162 Chinese Words

Dear Richard,

I started to read your column in mingpao daily from 1996. I
found that I am influenced by you over the years. I teach children
phonics during summer holidays in Caritas. And I also teach children
in Sunday School.

I am interested in teaching children in early childhood
especially in the area of reading.

I remembered one time you voiced out that there are around 200 common
chinese words children need to learn before they can read by themselves.
Is it possible if you can tell me what these 200 chinese words are? I have
two daughters, one is 13 years old and the other is 13 months. I taught the
elder daughter by telling many stories for her. And I found that both her
Chinese and English are above average. For the younger one, I would like
to try something more systematic. That is the reason I ask you. If it
proves practical, I will teach other children in Caritas and my church.



Cheers,

Beatrice Tang



李察回話：

這一百六十二個最常用的中文字，覆蓋了常用字的一半篇幅。換言之，識得這 162 字，
就能認得一半以上的中文。

過兩天刊出。請留意。


李察 謹上