WEBVTT 00:00:00.754 --> 00:00:02.810 Growing up in Taiwan 00:00:02.810 --> 00:00:04.422 as the daughter of a calligrapher, 00:00:04.422 --> 00:00:06.790 one of my most treasured memories 00:00:06.790 --> 00:00:09.883 was my mother showing me the beauty, the shape 00:00:09.883 --> 00:00:12.516 and the form of Chinese characters. 00:00:12.516 --> 00:00:15.023 Ever since then, I was fascinated 00:00:15.023 --> 00:00:17.685 by this incredible language. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:17.685 --> 00:00:20.420 But to an outsider, it seems to be 00:00:20.420 --> 00:00:23.929 as impenetrable as the Great Wall of China. 00:00:23.929 --> 00:00:26.304 Over the past few years, I've been wondering 00:00:26.304 --> 00:00:28.356 if I can break down this wall, 00:00:28.356 --> 00:00:30.950 so anyone who wants to understand and appreciate 00:00:30.950 --> 00:00:34.858 the beauty of this sophisticated language could do so. 00:00:34.858 --> 00:00:39.170 I started thinking about how a new, fast method 00:00:39.170 --> 00:00:42.018 of learning Chinese might be useful. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:42.018 --> 00:00:46.004 Since the age of five, I started to learn how to draw 00:00:46.004 --> 00:00:49.009 every single stroke for each character 00:00:49.009 --> 00:00:51.553 in the correct sequence. 00:00:51.553 --> 00:00:53.610 I learned new characters every day 00:00:53.610 --> 00:00:56.337 during the course of the next 15 years. 00:00:56.337 --> 00:00:58.457 Since we only have five minutes, 00:00:58.457 --> 00:01:02.092 it's better that we have a fast and simpler way. 00:01:02.092 --> 00:01:05.617 A Chinese scholar would understand 20,000 characters. 00:01:05.617 --> 00:01:10.729 You only need 1,000 to understand the basic literacy. 00:01:10.729 --> 00:01:14.745 The top 200 will allow you to comprehend 00:01:14.745 --> 00:01:17.641 40 percent of basic literature -- 00:01:17.641 --> 00:01:20.517 enough to read road signs, restaurant menus, 00:01:20.517 --> 00:01:23.521 to understand the basic idea of the web pages 00:01:23.521 --> 00:01:25.460 or the newspapers. 00:01:25.460 --> 00:01:27.659 Today I'm going to start with eight 00:01:27.659 --> 00:01:29.551 to show you how the method works. 00:01:29.551 --> 00:01:31.472 You are ready? NOTE Paragraph 00:01:31.472 --> 00:01:34.155 Open your mouth as wide as possible 00:01:34.155 --> 00:01:36.201 until it's square. 00:01:36.201 --> 00:01:38.883 You get a mouth. 00:01:38.883 --> 00:01:41.971 This is a person going for a walk. 00:01:41.971 --> 00:01:45.102 Person. 00:01:45.102 --> 00:01:47.811 If the shape of the fire is a person 00:01:47.811 --> 00:01:50.081 with two arms on both sides, 00:01:50.081 --> 00:01:52.251 as if she was yelling frantically, 00:01:52.251 --> 00:01:55.804 "Help! I'm on fire!" -- 00:01:55.804 --> 00:01:59.971 This symbol actually is originally from the shape of the flame, 00:01:59.971 --> 00:02:03.784 but I like to think that way. Whichever works for you. 00:02:03.784 --> 00:02:06.043 This is a tree. 00:02:06.043 --> 00:02:08.141 Tree. 00:02:08.141 --> 00:02:12.566 This is a mountain. 00:02:12.566 --> 00:02:15.167 The sun. 00:02:17.458 --> 00:02:22.112 The moon. 00:02:22.112 --> 00:02:24.087 The symbol of the door 00:02:24.087 --> 00:02:29.793 looks like a pair of saloon doors in the wild west. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:29.793 --> 00:02:33.531 I call these eight characters radicals. 00:02:33.531 --> 00:02:35.297 They are the building blocks 00:02:35.297 --> 00:02:39.427 for you to create lots more characters. 00:02:39.427 --> 00:02:41.165 A person. 00:02:41.165 --> 00:02:45.433 If someone walks behind, that is "to follow." 00:02:45.433 --> 00:02:47.561 As the old saying goes, 00:02:47.561 --> 00:02:51.287 two is company, three is a crowd. 00:02:51.287 --> 00:02:54.202 If a person stretched their arms wide, 00:02:54.202 --> 00:02:58.849 this person is saying, "It was this big." 00:02:58.849 --> 00:03:02.697 The person inside the mouth, the person is trapped. 