What is the best way to memorize chinese characters?

[z0mb13]

ok I am convinced that Mandarin is probably the hardest language to learn

I try to memorize the characters, but there are so many of them and I feel overwhelemed

It also doesnt help that sometimes I forget the ones that I had memorized.. and also mix up some of the dots and strokes

any tips on how memorize them?

do people even still memorize how to write? maybe I need to recognize them somewhat so I can type them in pinyin?

 

[Raduque]

The best way to keep your brain from hurting is to ignore those crazy azn languages.

 

[geecee]

I know it's easier said than done, but try to understand the component parts of the characters and it will be easier to remember how to write them, i.e. all water related words tend to have 3 dots/dashes on the side, all speech related words tend to have box (ko) on the side. Most characters have at least 1-2 recognizable components to them.

Good luck.

 

[iroast]

I read somewhere that the average Chinese only memorizes about 5000-6000 characters out of 10000?

Good luck.

 

[z0mb13]

Originally posted by: iroast
I read somewhere that the average Chinese only memorizes about 5000-6000 characters out of 10000?

Good luck.

I am trying to get to 1000. ??

 

[krunchykrome]

Im taking a beginer's korean class right now, and we're currently learing the characters and sounds. I can already write korean names just by hearing the way it sounds.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: iroast
I read somewhere that the average Chinese only memorizes about 5000-6000 characters out of 10000?

Good luck.

Should be more than that. 5-6K is probably daily use.

As to op's question, try using the root approach. As in look at a Chinese dictionary, it is organized by roots. Say the (person) root and then go to incremental strokes of the other component. Get a Chinese-English dictionary, not the English-Chinese. Better chance of leaning that way.

Biggest problem with Mandarin is definitions. Because it is such an associative language, there is tons of meaning to a word, depending on context. Very messy.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

tattoos all over your body

 

[DaShen]

memorize 5 new words a day. if you keep diligent in memorizing those words, you will be fine. Supplement that with innundating yourself with chinese newspapers and books, even trying to read chinese restaurant menus.

it is doable, but hard. I can only recognize maybe 100 words at best now, even though I took it in college.

 

[AkumaX]

jia you!

 

[Geocentricity]

Being Asian helps

The only advice is to keep exposing yourself to characters (i.e. reading chinese material with a translator in hand). Over time you'll just glance at certain phrases and the meaning will come to you.

 

[z0mb13]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Im taking a beginer's korean class right now, and we're currently learing the characters and sounds. I can already write korean names just by hearing the way it sounds.

so korean has alphabets? or more similar to japanese's hiragana?

mandarin has no alphabet whatsoever... han yu pinyin is the closet thing they have to an alphabet.. but it doesnt help in the writing at all...

 

[z0mb13]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: iroast
I read somewhere that the average Chinese only memorizes about 5000-6000 characters out of 10000?

Good luck.

Should be more than that. 5-6K is probably daily use.

As to op's question, try using the root approach. As in look at a Chinese dictionary, it is organized by roots. Say the (person) root and then go to incremental strokes of the other component. Get a Chinese-English dictionary, not the English-Chinese. Better chance of leaning that way.

Biggest problem with Mandarin is definitions. Because it is such an associative language, there is tons of meaning to a word, depending on context. Very messy.

That drives me crazy as well.. sometimes there are two words that I already know, but when they are combined it makes no sense at all, WTF??

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Pretty much just read as much as you can. Start with really simple children's books like the Chinese equivalent to Clifford. You can do a root approach or a radical approach, but those things are limited at best. For example, things that have to do with water *tend* to have three dots representing water dots. They *tend* to have these, but not always. In addition, knowing that there are three dots doesn't help diddly when trying to figure out how to write the "meat" of the character. It also doesn't help for worlds like "blue" or "almost" or "otherwise."

Unfortunately it's mostly just brute force memorization with help from reading. If you just learn characters one by one you're screwed. If you just read you will have a hard time recognizing individual characters out of context. If you just type you won't know how to write characters by hand (my Chinese teacher has this problem; he types so much nowadays that sometimes he has trouble remembering how to write a character by hand). You gotta write, read, and type all at the same time to effectively learn. If all else fails, learn how to speak it. As long as you know how to speak it, you can at least get somewhere with people.

 

[TreyRandom]

Originally posted by: geecee
I know it's easier said than done, but try to understand the component parts of the characters and it will be easier to remember how to write them, i.e. all water related words tend to have 3 dots/dashes on the side, all speech related words tend to have box (ko) on the side. Most characters have at least 1-2 recognizable components to them.

Good luck.

This is excellent advice, z0mb13. I learned Mandarin in the Army... 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, 47 week course.

Typically (but not always), if a character can be divided into a left half and a right half. The left side, called the radical, gives an idea as to what the word is about, as geecee stated above. For example, jie3 (sister) and ma1 (mother) both contain the nu radical to the left.

Keep in mind that this isn't a hard-fast rule... sometimes the radical can be to the top, right, or bottom instead of on the left. That said, in time, you'll be able to pick out these exceptions like you can pick out exceptions in English.

