会打字，不会写字？
Character amnesia: are Chinese people forgetting how to write?
Name: ________________ Date: ________
现在很多中国人每天都在打字，用手机聊天，用电脑工作，却很少拿笔写字。时间长了，一个奇怪的问题出现了：很多字，人们一看就认识，也能在手机上打出来，可是拿起笔来，却想不起怎么写。这叫“提笔忘字”。
二零一三年，中央电视台有一个节目，叫《中国汉字听写大会》。主持人读一个词，选手把它写出来。让很多观众吃惊的是，坐在观众席上一起写的成年人，很多都写不出来。
那么，提笔忘字是不是一个大问题呢？有人觉得是，也有人觉得不是。
担心的人说：汉字是中国文化的一部分，每一个字都很有意思。如果大家都不会写了，我们就离自己的文化越来越远。而且，手写可以帮助记忆，写过的字，人们记得更清楚。
不担心的人说：工具变了，生活也变了。以前人们用毛笔，后来用钢笔，现在用手机，这很正常。只要能看懂、能用好，能不能手写并没有那么重要。再说，孩子们在学校还是要常常练字的。
两边说的都有道理。也有人想了一个办法：平时用手机打字，有空的时候拿起笔，抄一首诗，写一张卡片，让手也记住汉字。
学中文的你，有没有提笔忘字的时候？也许，你今天就可以拿出一张纸，把你最喜欢的一个汉字写一遍。
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 聊天 | liáotiān | to chat |
| 奇怪 | qíguài | strange; odd; weird |
| 节目 | jiémù | program; show (on TV, radio, stage) |
| 担心 | dānxīn | to worry; to be anxious |
| 文化 | wénhuà | culture |
| 帮助 | bāngzhù | to help; to assist; help; assistance |
| 清楚 | qīngchu | clear; distinct |
| 变 | biàn | to change; to become; change; transformation |
| 生活 | shēnghuó | life; to live |
| 以前 | yǐqián | before; previously; formerly |
| 后来 | hòulái | afterwards; later |
| 用 | yòng | to use; use; usefulness |
English (for the teacher)
Today many Chinese people type every day, chatting on their phones and working on computers, but rarely pick up a pen. Over time a strange problem has appeared: people recognise many characters at a glance and can type them on their phones, but when they pick up a pen, they can’t remember how to write them. This is called “character amnesia”: picking up the pen and forgetting the character.
In 2013, China Central Television had a show called the Chinese Characters Dictation Competition. The host read out a word, and the contestants wrote it down. What shocked many viewers was that many of the adults writing along in the audience couldn’t write the words.
So is character amnesia a big problem? Some people think it is, and some think it isn’t.
Those who worry say: Chinese characters are part of Chinese culture, and every one of them is fascinating. If nobody can write them any more, we drift further and further from our own culture. Besides, handwriting helps memory: people remember characters they have written more clearly.
Those who don’t worry say: the tools have changed, and so has life. People used brushes, then fountain pens, and now phones, and that’s normal. As long as you can read and use the characters well, whether you can write them by hand isn’t that important. And children still practise writing characters at school all the time.
Both sides have a point. Some people have found a middle way: type on their phones day to day, and when they have time, pick up a pen to copy out a poem or write a card, so their hands remember the characters too.
You’re learning Chinese: have you ever forgotten how to write a character? Maybe today you could take out a sheet of paper and write your favourite character once.