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Start of 4x4 learning technique, where the user should take the time to learn the 4 idioms and their meanings.
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Drag-and-drop portion of 4x4 learning technique demo.
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Click "Check" to check answer after trying to put characters back into their original arrangement.
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Our current home page, with links to the 4x4 technique demo and a Youtube video of the 4x4 technique done on paper
Overview
This project connects the Eduhack theme of education to our team's interest in our Chinese culture. We hope to add more to this project in the future, but this demo website currently implements a tried-and-true 4x4 technique for learning Chinese characters and idioms. The technique works as follows:
Four idioms of four characters each are arranged in a 4x4 grid of 16 characters. After learning the meaning and pronunciation of each idiom from an external source (we will make pronunciations and meanings part of our website in the future), the grid will separate into small puzzle pieces where each piece contains a character. The user will then try to put the shuffled pieces back on the grid to form their original arrangement. Ideally, the user will say each character out loud while putting the pieces together. After redoing the puzzle several times, the user will have learned the shape, pronunciation, and meaning of each character and idiom.
Innovation
A family friend developed the 4x4 technique on paper a few years ago, and the technique has proven to be fast and efficient for learning. But as far as we know, a digital version has not been made before. Our implementation on the web saves paper and helps the environment.
Execution
After discussing to agree on this idea, team members ventured to learn the basics of web development as quickly as possible. To facilitate communication and accountability in overcoming the challenge of the initial knowledge gap, we communicated on Discord with frequent check-ins.
One team member created the home page, while the other team member made the 4x4 technique demo page. Files were exchanged such that the final product was put together in VS Code and on Github on one team member's computer.
Practicality
None of the team members were familiar with web development and the HTML/CSS languages before, so we set a realistic goal of just completing a home page and simple demo of the 4x4 technique during the weekend of Eduhack, even though we had more ideas that we hope to add to our project in the future.
The 4x4 technique has proven extremely practical for children living outside of China who already have the understanding ability in another language to learn Chinese. As a short-term example, using the 4x4 technique, an 8-year-old child learned a set of 16 characters (4 idioms) in less than 8 minutes. As a long-term example, one of our team members used the 4x4 technique daily and learned over 2000 characters in a matter of months. For reference, the 500 highest-frequency Chinese characters account for 75% of the language used on a daily basis, and the 1000 highest-frequency characters account for 90%.
Made in Visual Studio Code
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