1. Chinese Language
Chinese Characters
(Calligraphy)
BCFL/VDLC Delegate Orientation
June 3, 2014

2. Calligraphy is not just
communication, but art

3. Each Chinese character is a syllable
• You need to know 3,000-4,000 characters to
be considered literate
• Students start learning them in kindergarten
and it takes 6 years to memorize them
• Literacy rate in China in 2013 was 95%

4. Chinese characters are made up of
parts called radicals

5. Chinese characters are made up of
parts called radicals
• Water radical

6. Chinese characters are made up of
parts called radicals
日

7. Chinese characters are made up of
parts called radicals
• Sun radical 日

8. Chinese characters are made up of
parts called radicals
人

9. Chinese characters are made up of
parts called radicals
Person radical 人

10. Chinese characters are made up of
parts called radicals
• Water radical
• Sun radical 日
• Person radical 人

11. Chinese characters are made up of
parts called radicals
女

12. Chinese characters are made up of
parts called radicals
• Female radical 女
• Son radical 子
• Combined becomes “nice, fine, good”
• 好
• “how” as in “Nee how”, means hello
• Literally “you are fine”

13. Chinese is a tonal language
• First tone, high and steady
• Second tone, rising
• Third tone, lower, down and up
• Fourth tone, downward (sounds harsh, but
isn’t)
• Neutral tone (light)
• Same word can have five different tones with
at least five different meanings

14. E.g. “ma”
• 妈 ma 1 Mum
• 蔴 ma 2 hemp
• 马 ma 3 horse
• 骂 ma 4 scold
• 吗 ma 0 question indicator

15. Chinese Language, some hints
• Most pronunciation is like English but for the following
approximations:
• ZH and J are pronounced like “j” in jungle
• CH and Q are pronounced like “ch” in chew
• X is pronounced like “sh” in show
• G is hard, like grow
• C is like ‘ts’ in cats
• Z is like ‘ds’ in kids
• Ai is like Shanghai
• U is like moon
• Ou and o are like Joe
• I is like seek
• Ei is like wait
• Thus Beijing is pronounced Bay Jing

16. Saying hello
• “Ni hao” is Nee how. It is singular.
• Plural is “Nimen hao” which is Neemen how