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

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

翻译人员: Wei Zeng 校对人员: William Choi

Growing up in Taiwan

我在台湾长大。

as the daughter of a calligrapher,

作为一位书法家的女儿，

one of my most treasured memories

我最珍贵的记忆之一

was my mother showing me the beauty, the shape

是妈妈为我展示了

and the form of Chinese characters.

汉字的形意之美。

Ever since then, I was fascinated

从那时起，

by this incredible language.

我开始着迷于这美妙的语言。

But to an outsider, it seems to be

但对于门外汉来说，

as impenetrable as the Great Wall of China.

汉字就跟中国的长城一样 高不可攀。

Over the past few years, I've been wondering

过去几年，我一直思考

if I can break down this wall,

如何能够攻克这堵墙，

so anyone who wants to understand and appreciate

让那些要理解和欣赏

the beauty of this sophisticated language could do so.

这复杂语言优雅地方的人， 可以这样做。

I started thinking about how a new, fast method

我开始思考，如何创造一种新的、 快速的方法，

of learning Chinese might be useful.

有助于学习汉字。

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

从五岁起，我开始学习

every single stroke for each character

如何按照正确顺序、一笔一划的

in the correct sequence.

书写每个汉字。

I learned new characters every day

在十五年期间，

during the course of the next 15 years.

我每天都学习新的汉字。

Since we only have five minutes,

因为我们只有五分钟时间，

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

最好有一个更简易便捷的学习方式。

A Chinese scholar would understand 20,000 characters.

一位中文学者认识二万个汉字，

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

你只需认识一千个汉字， 就可看懂简单的文学作品。

The top 200 will allow you to comprehend

认识顶部二百个汉字，

40 percent of basic literature --

让你看明白百分之四十的基本文献——

enough to read road signs, restaurant menus,

足以读懂路标、餐厅菜单、

to understand the basic idea of the web pages

以了解中文网页的基本想法

or the newspapers.

或报纸内容。

Today I'm going to start with eight

今天我用八个汉字

to show you how the method works.

来展示这个方法如何有效。

You are ready?

大家准备好了吗？

Open your mouth as wide as possible

把你的嘴张得越大越好，

until it's square.

直到变成正方形。

You get a mouth.

这就是一个“口“字。

This is a person going for a walk.

这是一个人正在散步。

Person.

“人”字。

If the shape of the fire is a person

“火”字的形状就是

with two arms on both sides,

一个人在两边有两只胳膊，

as if she was yelling frantically,

好像她正在大喊大叫：

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

“救命啊！我着火了！” ——

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

实际上，这符号最初 来自于火苗的形状，

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

但是我喜欢那方法。 大家随便选。

This is a tree.

这是一棵树木。

Tree.

"木"。

This is a mountain.

这是一座"山"。

The sun.

"日"。

The moon.

"月"。

The symbol of the door

“門”的符号

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

就像狂野西部片里轿车上的一对门。

I call these eight characters radicals.

我称这八个字为基本字，

They are the building blocks

它们是一堆组件，

for you to create lots more characters.

以创造出很多其他的字。

A person.

一个“人”。

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

如果另一个人走在后面， 意思就是“跟随”。

As the old saying goes,

有句谚语，

two is company, three is a crowd.

二人为从，三人为众。

If a person stretched their arms wide,

如果有个人打开双臂，

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

这个人说：「它有这么大。」

The person inside the mouth, the person is trapped.

把“人”放在“口”里，这个人被困住了。

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

他就变成了"囚"徒， 就像约拿被困在鲸鱼肚子里。

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

一棵树是"木"。 两棵树在一起，就是“树林”。

Three trees together, we create the forest.

三棵树在一起，就是“森林”。

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

把一块木板放在树下面， 我们就有了“基本”。

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

把一张嘴放在树上，那是“呆子”。 (笑声)

Easy to remember,

记起来非常容易，

since a talking tree is pretty idiotic.

因为一棵会说话的树 是很呆傻的事情。

Remember fire?

还记得“火”吗？

Two fires together, I get really hot.

两团“火”在一起，就变得非常“炎热”了。

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

三团“火”在一起，就是“焱”， 非常多的火焰。

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

把火放在两棵树下， 就会“焚烧”。

For us, the sun is the source of prosperity.

对于我们来说， 太阳是一切生机的来源。

Two suns together, prosperous.

两个太阳在一起，就是“昌”盛。

Three together, that's sparkles.

三个太阳在一起， 那就“闪闪发光亮晶晶”。

Put the sun and the moon shining together,

当太阳和月亮在一起闪耀时，

it's brightness.

那就是“光明”。

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

一个白天一个夜晚之后，就是"明天"。

The sun is coming up above the horizon. Sunrise.

太阳正从地平线上升起。“旦”。

A door. Put a plank inside the door,

一扇“门”。在门里放块木板，

it's a door bolt.

就是“门闩”。

Put a mouth inside the door, asking questions.

把一张嘴放在门里，就是“问”。

Knock knock. Is anyone home?

“砰砰”，有人在家吗？

This person is sneaking out of a door,

这人正要溜出门口，

escaping, evading.

“躲闪”，“逃避”。

On the left, we have a woman.

左边，我们有一个女人。

Two women together, they have an argument.

两个女人在一起，准会有场争论。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

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

三个女人在一起，要小心，就是通"姦"。

So we have gone through almost 30 characters.

我们已经学了差不多三十个汉字，

By using this method, the first eight radicals

通过这个方法，这八个基本字

will allow you to build 32.

可以衍生出三十二个汉字，

The next group of eight characters

下一组的八个汉字

will build an extra 32.

又会衍生出另外32个汉字。

So with very little effort,

所以，大家很轻松地

you will be able to learn a couple hundred characters,

就可学到几百个汉字，

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

这相当于八岁中国孩子的汉语程度。

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

在学过了这些字后，我们开始学习造词组。

For example, the mountain and the fire together,

比如，把“山”和“火”放在一起，

we have fire mountain. It's a volcano.

我们有“火山”。这是“火山”。

We know Japan is the land of the rising sun.

我们知道日本是太阳升起的地方。

This is a sun placed with the origin,

这里把太阳和原点放在一起，

because Japan lies to the east of China.

因为日本位于中国的东面。

So a sun, origin together, we build Japan.

所以把太阳和原点放在一起，就是“日本”。

A person behind Japan, what do we get?

在“日本”后面加个“人”，我们得到什么？

A Japanese person.

“日本人”。

The character on the left is two mountains

左边的字有两座山，

stacked on top of each other.

上下叠在一起。

In ancient China, that means in exile,

在古代中国，这意味着流亡，

because Chinese emperors, they put their political enemies

因为中国的皇帝把政敌

in exile beyond mountains.

流放到大山之外。

Nowadays, exile has turned into getting out.

现今，“流放”变成了“走出去”。

A mouth which tells you where to get out

一个“口”字告诉你从哪里出去，

is an exit.

就是“出口”。

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

这张幻灯片提醒我，该结束演讲了，

and get off of the stage. Thank you.

并走下台。谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）