www.chinese-word-roots.org

第一课 (Lesson one)

开学了

One: 课文 (text):

见到老师行个礼，
看到同学都问好。
校园内，青草地上，
你唱歌，我拍球。

Two: 字根与文化 (Etymology and culture):

认识「部首」 (recognizing the leading radical):
- L1. 门 ∶ 开、阅、闭、问
- L2. 人 ∶ 你、他、个
- L3. 目 ∶ 看、见
  Note: L4. 见 becomes a leading radical itself, 规、视 ┅
- L5. 口 ∶ 唱、同、合
- L6. 示 ∶ 礼、神、祭
- L7. 玉 ∶ 玩、珠、球
- L8. 女 ∶ 好、奴、奶
- L9. 木 ∶ 校、松、杉
- L10. 土 ∶ 地、坏
- L11. 囗 ∶ 园、固、回
- L12. 青 ∶ 静、靖、晴
  Note: 晴 is under the 部首 of 日 in dictionary.
- L13. 戈 ∶ 我、戊、戒、成
The goal of this section is for students to learn 部首 (leading radical). Students are not required to learn those new additional words.
认识「词  」 (recognizing word phrase):
- 老师
- 同学
- 青草
- 行礼、行个礼
- 地上
- 看到、见到
- 校园
- 问好
Chinese words have no parts of speech, and Chinese sentence has no tense structure. A Chinese sentence is by gluing a few phrases together. There are four types of gluing words.
1. Subject-like words, 我、你、他、事 ┅
2. Verb-like words, 有、见、看到、是 ┅
3. Modifier-like (adverb and adjective) words, 很、都
4. Punctuation-mark-like words, 了、也、乎、吗、呀 ┅

Three: 课业练习 (Exercise):

To identify the sentence gluing word(s) in each sentence.
To translate following sentences into Chinese.
- I saw teacher in school.
- Students play ball in the green grass field.

Four: 教师手册 (teacher's handbook):

Some 部首 (leading radicals) are word roots, but many word roots are not leading radical. Thus, many word roots are not implemented as characters in computer. If a leading radical is not implemented as a printable character in computer, it will be treated as a word root. I will use R( ) to identify the word root, such as,
- R1( 歌、次、欣、吹、欢 ), the shared radical is the word root.
- R2( 行、征、从 )
- R3( 草、若、花 )
- R4 ( 老、考、孝 )
- R5( 青、毒、素 )
- R6 ( 拍、提、拱 )
- R7 ( 学、兴、与 )
- R8 ( 到、前、制 )
- R9 ( 师、阜、追 )
- R10 ( 同、冒、冠 )
- R11 ( 都、郡、邮 )
- R12 ( 老、化、比 )
- R13 ( 尼、尾、屋 )
- R14 ( 开、笄、形 )
Note: the meaning of each word root can be found at the Course outline and syllabus.
The goal of this section is for students to learn 字根 (word roots). Students are not required to learn those additional words.
To read the meaning of each word out loud from its word root structure.
- 我 is 手 (hand) holding 戈 (spear). A holding spear hand is able to protect himself. Only a protected self can be a self.
- 老 is R4 on top of R12. R4 is the word root for 毛 (hair). R12 is the word root for 化 (change, transformation). When hair transforms (turning white) is 老 .
- 看 (looking) is 手 (hand) over the 目 (eyes).
字与文化 (word and culture): 你 (you) is a variant ( 俗字 ) of 人尼 , 人 on the left of 尼 . 请查「康熙字典」 . 尼 is R13 on top of R12. R13 is the word root for Body. A transformed body means not a body of oneself. So, nun with a spiritual body is called 尼 . Yet, the original meaning of 人尼 is a body (person) having a special chemistry (transformation) with me. This is not any person but a person who I am very close to. So, 怩 means shy. 泥 means mixed together. 妮 is a lovely girl. Thus, 你 is not just "you." 你 is a person who I am very fond of and very close to. Anyone who is not 你 is called 他 (he, him) . Chinese words are not just symbols for things or concepts; they often carry the culture spirits.

For

Chinese language teacher in a public middle- or high-school, or
Professor who is in China - East Asian studies in a university,

they can use this sample textbook in their classrooms as it is. Anyone else who would like to review or to download this sample textbook, please contact the author for permission.

第 一 课 (Lesson one)

第一课 (Lesson one)