[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n
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Tips for Reading and Writing Chinese Characters<\/h2>\n\n- Understand how characters work.<\/strong> Chinese characters look like random pictures at first sight, but they\u2019re actually made up of parts that give us specific information. This makes it easier to intuitively figure out their meanings and pronunciations. Each character has a part that suggests the meaning\u2014called the radical\u2014and one part that suggests the pronunciation. It\u2019s located on the right side of the character.<\/li>\n
- Learn common radicals first.<\/strong> As I just mentioned, radicals are extremely helpful because they help you guess the character\u2019s meaning. Every character has at least one, but some have more. There are 214 radicals total, and you can learn them all in this guide here<\/a>.<\/li>\n
- Handwrite characters first.<\/strong> Writing by hand is becoming less common in China (and all parts of the world) since we have the simplicity of typing now, but it\u2019s extremely beneficial for memorizing new information. Because of this, I always recommend writing your new characters for about 10-20 repetitions before moving to only digital methods like flashcards. If you feel like your handwriting sucks on regular paper, there are tons of resources you can use to print off gridded sheets, like these from WriteMandarin<\/a>.<\/li>\n
- Take a leveled character course to start with the easiest ones.<\/strong> There are many courses and apps that can teach you Chinese characters that follow a leveled curriculum. This helps you start with the easiest characters first\u2014like pictograph characters\u2014and then gradually move on to harder ones. There are tons on Udemy<\/a> and Coursera<\/a>, and some online programs like Yoyo Chinese<\/a> have their own character courses. Mandarin Blueprint<\/a> is the most extensive one I\u2019ve found, and one of our editors wrote a review on it that you can find here<\/a>.<\/li>\n
- Learn the most commonly used characters first.<\/strong> Some of the easiest characters are kind of weird and not commonly used. So another approach you can take is starting with the most frequently used ones. Although it might be a bit more challenging since some of the characters can be more difficult, this method helps you start understanding written texts faster since you\u2019ll come across highly used characters that you know. I\u2019d still recommend learning radicals first if you take this approach though. Here\u2019s a list of the most common 1,000 Chinese words from Tutor Mandarin<\/a> to start.<\/li>\n
- Choose whether or not you want to follow an HSK study path.<\/strong> If you want to take the HSK one day\u2014or just like the idea of using an official, government-approved way of quantifying your Chinese level\u2014you might not want to take any of the routes I\u2019ve mentioned so far. In this case, I recommend learning the radicals first (as always) and then moving on to an HSK course, starting with level one. You can find plenty of them online or use textbooks like the popular HSK Standard Course series<\/a>.<\/li>\n
- Read basic stories meant for beginners.<\/strong> Once you\u2019ve learned about 500 characters, it\u2019s important you actually start reading. Many people recommend children\u2019s books, but I typically ignore this advice unless the book isn\u2019t one of those that uses lots of nursery rhymes or mythical creatures. What I like to do instead is look for books specifically written for beginner learners in mind. Chinese Reading Practice<\/a> has a page of reading exercises sorted by HSK level, and this is a book of 20 Chinese short stories for beginners<\/a> on Amazon.<\/li>\n
- Use graded readers and parallel texts.<\/strong> Graded readers can be the same as beginner books, but there are graded readers for all levels. Also, they are specifically written for learners in mind, unlike a children\u2019s book. Parallel texts are bilingual books that include the story in Chinese and the story in English so you can compare the translations. One graded reader I can recommend for the beginner to intermediate level is the Yoyo Chinese Character Reader Course<\/a>. And you can find plenty of parallel texts on Amazon.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Practice Resources for Reading and Writing Chinese Characters<\/h2>\n1. Skritter<\/a>![\"skritter](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/skritter-logo.png\")
<\/a><\/h3>\nPrice:<\/strong> $14.99\/month<\/p>\nSkritter is a resource that is fundamentally different from all the other resources that we will go through today. This is because Skritter uses a completely different system for learning Chinese characters.<\/p>\n
Skritter focuses on learning characters through actual writing\u2014but through the screen. Instead of just learning to recognize characters, you take on a more active style by writing them out individually in the Skritter course you\u2019re taking. There\u2019s also the context of the character, practice sentences, component radicals and an audio clip of the pronunciation included with each one.<\/p>\n
Like a lot of the other resources, there are several user-made courses to choose from so that the advanced learners don\u2019t have to go through the basics all over again.<\/p>\n
Skritter also makes use of spaced repetition software (SRS)<\/a>. This is a system that optimizes learning through review intervals. Unfamiliar characters are reviewed more often, and familiar characters are reviewed less often.<\/p>\nIn fact, other language programs like FluentU<\/a> use SRS, and the two programs can be used in tandem to maximize the process of learning Chinese characters. FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n<\/p>\r\n
You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n
Practice Resources for Reading and Writing Chinese Characters<\/h2>\n1. Skritter<\/a><\/a><\/h3>\nPrice:<\/strong> $14.99\/month<\/p>\nSkritter is a resource that is fundamentally different from all the other resources that we will go through today. This is because Skritter uses a completely different system for learning Chinese characters.<\/p>\n
Skritter focuses on learning characters through actual writing\u2014but through the screen. Instead of just learning to recognize characters, you take on a more active style by writing them out individually in the Skritter course you\u2019re taking. There\u2019s also the context of the character, practice sentences, component radicals and an audio clip of the pronunciation included with each one.<\/p>\n
Like a lot of the other resources, there are several user-made courses to choose from so that the advanced learners don\u2019t have to go through the basics all over again.<\/p>\n
Skritter also makes use of spaced repetition software (SRS)<\/a>. This is a system that optimizes learning through review intervals. Unfamiliar characters are reviewed more often, and familiar characters are reviewed less often.<\/p>\nIn fact, other language programs like FluentU<\/a> use SRS, and the two programs can be used in tandem to maximize the process of learning Chinese characters. FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n<\/p>\r\n
You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n
<\/a><\/h3>\nPrice:<\/strong> $14.99\/month<\/p>\n Skritter is a resource that is fundamentally different from all the other resources that we will go through today. This is because Skritter uses a completely different system for learning Chinese characters.<\/p>\n Skritter focuses on learning characters through actual writing\u2014but through the screen. Instead of just learning to recognize characters, you take on a more active style by writing them out individually in the Skritter course you\u2019re taking. There\u2019s also the context of the character, practice sentences, component radicals and an audio clip of the pronunciation included with each one.<\/p>\n Like a lot of the other resources, there are several user-made courses to choose from so that the advanced learners don\u2019t have to go through the basics all over again.<\/p>\n Skritter also makes use of spaced repetition software (SRS)<\/a>. This is a system that optimizes learning through review intervals. Unfamiliar characters are reviewed more often, and familiar characters are reviewed less often.<\/p>\n In fact, other language programs like FluentU<\/a> use SRS, and the two programs can be used in tandem to maximize the process of learning Chinese characters. FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n
![\"FluentU](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/NativeAd-Chinese.jpg\")
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