Learn to read Chinese ... with ease! | ShaoLan

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Reviewer: Ingrid Lezar

Growing up in Taiwan

Ek't in Taiwan grootgeword

as the daughter of a calligrapher,

as die dogter van ’n kalligraaf.

one of my most treasured memories

Een van my kosbaarste herinneringe

was my mother showing me the beauty, the shape

was toe my ma vir my die skoonheid

and the form of Chinese characters.

en vorm van Sjinese karakters gewys het.

Ever since then, I was fascinated

Van toe af is ek

by this incredible language.

deur dié ongelooflike taal geboei.

But to an outsider, it seems to be

Maar vir ’n buitestander lyk dit

as impenetrable as the Great Wall of China.

so ondeurdringbaar soos die Groot Sjinese Muur.

Over the past few years, I've been wondering

Oor die afgelope paar jaar het ek gewonder

if I can break down this wall,

of ek hierdie muur kan afbreek,

so anyone who wants to understand and appreciate

sodat enigiemand wat die skoonheid van dié gesofistikeerde taal

the beauty of this sophisticated language could do so.

wil verstaan en waardeer, dit kan doen.

I started thinking about how a new, fast method

Ek't begin dink hoe ’n nuwe, vinnige manier

of learning Chinese might be useful.

om Sjinees te leer handig sou wees.

Since the age of five, I started to learn how to draw

Vandat ek vyf was, het ek begin leer hoe om

every single stroke for each character

elke liewe streep vir elke karakter

in the correct sequence.

in die korrekte volgorde te teken.

I learned new characters every day

Ek't 15 jaar lank

during the course of the next 15 years.

elke dag nuwe karakters geleer.

Since we only have five minutes,

Aangesien ons net vyf minute het,

it's better that we have a fast and simpler way.

is dit beter dat ons ’n vinnig en makliker manier het.

A Chinese scholar would understand 20,000 characters.

’n Sjinese leerling sou 20 000 karakters verstaan.

You only need 1,000 to understand the basic literacy.

Jy't net 1000 nodig om basies geletterd te wees.

The top 200 will allow you to comprehend

Die top 200 sal jou 40 persent

40 percent of basic literature --

van basiese literatuur laat verstaan --

enough to read road signs, restaurant menus,

genoeg om padtekens en spyskaarte te lees,

to understand the basic idea of the web pages

om die basiese idee van webblaaie

or the newspapers.

of koerante te verstaan.

Today I'm going to start with eight

Vandag gaan ek met agt begin

to show you how the method works.

om julle te wys hoe die metode werk.

You are ready?

Is julle gereed?

Open your mouth as wide as possible

Maak jou mond so wyd soos moontlik oop

until it's square.

totdat dit vierkantig is.

You get a mouth.

Jy kry ’n mond.

This is a person going for a walk.

Dis is ’n persoon wat gaan stap.

Person.

Persoon.

If the shape of the fire is a person

As die vorm van die vuur ’n persoon is,

with two arms on both sides,

met arms aan beide kante,

as if she was yelling frantically,

as of sy verwoed gil:

"Help! I'm on fire!" --

"Help! Ek's aan die brand!" --

This symbol actually is originally from the shape of the flame,

Hierdie simbool is werklik oorspronklik van die vorm van vlamme,

but I like to think that way. Whichever works for you.

maar ek hou daarvan om so te dink. Wat ook al vir jou werk.

This is a tree.

Dis ’n boom.

Tree.

Boom.

This is a mountain.

Dis ’n berg.

The sun.

Die son.

The moon.

Die maan.

The symbol of the door

Die simbool vir deur

looks like a pair of saloon doors in the wild west.

lyk soos ’n paar kroeg deure in die Wilde Weste.

I call these eight characters radicals.

Ek noem hierdie agt karakters radikale.

They are the building blocks

Hulle is die boustene

for you to create lots more characters.

vir jou om baie meer karakters te maak.

A person.

’n Persoon.

If someone walks behind, that is "to follow."

As iemand agterna loop, is dit "om te volg."

As the old saying goes,

Soos die gesegde lui:

two is company, three is a crowd.

twee is ’n paar, drie onpaar.

If a person stretched their arms wide,

As ’n persoon hul arms wyd uitstrek,

this person is saying, "It was this big."

sê hierdie persoon: "Dit was só groot."

The person inside the mouth, the person is trapped.

Die persoon binne die mond, die persoon is vasgevang.

