Chinese language characters made easy

Chinese characters are one of the most important and interesting part of learning Chinese Language. Though, it is not easy to grab Chinese characters quickly, but through some effort, it can be done efficiently. In this article, you will find out some secrets of learning Chinese characters efficiently. By following these secrets, I am sure you will soon be able to write and read characters flawlessly.

First of all, the most important thing in learning characters is using the rules of writing the characters. Rules are “right to left” and “up to down” and “inside to outside”. The applications of these rules are as follows:

Right to left means starting writing the character from right first.

Up to down means start writing from up and complete down parts later.

Inside to outside means writing the inside parts first.

The application of these rules while learning to write Chinese characters is of immense help. Some students don’t take these rules seriously and end up finding it difficult to learn the characters. Using these rules makes it easier to understand where and how to start a character. Make sure to know the proper use of these rules, and then apply these rules every time you write Chinese characters. That's how I started learning, and very soon I had a good command over writing Chinese characters because I understood the rules very well.

Another very important part of learning Chinese characters easily is the use if grid lines while writing the characters. Trust me it helps a lot. It may seem vague now, but once you start writing using grid lines, you will see the difference. There are grid lines papers designed especially for learning Chinese, to make the learning more productive. They help in maintaining the shape and size of the characters, and aid in making the word look proper.

Characters are the main component of Chinese Calligraphy as well. And all the calligraphy students are asked to use to grid lines paper to practice Chinese Calligraphy. It shows how helpful it is to use grid lines papers to practice Chinese characters.

Additionally, one of the secrets of learning Chinese characters efficiently is reading those characters everywhere you find them. Read characters written on the boards, products, books, television, and internet. This will help you in memorizing the characters as well as remembering what they mean and the use of these characters.

If you are in China, then it’s a super plus point for you. Try to read everything around you and try to figure out what they mean. While going for shopping, take help from Chinese characters to know what the product is, what is it made up of, where it is manufactures, expiry dates and all. This is just like an exercise of learning Chinese characters. The more you exercise, the early you will learn the characters.

Learning is not complete until you master your week points. This applies to Chinese Language as well. To learn Chinese characters efficiently, you must find out your week areas and work on it. Writing down some difficult or unusual words will help you master it more effectively. Keep a small notebook wherever you go, and write down any unusual word you see or hear. Look for its meaning and make small sentences of those words. Review your notebook weekly or biweekly. This will help you remember those words and you’ll automatically start using them in your conversations and then, the problem is solved.

HSK (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi) is a standard Chinese proficiency test that allows you to have official certificate of Chinese Language. The test is completely in Chinese characters with no English or pinyin to help you understand what the character means. Solving the papers will really help you understand and learning Chinese characters as you will be liable to try and understand each word in order to answer the questions specified in the paper. Sample test papers are available online or you may want to buy them from an online store or a book shop. Believe me, after solving like 20-30 sample papers, your Chinese language will be surprisingly improved. Give it a try and see the magic!

The above tips are the golden secrets of learning Chinese characters effectively and efficiently. Try to use them every time you sit to practice. You will surely progress and surprisingly, will learn the characters easily and quickly.

Having trouble in learning pinyin? Refer to the hub here.

Happy Learning!