Magazine article from our research archive:

Why Learning To Write Chinese Is a Waste of Time: A Modest Proposal

Abstract:

This article argues that for students of Chinese and Japanese, learning to write Chinese characters (hanzi/kanji) by hand from memory is an inefficient use of resources. Rather, beginning students should focus on character/word recognition (reading) and electronic writing. Although electronic technologies have diminished the usefulness of Chinese character handwriting, its cultural importance remains. This leads to a hegemony of hanzi/kanji through which the assumed primacy of the written language is reinforced. After reviewing these conditions, strategies are offered to integrate handwriting skills with the new electronic writing technologies, creating an efficient and culturally ...

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