Relevant Content
We'll always make sure you know exactly what the lesson is about. You will easily understand whether it is relevant for you.

The Art of Chinese Calligraphy

Great Hosts
Here at ChinesePod, all our lessons are presented in an entertaining manner by our great hosts. You'll find language learners, teachers, and even professors sharing their insights, ideas, and teaching methods in our video and audio lessons.
Brief Lesson Summaries
A brief introduction of the lesson will always tell you what this lesson is about and what language level is the intended target. If you're interested in the subject, but might not be able to understand it in full, fear not; we have transcripts of lesson dialogues vocabulary so you can follow along.
IN THIS LESSON
ID: 2685 Upper Intermediate
Have you ever tried your hand at the wonderful art of Chinese calligraphy. The skill is slowly being lost by the younger generations, so it's important to keep the tradition alive and well. It can also be a great mediative practice and teaches many virtues including mindfulness, attention to detail, patience, accuracy, and creativity among many other things.
Thu Apr 30 2015 | Fiona Tian, Constance Fang
Awesome Materials
Our lessons contain natural communication in Chinese in video and audio format. We have have lessons focused on video or a podcast format and our lessons have transcripts of Lesson Dialogues, Important Vocabulary, Expanded Materials for a deep dive into the lesson topic and Exercises focused on testing your retention.
Detailed Vocabulary
Each lesson has it's unique vocabulary and will provide you with definitions and recordings so you can practice the pronunciation. You will also be able to grasp the core material of a lesson at a glance. Here we're showing you the Simplified Chinese version.
SIMPLIFIED PINYIN ENGLISH  
这年头 zhè niántou nowadays
静下心 jìng xià xīn to settle down; to calm oneself
书法 shūfǎ calligraphy
再加上 zài jiāshang and to this must be added
老师，我想学写字，您教吗？
lǎoshī ，wǒ xiǎng xué xiězì ，nín jiāo ma ？
Sir, I want to learn to write characters, do you teach that?
这年头，很难得有年轻人愿意静下心来写字了，为什么想学呀？
zhè niántou ，hěn nándé yǒu niánqīngrén yuànyì jìng xià xīn lái xiězì le ，wèishénme xiǎng xué ya ？
In this day and age it's rare for young people to have the calm attitude necessary to write characters. Why do you want to learn?
因为觉得书法很美，再加上过去五年多住在国外，每次跟外国朋友聊天，都深深觉得对自己国家的传统文化、艺术知道得太少。
yīnwèi juéde shūfǎ hěn měi ，zài jiāshang guòqù wǔ nián duō zhùzài guówài ，měicì gēn wàiguó péngyou liáotiān ，dōu shēnshēn juéde duì zìjǐ guójiā de chuántǒng wénhuà 、yìshù zhīdào de tài shǎo 。
Because I think calligraphy is so pretty. Also in the last five years or so I've lived abroad and every time I talk to friends from other countries, I always feel I don't understand my own country's traditional cultural and art enough.
我国传统艺术这么多，怎么想到书法呢？
wǒguó chuántǒng yìshù zhème duō ，zěnme xiǎngdào shūfǎ ne ？
There are so many traditional arts here, what made you think of calligraphy?
Natural Dialogues
Each lesson is centered around a natural dialogue with key vocabulary directly prepared and translated for your use. You can also listen to each sentence as an individual recording to improve your listening and comprehension skills.
Try It For Free
ChinesePod is 100% Free to Try. Create an account today and get started!