Brian 跟外国朋友 Hank 看完书法展后，Hank 因为爱上了书法，便开口请 Brian 教他。
Brian: Alright! Let’s start from the most basic part, holding the brush.
Brian: 好，我们先从最基本的开始—握笔。
Hank: That’s a piece of cake! My handwriting is neat and I think I have a talent for Chinese calligraphy.
Hank: 这太简单了！我写字可是很工整的，我觉得我很有写书法的天分。
Brian: No, it’s totally different from holding a pencil. You have to use your ring finger, middle finger and thumb to grip the brush. Remember to hold it vertically.
Brian: 不，这完全跟拿笔的方式不一样，要用你的无名指、中指跟大拇指握笔，而且毛笔一定要垂直。
Hank: But my hand will shake if I hold it like this.
Hank: 但这样握的话我的手会抖耶。
Brian: That’s why we need to practice! Next is the ink.
Brian: 所以才要练习啊！再来是墨水。
Hank: Where? I only see two stones. They are as black as coal.
Hank: 在哪？我只看到两块石头，跟煤炭一样黑。
Brian: They are inkstick and inkstone. First we need to dip some water onto the inkstone, and then use the inkstick to grind against it.
Brian: 它们就是墨条跟砚台。首先我们要先滴几滴水在砚台上，接着再用墨条在上面磨墨。
Hank: Calligraphy is quite an art!
Hank: 书法真的是一门学问呀！
Hank 最后能不能写出一手好字呢？先复习单字吧！
brush (n.) 毛笔
brush 当名词时原本意思为「刷子；画笔」，在书法艺术中则可用来指「毛笔」，也可以在前面加上 Chinese 来强调。
When you clean the brush, the flow of the water has to follow the direction of the brush hairs.
洗笔时，水流的流向要顺着笔毛的方向。
handwriting (n.) 字迹
handwriting 就是指写字的「字迹；笔迹」。
It’s said that if your handwriting is messy, you are an intelligent and creative person.
据说如果你的字迹很潦草，你就是个聪明、富有创意的人。
calligraphy (n.) 书法
calligraphy 意指「书法」，不只中国有书法，西方国家也有！像安瑟尔体 (Uncial)、哥德体 (Gothic) 都是西洋书法。如果要特别强调「中国书法」，一样可以在前面加上Chinese。
She got the hang of Chinese calligraphy very quickly.
她马上就抓到了写书法的诀窍。
inkstick (n.) 墨条 inkstone (n.) 砚台
inkstick 就是「墨条」，inkstone 则是「砚台」，「磨墨」的动词用 grind (注意动词三态为不规则 grind-ground-ground)。补充：写书法时虽可直接用墨汁 (ink)，但许多讲究的人认为墨汁的写感、色泽都不如磨出来的墨好。
Grinding an inkstick against an inkstone is a way to calm your mind before doing calligraphy.
写书法前，用墨条磨墨可以让你静下心来。
万事俱备后，Hank 跟 Brian 就要开始写书法啦！
Hank: Phew! Everything is ready! What are we going to write?
Hank: 呼！都准备好了！我们要写些什么呢？
Brian: We can start from some simple characters like 小、中、大. (pointing at the copybook)
Brian: 我们可以些从一些简单的字开始，像是「小、中、大」。 (指着字帖)
Hank: That looks very easy! (trying to write 小)
Hank: 这看起来很简单！ (试着写「小」)
Brian: Pay attention the stroke order! We are not always writing from left to right. For example, when you write 小, you have to start from the center.
Brian: 注意笔顺！我们不一定是从左到右写，比方说你在写「小」这个字，就要先写中间的部分。
Hank: I can’t believe this is so damn hard! By the way, we saw a very cool script style at yesterday’s exhibition. It looked like snakes. Do you have that copybook?
Hank: 真不敢相信书法怎么可以这难！对了，昨天我们在展览有看到一个很酷的字体风格，长得像蛇一样，你有那种字体的字帖吗？
Brian: It’s called cursive script but that is for more advanced learners. For beginners like you, you have to start from regular script.
Brian: 那叫做草书，是较进阶的人在学的。对你这种初学者来说，还是要先从楷书开始。
Hank: Fine. It seems that I have a long way to go.
Hank: 好吧，看来我还有好长一段路要走。
各种艺术，包含书法都并非一蹴可几，希望 Hank 可以坚持下去啰！
copybook (n.) 字帖
小时候学写字时都会有字帖让我们跟着临摹，而「字帖」的英文就叫 copybook，此字由 copy + book 组合而成，其中 copy 有「模仿」的意思。
Many kids practice writing with copybooks.
许多小孩都是用字帖练习写字。
stroke order (n.) 笔顺
stroke 当名词时常见的意思为「中风」，此外还可以指写字或画画的「一笔」，因此 stroke order 就是指「笔顺」。
Stroke order is one of the most difficult parts of learning Chinese characters for foreign learners.
对学中文的外国人来说，笔顺是其中一个最困难的部分。
cursive script (n.) 草书 regular script (n.) 楷书
script 有「剧本；字迹」之意，「草写」用 cursive 来形容，中文的「草书」也挪用了这个字，称做 cursive script，而一般常见的「楷书」则是 regular script。
Regular script is the most commonly published type while cursive script is rarely seen.
楷书是出版刊物中最常见的字体，草书则非常少见。
许多外国人其实都对中华文化像是太极、功夫、书法很感兴趣，有机会你也可以让外国朋友体验书法艺术唷！
