SOME SUGGESTIONS OF TEACHING CHINESE CHARACTERS FOR VIETNAMESE STUDENTS

Abstract

Geographically situated in the Chinese culture circle, Vietnam is under great influence of Chinese culture. Especially, Vietnamese language is dramatically affected by Chinese language and Chinese characters. The number of Vietnamese learners is currently increasing because of the social needs. However, one of the hindrances for Vietnamese learners in learning Chinese is the Chinese characters themselves. Chinese is a pictographic language, which is different from Vietnamese language system. However, because of cultural and linguistic influences, Vietnamese learners also have certain advantages in learning Chinese in general and Chinese characters in particular. This paper will discuss some positive transferring factors and give some suggestions to improve the quality of Chinese teaching and learning for Vietnamese people.