| How do you memorize Chinese characters? | |
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| Jun 16, 2008 03:00 |   |
| guestcharacter | After learning Chinese for a while, I have figured out that it is easier speak Chinese than write Chinese characters. Everytime I try to memorize the characters, I find that it is hard for me to remember the order of the strokes. Really, I am going crazy now. I am eager to know how you memorize Chinese characters. Anyone here can offer other better ways of memorizing Chinese characters? |
| Jun 16, 2008 03:44 | #1 |
 | First I should say that everyone has a different way of learning - there is no single, uniform method that works for all people. I struggled for a long time with boxes of flashcards, just trying to remember the 'picture' that I saw by little more than sheer repetitive exposure. This worked for a couple of hundred of the simplest characters, but ultimately didn't work at all for the more complex characters or the myriad characters whose overall 'picture' looks more or less the same. To recognise and understand the small differences is the key, for me. I found a book that teaches the 3,000 most common characters. The book is a little inconsistent, but at least in the early pages it does a good job of breaking down each character into its constituent radicals. This helps in several ways: first, it helps when you look at a character - you don't just see a 'picture' but you see a number of recognisable radicals. Second, the book demonstrates how, quite often, the meaning of a character is related to one or more of its radicals - this helps to remember what it means. Third, in the same way, the book also demonstrates that, also quite often, the sound of a character is derived from one of its radicals - this helps to remember how to pronounce it. Fourth, if you learn to write all the radicals, then you can more easily, more quickly and more expertly write any number of characters. Now when I look at a new character, instead of being baffled by it I take a minute to analyse it. It may be a bit of a long-shot, but I might even have a go at guessing its meaning (especially if I am able to see the character in context). Then, of course, I look it up in my electronic dictionary that I always carry around with me. That's my other secret weapon - a PDA-style dictionary that allows you to draw the character that you see and gives you the meaning and pinyin pronunciation. Besides these ways I also read Chinese at every opportunity (advertising boards, subtitles on TV, notices on the Metro, bus schedules, menus, lease agreements) in order to get real-life exposure to the things I have studied in books. Putting the characters into a regular and familiar context helps me to remember them more easily. |
| Jun 16, 2008 08:16 | #2 |
| Now Tom, You have to tell us the name of your "book" and where we can buy one if we would like too. I also have a PDA with the dictionary and it has been a really great investment although it sometimes comes up short. |
| Jun 16, 2008 08:27 | #3 |
| It's just going to take a lot of time. Don't get yourself bogged down with the goal of too many characters, either. There may be books of 3,000 of the most common characters and eventually you'll have to learn them, but I studied hard for a year as a beginner and managed only about 700. After the first few hundred you begin to get a feel for the strokes, you begin to see the different individual parts that make up the whole character. Remember, if it was easy then everybody could do it. It's not though, so everybody's going to be amazed that you can. |
| Jun 16, 2008 23:56 | #4 |
| Oh, the book is 'Reading & Writing Chinese (Simplified Character Edition)'. Like I said, it has flaws but for my money it's better than the couple of thousand flashcards that I've bought over the years. Only the most common 1,067 characters are explained in depth (five to a page). The remaining two thousand or so are crammed-in, twenty to a page. The indexing isn't always accurate and the author annoys me by discussing, early on, radicals such as '亠' (tou), which you will see repeated in many characters, and assigning an English name to these radicals. In the case of '亠' (tou) he calls it 'the lid radical'. Every time the radical crops up in a character later in the book the author will say something like "this character has got the 'lid' radical on top, which signifies..." - I just wish he would call it by its Chinese name, like "this character has got the 'tou' radical on top...". It would just make more sense to me and would help me to order things properly in my mind. That aside, I heartily recommend it and if you can't find it in your local bookshop then try Amazon http://www.amazon.com/ The one other book I would recommend for anyone starting to learn Chinese is the 'Oxford Beginner's Chinese Dictionary' (http://www.amazon.com/ For other books I think your teacher or study group may be able to guide you as to the most useful ones. I've accumulated quite a few over the years and they've all served their purpose, but the two I've mentioned above I would recommend to anyone who wants to learn Chinese. |
| Jun 17, 2008 07:28 | #5 |
| What PDA do you guys use?? |
| Jun 17, 2008 20:32 | #6 |
| There's appropriate Chinese dictionary software for just about any PDA that uses a Micro$oft operating system, however I went for a dedicated PDA-style (but not really a proper PDA) electronic dictionary. Mine is a 步步高 (bu bu gao), model 9388 (http://product.yesky.com/ This particular model also allows me to use the entire screen when drawing a character (again, useful when you're starting out). Some devices have a rather tiny box for character input. Then again, these dictionaries are really designed for Chinese people to learn English; as far as I am aware there isn't one designed specifically for foreigners to learn Chinese. That means the menus and things like that will be in Chinese. You can get the hang of these quite quickly, though. It also means that the dictionaries often come loaded with a whole lot of stuff that bumps up the price and is of no use to you what-so-ever. There are newer dictionaries on the market, now, however I would advise you to try a few (if you can) and find one that you like. |
| Jun 18, 2008 07:46 | #7 |
| Thanks Tom, I don't have a PDA so I can start out fresh and get the best one.....I'd rather get a dedicated PDA that can really get the job done then to buy an add on software that isn't as good. I'll see what's out there. I agree with you, the resolution has to be good! Hopefully I can find an English-Chinese PDA..... |
| Jun 18, 2008 07:48 | #8 |
| I have a second hand older model I-mate with Pleco software My PDA allows for big screen character input. I'm not using the software to it's fullest capacity but it is wonderful when I'm out and about and on the road. I ask people to write what it is they want to say. It's a word by word thing but I usually pick the words I don't know and want them to write. Sometimes we find it but sometimes not. Pleco has English, Pin Yin and Character input and you can build your own flash card sets. the full software package has even more than the basic which is all I have but it's more than enough for me at the moment. |
| Jun 18, 2008 21:29 | #9 |
| That looks pretty good Jabarootoo, I will take a look at their website! |
| Jun 22, 2008 22:27 | #10 |
| Hehe, it reminds me of the times when I was memorizing English words. For shrot words, I usually memorize them letter by letter. For long words, I usually separate them into several parts, prefix, middle part and suffix. Really effective. Also, it is very important to learn Phonetics very well. Sometimes, I forget how to write English words and then I will try to write it down according to the pronunciation. Of course, you can memorize Chinese characters by separating them into several parts because some characters have the same radicals. If you use Xin Hua Zi Dian (Xinhua dictionary), you will find that all Chinese words are arranged in two ways: pronunciation and radical. |
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