没想到美国小伙竟在成都“教汉语” | How I Memorize Chinese Characters？

成都市建设“三城三都”的时间表和路线图已经出炉！在成都高水平建设世界文创名城的过程中，也有外国人专注于这座城市的文创领域，比如这位在成都开发汉字学习项目的美国小伙。

The timetable and road map of Chengdu’s positioning strategy to build "Three Cities and Three Capitals" (World Famous Cultural and Creative City, World Famous Tourism City, World Famous Competition City & International Capital of Gastronomy，International Capital of Music，International Capital of Exhibitions&Conventions ) has been released! While pooling strengths to rise as a world-famous cultural and creative city, Chengdu has seen some contributions from foreign expatriates, such as this American young man who has been devoted to developing a program to help people learn how to write Chinese characters.

从云

Phil Crimmins，中文名从云，美国费城人。他曾在四川大学留学三年，并于2017年7月获得了成都首张留学生创业签证。他与英国人宁昊天（Luke Neale）开发了一套针对外国人的汉字学习系统。现为汉语蓝图联合创始人，兼任乐队鼓手。

Phil Crimmins was born in Philadelphia, PA, USA. His Chinese name is "Cong Yun（从云）" . After studying at Sichuan University for three years, in July 2017, he was granted the first Entrepreneurship Visa in Chengdu. Cong Yun and his partner created a systemized learning system which "aims at Westerners who are studying Chinese". Now, he is the co-founder of Mandarin Blueprint and a part-time drummer.

汉字“发烧友”从云说到：“形象多变的汉字对西方人非常有吸引力，但汉字很难记，这让学习中文的门槛很高。”他话锋一转，“然而，我和我的合伙人有个法子让记汉字变得简单。”

"Chinese characters, with their beautiful and diversified forms, easily attract the interest of Westerners. However, they are also very hard to remember long term, which sets up a high barrier to entry for Chinese learners." Cong Yun switches his tone, "but my business partner and I know a method to make memorizing characters much easier."

2017年，从云与英国人宁昊天在四川省第一届“天府杯”创业大赛初赛（成都赛区）中，获得了“创业创富”组别第二名，奖金一万元。从云与宁昊天不仅中文说得顺溜，而且在学汉语才两年的时候，就通过了预期四年的汉语等级考试六级（HSK6是国内汉语水平测试最高等级），还将学习汉字的顺序重新归类，从顺序、发音、偏旁、意义四个角度重新梳理，整理为一套“针对西方人学汉字”的成熟的学习系统。他们的创业项目，便是为此学习系统而开发APP和网站。

In 2017, the joint entrepreneurship project started by Cong Yun and his partner won second place in the "Entrepreneurship and Capital Investment" group in the preliminary of the First Sichuan Provincial "Tianfu Cup" Entrepreneurship Competition, gaining a prize of 10,000 RMB.Luke Neale, Cong Yun's partner, is from Britain, with the Chinese name "Ning Haotian". They first met in Chengdu. The two friends both speak fluent Chinese, passing the HSK6 in 2 years, half the study time deemed necessary by the Hanban Office of Chinese Learning International. They re-ordered Chinese characters according to four aspects including pronunciation, character components and meaning, creating a systemized learning system which "aims at Westerners who are studying Chinese". Their entrepreneurial goal is to develop an APP and a website based on this learning method.

汉字，汉语的魅力所在

Chinese character, where the charm of Chinese lies

近年来，中国人学英文，越发强调口语的重要性。那么，外国人学习中文是不是只要能听得懂、说得出就够了呢？从云反问：“你觉得只靠口语就能学好中文吗？”

In recent years, English learners have been putting more emphasis on speaking skills. As for Chinese learners, would it be enough if they could understand and speak Chinese? Cong Yun throws the question : "Do you think that only relying on spoken Chinese can make one's Mandarin excellent?"

“据统计，汉语只有412个音节，加上声调有1200多个，但是写出来的汉字不带声调，而且汉语有非常多的同音字同音词。当我说‘jī ròu’时，你知道我说的是‘鸡肉’还是‘肌肉’吗？首先要理解发音，但必须学字，不然，只是个文盲。而且，汉字是汉语的魅力所在，中文是多么需要视觉的一种语言！”

"There are about 412 syllables in Chinese, and even after adding tones, 1,200 syllables. Whereas written Chinese does not represent any intonation, and there are plenty of homophonic words and terms existing. When I say: 'jī ròu,' do you understand whether I mean '鸡肉'(chicken) or '肌肉'(muscle)? Chinese learners must first comprehend the principles of Mandarin pronunciation, but soon after they must study characters. Otherwise, their illiteracy will serve as a barrier to further progress. Moreover, Chinese characters embody the charm of Chinese, a language that demands more than any other a strong visual representation of meaning."