The right side of the character will give an idea as to how the word might be pronounced - words with the same right-half character will often rhyme or be phonetically similar to each other or with the radical character itself. For example, the right half of the character ma1 (mother) is the character ma3 (horse). And that's just the beginning... ant (ma3), number (ma3), etc.

Similarly, the right half of jie3 (sister) is qie3 (about to) - sounds phonetically similar.

These links might be useful to you:
link1
link2
link3

Hope this helps.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: z0mb13

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: iroast
I read somewhere that the average Chinese only memorizes about 5000-6000 characters out of 10000?

Good luck.

Should be more than that. 5-6K is probably daily use.

As to op's question, try using the root approach. As in look at a Chinese dictionary, it is organized by roots. Say the (person) root and then go to incremental strokes of the other component. Get a Chinese-English dictionary, not the English-Chinese. Better chance of leaning that way.

Biggest problem with Mandarin is definitions. Because it is such an associative language, there is tons of meaning to a word, depending on context. Very messy.

That drives me crazy as well.. sometimes there are two words that I already know, but when they are combined it makes no sense at all, WTF??

That is because you focused on the most immediate meaning of each word. Phrases may in fact be 1 noun/verb/subject.

 

[z0mb13]

Originally posted by: TreyRandom

Originally posted by: geecee
I know it's easier said than done, but try to understand the component parts of the characters and it will be easier to remember how to write them, i.e. all water related words tend to have 3 dots/dashes on the side, all speech related words tend to have box (ko) on the side. Most characters have at least 1-2 recognizable components to them.

Good luck.

This is excellent advice, z0mb13. I learned Mandarin in the Army... 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, 47 week course.

Typically (but not always), if a character can be divided into a left half and a right half. The left side, called the radical, gives an idea as to what the word is about, as geecee stated above. For example, jie3 (sister) and ma1 (mother) both contain the nu radical to the left.

Keep in mind that this isn't a hard-fast rule... sometimes the radical can be to the top, right, or bottom instead of on the left. That said, in time, you'll be able to pick out these exceptions like you can pick out exceptions in English.

The right side of the character will give an idea as to how the word might be pronounced - words with the same right-half character will often rhyme or be phonetically similar to each other or with the radical character itself. For example, the right half of the character ma1 (mother) is the character ma3 (horse). And that's just the beginning... ant (ma3), number (ma3), etc.

Similarly, the right half of jie3 (sister) is qie3 (about to) - sounds phonetically similar.

These links might be useful to you:
link1
link2
link3

Hope this helps.

wow that is really helpful! I definitely need to learn the radicals first!

Where can I find a list of radicals and their meanings? The third link you gave me has some, but for some reason the pinyin has question marks on them...

 

[ChaoZ]

Get a bunch of scratch paper and start writing each word one by one till you memorize it.

 

[kamikaze27]

If you're not in a hurry - desktop wallpaper.

 

[TreyRandom]

Originally posted by: z0mb13

Originally posted by: TreyRandom

Originally posted by: geecee
I know it's easier said than done, but try to understand the component parts of the characters and it will be easier to remember how to write them, i.e. all water related words tend to have 3 dots/dashes on the side, all speech related words tend to have box (ko) on the side. Most characters have at least 1-2 recognizable components to them.

Good luck.

This is excellent advice, z0mb13. I learned Mandarin in the Army... 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, 47 week course.

Typically (but not always), if a character can be divided into a left half and a right half. The left side, called the radical, gives an idea as to what the word is about, as geecee stated above. For example, jie3 (sister) and ma1 (mother) both contain the nu radical to the left.

Keep in mind that this isn't a hard-fast rule... sometimes the radical can be to the top, right, or bottom instead of on the left. That said, in time, you'll be able to pick out these exceptions like you can pick out exceptions in English.

The right side of the character will give an idea as to how the word might be pronounced - words with the same right-half character will often rhyme or be phonetically similar to each other or with the radical character itself. For example, the right half of the character ma1 (mother) is the character ma3 (horse). And that's just the beginning... ant (ma3), number (ma3), etc.

Similarly, the right half of jie3 (sister) is qie3 (about to) - sounds phonetically similar.

These links might be useful to you:
link1
link2
link3

Hope this helps.

wow that is really helpful! I definitely need to learn the radicals first!

Where can I find a list of radicals and their meanings? The third link you gave me has some, but for some reason the pinyin has question marks on them...

Link 2 has a bunch. You can also see them in most Chinese-English dictionaries.

 

[bennylong]

No point in memorizing the chinese character unless you plan to read, speak, write it everyday because it's so easy to forget.

I went to Chinese school for 7 years when I was a kid and now I can barely speak Cantonese now. Forgot about even reading or writing it. And I know a lot of other chinese that were forced to go to chinese school when they were a kid and they are worse than I am, they can't even speak the language anymore. Use it or lose it!

 

[Oceandevi]

Fake it till you make it