Tips For Learning Characters

大家好！　(hello everyone!)

Characters form the most unique and fascinating aspect of the Chinese language. Unfortunately, they require a great deal of time to memorize. After more vocab quizzes than I can count, here's my input on what methods to use for memorizing characters:

1. Accept the amount of repetition you will have to do. Some kinds of repetition, however, are more helpful than others. Reading a character over and over might help you recognize it, but you probably won't be able to write it yourself without a prompt. Instead, Practice the act of remembering a character without a clue: 
1. make flashcards
2. write the same character ten or twenty times across two lines of notebook paper, then think about something else for a few minutes. After the break, check that you can write it without looking at your notes. If you can, then congrats! If not, rinse and repeat.
2. For the more difficult characters, practice writing them with your finger at random moments through your day. Frequent, short reminders help your brain store the information better than long study marathons. To do this, place small reminders around you:
1. write it on your hand so you see it several times a day (this was how I remembered right and left)
2. tape up pictures of the character where you will often see them (in the fridge, on your bathroom mirror, on the computer monitor. I know it sounds dorky to cover your apartment in Chinese words, but it really works.)
3. Finally, there are some characters that require a bit more than standard repetition. For more complicated words, use these Special tips for tricky characters:
1. understand where the components come from and their individual meanings. （There are several good radical dictionaries online. These list, by stroke order, the most common Chinese radicals and include their meaning.)
2. Research the origin of the character (Although several characters were originally pictographs, this group is by no means the majority. If you can't find an 'original' picture that the character developed from, just draw your own.
3. find similar characters and relate them
1. Ones that use the same components, have similar meanings, or similar sounds.

These study tips are exactly that--tips. I don't have a degree in Foreign language education or neuroscience, so I have no scientific backup for these ideas. But I've found them to be very effective for myself and my friends, so they will probably work for you. Feel free to trim down, improve on or substitute all of the above with your own habits, and remember to share what you come up with!

That's all for now.
Sophie