文言文是中国学生必修课程吗？我该如何学习？ [美国媒体]

Do-all-Chinese-students-learn-classical-Chinese

文言文是中国学生必修课程吗？我该如何学习？

Rachel
My answer is based on my own experience.
I’m not sure what level you want to reach. If you simply want to know more about Chinese ancient culture, you don’t necessarily need to read original text because it is even hard for native Chinese students. It seems that this fits your situation based on your discxtion.
It’s true that we learn classical Chinese from middle school to high school. We are required to buy a book of modern translation of classical Chinese. Our teacher teaches us sentence by sentence. She explains to us about some difficult characters that have different meanings from the modern Chinese. However, not all Chinese people can read classical Chinese since it requires memorizing over and over again and we don’t use it in daily life. After we graduate, it is likely that we forget some of it.
For me, reading classical Chinese in modern translation is nearly the same to reading modern works about ancient Chinese stories. My advice is if you want to read classical Chinese but not in original text, you may read half-classical-Chinese works (We call 半文言文 in Chinese. I create this term:P) like Four Great Classical Novels. They are much easier to understand while retain some Classical Chinese.

我的答案是基于我自己的经验。我不知道你想达到什么程度。如果你只是想更多地了解中国古代文化，你并不一定需要阅读原文，因为这对中国本土学生来说甚至是困难的。基于你的说明，这似乎符合你的情况。

我们从中学到高中都学习文言文，这是事实。我们被要求买一本现代文言文译本。我们的老师逐句教我们。她向我们解释了一些与现代汉语有不同含义的人物。然而，并不是所有的中国人都能读懂文言文，因为它要求我们一遍又一遍地背诵，而且我们在日常生活中也不使用它。毕业后，我们很可能忘记其中的一些。

对我来说，在现代翻译中阅读文言文，与阅读中国古代故事的现代作品几乎是一样的。我的建议是，如果你想读文言文而不是原文，你可以读半本文言文的作品（我们叫它半文言文，我创造了这个词），比如四部伟大的古典小说。在保留一些文言文的同时，他们更容易理解。

Zengyan
Well, I am learning classical Chinese now. I'll tell you some facts then suggestions.
First Confucius proposed that teaching students according to their aptitude is the best way to teach. Thus, the best way to solve your problem is in your situation. No should, only suit.
Every Chinese student learn classical Chinese. This is one of the requirements of the MOE. However, most Chinese students can read without totally understand (your intuition is correct). Few of them could make it clear to other people. For example, when we have a discussion aimed at an article. In mandarin, students could summarize and discuss in their ideas freely. In classical Chinese, they may not have the same ability to do that. I have to admit our average level of classical Chinese is lower than our ancestors.
I was an science student in my high school. Though I had a great teacher in Chinese, I put most of the time into science disciplines. I believe a art student will have a better recommend of classical Chinese (when I was in the last year of high school, my girlfriend, an art student, published her first writing on a magazine in half classical Chinese. Which uses the writing style of Tang Dynasty.)
As for myself, I can't read Confucius's most works, though I can still recite some of them. My father is a traditional Chinese doctor, because of his occupation, he need to read a lot. Hence he could understand classical Chinese easily. My home has some ancient Chinese books. But still I can't understand. And when you don't have a good commend of the language, it will decrease your motivation to read.
I want to read the history of China, I mean, the whole history. Thus I can't only rely on the Internet, I had to learn how to read.
Honestly, I don't know what area of classical Chinese you want to read. Because of the preciseness of academics, you need to understand by yourself. The translations can not guarantee the quality of the books. The reason why I need to learn classical Chinese is I have to find the hints by myself. The classical Chinese are pithy and concise, the translators may add their own understandings...so Chinese around you suggested you'd better to learn by yourself.
Some specific suggestions you don't need to learn it all by yourself:
1. Find the recommended translated editions. How to find recommended editions? Here is a website for you to take a reference. Page on douban.com Search for the book you want to read and read the comments below.
2. You need a company. You need a student with good knowledge of classical Chinese, read the original book together, translate and then discuss. This helps you to get to know the points that you didn't notice when you are reading the translated ones. If you are not in a city without a university or college, go to the local university and find some students of Chinese major. You need one with good grades and lacks money. If you choose TA or a cram school you will pay more with less gained. So go straight to the university and find a student by yourself. Choose the one with tidy clothes and without an iphone. Talk to him or her politely and show your ID to him or her. Remember you need to see their school report.
3. You need to make sure your understanding is 90 percent correct and acceptable. One or two people are not enough. Another website you could use: 百度贴吧――全球最大的中文社区. Register an account and find the topic you read then write what you have learn. (Or you could put it on your own website if you have one.) In a word, you need to create an environment to exchange the ideas. Working online is a good choice.



Anonymous
Do you need to read Homer or Beowulf in their original language to understand English language? Protip: hell no! Then why do American educators required their students to read those ultra-violent useless books about a Danish guy and a Greek guy? It's part of their cultural heritage. That's why. Would it impress hell out of other people if you could read Ancient Greek or Old English? Yes, you would! It's a mark of educated person to understand those books. People used to expect you to know these stories and some people still expect you to know them.
Why do Chinese people still want you to learn Classical Chinese?
I can think of few reasons:
1. They like you and want to share Chinese culture with you and Classical Chinese is a very important part of Chinese culture.
2. Classical Chinese is still a very prestige language, it's a mark of educated person to be able to READ Classical Chinese. Think of Americans' love affair with French language. Oui! Oui!
3. They think it's a beautiful language.
Don't think too much about this decision. If you don't give a shit about Classical Chinese then don't learn it. I will still be able to sleep well at night.
In conclusion:
You don't have learn Classical Chinese. Nobody expect you to understand ancient language. Yes, all Chinese can READ Classical Chinese because it's part of their education. Notice, I said READ, very few people can WRITE in Classical Chinese.

你需要读《荷马史诗》或《贝奥武夫》的原着去理解英语吗？别逗了！那么，为什么美国的教育家们，还是要求他们的学生，阅读那些关于一个丹麦男人和一个希腊男人的，极端暴力无用的书？因为这是他们文化遗产的一部分。这就是为什么。如果你能读懂古希腊语或古英语，别人会不会对你印象深刻？是的，当然会！了解这些书是受过教育的人的标志。以前人们希望你知道这些故事，但有些人仍然希望你读懂它们。

为什么中国想让你学文言文？
我能想到几个原因
1.他们喜欢你，想和你分享中国文化，文言文是中国文化的重要组成部分。
2.文言文仍然是一种很有声望的语言，能够阅读文言文是一个受过教育的人的标志。想想美国人对法语的热爱。
3.他们认为这是一种美丽的语言。

不要对这个决定想太多。如果你对古典汉语一窍不通，那就别学。我晚上还能睡个好觉。
结论: 如果你没有学过古典汉语。没有人指望你懂古代语言。是的，所有的中国人都会读古典汉语，因为这是他们教育的一部分。注意我说的是阅读，很少有人能用文言文写作。