1. Learn to handwrite all the characters in this volume. Being able to handwrite characters is important not only for writing but also for reading, since if you can write a character correctly from memory, you’re more likely to be able to recognize it and distinguish it from similar characters. Later on in your study of Chinese, you’ll also want to learn how to process Chinese characters using computers, but we feel it’s very important for beginning learners to have the experience of learning how to write several hundred of the highest-frequency characters by hand.
2. In learning and reviewing characters, it’s important to practice writing each one many times, so that you eventually are able to write it from memory. The character practice sheets in the accompanying volume Basic Written Chinese Practice Essentials have been designed to help you learn to do this with the correct stroke order and direction. Don’t just “draw” the characters; at the same time you’re writing a character, pronounce it out loud and think of its meaning. By combining mechanical, visual, and auditory stimuli in this way, you’re more likely to remember the characters you study.
3. Be sure to follow the correct stroke order and direction. If you don’t, your characters will not only not look right but you might have difficulty in using dictionaries, since these are traditionally based on the number of strokes in characters or character components. The accuracy of handwriting recognition software might also be affected if strokes are written in the wrong order and direction. And if you’re not familiar with correct stroke order, you may in the future have problems reading and writing Chinese cursive script, since which strokes can be connected is closely related to the order and direction of individual strokes.
4. While accuracy is most important, strive to make your characters look as aesthetically pleasing and as “Chinese” as possible. Be aware that, in Chinese society, how you write your characters says a lot about the kind of person you are and the education you’ve received.
5. Be sensitive to the constituent components of characters, many of which reoccur in other characters. For example, there are many groups of characters that share a component called the semantic or radical, e.g., the characters 河, 湖, and 海, all of which contain on their left side the so-called “water” radical (氵) and have meanings related to “water” (“river,” “lake,” and “sea,” respectively). And then there are other groups of characters that share a component called the phonetic, e.g., 生, 姓, and 星, all of which share the phonetic 生 and have a pronunciation somewhat similar to shēng. This textbook provides detailed information on character components, but you would do well to keep your own lists of characters you’ve studied that share radicals, phonetics, or other components.
6. When you encounter a new character or one you once learned but have forgotten, guess its pronunciation from the phonetic, and guess its meaning from the radical. And always carefully consider the context—the word the character represents or is part of, the sentence in which it occurs, and the overall discourse. This is what native readers do.
7. Watch out for characters that are similar in appearance to other characters. The fact is that there are in Chinese many groups of similar-looking characters such as 干千, 大太, 文交, 可司, 住往, 王五正, or 差着看. Many of these “look-alike” characters are pointed out and drilled in this textbook, but you may also wish to keep your own collection in a separate notebook.
8. The best method for learning characters is to study several new ones every day. Daily study of a few new characters (and regular review of “old” characters) is far more productive than cramming the night before a test.
9. One of the most effective ways of learning characters is to test yourself frequently. After you’ve studied several characters and the words written with them, fold a separate sheet of paper down the long end and cover up the left-hand side of the page where the Chinese is. Now test yourself to see if you can write the Chinese by looking at the English. With a pencil, put a small “X” by those items you still have problems with and review them later. Then retest yourself.
10. Wherever you go, take along a couple of dozen Chinese character flashcards from Basic Written Chinese Practice Essentials. Use “empty” time you spend waiting in line or before classes begin to study the flashcards. Your goal should be to identify those characters and words you still have problems with and remove them from the larger set for special attention.
11. Both the ability to read Chinese out loud with correct pronunciation and phrasing and the ability to read Chinese silently at a reasonable rate of speed are important. When reading the sentences, conversations, and narratives in this textbook, first read them out loud once or twice, and then read them again silently once or twice.
12. To attain a high level of Chinese reading proficiency, it’s important to do two types of reading: intensive reading, where you read slowly and carefully, trying to understand and master every new character, word, and grammar pattern; and extensive reading, where you read faster and in greater quantity but read only for the general meaning, not bothering to look up every unfamiliar item unless an item is crucial to an understanding of the passage. While the majority of readings in this course will be of the intensive kind, you’ll have some opportunities to experience extensive reading also.
13. Having urged you to practice writing characters, we now need to warn you against going to extremes. Some learners are tempted to spend a lot of time “playing” with characters, to the extent that other kinds of class preparation (such as drilling with the audio recordings, memorizing conversations, or studying the grammatical and cultural notes) are neglected. Certainly, Chinese characters are an art form and we encourage you to write them as beautifully as you can, but don’t go overboard. Stay aware of your priorities: listening and speaking must come first, then reading. These three skills are almost certain to be more useful to you—and they are easier to develop—than the skill of writing.
14. While it’s true that, among the writing systems of the world, Chinese characters are unique in some ways, and while it can be interesting and helpful to study the structure and development of individual characters, it’s also important not to become “fixated” on characters. For the most part, Chinese characters are neither more nor less than written symbols used to represent speech, and it’s best to take a matter-of-fact attitude toward them. Even more important than learning the individual characters, you need to focus on the other aspects of Chinese that are essential for attaining reading proficiency: the words written using characters, punctuation, written-style vocabulary and grammar, reading fluency, the ability to read between the lines, skimming, scanning, and so forth. Good luck to you in your studies of written Chinese!
Abbreviations
Word Classes*
| [A] | Adverb |
| [AT] | Attributive |
| [AV] | Auxiliary Verb |
| [BF] | Bound Form |
| [CJ] | Conjunction |
| [CV] | Coverb |
| [EV] | Equative Verb |
| [EX] | Expression |
| [I] | Interjection |
| [IE] | Idiomatic Expression |
| [L] | Localizer |
| [M] | Measure |
| [MA] | Moveable Adverb |
| [N] | Noun |
| [NU] | Number |
| [P] | Particle |
| [PH] | Phrase |
| [PR] | Pronoun |
| [PT] | Pattern |
| [PV] | Postverb |
| [PW] | Place Word |
| [QW] | Question Word |
| [RC] | Resultative Compound |
| [RE] | Resultative Ending |
| [SN] | Surname |
| [SP] | Specifier |
| [SV] | Stative Verb |
| [TW] | Time Word |
| [V] | Verb |
| [VO] | Verb-Object Compound |
Other Abbreviations and Symbols
| (B) | Beijing |
| (T) | Taipei |
| lit. | literally |
| * | (indicates that what follows is incorrect) |
| / | (separates alternate forms) |
Footnote