For older or more sophisticated students, you could attempt some homonyms and intonation variations for words that are made of two characters.
In Compare & Contrast we discussed how developing the ability to compare and contrast also helps with building up Chinese language skills. Because children 0-6 acquire and practice many basic skills, it’s important to teach our kids to find the similarities and differences between objects and things. This skill builds a scientific, linguistic and mathematical foundation.
This post furthers this discussion, focusing on the many aspects of the Chinese language such as characters, phrases, grammar and more.
Since written Chinese uses shapes and strokes instead of an alphabet, learning to read builds upon children’s ability to differentiate between characters and some common components. The Chinese language is rife with ways to teach our children how to compare and contrast.
We will focus on 4 major areas in this post:
The built-in visual similarities and differences between characters and components in
The Simplified and Traditional scripts are excellent examples to study because:
Let us take the following characters as an example.
Traditional Chinese | Simplified Chinese |
---|---|
鳥 | 鸟 |
幾 | 几 |
會 | 会 |
國 | 国 |
還 | 还 |
歡 | 欢 |
來 | 来 |
個 | 个 |
Each pair of the above characters represent the same word, yet one is in Traditional and the other Simplified. Study them and discuss with your child
You may want to search on the internet the general logic behind the simplification of individual characters. Sometimes, the characters reverted to a certain variant from the evolution of Chinese writing. Sometimes, the characters were changed into different sound or meaning components.
The different tones in some Chinese characters can sound very similar to an untrained ear. Meanwhile, there exist many homonyms (both homophonic characters 同音字 and homophonic words 同音詞), and heteronyms (多音字). Below are a few examples and suggestions of discussion points with your child.
For older or more sophisticated students, you could attempt some homonyms and intonation variations for words that are made of two characters.
Word 1 | Word 2 |
---|---|
猩猩 (ape) | 星星 (star) |
權利 (power, right, privilege) | 權力 (power, authority) |
行李 (luggage) | 行禮 (to salute) |
談情 (to engage in love talk) | 彈琴 (to play on the piano) |
Intonation 1 | Intonation 2 |
---|---|
熟食 /shóu shí/ (cooked food) | 守時 /shŏu shí/ (punctual) |
通知 /tōng zhī/ (to inform) | 統治 /tŏng zhì/ (to govern) |
補牙 /bŭ yá/ (to repair a tooth) | 不雅 /bù yă/ (vulgar) |
投寄 /tóu jì/ (to post a letter) | 投機 /tóu jī/ (to speculate) |
Chinese extensively uses techniques of comparing and contrasting in poetry, couplets and idioms. By pointing them out to children and directing their attention to these elements, they not only learn to think of language technically, but they also learn about Chinese grammar, history, and culture.
Dui-Lian (Couplets 對聯) are pairs of poetic lines that complement each other by using various literary artforms. While we won’t go in depth analyzing couplets here, in general, they can be used to teach children culture, grammar, symbolism, and poetic language. Here are two popular examples:
雲對雨,雪對風
In this sentence, we can look for similarities. All four things mentioned are nouns as well natural phenomenon. Cloud is paired with rain and snow is paired with wind. Why are they paired together? What does each pair have in common? How are the two pairs different? Looking at the four nouns, what do they have in common other than being weather related? What do the characters look like?
來鴻對去燕
In this sentence, we have a contrast in differences. We have two verbs that are antonyms: one is coming and the other is going. We have two nouns that are also different: a large goose and a small swallow. We can also use this sentence to study similarities since there are two nouns and two verbs. They are both paired words and are compared to each other.
Each set of sentences below illustrates contrasts and similarities:
舉頭望明月,低頭思故鄉
Contrast: looking up vs looking down
Compare similarities: the verbs “to look” / “to think”; the nouns “moon” / “homeland”
在天願作比翼鳥,在地願為連理枝
Contrast: the sky vs the earth
Compare similarities: 比翼鳥 (two birds flying wing to wing) & 連理枝 (two trees with branches intertwined), they both simulate lovers.
Chinese idioms are full of contrasts and similarities. These idioms often provide vivid images and would be an excellent way to engage children in examining the concept of compare and contrast. Below are a few examples (the first three are featured in Idioms in Comic):*
黑 白 分 明
長 話 短 說
眼 高 手 低
朝 令 夕 改
不 進 則 退
東 成 西 就
* in each example, the coloured character and the highlighted one contrast each other, the other 2 characters share some similarities
We hope this article has given you some ideas of how to use the Chinese language to help your children with their observation skills and at the same time learn Chinese in the process.
If you have questions, or would like us to discuss further on some other related topics, please feel free to drop us a note:
我們會經常為大家探討漢字和語文的課題。
要是你有特別的相關課題希望我們探討,歡迎您告訴我們。
We discuss Chinese language and culture related topics on a regular basis.
If you would like us to discuss certain topics about Chinese, please let us know.
很多家長都已是我們 Facebook 群組【講媽 · 講爸園地】 的成員。歡迎你也加入我們,一起互相鼓勵和支持,共同為孩子的學習而努力。
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Sagebooks Hongkong promotes independent reading and life-long learning by nurturing the child’s confidence, autonomy and self-teaching abilities. Since 2006. Find out more About Us.
© 2020 Sagebooks Hongkong. All rights reserved.
Sagebooks Hongkong promotes independent reading and life-long learning by nurturing the child’s confidence, autonomy and self-teaching abilities. Since 2006. Find out more About Us.
© 2020 Sagebooks Hongkong. All rights reserved.
Sagebooks Hongkong promotes independent reading and life-long learning by nurturing the child’s confidence, autonomy and self-teaching abilities. Since 2006. Find out more About Us.
© 2020 Sagebooks Hongkong. All rights reserved.
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