TED2013
ShaoLan: Learn to read Chinese ... with ease!
ShaoLan: Leer om Sjinees te less ... met gemak!
Filmed:
Readability: 3
4,781,742 views
Dis ’n moeilike taak vir buitelanders om Sjinees te leer. Maar om die mooi, soms komplekse karakters van geskrewe Sjinees te leer lees kan makliker wees. ShaoLan werk deur ’n eenvoudige les om die idees agter die karakters en hul betekenisse te erken -- om van ’n paar eenvoudige vorms tot komplekser konsepte op te bou. Noem dit Chinamaklik.
ShaoLan Hsueh - Technologist, entrepreneur
ShaoLan want to help people understand China's culture and language, and to bridge the gap between East and West. Full bio
ShaoLan want to help people understand China's culture and language, and to bridge the gap between East and West. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
Growing up in Taiwan
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Ek't in Taiwan grootgeword
00:14
as the daughter of a calligrapher,
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as die dogter van ’n kalligraaf.
00:16
one of my most treasured memories
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Een van my kosbaarste herinneringe
00:18
was my mother showing me the beauty, the shape
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was toe my ma vir my die skoonheid
00:21
and the form of Chinese characters.
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en vorm van Sjinese karakters gewys het.
00:24
Ever since then, I was fascinated
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Van toe af is ek
00:27
by this incredible language.
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deur dié ongelooflike taal geboei.
00:29
But to an outsider, it seems to be
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Maar vir ’n buitestander lyk dit
00:32
as impenetrable as the Great Wall of China.
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so ondeurdringbaar soos
die Groot Sjinese Muur.
die Groot Sjinese Muur.
00:35
Over the past few years, I've been wondering
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Oor die afgelope paar jaar het ek gewonder
00:38
if I can break down this wall,
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of ek hierdie muur kan afbreek,
00:40
so anyone who wants to understand and appreciate
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sodat enigiemand wat die skoonheid
van dié gesofistikeerde taal
van dié gesofistikeerde taal
00:42
the beauty of this sophisticated language could do so.
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wil verstaan en waardeer, dit kan doen.
00:46
I started thinking about how a new, fast method
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Ek't begin dink hoe
’n nuwe, vinnige manier
’n nuwe, vinnige manier
00:51
of learning Chinese might be useful.
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om Sjinees te leer handig sou wees.
00:54
Since the age of five, I started to learn how to draw
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Vandat ek vyf was,
het ek begin leer hoe om
het ek begin leer hoe om
00:58
every single stroke for each character
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elke liewe streep vir elke karakter
01:01
in the correct sequence.
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in die korrekte volgorde te teken.
01:03
I learned new characters every day
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Ek't 15 jaar lank
01:05
during the course of the next 15 years.
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elke dag nuwe karakters geleer.
01:08
Since we only have five minutes,
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Aangesien ons net vyf minute het,
01:10
it's better that we have a fast and simpler way.
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is dit beter dat ons
’n vinnig en makliker manier het.
’n vinnig en makliker manier het.
01:14
A Chinese scholar would understand 20,000 characters.
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’n Sjinese leerling sou
20 000 karakters verstaan.
20 000 karakters verstaan.
01:17
You only need 1,000 to understand the basic literacy.
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Jy't net 1000 nodig
om basies geletterd te wees.
om basies geletterd te wees.
01:22
The top 200 will allow you to comprehend
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Die top 200 sal jou 40 persent
01:26
40 percent of basic literature --
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van basiese literatuur laat verstaan --
01:29
enough to read road signs, restaurant menus,
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genoeg om padtekens en spyskaarte te lees,
01:32
to understand the basic idea of the web pages
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om die basiese idee van webblaaie
01:35
or the newspapers.
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of koerante te verstaan.
01:37
Today I'm going to start with eight
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Vandag gaan ek met agt begin
01:39
to show you how the method works.
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om julle te wys hoe die metode werk.
01:41
You are ready?
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Is julle gereed?
01:43
Open your mouth as wide as possible
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Maak jou mond so wyd soos moontlik oop
01:46
until it's square.
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totdat dit vierkantig is.
01:48
You get a mouth.
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Jy kry ’n mond.
01:50
This is a person going for a walk.
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Dis is ’n persoon wat gaan stap.
01:53
Person.
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Persoon.
