Problem
I cannot read Chinese. I see elderly Chinese men, the elderly are called 'uncles'. They look elderly and shabby and not well-dressed or well educated. Yet they can read the complicated Chinese language. Maybe they learn to speak Chinese at home and learned Chinese at school, for free, not at an expensive private school.
However, if they can read pages of Chinese, you and I, who can read English, could at least learn one or two easy characters.
The easy characters are one, two and three, horizontal lines like Roman letters turned sideways.
Ten is like a plus sign.
From this you can read English signs and refer to the Chinese alongside and recognize:
one
two
three
on a calendar
on opening times
days of the week
2018 - starts with 201
But in Chinese numbers are written as sometimes as you would say them, so 20 is not two zero but twenty written as two ten, two horizontal lines and then a plus sign for ten.
The sign for trishaw is three-wheel-vehicle so you can recognize the three horizontal lines starting the three character word on signs and trishaws.
Go around Singapore seeing how many Chinese numbers you can identify on signs. A game to play with yourself or your children.
If you want to learn more, try Chineasy or Duolingo.
Useful Chinese Language Websites
https://www.ted.com/talks/shaolan_learn_to_read_chinese_with_ease?language=en#t-354732
http://www.zhongwenred.com/lessonone.htm
https://www.duolingo.com/course/zh/en/Learn-Chinese-Online
Useful Singapore Tourism Websites
Singapore Tourist Board
Singapore Airlines
singaporeair.com
Chinatown Heritage Centre
www.chinatownheritagecentre.com.sg
Author
Angela Lansbury
I cannot read Chinese. I see elderly Chinese men, the elderly are called 'uncles'. They look elderly and shabby and not well-dressed or well educated. Yet they can read the complicated Chinese language. Maybe they learn to speak Chinese at home and learned Chinese at school, for free, not at an expensive private school.
However, if they can read pages of Chinese, you and I, who can read English, could at least learn one or two easy characters.
The easy characters are one, two and three, horizontal lines like Roman letters turned sideways.
Ten is like a plus sign.
From this you can read English signs and refer to the Chinese alongside and recognize:
one
two
three
on a calendar
on opening times
days of the week
2018 - starts with 201
But in Chinese numbers are written as sometimes as you would say them, so 20 is not two zero but twenty written as two ten, two horizontal lines and then a plus sign for ten.
The sign for trishaw is three-wheel-vehicle so you can recognize the three horizontal lines starting the three character word on signs and trishaws.
Go around Singapore seeing how many Chinese numbers you can identify on signs. A game to play with yourself or your children.
Chineasy
If you want to learn more, try Chineasy or Duolingo.
https://www.ted.com/talks/shaolan_learn_to_read_chinese_with_ease?language=en#t-354732
http://www.zhongwenred.com/lessonone.htm
https://www.duolingo.com/course/zh/en/Learn-Chinese-Online
Useful Singapore Tourism Websites
Singapore Tourist Board
Singapore Airlines
singaporeair.com
Chinatown Heritage Centre
www.chinatownheritagecentre.com.sg
Author
Angela Lansbury
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