How To Learn Chinese Character Easily

Chinese basically integrates meaning and pronunciation information in its characters. What is required is something that deciphers the rich information to help a layman understand, appreciate and most importantly remember Chinese characters. Chinese character learning is often thought to be a complex exercise, but in reality they are derived from a couple of hundred simple pictographs and ideographs that are logical and easy to remember. These days Chinese language flash cards and integrated Chinese flashcards and other Chinese character learning techniques have been introduced to help one learn to read, write and speak Chinese through simple mobile and PC applications.

With all the apparently random lines, slashes and swoops,Chinese characters may look difficult and scary. However, they are not actually as difficult as they seem once you understand the logic behind the system.With alphabets,the letters act like "building blocks" that combine to form words like for example, the letter "T" represents the sound "t-e-e" but when you see the word "tree" you’ll immediately recognize all of those sound symbols and put them together to form the sound of "tree".In English,if you want to write the word "tree" you think about how to say the word focusing on the sound that it makes and then write down those letters. That is how a phonetic writing system works.Chinese is different as it is a pictographic writing system not a phonetic writing system. Chinese characters are pictures like Egyptian hieroglyphs. So when you want to write the word "tree" you will not have to bother with writing letters so the reader could sound out the word and you will simply draw a picture of a tree. Simple but that is how the pictographic system works.

The Chinese writing system is based on drawings of things that they saw in the world around them. When you look at the Chinese character you are looking at a stylized drawing that depicts an object or an idea. If a Chinese character is an object of a tree it is called pictograph. On the other hand, if a Chinese character is a picture of an abstract idea like"happy :)" it is called an "ideograph" which means idea picture. Idea pictures are seen in our surroundings and their meaning is evident like street signs and warning labels i.e.radioactive,wet floor,no swimming and no smoking, recycle,etc.The pictographic are generally universally understood symbols because the human mind is excellent at patterns.When an eye sees a pattern,the brain has an innate drive to decipher the pattern as something it recognizes. It is easy enough to draw a picture such as a tree, fire and a multi floored building to express the idea of "tall". However, attempting to draw an abstract idea is a little more complicated.

Chinese flash cards are a very helpful source to learn Chinese. With the availability of products customized to complement well-known textbooks – such as the intelligent talking integrated Chinese flashcards or the new practical reader flashcards available for iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad and for PC too – the task of deciphering the meaning of Chinese characters is made so much easier.The applications are intelligent since they keep track of the particular words you find most difficult and make you practice these more often. Hence, these intelligent Chinese flashcard products make your practice more efficient and more effective.

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Chinese Idioms Dictionary Online Free
Chinese Character Flash Cards for HSK Exam

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