“阅读才是最快习得语言的方法，比听力更高效，若能拥有快速学习汉字的方法，将大大降低学习中文的门槛。”如今，从云已然养成每天阅读中文的习惯，他的心得是：“打好汉字的基础后，会发现中文是逻辑很清晰的语言，语法也不难。现在我遇到不认识的字，不用猜，就能明显地推断出词意。”

"Reading is the most rapid way of acquiring a language and is more effective than listening. If someone uses a method to learn Chinese characters quickly, he/she will lower the barrier to entry for Chinese learning." Nowadays, Cong Yun has formed the habit of reading Chinese daily. "Standing on the firm ground of Chinese characters, you will find that Chinese is incredibly logical and has simple grammar. If I encounter unfamiliar words, I don't need to guess because I'm able to deduce the meaning from the characters in the word."

给形象化的汉字，注入个体记忆

Inject individual memorizing to visualized Chinese characters

艾宾浩斯遗忘曲线对人体大脑对新事物遗忘的规律进行了直观的描述。人脑又具有丰富的想象力，将抽象的事物形象化有利于记忆。对数字进行形象化的训练，有的人甚至能在300秒内记住π小数点后的300个数位。

The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve gives a clear description of how quickly our brains forget disparate facts. With a rich imagination, the human brain can use visualization to turn abstract concepts into concrete information that is easy to remember. Using these visualization methods, memory champions can even remember 300 digits after π in just 300 seconds.

甲骨文  图据人民网

“我们便把形象化的记忆理论运用在汉字体系上。”中文汉字有很多演变来自于形象生动的甲骨文和金文，但从云的汉字记法强调与个人经历的集合。“想象不同的场景代表不同的声调，将汉字的偏旁部首和词意等与学生个人的回忆结合，运用场景联想法使汉字形象化。”

"We adopt this visualization memory theory into our Chinese learning system." Numerous evolutions in Chinese come from the vivid Oracle bone scripts and Bronze inscriptions. Nevertheless, the mnemonic system at Mandarin Blueprint emphasizes connecting characters with individual personal experience. "Imagining various scenes to represent the different tones, Chinese learners can combine their memory with the character components and meanings, and hence to visualize Chinese through mnemonic association."

拿“抱”字举例，将ao的四个声调分别想象成在家、学校、图书馆和餐厅（场景由学生自拟），回忆起第一天上学时妈妈双手递给你新书包与你拥抱的场景。妈妈的“扌”（手），新书“包”以及拥“抱”都有了画面感。

Take "抱"(hug) as an example. Imagining the four tones of "-ao" represent your home, your school, the local library and a restaurant (learners can choose their own personal locations) and then in that location visualizing your mother handing you a new schoolbag on your first day of school while giving you a big hug. The component "扌" and "包" (bag) are visualized in the scene as "props", with the final meaning of "hug" ("抱")being expressed through the visual actions of the scene.

个体记忆是带有情感的，这也使新识的汉字有了情感画面，作为习得语言运用在生活中，又多了一层情感唤醒。截止采访，这个学习方式已经在超过200位、年龄跨度在20-60多岁的外籍学生身上实践过。此外，APP和网站中还会将高频汉字生成间隔性记忆卡片，根据记忆遗忘周期，及时地、重复地将这些字词从大脑意识中“钓”出来，进一步巩固。

The individual visualizing engages with the emotion of the scene, and applies that emotion to the Chinese character being learned. While acquiring the language, Chinese can be applied to real life memories, either specific or simply emotional, to remember the new facts much more quickly. At present, this method has been practiced by more than 200 foreign students with an age span of 20 - 60 years old. Also, the APP and website will have numerous Spaced-Repetition tests for all Chinese characters learned. According to the forgetting cycle, the tests will retrieve the previously studied fact from your unconscious and remind you the least amount of time necessary while still helping the learner remember, thus saving them countless hours of time.

习得第二语言，让心包容一点

Acquire a second language to create an inclusive mind  

在作为西方人学汉语的过程中，从云愈发理解语言之于沟通的重要性。在成都居住的这六年光景中，他发现“成都人特别懂谦虚”。“这谦虚不是‘哪里哪里’、‘不用谢’这样的客气。”

During the process of learning Chinese, Cong Yun gradually comprehends the importance of language for effective communication. He reckons: "if there is sufficient communication between the Westerners and Chinese, there would be a better understanding and fewer conflicts between us." Over his 6 years residing in Chengdu, Cong Yun finds that "Chengdu locals have an excellent understanding of humility," he stresses, "this 'humility' is not the kind of politeness like 'that's alright', or 'you're welcome'."

那么，何谓谦虚？“对于自己懂和不懂的地方，你觉得你自己哪个部分更多？”从云设问自答，“成都人的谦虚，是觉得‘自己不懂’的地方更多，于是乎，他人的想法也‘值得一听’。这种心态带来的包容性，更容易理解这个世界可以和而不同。”

So, what is that "humility"? "When you consider the amount of things you know compared to the amount of things you don't know, which would you consider to be greater?", Cong Yun answers this question, "the humble Chengdu locals would say the latter, and so they really listen to other people. This kind of mentality promotes inclusiveness and peaceful relationships amongst people from different background."

更多精彩

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摘自《HELLO Chengdu》杂志

Excerpted from HELLO Chengdu magazine

撰稿：刘昕怡

By Lenore Liu

编辑：俊娴

Edited by Junxian