If you’re new to learning how to read and write Chinese, you may not have come across radicals yet. But you’re here now, so let me introduce you to Chinese radicals! Before you start, let me tell you that radicals are really an essential part of learning to read Chinese characters as they are the… Read More
I think it’s fair to say that just trying to recognise Chinese characters is hard enough. Even when you know your radicals inside out, have made a nice story (or mnemonic) woman 女 (nǚ) under a roof 宀 (mián) = peace 安 (ān), putting pen to paper can still be a bit of a daunting… Read More
If you don’t have time to study this now, just and read it later! We recently posted an article about the 6 types of Chinese characters and how they came to exist. This follow up post, takes a look at 20 pictograph or pictogram characters found in written Chinese. Although there is a slight explanation… Read More
Aside from remembering how to write them, writing ‘beautiful’ characters can be a challenge. Using the adjective ‘beautiful’ might seem strange, but there is a particular finesse that comes with writing Chinese characters that, when written correctly, can be beautiful. When I first began learning to write Chinese characters (yes, you’ve heard my story a… Read More
A couple of months ago, I sent out an email asking what people’s biggest problems were or are with studying Chinese. I was overwhelmed by the responses I received from users of all levels and I have managed to whittle down everyone’s replies down to these 10 questions. Some of these learning problems came up… Read More
If you are only just starting out learning Chinese characters you may have already come across some Chinese characters that, to the inexperienced eye, look exactly the same. It’s different to get over the idea that they are different and that it is possible, by following some simple rules, to distinguish between these characters. How to… Read More