有趣的汉字

It has been almost a week since my last proper update (not counting the two language learner interviews I posted on Saturday) so I thought it was time for me to prove that I’m still alive and well.

My partner has been away on business this week so I took the opportunity to catch up with some chores around the house and some reading. I just finished reading Khaled Hosseini’s book A Thousand Splendid Suns, a heartbreaking tale of two women growing up in Afghanistan. I really recommend it to anyone who hasn’t already read this wonderful book.

I’ve also been spending some time brushing up on my Mandarin as I rarely get the chance to use my skills these days (aside from the occasional translation). I discovered yet another video site, Ku6.Com, on Monday. It can be a little slow but you’ll be able to find hundreds of movies and TV series from all over the world. I watched a few episodes of a drama series called 中国家庭421, which comes complete with Chinese subtitles (perfect for anyone who wants to improve their listening skills). The expression “421″ refers to the composition of the modern Chinese family, where the average child is an only child with two parents and four grandparents, a social system which will put an enormous pressure on young Chinese to support a greying population (this also seems to be the case in many European countries). You can watch the first episode here.

I try to read at least one short text a day in order to keep my reading skills sharp. It’s amazing how I can still stumble upon unknown 汉字 despite years of study, especially in academic or literary works. What annoys me the most is that I have learnt some of these “unknown” characters in the past but have forgotten their meanings after months (years?) of not using them or coming across them in my reading. A Chinese teacher of mine always used to tell us that Chinese characters were our friends. If we didn’t spend time with them every day, they would slip away. An exaggeration, perhaps, but  a good point nonetheless. Mandarin is certainly a high-maintenance language…

Unknown characters that I stumbled upon this week include :

鸳 (yuān) – Mandarin duck (I’m pretty sure I came across this character once or twice during my time in China)

睿 (ruì) – astute, farsighted

嚣 (xiāo) – clamour

掬 (jú) – to scoop up with both hands

There are thousands upon thousands of Chinese characters, though many of these are rarely used in daily life. The exact number of characters needed for comfortable reading is a hotly debated topic. 3,000 is a good start but you’ll still come across unknown characters in the newspapers, especially in place names or anything that uses specialist jargon (e.g. articles on scientific issues). I like to liken the study of Chinese characters to Pokemon : you’ll spend years, perhaps decades, trying to catch them all.