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- File: Readme.txt Belongs with chinese.zip, (reader.db or reader2.db)
- A Chinese-English Database
- =================
- Beginning Chinese
- =================
- When you first look at Chinese, the characters look different
- but you can't seem to remember them. It is like trying to
- remember all of the lines you made in a doodle. Some people
- can remember the English meaning for a Chinese character but
- not the Pinyin, while some can remember the Pinyin but not the
- Chinese character -- my favorite is when I can remember the
- Pinyin for a character but not the English meaning. In order to
- get all three parts to hang together you have to study from
- English to Character, English to Pinyin, Pinyin to Character,
- Character to Pinyin, etc.
- The second problem I found when starting Chinese was that
- different dictionaries use different fonts (calligraphic styles,
- such as Kai, Song, and Wei). When you have only studied one
- form, it is difficult to readily recognize different forms of the
- characters. When you only look at kaishu characters it limits
- your ability to pick out the distinctive features of the
- characters.
- The distinctive features are those characteristics which are
- necessary for the recognition and discrimination of characters
- from other characters. In the Roman alphabet the fact that both
- d and b have lines and half circles are common features, the
- fact that one is on the left and one on the right is a distinctive
- feature. It is also important that a certain amount of line appear
- above the half circle -- but the amount may vary. When writing
- Chinese characters there is also a great amount of variation
- possible -- wait until you see Chinese handwriting! However,
- as in the Roman alphabet, the variations have limitations. The
- list of rules governing which lines can or cannot be shortened,
- moved slightly, or be curved would be immense. The only
- efficient way to pick it up is to begin reading different standard
- fonts and expose yourself to different handwriting styles.
- Another difficulty faced by English speakers learning Chinese
- is called the 'measure word'. Measure words indicate units of
- items; some can be easily translated (bei1 = cup, glass) while
- others cannot be translated (zheng1 = unit of something flat
- like a desk or mattress). Just to make life interesting there are
- words which take multiple measure words -- those which are
- colloquial and those which are seldom found outside of books!
- The introductory books I have read soft-pedal the measure
- words by teaching only a few of the most common in the first
- two years, but warn that if you don't use the correct one you
- will not be considered literate; or worse, not be understood.
- I firmly believe that the measure words should be learned with
- the noun. We learn le and la with French nouns and if you ask a
- native speaker of Chinese what the measure word is for a noun
- they say the word in a phrase "one (unit-measure word)
- (noun)" "yi4 ben3 shu1" "yi4 zhan3 tai2deng1" [one (mw)
- book; one (mw) table lamp. The sound of the phrase cues the
- memory.
- ==========================
- How the database can help:
- ==========================
- In order to help myself with these three problems, I began a
- database of Chinese vocabulary. I can switch fonts periodically,
- randomize words, print out study sheets, and add sentences to
- put vocabulary into context. It is a working model. I am
- constantly adding words and elaborating the thing. There are
- typos left, I am sure. There is one nice feature that may make
- up for the typos -- I have added measure words for many of the
- nouns. I have not yet found a reference work which does this; I
- badger my Chinese friends and collect them as I read.
- This database is based on the Simplified character version of
- the Reader Series: Books I and II from Beijing Language
- Institute. It comes in two forms;
- 1) Chinese.zip
- -- just the vocabulary from Reader I and II
- 2) Chinese2.zip
- -- with extra words and phrases. In this form the
- component single syllable words are included for many of
- the compound words. I found it easier to remember
- vocabulary in this way and to figure out the meaning of
- new words.
- ===================================================================
- Use it freely for personal or educational applications --
- it may not be used in any other program or commercial
- product without permission.
- ===================================================================
- I would be delighted to have some help picking out errors. Just
- drop me some e-mail at the address shown below.
- =================================
- The database includes fields for:
- =================================
- English keyword
- single word reference for sorting
- English definition
- Chinese Character
- Pinyin without tone
- (this field is handy for searching by pinyin without
- entering the tone marks)
- Chinese Pinyin with real tone marks
- Chinese Pinyin with number tones
- Measure word pinyin with number tones
- Measure word Chinese character,
- Known
- (this field is designed to place an "x" on those words you
- know well so you can exclude them from further review.
- When you use the form, click on this field and the
- character will turn to black on white. If you hit F9 you can
- then put x in the field to indicate that you know it. Then
- with a slight knowledge of Paradox, you can filter those
- words.)
- Book
- Chapter
- (The field allows you to sort list by the main vocabulary
- and exclude the supplementary vocabulary.)
- Chapter First Seen
- (In the Reader, words occur in text or supplemental lists
- before they are found in the regular vocabulary. This field
- allows you to include them in your chapter lists.)
- ==========================
- To use it you should have:
- ==========================
- I.Paradox 4.5 or better (I am currently using Paradox 5) I
- have tried using dBase V for Windows and could not get
- support for the Chinese characters. I found Paradox to
- have built-in support for several Chinese systems and have
- not tried any other databases. If you find that it works with
- other databases, let me know.
- II.TwinBridge 3.1 or 4.0 or some other Chinese system. (I
- have set the font on the Chinese characters to JSong which
- comes with the standard TwinBridge package -- if you
- have another Chinese system you will have to change the
- font in the Chinese Character field and in the Measure
- Word field.)
- III.Arial MT -- This is optional, but lets you see and print the
- tone marks (there is also a numbered pinyin field if you
- don't have it) -- Arial MT is a Chinese Pinyin TTFont
- which is available through Cheng and T'sui (a mail-order
- house in Boston for Asian language books: Phone
- 617-426-6074). The font was designed to be used with
- any Windows program and costs about $15 -- well worth
- it whether you are a student or teacher.
- IV.Probably some patience.
- V.Chinese.zip (download it below)
- In the Chinese.zip you will find:
- reader.db
- The database (unzips to 2.5 megs or 3.1 megs for reader2.db)
- reader.rsl
- Prints out vocabulary -- four words per page. The
- page is designed to be a tri-fold so that you can view
- English, Character, or Pinyin and test your
- knowledge of the other two. There are four words per
- page so they can be shuffled to minimize context --
- or cut into floppy index cards.
- reader.fsl
- The form is a handy way to review vocabulary on the
- computer.
- reader.tv
- A Paradox file.
- reader.fam
- A Paradox file.
- readme.htm and readme.txt
- This file.
- Copy these files into your working directory for
- Paradox, start TwinBridge, and open the database in
- Paradox.
- ================
- Acknowledgements
- ================
- Liu Yu Rong, Shou Danni, and Feng Xie of Beijing
- Polytechnic University and Wang Hong Fang of Farmington
- have all helped to either proof-read or add measure words to
- the database.
- Paradox is a trademark of Borland International.
- http://www.borland.com
- TwinBridge 3.5 and Chinese Partner 4.0 are products of the
- TwinBridge Software Corporation http://www.twinbridge.com
- Comments to: Marilyn Shea, Department of Psychology
- University of Maine at Farmington,
- Farmington, ME 04938
-
- mshea@maine.maine.edu
- http:// zinnia.umfacad.maine.edu/~mshea/China/china.html
- Last update: MAY 1996
- copywrite -- Marilyn Shea 1996
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