Lost words
- Source: Global Times
- [02:08 July 27 2010]
- Comments
Students from 30 calligraphy schools in Chongqing show off their character writing skills with traditional inkbrushes. Photo: CFP
By Ji Beibei
Twenty-four year-old Jiang Qing had an embarrassing moment when she applied recently for a web editor's job in Beijing.
Holding a master's degree, Jiang knew she was well qualified for the job, but she also knew that a minor mistake could result in a potential employer casting doubt on her language proficiency.
"I was a bit late that day. When I was filling in the job application form, I suddenly realized that I had forgot-ten how to write the Chinese characters bianji (编辑), which means editor," Jiang confided to the Global Times Monday.
To refresh her memory, she needed to type the pinyin spelling for the two characters into her mobile phone and see the computer-generated characters pop up on the phone monitor. Ultimately, Jiang was offered the job but turned it down because the pay was not good. Still, the editor cringes every time she recalls that awkward moment when her brain went blank over the characters for "editor."
"The potential employer looked at me suspiciously."
Brain freeze
Jiang is not the only young Chinese forgetting how to write Chinese characters. A poll conducted by China Youth Daily in April revealed that 83 percent of 2,072 respondents admitted having some difficulty writing Chinese script.
The reason for the memory gap is the widespread use of computers and mobile phones that use the pinyin input method instead of hand-written characters.
"We used to write letters by hand, but we now use email to communicate with others, whether for business or personal messages. Writing by hand becomes awkward," said Zhang, a project planner at a Beijing-based logistics company, speaking to the Global Times Monday. "Writing Chinese characters by hand has gradually faded out of our lives, even though reading is basically not a problem."
Different strokes
Zhang can type pinyin very fast on a computer, but she has often used the wrong Chinese characters in hand-written memos to her supervisor.
Many people have forgotten how to write Chinese characters because most of them use the pinyin input method instead of writing stroke by stroke, Nanjing Morning Post reported earlier.
Chinese characters, or pictograms, date back to 1,200 BC, and constitute the world's most ancient writing system.
According to 1998 guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education, some 3,500 Chinese characters are frequently used in daily life.
"Chinese characters are themselves the most important part of Chinese culture. By studying the formation and evolution of a Chinese character, one is offered a window into the evolution of Chinese culture and history." Luo Dongqing, a professor in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Nanjing Normal University, told the Global Times.
