1. Introduction

International Chinese language education is an important linguistic and cultural public product provided by China to the world [1]. As the initiative of “One Belt, One Road” has gradually become a reality, international Chinese language education has also developed vigorously and effectively. Chinese characters, as a kind of phonetic script, not only carry rich cultural information, but also become the difficulties and highlights in international Chinese language education due to their unique rules and structural features. When learning Chinese characters, international students often face problems such as differences in Chinese character structure and multiple sounds and meanings [2].

Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the teaching strategies of international Chinese education based on the basic features of Chinese characters, and to put forward targeted teaching methods and practical suggestions by analyzing the basic features of Chinese characters, such as structure and semantics, in order to encourage the growth of Chinese education abroad and the spread of Chinese characters across cultural boundaries. This paper explores teaching strategies based on the basic features of Chinese characters, which are of great significance in helping international students learn Chinese characters and improving the efficiency and quality of international Chinese language education.

2. The Necessity of International Chinese Language Education Based on the Basic Characteristics of Chinese Characters

2.1. Basic Characteristics of Chinese Characters

2.1.1. Structural Characteristics of Chinese Characters

Chinese characters are complex, multi-faceted and multi-elemental symbols. As a kind of phonetic script, it is both phonetic and ideographic, and it is a process of expression and communication. Its “hieroglyphic” method of character creation has resulted in a certain degree of realism, as the components of the strokes still retain the remnants of hieroglyphic characters. Although the characters have been regularized into more abstract symbols, it is still easy for learners to understand their basic meanings.

In addition, there are the largest number of form-sounding characters in Chinese characters, and most of them have a basic character (phonetic element), which, together with the radicals (semantic element), constitutes a new compound character, which is the law of the formation of form-sounding characters in Chinese characters, and is easy to master and learn, which is the superiority of Chinese characters over other characters [3].

2.1.2. Semantic Characteristics of Chinese Characters

Meanwhile, Chinese characters, as a symbol system with strict logic and systematicity, embody the way of thinking, the results of thinking and the habits of thinking of the Chinese people, and they are a special kind of thinking symbols [4]. For example, the character “ming” is composed of “ri” and “yue”, which means “bright”. The ancients' ability to combine natural events into a single idea is reflected in this glyph in addition to their observation of those phenomena; the character “chun” is composed of “ri” and “san”, where “san” stands for “three”. The character for “spring” is composed of “day” and “three”, where “three” stands for “March” and “day” represents the warmth of the sun.

This glyph not only reflects the ancient people’s observation of the changing seasons, but also reflects the thinking of combining time (March) with space (the sun), showing the perception of the relationship between time and space. Therefore, we can see that the Chinese character is a unity of subjectivity and objectivity, carrying a relatively rich history and culture.

2.2. The Necessity of International Chinese Language Education

With the remarkable improvement of China’s economy and the enhancement of its comprehensive national power, international Chinese language education is also undergoing continuous innovation and development. As a kind of phonetic script, Chinese characters convey the unique way of thinking of Chinese people, and also carry rich historical and cultural information. With international Chinese education based on the basic features of Chinese characters, international students can directly learn Chinese characters, understand the unique ways of word formation and semantic features of Chinese characters, and then learn about Chinese history and culture, and savor the way Chinese people have always thought about problems, which improves the quality and efficiency of international Chinese education.

In addition, this teaching method is conducive to the dissemination and development of Chinese characters, which will continue to develop and innovate through cultural exchanges and collisions and promote cross-cultural exchanges and understanding. Based on cultural self-confidence and pride, it tells a comprehensive and three-dimensional China with words, promotes Chinese culture to the world, and is conducive to building a community of human destiny.

3. The Current Status of Teaching in International Chinese Language Education

With the rapid development of international Chinese language education, more than 70 countries around the world have incorporated Chinese language into their national education systems, and the number of foreigners learning and using Chinese has reached 200 million. The teaching of Chinese as a second language has gone through an exploratory period of “education for international students” (1950-1977), a systematic development period of “teaching Chinese as a foreign language” (1978-2003), and a large-scale overseas development period of “teaching Chinese as a foreign language” (1978-2003). Chinese language teaching abroad” (1978-2003), ‘Chinese language international education’ (2004-2019) during the period of overseas large-scale development and entered a new period of international Chinese language education and discipline development in 2020 [5, 6].

In May 2016, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over the National Symposium on Philosophy and Social Sciences, pointing out the need to vigorously develop Chinese theories [7]. The teaching of Chinese characters is very Chinese in the field of international Chinese language education, reflecting the basic characteristics of the Chinese language. An in-depth study of it will help promote and develop Chinese theories.

The first Confucius Institute was established in Seoul, South Korea in 2004, marking the official opening of this global Chinese language education and culture promotion program. In the ensuing years, Confucius Institutes have expanded rapidly, spreading to many countries and regions in Asia, Europe, the Americas, Africa and Oceania. The establishment and expansion of Confucius Institutes has facilitated the development of international Chinese language education to a deeper level, and more and more students have begun to learn Chinese. Not only that, as the number of Confucius Institutes reaches a certain scale, the Chinese government has begun to focus on improving the quality and efficiency of school running, promoting the deeper development of Confucius Institutes, and urgently needing teaching strategies that are more in line with the characteristics of China and the interests of students, and attaching more and more importance to the teaching of Chinese characters. However, the teaching of Chinese characters in international Chinese language education has always been recognized as a difficulty and a “bottleneck” by international Chinese language teachers, and there are still teaching problems such as the intersection of pinyin and Chinese characters, or even the avoidance of Chinese characters and only the study of pinyin [8].

