I am so excited for our Japanese character learning session with Andrew! Thinking about this chance to learn a whole new system of writing has given me the chance to reflect on how it is that
we really learn to write.
One thing that I thought about is how we sometimes as toddlers and preschoolers start "writing" before we actually know what the letters mean. Our first imitations of writing are often just squiggly lines, but even when we graduate to actually writing letters, it doesn't always mean that we already know the written language.
For example, I tutored a preschooler, J.T., a couple summers ago who knew all of the letters (and even their so
unds), but he didn't know how to read or write on his own when we started. Granted, he could "write," but someone had to dictate the letters to him - C-A-T. But all of that is part of learning.
Another way that we become acquainted with the written system of our language is pure copying. In fact, that's actually suggested as a way for teaching writing to young children, even before they have any idea of what the letters mean (source).
This fit in with that copying exercise I did with the facsimile from the book of Abraham (I showed it to those of you in my group earlier this week!). I had absolutely no idea (still have no idea) what the characters meant, but I built confidence in copying them as I practiced. Though no two of them were actually the same, making it more difficult to just "get a feel for" the writing, I felt like the act of copying got easier as I went along. I can definitely see how the copying method of learning could be useful, especially with a language that only has 26 letters!
Here's my little practice sheet! Let me know if it makes any more sense to you than it does to me!
My little brother, who is five, started learning how to write letters at his day care last year. They taught them their letters by having a "letter of the week". They would learn how to write these letters and make little animal hats beginning with that letter and sing songs with that letter. It was pretty neat to see him being able to write our names, but, like you said, we had to tell him what letters to write or he could tell us what letters were in a word. But it's a great start!
ReplyDeleteWhat's kind of interesting is that I actually learned how to write letters in Japan in elementary school. I learned by the copying method you describe, but I was copying someone whose native language was Japanese! So I'm not sure if the basic letters I learned in english may be a little different than if I had learned them by Americans in America. Maybe that is why no one can understand my handwriting...
ReplyDeleteI've heard that in Japan, students go to school from 7AM to midnight. I don't know if this is just for students in high school, but I know that if I went to school for almost eighteen hours a day just so I could move on from the first grade to the second, I'm sure that I would have learned my ABCs pretty darn quick! Yeah, even if that alphabet contained so many Japanese characters, I'm sure that after eighteen hours a day, I'd either become an Einstein or a kindergarten drop-out, haha.
ReplyDelete