thank you.

or script? Oh, I forgot, you just want to watch and not to type.

Disclaimer, I am not a teacher, I once explained this to a co-worker.

Instead of 26 alphabets, you have several hundreds of basic characters that represent BOTH meaning and sound. They are simple and often pictorial, but you do have to memorize their sounds (in Mandarin or Cantonese or other dialects :-).

Once you pass that, more complicated characters can be composed. Often one part gives the basic sound, while the other half extends the meaning. Together they form a new character of which the sound and meaning that you can guess or infer.

Figuring out the "magic" of how these compositions work can be entertaining and often leads to "ah-huh!" moments. Try to make it fun for your kid (and you), in a detective story/game sort of way. You'll often guess the sound wrong or fail to infer a new meaning, but your kid (who likely outplays you in Mr. Potato Head :-) has far better imagination and would be more often right than you do. So play it like a puzzle, only it is also good practice for you both.

Good luck,