The development of science and technology has provided rich resources for teaching Chinese characters, such as online learning platforms, interactive software, multimedia teaching materials, etc., which provide students with diversified and personalized opportunities to learn Chinese characters. Breaking the time and place limitations of traditional offline classroom, the classroom is open and flexible, and the number of interactions between students and teachers is increased, which stimulates students’ interest in learning [9].

4. Exploring Teaching Strategies for International Chinese Language Education

The Chinese language belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family and has a complex structure, so traditional methods of teaching Chinese characters are not applicable to learners of Indo-European languages. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt correct teaching methods based on the basic characteristics of Chinese characters in order to teach international students Chinese characters with high efficiency and high quality, to overcome their fear of learning Chinese characters, to stimulate their interest in learning, and to promote their learning of Chinese culture as well as the international dissemination of Chinese culture.

4.1. Etymology Teaching Methodology

As ideographic symbols combining sound, shape and meaning, there is a direct relationship between the shape and meaning of Chinese characters. Pictograms, references, ideograms, and morpho-sounds are the four common methods of character creation. Therefore, when teaching Chinese characters, we can “trace the origins” of Chinese characters, and present students with the history of the creation of Chinese characters, the order of their evolution, and other background knowledge [10], and we can make the evolution of Chinese characters into animation, such as the evolution process of the character “day”, from the picture of the sun to the character. The evolution of the character “ri”, from the picture of the sun to the oracle-bone drawing of the sun outlined in the character “ri”, and then slowly evolved into the regular script “ri” style, so that the analysis of the Chinese character in a graphic and intuitive way full of interest. At the same time, learners can make use of various resources to check the glyph analysis and etymology and recognize the basic features and changing rules of the major stages of glyph evolution in the history of Chinese characters [11].

“The pictorial nature of hieroglyphic characters is strong, so it is easier for learners to absorb them than to transfer them to the brain through textual information, and to teach Chinese characters on the basis of the character creation method by using the method of comparing pictures with text, restoring and reproducing images of characters through the evolution of character shapes, and interpreting Chinese characters by taking meanings from the pictures in the form of perceptualization. It is easier for learners to absorb than to transfer information to the brain through words and teaching Chinese characters on the basis of the character creation method can help international students understand the Chinese way of thinking.

Therefore, the etymology method can solve the problem of boring and tedious learning of Chinese characters to a certain extent and stimulate the enthusiasm of students for learning. At the same time, it is necessary to involve Chinese history and culture in the process of teaching, which is also conducive to the learning and spreading of Chinese culture.

4.2. Phonetic-meaning Integration Teaching Method

The combination of sound and meaning is a highly effective and comprehensive learning method in teaching Chinese characters, which starts from the synchronization of sound, shape and meaning, and helps learners to master each character more comprehensively and deeply by establishing a close connection between the pronunciation and writing forms of Chinese characters and their meanings. First, the correct pronunciation of Chinese characters is taught, usually using the Hanyu Pinyin system to aid pronunciation. For beginners, follow-along reading, repetition, and self-checking with recordings can be used to ensure the accuracy of pronunciation. Students are guided to recognize the construction features of Chinese characters, such as monograms, composite characters, and radicals, etc. By breaking down the stroke order and components, it helps them to remember the shape of the characters and develops good writing habits.

At the same time, one can, in conjunction with the context or real-life scenarios, explain the basic meanings of Chinese characters and their extended meanings in different contexts. Pictures, objects, videos and other media can be used to visualize abstract concepts and deepen their impression, so that learners can quickly build up a vocabulary of Chinese characters and gradually establish a deeper identity with the culture of Chinese characters, thus laying a solid foundation for their future Chinese learning.

4.3. Cultural Teaching Method

The history of Chinese culture is extensive and profound, so it is essential to stress the accumulation of Chinese character culture and integrate cultural education into the teaching of international Chinese characters [12]. Combine Chinese characters with traditional Chinese festivals and customs, food culture, canonical books and culture, etc., so that students can experience the atmosphere and customs of Chinese festivals and appreciate the beauty of literature while learning Chinese characters, thus enhancing the fun and practicality of learning. At the same time, teaching the reality of modern Chinese society requires the employment of pertinent Chinese characters, such as science and technology, environmental protection, health and other topics, so that students can learn and use modern Chinese vocabulary while understanding modern China, improve the practical application of the language, and truly “understand contemporary China”.

In addition, it is also necessary to pay attention to cross-cultural comparisons, identify cultural points of conflict between Chinese and foreign cultures, focus on teaching, deepen cooperation with host countries, carry out more localized teaching and cultural activities, increase the local people’s awareness of and interest in Chinese culture, and offer cultural experience courses in Chinese calligraphy, painting, martial arts, tea ceremony, paper-cutting and other cultural experience courses, so as to show the charm of Chinese culture in an all-round way. Respect cultural differences, reduce cultural conflicts and reflect the inclusiveness of Chinese culture.

5. Conclusion

The development of international Chinese language education is in full swing. Chinese characters serve as the cultural ambassador of China and teaching them is a crucial part of teaching Chinese in classrooms across the world. Through the teaching strategies of international Chinese education based on the basic characteristics of Chinese characters, such as etymology teaching method, phonology teaching method, and culture teaching method, they can effectively solve the difficulties of international students in learning Chinese characters, improve the pertinence and effectiveness of teaching.

At the same time, promote the improvement of the quality and efficiency of international Chinese language teaching, so as to disseminate the Chinese culture, fulfill the Chinese aspiration for the country's massive revitalization, and build a community of destiny of mankind together.