Very cool article on Chinese language writing and the effects of technology. Not a new subject, but the article is good and worth reading. H/T to the WSJ Blog.

I would be remiss if I failed to point out that the main gist of the article, that technology may be eroding the ability of native speakers to write characters, is exactly what was pointed out to me a few years ago by my Chinese teacher in grad school. She was right.

I particularly like the discussion on different input methods. Lots of kids now are learning off of pinyin-based, menu-driven input systems, which are a godsend to illiterates like myself — with such systems, I have the ability to type not just one, but (can you believe it) both of the two Chinese words I know. It impresses the hell out of people.

But I digress. Different input systems have pluses/minuses when it comes to speed, availability, etc. My wife learned on wu bi and still finds newer systems frustratingly slow.

Once we start doing everything with voice, none of us will be able to type anymore in any language. Thanks to email and SMS, Westerners have already lost the ability to spell.