Chinese School - To type or to hand write

CITYLIFE / Hip & New






To type or to hand write

(CRI)
Updated: 2006-12-14 10:55



As computers become all the more popular in China, Chinese people are
increasingly relying on alphabet-based keyboards to input pictographic
Chinese characters. But if they use the computer too much, they may end
up forgetting the exact strokes of each Chinese character when writing on
paper. Experts suggest people, especially students, write by hand more.

Do you write by hand more or type more? In Beijing, students start using
a computer as early as primary school. 9-year-old Wang Tong is a primary
school student.

"With the advanced technology, we now seldom write by hand."

And computer dependence is more wide-spread among university students.
Almost all their assignments and essays are typed on a computer.

All the students interviewed say they usually use a computer.

It's faster and easier to correct if using a computer. And that's why
computers are being applied more and more often to modern education. But
when people are getting increasingly dependent on computers, problems
appear.

"When I'm writing with a pen, I find I often can't remember how to write
a character, though I feel I��m familiar with it."

"I'm not in the mood to write when faced with a pen and paper."

Though many students can't write the correct characters or even can't
write by hand, they don't feel this is something to worry about. Now that
it's more convenient and efficient to write on a computer, why bother to
handwrite?

Then is handwriting really useless?

Many educators think differently. Shi Liwei is the headmaster of a famous
primary school in the capital.

"Chinese characters enjoy both practical and artistic value. But those
characters typed with computer keyboards only maintain their practical
value. All the artistic beauty of the characters is lost. And handwriting
contains the writer's emotion. That's why it's emotional."

Shi Liwei also says aesthetic handwriting will add credit to young people.

"Through one's handwriting, people can get to know one's thinking and
personality. If a person can write beautifully, people will have a better
first impression of them."

To encourage students to handwrite more, many primary schools in Beijing
have made writing classes compulsory and in universities, some professors
are asking students to turn in their homework and essays written by hand.










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