明末西方人学习中文的理念和方法探析

Study of the Concept and the Methodology of Westerner's Chinese Learning by the End of the Ming Dynasty

明末西方人为了传教的需要而学习汉语。他们组织了特定的语言培训人员,在全国各地几个成熟的传教点开辟了汉语教学工作。他们确定官话为自己的学习对象,制定了"在‘念’、‘写’、‘说’三方面平行进展"的教学原则,主张口语和写作并重。汉字是中文学习的重要内容,他们有自己的一套学习汉字的方法。在学习中,他们还展开了"汉语好学还是难学"、学习中采用"先文后语"还是"语文并重"模式的讨论。

The western missionaries learned Chinese in order to spread chrism by the end of the Ming Dynasty. They sent certain missionaries to train their stuff. Many training centers had been found for the missionaries to study Chinese Mandarin. Reading, writing, and speaking skills were all be emphasized. Chinese characters played an important role in Chinese language study, and the missionaries had their own methods to study them. The missionaries also developed discussions on such questions as is Chinese language an easy one or a difficult one？ should they begin to study with characters or with both characters and oral Chinese？