Exhibition eases fear of Chinese characters

Sophomore student Wang Meili from BFSU was impressed by the character expo, which she came across by accident when she went to study in the library.

"I like traditional cultures, including music and Chinese traditional thought, but know little about Chinese characters and calligraphy. I like exhibitions like this, giving me direct explanation to some profound knowledge," Wang said, adding that as a student majoring in international relations, she has less access to traditional cultures and hopes for more similar expos on campus.

"It is very attractive, driving me to learn calligraphy," she said.

Wang Bo, director of the Chinese training center at the School of Chinese Language and Literature of BFSU, saw the exhibition as a good chance for her foreign students to learn Chinese characters.

She brought along about 30 foreign students from the Chinese program.

"Characters are the most difficult part when many foreign students learn Chinese. The exhibition makes characters tangible and more fun, telling them interesting stories about characters," Wang said, hoping the exhibition could ease foreign students' fear of characters.

However, she suggested providing oral English guidance to foreign students to make the mysterious characters more fun.

"We are focusing a lot on modern Chinese, the grammar and the structures, but we don't know the meaning of characters and the development of Chinese cultures," said student Ana Padilla from Spain, adding that she thought the exhibition was fascinating.

Mariya Shevchenko, a student from Ukraine, said, "When I studied Chinese at home I studied words, but I think the best way to study a language is to study the origin of it. In Chinese learning, it is to study characters."