By Arthur J (from UK)

Amongst those who love learning languages there's a lively debate about which language is the most difficult to learn. One measure of this is how much time it takes someone on average to learn that language and if this is the yardstick then it must be Chinese, followed by Japanese and Arabic. It is estimated that it takes 7-8 years for Chinese children to learn 3000 characters whereas for French schoolchildren it takes half the time to get to a comparable level of literacy. Having studied Chinese for several years, as well as having studied Japanese and Arabic, I can only agree. Therefore, I don't feel embarrassed when I forget how to write characters and have to look them up.

However, recently I've noticed a trend that makes me wonder about the future of written Chinese. I wanted to write the word for eye but I always get this mixed up with word for spectacles as they are both pronounced 'yan jing’so I asked a Chinese friend. She confidently took my pen and was just about to write when she hesitated, an awkward smile trying to hide her embarrassment. She tried to write something but realising it was incorrect scribbled it out impatiently. Then she took out her mobile phone, looked up the correct characters and was finally able to write them out. I had to laugh and teased her asking, 'Are you really Chinese?’

However, this may be no laughing matter as over the last few months this has happened several times and when I've asked other friends and colleagues if they have also been forgetting fairly common characters most replied in the affirmative. The overwhelming reason for this trend seems to be that people rarely write Chinese characters by hand anymore, it's either using a computer or a mobile phone. This has led to the situation where, although Chinese people can read just as many characters as before, because of a lack of practice they just can't recall how to write some of them.

In the UK the proliferation of texting and abbreviated language used in social media had some experts predicting the demise of English spelling and grammar. However, it seems school children are quite aware when they should write 'r u free 2 hv dnr @8 tmrw ' and when it should be written 'Are you free to have dinner at 8pm tomorrow?' So far no decline in standards has been linked to texting and they still have only 26 letters to deal with instead of thousands of characters.

Should it be a cause for concern when almost everyone in China has mobile phones and many people regularly use computers? Many would say yes, because writing Chinese characters is a key part of Chinese culture with calligraphy being an art form. In addition, being able to write characters well is also a sign of education and culture. Imagine a situation where your phone was out of power and suddenly you find you couldn't write what you wanted. Worse, what if your manager asked you to take some notes and you had difficulty writing Chinese by hand; not only very embarrassing but something that could adversely affect your career.

We can't turn our back on technology but as mobile phone use reaches saturation point the situation can only get worse. Maybe, as if often the case, you have to lose something before realising its true value. One small benefit of all this is that the next time I forget how to write a Chinese character I won't feel so bad.

转载自《杭州都市快报》