01:57
If the shape of the fire is a person
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As die vorm van die vuur ’n persoon is,
01:59
with two arms on both sides,
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met arms aan beide kante,
02:02
as if she was yelling frantically,
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as of sy verwoed gil:
02:04
"Help! I'm on fire!" --
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"Help! Ek's aan die brand!" --
02:07
This symbol actually is originally from the shape of the flame,
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Hierdie simbool is werklik oorspronklik
van die vorm van vlamme,
van die vorm van vlamme,
02:11
but I like to think that way. Whichever works for you.
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maar ek hou daarvan om so te dink.
Wat ook al vir jou werk.
Wat ook al vir jou werk.
02:15
This is a tree.
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Dis ’n boom.
02:18
Tree.
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Boom.
02:20
This is a mountain.
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Dis ’n berg.
02:24
The sun.
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Die son.
02:29
The moon.
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Die maan.
02:34
The symbol of the door
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Die simbool vir deur
02:36
looks like a pair of saloon doors in the wild west.
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lyk soos ’n paar kroeg deure
in die Wilde Weste.
in die Wilde Weste.
02:41
I call these eight characters radicals.
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Ek noem hierdie
agt karakters radikale.
agt karakters radikale.
02:45
They are the building blocks
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Hulle is die boustene
02:47
for you to create lots more characters.
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vir jou om baie meer karakters te maak.
02:51
A person.
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’n Persoon.
02:53
If someone walks behind, that is "to follow."
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As iemand agterna loop,
is dit "om te volg."
is dit "om te volg."
02:57
As the old saying goes,
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Soos die gesegde lui:
02:59
two is company, three is a crowd.
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twee is ’n paar, drie onpaar.
03:03
If a person stretched their arms wide,
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As ’n persoon hul arms wyd uitstrek,
03:06
this person is saying, "It was this big."
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sê hierdie persoon: "Dit was só groot."
03:10
The person inside the mouth, the person is trapped.
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Die persoon binne die mond,
die persoon is vasgevang.
die persoon is vasgevang.
03:14
He's a prisoner, just like Jonah inside the whale.
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Hy is ’n gevangene,
net soos Jona in die walvis.
net soos Jona in die walvis.
03:20
One tree is a tree. Two trees together, we have the woods.
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Een boom is ’n boom.
Twee bome saam is ’n bos.
Twee bome saam is ’n bos.
03:24
Three trees together, we create the forest.
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Drie bome saam skep ’n woud.
03:27
Put a plank underneath the tree, we have the foundation.
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Sit ’n plank onder die boom,
dan kry ons die fondasie.
dan kry ons die fondasie.
03:31
Put a mouth on the top of the tree, that's "idiot." (Laughter)
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Sit ’n mond bo-op die boom:
dis idioot. (Gelag)
dis idioot. (Gelag)
03:35
Easy to remember,
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Maklik om te onthou,
03:37
since a talking tree is pretty idiotic.
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aangesien ’n pratende boom
nogal idioties is.
nogal idioties is.
03:42
Remember fire?
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Onthou julle nog vuur?
03:44
Two fires together, I get really hot.
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Twee vure saam: ek kry baie warm.
03:47
Three fires together, that's a lot of flames.
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Drie vure saam, dis baie vlamme.
03:50
Set the fire underneath the two trees, it's burning.
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Sit die vuur onder
die twee bome: dit brand.
die twee bome: dit brand.
03:54
For us, the sun is the source of prosperity.
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Vir ons is die son ’n bron van voorspoed.
03:58
Two suns together, prosperous.
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Twee sonne saam: voorspoedig.
04:00
Three together, that's sparkles.
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Drie saam: dis skitter.
04:02
Put the sun and the moon shining together,
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Die son en die maan skyn saam:
04:04
it's brightness.
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dis helderheid.
04:05
It also means tomorrow, after a day and a night.
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Dit beteken ook môre, na ’n dag en ’n nag.
04:10
The sun is coming up above the horizon. Sunrise.
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Die son kom op oor die horison.
Sonsopkoms.
Sonsopkoms.
04:14
A door. Put a plank inside the door,
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’n Deur. Sit ’n plank in die deur:
04:17
it's a door bolt.
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dis ’n deurgrendel.
04:19
Put a mouth inside the door, asking questions.
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Sit ’n mond in die deur: vra vrae.
04:22
Knock knock. Is anyone home?
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Klop-klop. Is enigiemand tuis?
04:26
This person is sneaking out of a door,
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Die persoon sluip by die deur uit,
04:28
escaping, evading.
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hy ontsnap, vermy.
04:31
On the left, we have a woman.