He's a prisoner, just like Jonah inside the whale.

Hy is ’n gevangene, net soos Jona in die walvis.

One tree is a tree. Two trees together, we have the woods.

Een boom is ’n boom. Twee bome saam is ’n bos.

Three trees together, we create the forest.

Drie bome saam skep ’n woud.

Put a plank underneath the tree, we have the foundation.

Sit ’n plank onder die boom, dan kry ons die fondasie.

Put a mouth on the top of the tree, that's "idiot." (Laughter)

Sit ’n mond bo-op die boom: dis idioot. (Gelag)

Easy to remember,

Maklik om te onthou,

since a talking tree is pretty idiotic.

aangesien ’n pratende boom nogal idioties is.

Remember fire?

Onthou julle nog vuur?

Two fires together, I get really hot.

Twee vure saam: ek kry baie warm.

Three fires together, that's a lot of flames.

Drie vure saam, dis baie vlamme.

Set the fire underneath the two trees, it's burning.

Sit die vuur onder die twee bome: dit brand.

For us, the sun is the source of prosperity.

Vir ons is die son ’n bron van voorspoed.

Two suns together, prosperous.

Twee sonne saam: voorspoedig.

Three together, that's sparkles.

Drie saam: dis skitter.

Put the sun and the moon shining together,

Die son en die maan skyn saam:

it's brightness.

dis helderheid.

It also means tomorrow, after a day and a night.

Dit beteken ook môre, na ’n dag en ’n nag.

The sun is coming up above the horizon. Sunrise.

Die son kom op oor die horison. Sonsopkoms.

A door. Put a plank inside the door,

’n Deur. Sit ’n plank in die deur:

it's a door bolt.

dis ’n deurgrendel.

Put a mouth inside the door, asking questions.

Sit ’n mond in die deur: vra vrae.

Knock knock. Is anyone home?

Klop-klop. Is enigiemand tuis?

This person is sneaking out of a door,

Die persoon sluip by die deur uit,

escaping, evading.

hy ontsnap, vermy.

On the left, we have a woman.

Aan die linkerkant het ons ’n vrou.

Two women together, they have an argument.

Twee vroue saam, hulle het rusie.

(Laughter)

(Gelag)

Three women together, be careful, it's adultery.

Drie vroue saam, wees versigtig, dis egbreuk.

So we have gone through almost 30 characters.

So ons is amper deur 30 karakters.

By using this method, the first eight radicals

Met hierdie metode sal die eerste agt radikale

will allow you to build 32.

jou toelaat om 32 te bou.

The next group of eight characters

Die volgende groep van agt karakters

will build an extra 32.

sal ’n nog 32 bou.

So with very little effort,

So met baie min moeite

you will be able to learn a couple hundred characters,

sal jy ’n paar honderd karakters kan leer,

which is the same as a Chinese eight-year-old.

net so baie soos ’n Sjinese agtjarige ken.

So after we know the characters, we start building phrases.

Sodra ons die karakters ken, begin ons frases bou.

For example, the mountain and the fire together,

Byvoorbeeld, die berg en die vuur saam,

we have fire mountain. It's a volcano.

gee ons vuurberg. Dis ’n vulkaan.

We know Japan is the land of the rising sun.

Ons weet dat Japan die land van die opkomende son is.

This is a sun placed with the origin,

Hierdie is ’n son geplaas met die oorsprong,

because Japan lies to the east of China.

omdat Japan oos van Sjina lê.

So a sun, origin together, we build Japan.

So met son en oorsprong saam maak ons Japan.

A person behind Japan, what do we get?

’n Persoon agter Japan; wat kry ons?

A Japanese person.

’n Japanese persoon.

The character on the left is two mountains

Die karakter links is twee berge

stacked on top of each other.

wat opmekaar gestapel is.

In ancient China, that means in exile,

In Antieke Sjina beteken dit verbanning,

because Chinese emperors, they put their political enemies

omdat die Sjinese keisers hul politiese vyande

in exile beyond mountains.

verban oor berge.

Nowadays, exile has turned into getting out.

Deesdae het verbanning verander na uitgaan.

A mouth which tells you where to get out

’n Mond wat vir jou sê waar om uit te gaan

is an exit.

is ’n uitgang.

This is a slide to remind me that I should stop talking

Hierdie is ’n skyfie wat my herinner dat ek moet ophou praat

and get off of the stage. Thank you.

en die verhoog verlaat. Dankie.

(Applause)

(Applous)