As computers become all the more popular in China, Chinese people are increasingly relying on alphabet-based keyboards to input pictographic Chinese characters. But if they use the computer too much, they may end up forgetting the exact strokes of each Chinese character when writing on paper. Experts suggest people, especially students, write by hand more.
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Do you write by hand more or type more? In Beijing, students start using a computer as early as primary school. 9-year-old Wang Tong is a primary school student.
"With the advanced technology, we now seldom write by hand."
And computer dependence is more wide-spread among university students. Almost all their assignments and essays are typed on a computer.
All the students interviewed say they usually use a computer.
It's faster and easier to correct if using a computer. And that's why computers are being applied more and more often to modern education. But when people are getting increasingly dependent on computers, problems appear.
"When I'm writing with a pen, I find I often can't remember how to write a character, though I feel I’m familiar with it."
"I'm not in the mood to write when faced with a pen and paper."
Though many students can't write the correct characters or even can't write by hand, they don't feel this is something to worry about. Now that it's more convenient and efficient to write on a computer, why bother to handwrite?
Then is handwriting really useless?
Many educators think differently. Shi Liwei is the headmaster of a famous primary school in the capital.
"Chinese characters enjoy both practical and artistic value. But those characters typed with computer keyboards only maintain their practical value. All the artistic beauty of the characters is lost. And handwriting contains the writer's emotion. That's why it's emotional."
Shi Liwei also says aesthetic handwriting will add credit to young people.
"Through one's handwriting, people can get to know one's thinking and personality. If a person can write beautifully, people will have a better first impression of them."
To encourage students to handwrite more, many primary schools in Beijing have made writing classes compulsory and in universities, some professors are asking students to turn in their homework and essays written by hand.
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