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Aan die linkerkant het ons ’n vrou.
04:33
Two women together, they have an argument.
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Twee vroue saam, hulle het rusie.
04:36
(Laughter)
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(Gelag)
04:38
Three women together, be careful, it's adultery.
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Drie vroue saam, wees versigtig,
dis egbreuk.
dis egbreuk.
04:44
So we have gone through almost 30 characters.
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So ons is amper deur 30 karakters.
04:48
By using this method, the first eight radicals
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Met hierdie metode
sal die eerste agt radikale
sal die eerste agt radikale
04:51
will allow you to build 32.
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jou toelaat om 32 te bou.
04:53
The next group of eight characters
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Die volgende groep van agt karakters
04:55
will build an extra 32.
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sal ’n nog 32 bou.
04:57
So with very little effort,
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So met baie min moeite
04:59
you will be able to learn a couple hundred characters,
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sal jy ’n paar honderd karakters kan leer,
05:02
which is the same as a Chinese eight-year-old.
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net so baie soos ’n Sjinese agtjarige ken.
05:04
So after we know the characters, we start building phrases.
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Sodra ons die karakters ken,
begin ons frases bou.
begin ons frases bou.
05:08
For example, the mountain and the fire together,
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Byvoorbeeld, die berg en die vuur saam,
05:10
we have fire mountain. It's a volcano.
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gee ons vuurberg. Dis ’n vulkaan.
05:13
We know Japan is the land of the rising sun.
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Ons weet dat Japan die land
van die opkomende son is.
van die opkomende son is.
05:17
This is a sun placed with the origin,
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Hierdie is ’n son
geplaas met die oorsprong,
geplaas met die oorsprong,
05:20
because Japan lies to the east of China.
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omdat Japan oos van Sjina lê.
05:23
So a sun, origin together, we build Japan.
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So met son en oorsprong saam
maak ons Japan.
maak ons Japan.
05:27
A person behind Japan, what do we get?
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’n Persoon agter Japan; wat kry ons?
05:30
A Japanese person.
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’n Japanese persoon.
05:33
The character on the left is two mountains
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Die karakter links is twee berge
05:36
stacked on top of each other.
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wat opmekaar gestapel is.
05:38
In ancient China, that means in exile,
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In Antieke Sjina beteken dit verbanning,
05:41
because Chinese emperors, they put their political enemies
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omdat die Sjinese keisers
hul politiese vyande
hul politiese vyande
05:44
in exile beyond mountains.
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verban oor berge.
05:46
Nowadays, exile has turned into getting out.
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Deesdae het verbanning
verander na uitgaan.
verander na uitgaan.
05:51
A mouth which tells you where to get out
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’n Mond wat vir jou sê waar om uit te gaan
05:54
is an exit.
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is ’n uitgang.
05:56
This is a slide to remind me that I should stop talking
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Hierdie is ’n skyfie wat my herinner
dat ek moet ophou praat
dat ek moet ophou praat
05:59
and get off of the stage. Thank you.
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en die verhoog verlaat. Dankie.
06:01
(Applause)
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(Applous)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
ShaoLan Hsueh - Technologist, entrepreneurShaoLan want to help people understand China's culture and language, and to bridge the gap between East and West.
Why you should listen
ShaoLan is an entrepreneur, angel investor, geek, writer, traveller and dreamer. She is the founder and creator of Chineasy, which she launched after her TED Talk in Long Beach, California in 2013.
In just over three years, she has built Chineasy into one of the most popular methods of learning Chinese across the Internet with several hundred thousand fellow learners. Her first book, Chineasy, The New Way to Read Chinese, was launched in March 2014 and has been translated into 18 languages. Her next book, Chineasy Everyday, was launched in March 2016.
ShaoLan is a tech entrepreneur with extensive business experience. At the age of 22, while studying for her MBA, she wrote four best-selling books on software in Taiwan, and her books were bundled by Microsoft. She co-founded pAsia, one of the major players on Internet in Asia in 1990’s. After a second masters degree at the University of Cambridge, she began Caravel Capital in 2005 to advise young tech companies.
Chineasy represents a return for ShaoLan to her artistic upbringing and in many ways a design project. This project is the culmination of her life’s journey through the East and West. Her aim is to help people to understand China, Chinese culture, its language and to bridge the gap between East and West. Her next step is to help Chinese children to enjoy and appreciate the beauty of their own language.
ShaoLan Hsueh | Speaker | TED.com