Learning Chinese characters

If you want to learn Mandarin Chinese, the characters are very important. Learning to read and write the Chinese script is particularly challenging because it consists of a multitude of complex characters. Each character represents both sound and meaning. Chinese is written entirely with Chinese characters or hànzi. To read Modern Standard Chinese you need to commit about 4,000 - 5,000 hànzi to memory.

Some possible ways to learn Chinese characters

Most characters are built of components which represent physical things or abstract concepts. You should learn what each of the components represents and try building up mental images featuring the components for each character, so as the meanings of the characters and the pronunciation.

There are a number of books, such as Fun with Chinese Characters, which explain the structure and meaning of each character with illustrations and little stories.

Learn the correct way to write each character and if possible, take a class in Chinese calligraphy.

Practice reading and writing characters at every opportunity.

Make some character cards with a single large character on the front and the character's pronunciation and meaning together with words and/or phrases featuring the character on the back. Carry these cards around with you and refer to them whenever you have a moment.

As you learn more characters, you will start to notice recurring themes and patterns. That will help you to guess the meanings of new characters. The more characters you learn, the easier it will become to learn new ones.

To avoid eyestrain when poring over Chinese texts, dictionaries, etc, make sure your study area is well-lit.

Hope you can learn Chinese with fun!