Staring blankly at a sheet of white paper, pen poised in the air, you scratch your head for a single word that you know how to read, how to say and how to write.

Once seated at a computer, you find your confusion disappears.

If you have these symptoms, you may be affected by "computer dyslexia."

And it is a safe bet you have plenty of companions in China.

An online survey, jointly conducted by the Beijing-based China Youth Daily and Chinese news portal Sina.com, shows that 67 per cent of participants admit they occasionally forget how to write certain Chinese characters.

By fixing people's fingers to a small alphabet-based keyboard, the computer age based on "0" and "1" seems to be posing a threat to the revered Chinese language.

Xu Chengcheng, a 23-year-old accountant with Pricewaterhouse Coopers, admits he "feels more in my element when typing words than writing."

Xu took command of a computer seven years ago and has been a frequent user for four years.

He has his own laptop and "seldom writes with a pen" even after work.

"I don't have the faintest idea of the shape of a single character when I turn to pen and paper," said Xu.

Currently, most methods to input Chinese characters are based on pinyin, their phonetic alphabets, and offer a list of words for people to choose.

"We can choose the right word simply out of a vague idea or impression of how the word looks," said Sun Tian, a 25-year-old who has worked for a website for more than three years.

But when people have to write a character down, they have to write every strike and stroke of the word.

Neurological evidence reveals the cause of "computer dyslexia" -- typing does not bring impression of the marks that writing creates, and therefore does not stimulate the brain's central nervous system that controls language.

According to the survey, with the rapid popularization of computers, only 47 per cent of the interviewees use pens to write each day.

And about 30 per cent said they "generally type at the computer and rarely write with a pen."

"I write with a pen occasionally and I firmly restrict my working time to within eight hours, so I barely suffer from 'dyslexia,'" said Sun.

In sharp contrast, large numbers of young people are undergoing more than "dyslexia."

"Moreover, I feel more and more scared of writing, because I am no longer confident in my handwriting," Xu added. Because of a lack of practice, his handwriting is getting poorer and, according to him, "unrecognizable."

"It's a pity that the time-honoured and gorgeous Chinese calligraphy is being forgotten!" exclaimed Sun.

In response, the survey shows 80 per cent of the 432 participants checked the response that "we urgently need to strengthen the protection of the Chinese language."

This fact is being spotlighted with the Chinese language now under siege from computers, short message services and various foreign languages.

The frequent application of computers and mobile phones deprives Chinese people of the ability to write by pen.

At the same time, the popularity of foreign languages detaches them from their mother tongue.

"I always mix some English words in my speech, such as 'considerate' or 'cool,'" said Sun, who studied English at college.

"The advance of foreign languages in China is indeed the best proof that our country is walking toward the world, but we should not therefore ignore our mother tongue," China Youth Daily quoted a university graduate Xiao Xiao as saying.

"After all, the Chinese language bears thousands of years of our traditional culture."

(China Daily October 19, 2004)