2007-3-13 19:17
shirllytao
Question&Answer
Q: UN to stop using traditional Chinese characters
A: Chinanews, Mar. 24 - The United Nations made a decision that it would use simplified Chinese as the only Chinese characters after 2008. Nowadays the UN accepts two versions of Chinese characters, namely the traditional Chinese and the simplified Chinese.
Mr. Zhou Youguang, a reputed Chinese linguist, points out that the future application of simplified Chinese will justify the simplification of Chinese characters, which has won majority approval throughout the world. At the same time, as China becomes more influential in the globe, a larger number of people will learn Chinese. Under this circumstance, simplified Chinese will gradually become the exclusive standard of Chinese characters.
Regarding the application of simplified Chinese in other regions congregating Chinese people except for the mainland, experts indicate that many schools in Hong Kong have promoted putonghua education. Though the HK Special Administrative Region government has not made a specific policy, the public are paying more attention to putonghua education. In addition, some Taiwanese also use simplified Chinese.
Experts add that based on a survey report of strength of world?s major languages in 2005, Chinese language ranked second on the list. To date, China has set up 40 Confucius Institutes abroad to promote Chinese language education among foreigners.
Q: Is modern Chinese quite different from ancient Chinese?
A: Yes, they are quite different.
Q: How to display Pinyin on my computer?
A: Download the Pinyin font file, then copy E_cpinyin.TTF, E_cpinyinc.TTF to fonts of the system directory in Windows. Pinyin will display normally after you have finished.
Q: How do I display and type Chinese on my computer?
A: Both Windows 2000 and Windows XP already include Chinese support. It just needs to be turned on. Microsoft also sells versions of Windows where the interface is in Chinese.
If you already have an English of Windows 95/98/ME, then you can use a program that adds Chinese capabilities to your existing programs. Program like this include TwinBridge Chinese Partner and UnionWay for Windows and the Chinese Language Kit (CLK) for Macintosh that comes with MacOS 9. Visit the Chinese Mac Home for more on using Chinese on the Mac. I don?t know of a program like this for Unix.
For an increasing number of programs, all you need is a Chinese font to display Chinese. These programs include Netscape Communicator, Office 97/2000/XP, and Microsoft Explorer. You can find both simplified and traditional Chinese fonts from Microsoft.
Q: How many people in the world are speaking Chinese Mandarin?
A: There are about 1.5 billion people speaking Chinese Mandarin.
Q: What is HSK?
A: China?s Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi , also known as HSK or the Chinese Proficiency Test, is a standardized test designed and developed by the HSK Center of Beijing Language and Culture University to assess the Chinese language proficiency of non-native speakers incluing foreigners, overseas Chinese and students from Chinese national minorities. Supervised by the State HSK Commission under the PRC Ministry of Education, HSK is held regularly in China and other countries each year. Certificates are issued to those who have secured the required scores.
Q: What is the normal speed of speaking Chinese Mandarin?
A: The normal speed of speaking Chinese Mandarin is about 180-260 characters per minute.
Q: What is Chinese Mandarin ?
A: The official national standard spoken language of China, which is based on the principal dialect spoken in and around Beijing. Also called Guoyo, Putonghua
Q: How many characters should I learn?
A: The basic unit of Chinese morpheme is ???character???. Those which are frequently used are called ???basic characters???. The basic characters in HSK are
1,604. According to the statistics from Modern Chinese Frequency Dictionary (published in 1986 by Beijing Language and Culture University), about 2,000 characters are in common used. That means that about 2,000 characters are needed in daily communication.
Q: How many radicals should I learn?
A: 30. They are:
No.
Radical
1
一
2
丨
3
丶
4
丿
5
乙
6
亅
7
二
8
亠
9
人
10
儿
11
入
12
八
13
冂
14
冖
15
冫
16
几
17
凵
18
刀
19
力
20
勹
21
匕
22
匚
23
匸
24
十
25
卜
26
卩
27
厂
28
厶
29
又
30
口
[[i] Last edited by mazy at 2008-1-19 20:39 [/i]]