{"id":4891,"date":"2014-03-17T18:53:06","date_gmt":"2014-03-17T10:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/?p=4891"},"modified":"2020-07-31T21:04:37","modified_gmt":"2020-07-31T19:04:37","slug":"sensible-chinese-character-learning-revisited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/sensible-chinese-character-learning-revisited\/","title":{"rendered":"Sensible Chinese character learning revisited"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>More than a year has passed since <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/chinese-character-challenge-towards-a-more-sensible-way-of-learning-to-write-chinese\/\">the first sensible character learning challenge started on the first day of 2013<\/a> where more than a hundred learners participated. Many participants (including myself) liked the challenge because it encouraged critical thinking about how to learn Chinese characters in a sensible way. Of course, we also learnt a ton of characters together!<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/bulb.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/bulb-300x300.png\" alt=\"bulb\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/strong>Since that challenge closed, I have received dozens of questions about when it will open again. Some of you missed the challenge last time, some of you have started learning Chinese after the challenge finished, others, including myself, have been in the game for quite some time, but have been slacking off recently and need to get back on track.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Chinese character challenge 2014 is for all of us!<\/strong> In order to avoid information overflow and too long articles, I have decided to split information about the challenge into two parts. In this first article, I will talk about what sensible character learning is; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/sensible-chinese-character-learning-challenge-2014\/\">the next article will contain information about the actual challenge<\/a>, which will start on March 22nd. I will of course give you enough information to start preparing right now if you want to.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The goal: Sensible Chinese character learning<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The goal with this challenge is two-fold:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ol>\n<li>We&#8217;re going to learn to write a ton of characters together<\/li>\n<li>We&#8217;re going to establish a healthy method for learning characters<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The first one is simple enough, but what does &#8220;healthy&#8221; and &#8220;sensible&#8221; mean when it comes to learning characters?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sensible character learning<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Most learners want to learn a lot of characters, but just diving in headlong isn&#8217;t necessarily the best approach, because even though some strategies might be effective short-term, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/987\/\">long-term investments are needed to really learn Chinese<\/a>. Thus, we need to look at the process of learning and see how we can learn more efficiently.<\/p>\n<p>What follows is a crash course in learning how to write Chinese characters, sorted by most relevant for beginners first. The goal is to give you the basic idea, but if you want to read more, you will simply have to read the original articles:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4367\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/yong.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4367\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-4367\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/yong-150x150.png\" alt=\"Image source: ow.ly\/r2sOf\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4367\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image source: ow.ly\/r2sOf<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>1. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/how-to-learn-chinese-characters-as-a-beginner\/\">How to learn characters as a beginner<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The main lesson here is that learning a new Chinese character should be an active, exploratory process. I suggest the following sequence for learning new characters:\u00a0Study the character closely (including stroke order), write it a few times so you get the feel for the character, don\u2019t copy characters stroke by stroke, once you know the character don\u2019t mass your repetitions, practice pronunciation and meaning at the same time as writing, if you see a character component reappearing in different characters then look it up, diversify your character learning (see below), <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/tag\/toolkit\/\">create a powerful character-learning toolkit<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/radicals.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-2845\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/radicals-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"100 common radicals\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>2. <a title=\"View post Kickstart your character learning with the 100 most common radicals\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/kickstart-your-character-learning-with-the-100-most-common-radicals\/\">Kickstart your character learning with the 100 most common radicals<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If Chinese characters were pictures, learning to write (&#8220;draw&#8221;) Chinese would be almost impossible. Fortunately, most characters consist of different smaller components that have an existence and meaning of their own. For beginners, it doesn&#8217;t make sense to learn <em>all<\/em> components simply because some of them aren&#8217;t very common. A certain type of components called <em>radicals<\/em> typically carries the meaning of a Chinese character, and learning the most commonly used radicals is very important in your attempt to make Chinese learning meaningful. This article gives you the 100 most common radicals, along with information about what they mean, what they look like, where they appear and what they are called in Chinese.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/sneeze.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-3166\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/sneeze-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Sneeze\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>3. <a title=\"View post You can\u2019t learn Chinese characters by rote\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/you-cant-learn-chinese-characters-by-rote\/\">You can\u2019t learn Chinese characters by rote<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Even if it feels like you can learn Chinese characters without understanding much of what you&#8217;re doing, this is an illusion. Learning to read and write at a reasonable level is very, very hard to do if you don&#8217;t deconstruct characters and make learning meaningful. It&#8217;s doable in theory, but not in practice. A central component in sensible character learning is to <em>not <\/em>rely on rote learning. There is no substitute for spending lots of time learning characters, but we should make sure that that time is well-spent and not wasted. Most native speakers learnt writing through rote learning as kids, but they also have a pretty good understanding of radicals and components.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/foer.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-3257\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/foer-150x150.png\" alt=\"Joshua Foer\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>4. <a title=\"View post Memory aids and mnemonics to enhance learning\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/memory-aids-and-mnemonics-to-enhance-learning\/\">Memory aids and mnemonics to enhance learning<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s the opposite of rote learning? It is to understand what you are learning and trying to make sense of it in different ways (see <a title=\"View post Holistic language learning: Integrating knowledge\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/holistic-learning\/\">Holistic language learning: Integrating knowledge<\/a>). The most powerful way of integrating knowledge is through the use of mnemonics. This is a learning strategy where you make use of the way the brain works when it comes to storing and recalling information to learn more and forget less. The most important thing to realise is that remembering something isn&#8217;t a static ability set at a certain level at birth, there are numerous ways you can actually improve, so in essence, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/remembering-is-a-skill-you-can-learn\/\">remembering is a skill you can learn<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/srs.