> It's a hugely inefficient way to write.
Not necessarily true.
For instance, "Not necessarily true" is 18 characters and 2 white spaces, while in Chinese, it could be as simple as "未必".
Not necessarily true.
For instance, "Not necessarily true" is 18 characters and 2 white spaces, while in Chinese, it could be as simple as "未必".
While English might be among the worst alphabetic writing systems (compared to, say, Spanish, which has a wonderful correspondence between what is written and what is spoken), it is certainly a more efficient writing system than Chinese, in that fewer years of school have to be dedicated to just learning to read and write.
Furthermore, as highlighted by someone else, it is not uncommon for writers of Chinese to just completely forget how to write a word.
In English, you might misspell it, but it'll be rare that you can't render it at all.
Great book on the topic of Chinese, debunking several misconceptions, is "The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy" by John DeFrancis. http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/p-819-9780824810689.aspx