00:03:02.697 --> 00:03:08.543 He's a prisoner, just like Jonah inside the whale. 00:03:08.543 --> 00:03:12.037 One tree is a tree. Two trees together, we have the woods. 00:03:12.037 --> 00:03:15.593 Three trees together, we create the forest. 00:03:15.593 --> 00:03:19.665 Put a plank underneath the tree, we have the foundation. 00:03:19.665 --> 00:03:23.800 Put a mouth on the top of the tree, that's "idiot." (Laughter) 00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:25.881 Easy to remember, 00:03:25.881 --> 00:03:30.823 since a talking tree is pretty idiotic. 00:03:30.823 --> 00:03:32.865 Remember fire? 00:03:32.865 --> 00:03:35.526 Two fires together, I get really hot. 00:03:35.526 --> 00:03:38.385 Three fires together, that's a lot of flames. 00:03:38.385 --> 00:03:42.986 Set the fire underneath the two trees, it's burning. 00:03:42.986 --> 00:03:46.078 For us, the sun is the source of prosperity. 00:03:46.078 --> 00:03:48.257 Two suns together, prosperous. 00:03:48.257 --> 00:03:50.615 Three together, that's sparkles. 00:03:50.615 --> 00:03:52.636 Put the sun and the moon shining together, 00:03:52.636 --> 00:03:53.944 it's brightness. 00:03:53.944 --> 00:03:58.169 It also means tomorrow, after a day and a night. 00:03:58.169 --> 00:04:02.652 The sun is coming up above the horizon. Sunrise. 00:04:02.652 --> 00:04:05.755 A door. Put a plank inside the door, 00:04:05.755 --> 00:04:07.812 it's a door bolt. 00:04:07.812 --> 00:04:10.776 Put a mouth inside the door, asking questions. 00:04:10.776 --> 00:04:14.107 Knock knock. Is anyone home? 00:04:14.107 --> 00:04:16.995 This person is sneaking out of a door, 00:04:16.995 --> 00:04:19.827 escaping, evading. 00:04:19.827 --> 00:04:21.980 On the left, we have a woman. 00:04:21.980 --> 00:04:24.142 Two women together, they have an argument. 00:04:24.142 --> 00:04:26.275 (Laughter) 00:04:26.275 --> 00:04:32.793 Three women together, be careful, it's adultery. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:32.793 --> 00:04:36.302 So we have gone through almost 30 characters. 00:04:36.302 --> 00:04:39.639 By using this method, the first eight radicals 00:04:39.639 --> 00:04:41.640 will allow you to build 32. 00:04:41.640 --> 00:04:43.403 The next group of eight characters 00:04:43.403 --> 00:04:45.595 will build an extra 32. 00:04:45.595 --> 00:04:47.897 So with very little effort, 00:04:47.897 --> 00:04:50.163 you will be able to learn a couple hundred characters, 00:04:50.163 --> 00:04:52.715 which is the same as a Chinese eight-year-old. 00:04:52.715 --> 00:04:56.262 So after we know the characters, we start building phrases. 00:04:56.262 --> 00:04:58.959 For example, the mountain and the fire together, 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:01.887 we have fire mountain. It's a volcano. 00:05:01.887 --> 00:05:05.207 We know Japan is the land of the rising sun. 00:05:05.207 --> 00:05:08.625 This is a sun placed with the origin, 00:05:08.625 --> 00:05:11.752 because Japan lies to the east of China. 00:05:11.752 --> 00:05:15.642 So a sun, origin together, we build Japan. 00:05:15.642 --> 00:05:18.600 A person behind Japan, what do we get? 00:05:18.600 --> 00:05:21.702 A Japanese person. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:21.702 --> 00:05:24.503 The character on the left is two mountains 00:05:24.503 --> 00:05:26.610 stacked on top of each other. 00:05:26.610 --> 00:05:29.827 In ancient China, that means in exile, 00:05:29.827 --> 00:05:32.265 because Chinese emperors, they put their political enemies 00:05:32.265 --> 00:05:34.636 in exile beyond mountains. 00:05:34.636 --> 00:05:39.647 Nowadays, exile has turned into getting out. 00:05:39.647 --> 00:05:42.218 A mouth which tells you where to get out 00:05:42.218 --> 00:05:44.146 is an exit. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:44.146 --> 00:05:47.787 This is a slide to remind me that I should stop talking 00:05:47.787 --> 00:05:49.670 and get off of the stage. Thank you. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:49.670 --> 00:05:53.639 (Applause)