Basic Strokes of Chinese Characters: Names and Examples
Learn the basic strokes of Chinese characters: horizontal, vertical, dot, rising, left-falling and right-falling, plus turns and hooks, with pinyin and examples.
Topic: Beginners
Chinese Prefixes and Suffixes: English Affixes in Chinese
English has -er, un-, -able and -ize. Chinese builds words with characters like 者, 不, 可 and 化. A guide to Chinese prefixes and suffixes with examples.
Chinese Stroke Order Rules: 8 Basic Rules With Examples
Learn the 8 basic rules of Chinese stroke order with simple examples, why the order matters, and where Traditional and Simplified standards differ.
How Chinese Characters Are Built: A Beginner's Guide
Chinese characters are not random drawings. Learn the four ways characters are built from smaller parts, and why learning components makes them easier to remember.
How Many Chinese Characters Do You Need to Know?
How many Chinese characters do I need to know? Sourced numbers from the HSK standard and frequency studies, and why words matter more than raw counts.
How to Learn Chinese Characters as an English Speaker
A practical plan for how to learn Chinese characters as an English speaker: components, character families, sound hints, writing, spaced review, and a sample week.
Confusing Chinese Radicals: Parts That Look the Same
Learn the confusing Chinese radicals that look alike but mean different things: flesh vs moon, left vs right 阝, 礻 vs 衤, and fire dots. Tips included.
Traditional vs Simplified Chinese: Which Should You Learn?
Traditional or Simplified Chinese? Where each is used, how different they really are, and a simple way to decide which script to learn to write first.