How to learn Chinese characters as beginners

Chinese characters are exceptionally beautiful, and essential in mastering Mandarin Chinese. However, that doesn't make them easier to learn for beginners, it just gives you the motivation to keep going.  

汉字特别美，也是精通汉语必不可少的部分。尽管如此，对初学者来说，这只是保持继续学习的动力而已，汉字学起来可不简单。

In this article, we're trying to summarize some tips on learning Chinese characters as beginners.

本文我们将概括一些学汉字的技巧。

1. Photographic memory 摄影式记忆

Learning Chinese characters can be hard in the beginning, simply because you have nothing to link the new information to.

刚开始学汉字会很难，原因很简单 – 因为你看着汉字联想不到什么。

Try to commit the characters to your real memory, so that your brain can recall how to write them when your hands cannot. That's where it helps to have a photographic memory, or even any kind of memory that's good with pictures. 

试着把汉字加入到你的现实记忆中，这样一来，即使你不能手写，也能在脑海里浮现出如何书写的画面。这就是摄影式记忆的好处，或者任何带有图片影像的记忆法都是可行的。

2. Flashcard 学习卡

Downloading a flashcard program for your phone, creating paper flashcards, pasting the characters all over your apartment and writing them on your hands are all good places to start. Studying isn't only done in front of your desk. Diversifying your learning will vastly increase the time you can spend learning characters.

你还可以下载学习卡的手机应用，制作纸质学习卡，在公寓里贴一些汉字帖，在手上写写汉字等，这些都是不错的开头。学习不一定要在课桌上完成。学习多样化可以很大程度地增加你学习汉字的时间。

3. Sign up for a language course 报语言课

If you need some extra motivation or feel you would learn better in a more formal setting, try signing up for a Chinese language course.

如果你觉得在正式的场合下才可以学得更好，那就报个汉语班吧。

4. Watch Chinese films and cartoons 看中文电影和动画片

Get your hands on some Chinese films (with subtitles) or watch Chinese cartoons online. This is an easy, entertaining way to get a feel for the sound and structure of the Mandarin Chinese language. 

下载一些中文电影（带中文字幕）或在线观看中文动画片。想要找点发音和汉字结构的感觉，这是既简单又娱乐的方式了。

Once you know how to write the character, write it until you can write the entire character without thinking too much. This is just to familiarize yourself with the hand motions involved and will help improve your handwriting in general. It makes sense to go from basic characters to more complex ones. This is very good for beginners. 

一旦掌握了如何书写汉字，可以毫不犹豫地写出整个汉字了，就马上写下。这样做能让你熟悉手部动作，帮你整体提高书写水平。汉字从易到难学起，对初学者很有用。

Learning Chinese characters takes quite a lot of time and effort, but it's not as hard as it might seem at first.

学汉字需要付出很长的时间和努力，但越学下去越不如一开始看起来那么难。 

The article is translated and editted by Chinlingo. Please indicate the source for any use, reproduction or transfer. 

本文由Chinlingo编译后发布，如需转载，请标明来源。