Writing Chinese Characters - Tips and Resources To Overcome The Challenges - Practical Mandarin

Writing Chinese Characters - Tips and Resources to Overcome the Challenges - Practical Mandarin 10/09/2023, 13:19
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Writing Chinese Characters – Tips and

Resources to Overcome the Challenges
Writing Chinese characters, or 汉字 (hànzì), is a valuable asset to your
Chinese language learning. Many people think that in the age of
computers when Chinese characters can be typed using Pinyin there is no
need to learn how to write. Read on to find out why this is not the case!
https://practicalmandarin.co.uk/writing-chinese-characters/ Page 1 of 452

The Top 3 Benefits of Learning to Write

Chinese Characters
1. Writing By Hand Makes You Remember
Researchers at Princeton University and UCLA found that knowledge

sticks better when notes are taken by hand rather than with a keyboard.
You can certainly type common phrases in Pinyin and recognize the
characters that pop up. But if you have never practiced writing Chinese,
are you really going to be able to tell which “zu” to choose from between
租 and 祖？ It is certainly a lot easier to get to grips with the detail in the
characters when you have learned how to write.
2. Knowing How to Write Characters Makes Reading

Them A Lot Easier

If you only ever look at characters passively (including typing in Pinyin

and seeing them pop up) then they will not sink in as effectively as when
you put pen to paper and feel every stroke. Becoming intimate with the
characters is one of the best ways to improve your reading.
3. It’s Enjoyable!
Learners take pride in writing characters. Every character learned is a

badge of honour! Practicing writing Chinese characters is a meditative
process. Sitting down and writing out characters lets you escape for a
while the distractions and information overload we meet every day in this
modern world.
The 3 Biggest Challenges of Writing Chinese

Characters
No matter what stage you are at in your Chinese learning, you no doubt
are aware of some of the difficulties involved in mastering Chinese
characters. Below we have listed a few of what we consider the main
challenges.
1. No Alphabet
The Chinese language does not have an alphabet! It would be awesome

to have a short list of letters which you can stick together to make words.
But in Chinese, each character has its own meaning and “words” are
usually made up of one, two, three or four characters.

2. They Are Not Pictures
You might also think that characters are easy to write because they are
just “drawings” representing real life things. However, pictographs make
up just a small percentage of all Chinese characters. Moreover, they have
been stylized throughout the years and learners might not be able to
guess their meaning simply by looking at them.
3. Stroke Order
In order to write characters properly, one must follow a precise writing

order. At first, it might seem impossible to memorize the order of strokes
for each character. However, the most important thing to remember is
that characters are written from left to right and from top to bottom. So
Long as you bear this in mind, you shouldn’t go too far wrong!
5 Tips from Practical Mandarin to Overcome

5 Tips from Practical Mandarin to Overcome

the Challenges of Writing Characters
1. Use Practice Paper
This is a key hack for practicing writing characters!
Get your hands on some proper practice paper. This consists of squares
subdivided into four smaller squares. In Chinese this kind of paper is
called ⽥字格纸 (tiánzìgézhǐ), named after the ⽥(tián,field) character,
which looks just like the practice squares! Copying a character into these
squares helps you maintain the right distance between one stroke and
another, the result will be a well-proportioned character. Check out Hanzi
Grids for printable templates.
Once you are confident that you can write individual characters with
decent proportions, you can move on to using paper lined with small
squares, one square for each character (⽅格纸 fānggézhǐ). This will help
you keep your characters all of the same size and you can practice writing
each character neatly lined up under the character above it. Here’s a
template we found for you。
2. Practice Similar Characters Together
Many Chinese characters look almost the same, writing them side by side
can help you figure out those differences which are so hard to detect but
which result in totally different sound and meaning.
Take these two characters as an example:
⼟(tǔ ) and⼠(shì)
At first sight, they look exactly the same, don’t they? However, looking
more carefully you’ll notice that the length of the horizontal strokes is

different! The first character means soil and the second means scholar
and both have totally different pronunciation.
3. Keep a Diary
Learning how to write characters doesn’t have to be a chore! You can

transform it into an enjoyable and useful activity by writing out:
– Your feelings, e.g.: “今天我对我妈妈很⽣⽓”, Jīntiān wǒ duì wǒ

māmā hěn shēngqì, “Today I’m angry with my mom”
– Commitments, e.g.: “明天去银⾏”, Míngtiān qù yínháng, “Go to the

bank tomorrow”
And when you feel comfortable enough, you might even be able to write
a short story or write about a topic that really interests you!
4. Discover the art of 书法 ((Sh

