Mandarin Mastery: Why Handwriting  Chinese Characters Remains Relevant in an Increasingly Digital World

Mandarin Chinese is, without a doubt, one of the most difficult languages to learn for non-native speakers, more especially for those whose mother tongue is one of the Latin-based European languages such as English, Spanish, French, Italian, etc. These languages could not be more different from Mandarin, but learning and mastering Mandarin is absolutely possible for those who call these languages their first. The question is, what facets of learning Mandarin are the most important, and remain relevant despite an increasingly digital age?

Setting the Stage

Having studied Mandarin Chinese for over thirteen years, living in China for one year, using my language skills in several different professional settings, and being married to a native speaker, I would like to think that I have a good grasp of the language, and, more importantly, how to effectively learn it from the perspective of a native English speaker. I am always re-evaluating, analyzing, and looking for additional sources of help for the students under my tutelage. 

In my never-ending search for improvement in my teaching methods as explained above, one particular set of questions that seems to be repeatedly asked over and over by any learner of Mandarin is “How important are the characters? Do I have to learn them? What about handwriting, is that still important and relevant?” 

As you may well guess, the answers provided to these questions vary greatly in their content and scope. While there is virtually unanimous agreement that the characters must be learned and are absolutely critical to learning the language, answers in response to the third question outlined above in regards to handwriting are far less consistent. Many respond stating that learning to handwrite characters is a waste of time, as our phones, computers, and other modern technology have relegated the archaic skills of handwriting to the ash heap of history. Others, like myself, vehemently disagree with this view. In this article, I will elucidate precisely why I and others hold fast to the idea that handwriting characters remains an integral and essential skill when learning and using Mandarin Chinese in today’s world.

The Debate

Those who hold the opinion that handwriting Chinese characters is an obsolete skill content that we all have cell phones and computers to write characters for us, that it is only necessary to be able to write using the Pinyin system, which is the romanization of the characters that allows for typing in the sound of the character using letters, then selecting the appropriate one from an ordered list starting from the most to the least frequently used. They contend that most foreign language learners of Mandarin can get by with these technological developments, and that they are hardly likely to need to do something like fill out a form or other paperwork that would require handwriting (and even then they may say that e-forms will make even this unnecessary.) With the further advent of ChatGPT and other AI, those who hold this view seem to think their arguments are airtight.

I unequivocally disagree. The first point I would make is that when these people were learning whatever their mother tongue may be, did they not learn to write their various alphabets, scripts, or characters by hand as part of their education? Why should their second or third language be any different? I’m baffled by the very thought.

Secondly, writing Chinese characters reinforces the character in one’s mind through muscle memory and motor learning. Studies have shown that additional motor recruitment or coding can stimulate recall of a character. One such study from the International journal of language & communication disorders found “The beneficial effect of finger tracing on writing or recall of Chinese characters is mediated by sequence and spatial information embedded in the motor movements, and that proprioceptive channel may play a part in mediating visuo-spatial information.” This strongly links the actions of tracing or writing the characters out on one’s hand with recall or recognition of the character. 

I have observed this circumstance in my time with native speakers of the language, oftentimes when a particularly obscure or seldom used character is used in conversation, (especially when someone is introducing themselves and states their name, as names often contain atypical characters) the person trying to recall the character will almost automatically begin to trace it on their hand, which quickly results in total recall. This phenomenon even occurs in the presence of smartphones, suggesting that motor coding or muscle memory is a powerful tool, and perhaps at times even more potent than the technology at our disposal. 

My final point is one that is slightly more subjective than the previous two, but I still believe it with no less conviction. The idea is simple, that one should do all that one does whole-heartedly, meticulously, and with great care. This is particularly applicable when undertaking a task as monumental as learning another language. Why cheat or rob yourself of learning all facets of the language, including handwriting, simply because it may be difficult, time-consuming, or perceived as “without real use?” What would your thoughts and feelings be if you were asked or informed someone that you could speak Mandarin Chinese, and then they asked if you could read and write as well? Could you really say you can write if you aren’t able to do so without the use of a computer or cell phone? I imagine it would be an awkward and unpleasant experience, one that can and should be avoided.

Applications

Now that we have established my arguments for why handwriting is important, let’s conclude with some practical applications and advice for the use of this skill in your journey to learning Mandarin Chinese. Native speakers I am in frequent contact with including my wife and close friends fondly recall their days in elementary (primary) school spent practicing handwriting characters hundreds if not thousands of times until they literally became a part of them, something they would be extremely unlikely to forget even over the span of an entire lifetime. I propose that while it may sound tedious and grueling to practice characters many times over, the process is necessary to truly internalize this vital part of the Chinese language. The characters contain many thousands of years of relevant culture and history, and are absolutely paramount in mastering and learning the language to the fullest extent.

As I previously stated, practicing many characters for endless repetitions may sound daunting, but there are ways to break up the task into more manageable chunks. First, one can learn the radicals, which are smaller components of a Chinese character that serve as a means of organizing characters in the dictionary or other lexicographical reference, as Chinese does not have an alphabet by which to organize its words and terms. Most sources agree there are 214 distinct Chinese radicals, which by comparison seems much less scary than the estimated 50,000 extant Chinese characters. These radicals also serve the purpose of providing context and hints about the character, whether phonetic (relating to pronunciation) or semantic (relating to meaning.) For instance, the radical 氵(shuǐ) refers to water, which makes perfect sense given that it does look like droplets or splashes of water. Whenever we encounter this radical, we can safely assume that the character in question has something to do with water or other liquids. These associations can help to learn new characters more quickly, as well as more effectively recall previously learned ones. 

We can also study characters according to two methodologies, first, by their frequency of occurrence, and second, by their complexity (number of distinct strokes.) Frequency should be an obvious idea, as the most frequently used characters should be learned as early as possible. However, just because a character is frequently used does not necessarily mean it may not also be complex in its number of strokes and how many radicals it combines. If some frequently used characters feel too overwhelming at first, you can strategically select ones that perhaps may not be used quite as often, but are simpler in their construction.

I think by now it is obvious that I am passionate about this language, whether it be learning it or teaching it to others. Through great effort and many years of study I have reached what can be considered to be a “near-native” level. I believe others can reach these same heights as well, but it is critical that they do not neglect handwriting in the process. Besides, how cool is it to be able to say you can handwrite Chinese characters? Very cool if you ask me!

Ready to start your journey to mastering Chinese Characters? Click here to contact me to get a customized plan of study, just for you!