Learn to Write Chinese Characters (Yale Language Series) (Paperback)

by Johan Bjorksten (Author)
Key Phrases: seal script, simplified characters, grammatical particle, Full Form (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
An introductory manual for writing Chinese characters specifically designed for English-speaking readers. The author guides the reader through the fundamentals of writing, introduces the various scripts used in China and demonstrates how to write with a fountain pen rather than a brush.

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Swedish

Product Details

• Paperback: 123 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (August 31, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300057717
• ISBN-13: 978-0300057713
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #118,118 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

100 of 101 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Start with this book., December 29, 2001

By	Elbert D. Porter "giggle3" (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book teaches the principles of sound and beautiful writing - the names of the strokes, the order in which they are written, aesthetic principles, and the common radicals. Then it provides a famous poem to practice with, and a list of a hundred common characters, sorted by frequency of usage. When the simplified character differs from the traditional, both are given. Transliterations are in pin-yin. This is far and away the best book I've found for learning to write the characters. I regretted the transition away from this book to other resources, principally because other resources usually use the printed form that ignores the aesthetic principles and turns beauty into ugliness. That sounds harsh, doesn't it? But it's true! If you're going to learn to write, start with this book, so you won't have to go back later to correct bad habits.

140 of 148 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do Not Try This At Home (without this text!!), November 25, 2002

By	Lisbeth West "living spiritual principles, lo... (Carter Lake, Colorado) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have just started learning to write Chinese characters and THIS is the holy grail of beiginners' books. I looked through many listmania and reviews on Amazon.com's site (thank you ALL!) and decided to start with this primer. As a hands-on learner, I know now why it has been recommended so highly by those who teach, speak, or are just learning the Chinese language.

I am reminded of the first days in school when we had to practice writing our ABCs on a tablet with pencil. We wrote those damned letters over and over again, didn't we? The teacher stood at the blackboard and showed us the best way to make the lines and the order of the "character's strokes."

This book is the Mrs. Hatfield of my first grade class in Chinese. Each stroke is shown carefully. Each stroke is also shown when it is not written correctly and gives the "name" of the error (eg. "fish hook, etc.)

Tao only knows how a Swedish author conceived of and wrote such a wonderful primer to the language. It makes sense, however, that a person whose first language is NOT Chinese would be so specific about the right and wrong way to hold the pen, use the correct posture and table angle, and keep "between the lines."

I don't get too hard on myself when I can't make a character look the way they does in the book. I look back at how I wrote my name in first grade and now understand the true meaning of "penmanship". The author urges the learner to practice each stroke at least one hundred times until you go on to the next stroke. Add them together and you get a beautiful character. Don't practice each stroke individually over the course of days and many sheets of paper, and the character resemble the rough letters I wrote in my first grade homeworlk.

DO NOT attempt to do this at home (learn to write Chinese characters) without this very important primer. It is invaluable, extraordinary, and shows a great deal of thought and study by the author and those who assisted him in compiling this material. I do my 100 + strokes a day. I don't jump ahead and do what I thought I could do -- "Oh that character looks easy, it's just an upside down Y."

I know this edition will get dog eared and I will probably buy another to replace this text. It has no equal. Aside from the friends in China who supported me and applaud me for learning their language, this small text tells me that I CAN learn a language and fulfill a longtime dream. Hurrah! and thank you, Mr. Bjorksten.

from Lodro Dawa, my Buddhist nickname.
(Someday I will learn to write it AND learn its lesson for wisdom in this lifetime.)

60 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book perfect in its kind, February 4, 2001

By	tepi "tepi" - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This book should be at the head of everyone's list, since it is devoted to a skill which almost all sinologists neglect, whether professional or amateur, and yet is one that is the source of enormous pleasure and gratification - the ability to form Chinese Characters (Jpn. kanji) well. It is a short manual of just 122 pages which, after a brief account of the history and structure of characters, some instruction on how to look them up in a dictionary, and a little about their aesthetics, goes on to teach the user all of the main strokes by using the radicals as models. The book ends with a short list of suggested readings, and a brief guide to Chinese pronunciation. Unlike most other manuals of Chinese Calligraphy, which teach the student how to write with the traditional brush, this teaches the art of writing with a pen, and the models Bjorksten provides for copying, unlike those in many other manuals written for Westerners, are excellent. A book perfect in its kind, and not to be missed.