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1394 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/srs-150x150.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>5. <a title=\"View post Spaced repetition software and why you should use it\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/an-introduction-to-spaced-repetition-software\/\">Spaced repetition software and why you should use it<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is a kind of program or app that helps you review new words as efficiently as possible. It&#8217;s based on the thoroughly researched spacing effect and you should really try it out if you haven&#8217;t already. Note that it&#8217;s spaced <em>repetition<\/em>, so this is meant to be used when you have already learnt a new character (see above). Spaced repetition software will feed you cards to review at just the right pace for optimal learning. Since most of these programs are mobile or have mobile versions, they are also very good ways of spreading out learning over the day and make better use of the time you have.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/skritter-review-boosting-your-character-learning\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-3864\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/skritter-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"skritter\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>6. <a title=\"View post Boosting your character learning with Skritter\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/boosting-your-character-learning-with-skritter\/\">Boosting your character learning with Skritter<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Just like last time, I&#8217;m using Skritter for learning to write Chinese characters and you recommend that you do so too. If you <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/go\/skritter-a14a\/\">use this link and use the code SENSIBLE2014 when you sign up<\/a> (click &#8220;alternative payments&#8221; and then &#8220;use a coupon code&#8221;), you will get the trial period extended to three weeks, which is enough to last you up to the first milestone of the challenge. You will also get\u00a033% off for 6 months if you actually like Skritter enough to want to continue using it. You will also help me out since a slice of what you pay goes to me. If you&#8217;re looking for other alternatives, I recommend <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/anki-a-friendly-intelligent-spaced-learning-system\/\">Anki<\/a> or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/go\/pleco\/\">Pleco<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/handcharacter-225x300.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-4915\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/handcharacter-225x300-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"handcharacter-225x300\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>7. <a title=\"View post Diversified learning is smart learning\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/diversified-learning-is-smart-learning\/\">Diversified learning is smart learning<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Regardless of what flashcard program you use (or indeed even if you decide to go with traditional paper flashcards), it&#8217;s essential that you spread your studying out throughout the day. Are you too busy to participate in this challenge? That&#8217;s probably because you&#8217;re not aware of how you spend your time. An excellent illustration of this is available in this article: <a title=\"View post The time barrel: Or why you have more time than you think\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/the-time-barrel-you-have-more-time-than-you-think\/\">The time barrel: Or why you have more time than you think<\/a>. Learning characters doesn&#8217;t have to take up a lot of your time!<\/p>\n<p><strong>The sensible Chinese character learning challenge 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This article is a kind of prologue to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/sensible-chinese-character-learning-challenge-2014\/\">the actual challenge<\/a>, which will start on Saturday, March 22nd. I will post more details about the challenge itself later this week (before Saturday, obviously). In case you want to know more about the challenge right now, here is a summary:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Set a reasonable character learning goal<\/strong> that can be reached in 101 days<\/li>\n<li><strong>Set three milestones<\/strong> for reaching your goal<\/li>\n<li><strong>Commit to your goal in public and post a comment<\/strong> to the upcoming article<\/li>\n<li>I will add you to the list of official participants (with a link if you so wish)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Follow the principles of sensible character learning <\/strong>(this article)<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>People who participate actively have <strong>a chance of winning character posters<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Active participants will also <strong>be eligible for free extensions to Skritter<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>More details will be published in a few days, stay tuned!<\/p>\n<p>The challenge article has now been posted: <a title=\"View post Sensible Chinese character learning challenge 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/sensible-chinese-character-learning-challenge-2014\/\">Sensible Chinese character learning challenge 2014<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Articles about the sensible Chinese character learning challenge 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/?p=4891\">Sensible Chinese character learning revisited<\/a> (this article)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/sensible-chinese-character-learning-challenge-2014\/\">Sensible Chinese character learning challenge 2014<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/sensible-character-learning-challenge-2014-milestone-1\/\">Sensible character learning challenge 2014: Milestone #1<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a way, learning Chinese characters is very much like learning vocabulary in any foreign language and much of the efficient methods developed there works well for Chinese as well. However, characters are also fundamentally different from words in English and this influences how we should learn them as well. This article is a recap of how to learn Chinese characters in a sensible way. It is also a prologue for the upcoming character learning challenge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,6,10,12,14,16,22],"tags":[47,94,102,253,438,523,537],"class_list":["post-4891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advanced","category-beginner","category-distinctively-chinese","category-intermediate","category-key-study-hacks","category-learning-outside-class","category-organising-and-planning","category-vocabulary","tag-anki","tag-challenge","tag-characters","tag-handwriting","tag-pleco","tag-skritter","tag-srs"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sensible Chinese character learning revisited<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a way, learning Chinese characters is very much like learning vocabulary in any foreign language and much of the efficient methods developed there works well for Chinese as well. However, characters are also fundamentally different from words in English and this influences how we should learn them as well. This article is a recap of how to learn Chinese characters in a sensible way. It is also a prologue for the upcoming character learning challenge.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hackingchinese.com\/sensible-chinese-character-learning-revisited\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sensible Chinese character learning revisited\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a way, learning Chinese characters is very much like learning vocabulary in any foreign language and much of the efficient methods developed there works well for Chinese as well. However, characters are also fundamentally different from words in English and this influences how we should learn them as well. This article is a recap of how to learn Chinese characters in a sensible way. 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