The Chinese Challenge
- Enjoy the story
- Spot the Chinese word in it
- What do you think it means? Write it down in the following table.
| Chinese | Phonetic Guide | English |
|---|---|---|
| 人 | rén |
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03/02/2018
Saturday
Sunny
Dear diary,
I was walking my dog this morning at the park when I saw a strange person. I cannot exactly pinpoint how this 人 looked strange to me. Was it the funny hairstyle? Was it the shirt too big for his thin frame? Was it the torn and tattered pants that seemed to have seen better days? I stared at that 人 in surprise when I saw him first walk towards me. I didn't mean to stare, but he was just so strange I couldn't help staring. My dog probably stared too, before coming to his senses and started pulling hard at the leash.
Suddenly, this strange 人 looked in my direction! His eyes bore into me and gave me the chills. I quickly diverted my gaze while frantically looking for a way to get out of there. I thought of shouting to get the attention of other 人. Perhaps if other 人 were looking in my direction this strange 人 would think twice about harming me. But the lack of any other 人 in the park this morning was, to say the least, disconcerting.
My dog was now growling deeply and pulling hard at the leash. I felt my hands tense up. Why would he pull me away from the strange 人? Any other dog, when they sense danger approaching their loved ones, would try to approach the source of danger!
Thinking no more, I turned on my heels and ran out of the park as quickly as I could, never once stopping until I reached town. Seeing the usual hustle and bustle of many 人 around town calmed me down a little. Panting hard, I looked back in fear, but the strange 人 was nowhere to be seen.
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The Writing Challenge
Chinese writing follows a certain order. You can see the stroke order labelled below. This means you write the stroke that goes towards the left first, then write the stroke that goes towards the right, to complete the entire word.
| Name | Direction |
|---|---|
| The stroke that goes towards the left is called "piě". | It is written in a downward direction: from top to bottom. |
| The stroke that goes towards the right is called "nà". | It is written in a downward direction: from top to bottom. |
Chinese writing is done on squared paper. If you do not have squared paper, you can print this image out to practise on.
