The most important character to learn is dian. Who can tell me what it means?”
“Lightning!” The students sing out in perfect chorus.
“We can also call that electricity,” he says.
“Electricity,” we repeat as one, echoing his pronunciation as closely as possible.
“If I add the character—”
“Speak,” we practically shout as he writes the character next to dian.
“I get—”
“Telephone!”
“If I add the characters for vision and sowing seeds to dian, I get—”
“Television!”
“And if I write shadow next to dian, I get—”