Shūffǎ))
Chinese calligraphy is one of the most fascinating arts you can

experience! Take brush and ink and start writing your favorite characters.
It’s a good way to appreciate the harmonious shape of each character and
to let the stress melt away!
5. Take it Step by Step

Step:
Practice writing the easiest characters first, then move on to the more
complicated ones. Once you’ve mastered the characters with fewer
strokes, the more complex ones will be easier to learn. You will notice
how they are usually made up of simpler characters which you have
already learned!
Top Resources For Practicing Chinese

Top Resources For Practicing Chinese

Characters
1. Skritter
Skritter is an amazing APP which will make you a Chinese handwriting

expert through games and fun challenges. It also gives you the
opportunity to create personalized learning schedules and flashcards. It
can be used for free for the first week after which you choose between a
monthly or annual plan.
2. Trainchinese
The Chinese Writer can be used online and also has a free APP. Whether
you are using a phone or your desktop, be careful! Some characters will
fall from the top of the screen, and you’ll have to draw them correctly
before they reach the bottom. Some extra content requires a small fee.
3. Hanzi Grids
Here you can create your personalised character sheets, print them or
save them as a PDF. You can access most of the website is free and what
you cannot is accessible at a modest price.
4. Arch Chinese

This is a learning system perfect for training your stroke order. It can also
be used as a Chinese-English and English-Chinese dictionary. After
registering, you just need to pay $4/month to access the whole content.
Get Into The Classroom!
Contact Practical Mandarin to learn writing Chinese characters with our

professional teachers, discover our fresh learning material and have fun!
In Practical Mandarin classrooms, we don’t teach characters in isolation.
We don’t force feed our students 10 characters per week.
Learning characters should be a progressive and sustainable progress.
Starting from Beginner, we provide a 5 step training to teach you how

characters are formed.
The next stage, is about grouping characters and training your eye. With
classroom games and practice methods, students can easily master
Beginner Characters 101.
From Level 2 onward, character learning becomes a natural learning

habit. Students have trained eyes to read them, and ask critical questions

about how one character is different from another.
We know learning characters is not the easiest task to tackle. With your
tenacity, our great guides, and an open mind, you will no doubt welcome
this challenge with open arms!
April 17th, 2018 | Learning Mandarin
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Writing Chinese Characters - Tips and Resources to Overcome the Challenges - Practical Mandarin 10/09/2023, 13:19

# $ % & Course Roadmap PM Teachers PM Students PM Blog

! Previous Next "

Writing Chinese Characters – Tips and

https://practicalmandarin.co.uk/writing-chinese-characters/ Page 1 of 452

The Top 3 Benefits of Learning to Write

1. Writing By Hand Makes You Remember

Researchers at Princeton University and UCLA found that knowledge

2. Knowing How to Write Characters Makes Reading

https://practicalmandarin.co.uk/writing-chinese-characters/ Page 2 of 452

If you only ever look at characters passively (including typing in Pinyin

Learners take pride in writing characters. Every character learned is a

The 3 Biggest Challenges of Writing Chinese

The Chinese language does not have an alphabet! It would be awesome

https://practicalmandarin.co.uk/writing-chinese-characters/ Page 3 of 452

2. They Are Not Pictures

In order to write characters properly, one must follow a precise writing

5 Tips from Practical Mandarin to Overcome

5 Tips from Practical Mandarin to Overcome

1. Use Practice Paper

This is a key hack for practicing writing characters!

2. Practice Similar Characters Together

Take these two characters as an example:

https://practicalmandarin.co.uk/writing-chinese-characters/ Page 5 of 452

Learning how to write characters doesn’t have to be a chore! You can

– Your feelings, e.g.: “今天我对我妈妈很⽣⽓”, Jīntiān wǒ duì wǒ

– Commitments, e.g.: “明天去银⾏”, Míngtiān qù yínháng, “Go to the

4. Discover the art of 书法 ((Sh

Chinese calligraphy is one of the most fascinating arts you can

5. Take it Step by Step

Top Resources For Practicing Chinese

Top Resources For Practicing Chinese

Skritter is an amazing APP which will make you a Chinese handwriting

https://practicalmandarin.co.uk/writing-chinese-characters/ Page 7 of 452

Get Into The Classroom!

Contact Practical Mandarin to learn writing Chinese characters with our

In Practical Mandarin classrooms, we don’t teach characters in isolation.

We don’t force feed our students 10 characters per week.

Learning characters should be a progressive and sustainable progress.

Starting from Beginner, we provide a 5 step training to teach you how

From Level 2 onward, character learning becomes a natural learning

https://practicalmandarin.co.uk/writing-chinese-characters/ Page 8 of 452

about how one character is different from another.

April 17th, 2018 | Learning Mandarin

Share This Event, Choose Your Platform! # ( $ ) *

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