Spoken and Written Chinese - Two Systems

Even in a language like English, it's clear that spoken language and written language are different. Some people might argue that because written English is (at least partially) phonemic, its relationship with its spoken counterpart is quite close. If one forgets how to say a word, for example, a speaker will be able to remind themselves of how to pronounce it by looking at the written version.

However, written language is not a record of spoken language. If you asked someone to record your voice, they would think of modern audio equipment. Nor does written language require the same senses as spoken language. One requires the eye and the hand, the other, the ear and the mouth. Written language does not require reading aloud for the message to be understood. The deaf and mute have no barrier to understanding the written word. The blind have no trouble listening or speaking.

If this is the case for English, the difference between the two systems is even more obvious with Chinese. Chinese writing is logographic - each character is like a picture - and reading characters rarely aids pronunciation. To the beginner, it offers no help in this regard whatsoever. However, this can lead to a terrible misconception: the belief that Chinese is "difficult to learn". The nature of Chinese writing does make it a challenge. However, if taught in the right way, learning to read and write Chinese becomes enjoyable and interesting.

In fact, speaking and writing are just two different ways of expressing meaning. They should be taught separately using different methods. As Han Dynasty scholar Yang Xiong (杨雄) wrote, "Speaking is sound from the heart, writing is pictures from the heart" (言心声也书心画也) 《法言》.