Chineasy

The New Way to Read Chinese

ShaoLan

• Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9780500771891
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

'May revolutionize the teaching of Chinese around the world' ­ - The Sunday Times. Learning Chinese has always been difficult... until now. Breaking down the Great Wall of language, ShaoLan has unpicked Chinese characters and created a simple and beautifully illustrated system for quickly understanding the basic building blocks of the written language. Working with illustrator Noma Bar and organized in an easy-to-grasp sequence, these engaging and delightful images offer a glimpse into the wonder of the Chinese language and rich culture. After a brief introduction to the nature of Chinese characters, strokes and pronunciation, the book's main section introduces the key and most frequently occurring characters on which the language is built, revealing how they can be combined to form a wealth of complex words and phrases. Optimized for viewing in iOS, the book will entertain and enrich readers of all ages and set the first steps towards a genuine appreciation of Chinese. -- Wallpaper* Magazine's 2014 Design Award for Life Enhancer of the Year -- Nominated for Best Design of the Year by London's Design Museum.

1

INTRODUCTION

The Calligrapher’s Daughter
How to Use the Book

The Calligrapher’s
Daughter

I was born in Taipei, Taiwan, the daughter of a
calligrapher and a ceramic artist, so I grew up
immersed in art and with a deep appreciation of
the beauty of the Chinese language. Speaking and
writing Chinese is an integral part of who I am and
how I see the world. But it was only when I had
children of my own that I properly understood
what a difficult language Chinese is to learn.

Being of Taiwanese descent while raising my
children in the UK has made me acutely aware of
the differences, but also the similarities, between
Eastern and Western cultures. The ultimate goal
of Chineasy is to help bridge the cultural gap by
demystifying the Chinese language, which acts as
a barrier to so many people – my children included!

Chineasy is hugely personal to me. I have done
many different things in my life. I consider myself
to be part geek, part entrepreneur, part dreamer,
and this project is a culmination of all these
elements. My experience in technology ventures
and my background as an entrepreneur with an
artistic upbringing have given me the building
blocks to make Chineasy possible, but it is my
childhood and my children that have inspired me
to make Chineasy a reality. I am proud to share
Chineasy with all who want to learn and appreciate
the beauty of the Chinese language.

Why Chineasy?

China is home to ancient traditions, breathtaking
artwork and what is currently one of the world’s
strongest economies. It comes as no surprise to
me that recent years have seen a cultural trend
of Eastern migration by both young people and
business-minded individuals. Everyone is starting
to pay more attention to China, Taiwan, Japan,
South Korea and other Asian countries as they
become increasingly popular tourist destinations
and increasingly important as cultural, financial
and industrial hubs.

Call me optimistic, but I see the melding of these
two cultures, East and West, as being instrumental
in creating a more culturally literate world. I also
think that the East and West must understand
each other in order for global economic growth to
be sustainable. There is, however, a giant roadblock
preventing the East and West from communicating
effectively and connecting on a deep, cultural level:
the Great Wall of Chinese.

The Chinese language has long been considered
the most difficult major language to learn, largely
on account of the vast number and complexity
of the characters. When I began to teach my
British-born children Chinese, I realized just how
challenging its characters are for a native English
speaker. It was like torture for my children! So
I spent many years looking for a fun and easy
way to teach them how to read Chinese.

After years of searching, I didn’t think that any
of the methods out there were engaging enough.
So I did what any entrepreneur would do: I created
my own method to learn how to read Chinese
characters – Chineasy. And you know what? It works.

Chineasy’s goal is to allow people to learn to read
Chinese easily by recognizing characters through
simple illustrations. The magical power of the
Chineasy method is that, by learning one small set
of building blocks (see p. 10), students can build
many new characters and phrases. Master a few
sets of building blocks, and your learning can be
accelerated to a whole new level.

With very little effort, students can quickly learn
to read several hundred Chinese characters and
phrases, and gain a deeper understanding of the
historical and cultural references of the vocabulary.
Even though there are tens of thousands of
Chinese characters, only a few hundred are actually
necessary to comprehend basic Chinese literature,
and to begin to delve into Chinese culture and art.

THE CALLIGRAPHER’S DAUGHTER

9

How to Use the Book

A quick overview

Each character in this book is introduced in its
Chinese form, followed by its English translation
and then its pinyin (the approximate sound of
the character; see p. 13). Each building block and
compound character (these terms are explained
below) has a short introduction that teaches
you some fun historical and cultural facts as you
are learning the language. Also included are
unillustrated phrases (e.g. see ‘heart’ on p. 87)
that will help to expand your vocabulary.

At the end of the book there is a handy index
that lists every character and phrase taught in
Chineasy, and provides you with its traditional
and simplified forms (see opposite) and its pinyin.

Chineas...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• 1: Introduction
• 2: The Basics
• STORY
• 3: Reference
• Acknowledgments