Page 123 - (DK) How to be a GENIUS?
P. 123

Words as art
                                                           Some forms of writing are so
                                                           beautiful that they are treated
                                                           as an art form. In the past, many
                                                           people in the West learned graceful
                                                           forms of handwriting—an art known
                                                           as calligraphy that is still enjoyed by
                                                           some today. In Chinese, every new
                                                           word requires a different character,
                                                           and this gives calligraphy a practical
                                                           function because the writer can invent
                                                           an entirely new character to express
                                                           a particular idea. Such characters
                                                           are works of art in their own right.








          Pictures and words
          Comic books have always been
          popular with children, and many
          adults read graphic novels that are
          based on the same idea. These
          do have words, but most of the
          meaning is in the pictures. Pictorial
          representations of words are also
          used in other ways such as road
          signs. Known as pictograms,
          these have the advantage of being
          universally understood—regardless
          of the language you speak and
          whether you can read it.









                                      As s lnog g as you wr rti rtie
                                      As lnog as you wrtie               Speaking and writing
                                                          wrt
                                     the frsit and lsat lttres  es es   few people do it well. We can tell a
                                     th he fr frs fr rsi it and l lsa at l ltt ttr tt tre res
                                                                        Although most of us learn how to write,
                                       of a wr rod, you can            when it comes to writing it down.
                                       of a wrod, you can
                                             wro
                                                                       story, but somehow we lose the plot
                                            sitll raed it.
                                            sitll raed it. i it t.  are writing is an important skill.
                                            si itl tll ra raed ed
                                                                      We often use unclear language when
                                                                      we write, which is why so many official
                                                                     forms and documents are difficult to
                                                                     understand. Learning to express
                                                                    yourself in simple terms when you


                                                                                                                 121
                                             (c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.
   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128