Manual, which includes activity tips, additional exercises, answer keys and the traditional character texts, is available at http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415841337/
Download or read book 250 Essential Chinese Characters Volume 2 written by Philip Yungkin Lee and published by Tuttle Publishing. This book was released on 2013-02-26 with total page 673 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an invaluable study guide for learning Chinese characters. More than a simple update, 250 Essential Chinese Characters Volume 2 offers 250 more characters in the extremely useful learning format that learners and teachers alike continue to praise. Following in the footsteps of Volume 1, it includes everything that today's learners and teachers want: tips for Chinese language mastery throughout; special exercises in AP-exam format; progressive review sections; and several indexes. Master each character's radical, stroke count and meaning. Grow in proficiency by learning compound words. Example sentences show how to use them in context. Review activities reinforce your leaning progress. Helpful writing guides and practice grids for every character. After studying this book together with its companion, 250 Essential Chinese Characters, Volume 1, you'll have learned 500 of the most important characters in Chinese, and thousands of words in which they appear. Whether you're new to Chinese or coming back for review, each of these 250 characters offers you ways to learn Chinese and improve your abilities to read Chinese and write Chinese.
Download or read book On the Telegraphic Transmission of the Chinese Characters written by Pierre-Henri-Stanislas d' Escayrac de Lauture and published by . This book was released on 1862 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy written by Zhang Dainian and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2002-01-01 with total page 579 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An introduction to Chinese philosophy and a reference tool for sinologists. Comments by important Chinese thinkers are arranged around 64 key concepts to illustrate their meaning and use through 25 centuries of Chinese philosophy. The book includes comments on each section by the translator.
