Practical guides to writing Chinese characters: stroke order rules, radicals and components, Traditional vs Simplified, and how to remember what you write.https://hanzibloc.com/blog/enhttps://hanzibloc.com/blog/basic-strokes-of-chinese-characters/https://hanzibloc.com/blog/basic-strokes-of-chinese-characters/Learn the basic strokes of Chinese characters: horizontal, vertical, dot, rising, left-falling and right-falling, plus turns and hooks, with pinyin and examples.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTStroke orderBeginnershttps://hanzibloc.com/blog/chinese-compound-words/https://hanzibloc.com/blog/chinese-compound-words/Much of Chinese vocabulary is built from two-character compounds. See how 电, 车 and 学 unlock families of words, and where literal meanings mislead.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTVocabularyWord rootsComponentshttps://hanzibloc.com/blog/chinese-prefixes-and-suffixes/https://hanzibloc.com/blog/chinese-prefixes-and-suffixes/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.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTVocabularyWord rootsBeginnershttps://hanzibloc.com/blog/chinese-radicals-and-english-root-equivalents/https://hanzibloc.com/blog/chinese-radicals-and-english-root-equivalents/A reference list of 20 common Chinese radicals paired with English roots of similar meaning, from hydro- to manu-, with example characters and pinyin.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTWord rootsRadicalsComponentshttps://hanzibloc.com/blog/chinese-radicals-like-english-word-roots/https://hanzibloc.com/blog/chinese-radicals-like-english-word-roots/Chinese radicals work a lot like English word roots such as aqua- and manu-. See how components help you guess meanings, and where the analogy breaks down.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTWord rootsRadicalsComponentshttps://hanzibloc.com/blog/chinese-sound-components/https://hanzibloc.com/blog/chinese-sound-components/Learn how Chinese phonetic components work, with real families like 青, 马 and 包, so you can guess how many new characters are pronounced.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTSound componentsComponentsMemoryhttps://hanzibloc.com/blog/chinese-stroke-order-rules/https://hanzibloc.com/blog/chinese-stroke-order-rules/Learn the 8 basic rules of Chinese stroke order with simple examples, why the order matters, and where Traditional and Simplified standards differ.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTStroke orderBeginnershttps://hanzibloc.com/blog/does-handwriting-help-learn-chinese/https://hanzibloc.com/blog/does-handwriting-help-learn-chinese/Does writing Chinese characters help? Here is what the research on handwriting, typing and character memory shows, what it cannot show, and how to practice.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTMemoryStudy tipsStroke orderhttps://hanzibloc.com/blog/how-chinese-characters-are-built/https://hanzibloc.com/blog/how-chinese-characters-are-built/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.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTComponentsBeginnersMemoryhttps://hanzibloc.com/blog/how-many-chinese-characters-do-you-need/https://hanzibloc.com/blog/how-many-chinese-characters-do-you-need/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.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTVocabularyBeginnersStudy tipshttps://hanzibloc.com/blog/learn-chinese-characters-english-speakers/https://hanzibloc.com/blog/learn-chinese-characters-english-speakers/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.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTStudy tipsComponentsBeginnershttps://hanzibloc.com/blog/misleading-chinese-radicals/https://hanzibloc.com/blog/misleading-chinese-radicals/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.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTRadicalsComponentsBeginnershttps://hanzibloc.com/blog/traditional-vs-simplified-chinese/https://hanzibloc.com/blog/traditional-vs-simplified-chinese/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.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTTraditional vs SimplifiedBeginners