Many people hesitate to start learning Chinese because of writing, it is so complicated. And if the question of how to learn Japanese characters is not worth it, because in the Land of the Rising Sun at least there is an alphabet, then the most numerous people in the world do not. And this greatly complicates the task. Or maybe there is some secret to remembering hieroglyphs?
About learning Chinese
In recent years, the PRC economy is rapidly gaining momentum, the country is moving closer to the West, and overall globalization leaves its mark. This is reflected in the desire for knowledge and linguistics - many people want to learn Chinese. But the majority of those who wish instantly lose interest when they realize what difficulties await them. It would seem so really difficult to learn a language that more than a billion people know?
Firstly, in Chinese words there are no stresses, they are replaced by the tones available for each word. There are 4 of them in the Mandarin dialect (and the fifth one is neutral), and they should not be confused - this can completely change the meaning of the statement.
Secondly, these are hieroglyphs. The absence of at least some kind of literal system is simply terrifying. You cannot write a word even knowing how it sounds. You can’t read it and guess about the translation, even if it is before your eyes. Only an integrated approach works here - that is why this language is so complicated for people who are not born in China.
But there are pluses: a relatively simple grammar, a direct word order, no problems with the syntax, elementary punctuation. But do these advantages compensate for the difficulties that one will have to face when thinking how to memorize hieroglyphs? But there are also some other features.
History of writing
The very first known method of transmitting speech, other than oral, in China was the nodular method. Later, writing based on pictograms appeared, which later transformed into hieroglyphics.
Some of the signs are still clearly associated with the concepts they designate. Other hieroglyphs have developed and acquired a modern look on a different basis and under the influence of other factors. The evolution of the Chinese language continues, this process is taking place, among other things, through reforms initiated by the government.
Pinyin
The Chinese are very sensitive to their culture, and therefore innovations in the language that facilitate its understanding for foreigners take root with great difficulty. One of such serious changes in recent decades has become the so-called Pinyin - a kind of transcription system in Latin, which allows you to read the character without even knowing its meaning. Every student who begins to learn the language is familiar with it, since each character at first accompanies its decoding. However, this did not bring the Chinese to the appearance of the actually used alphabet; pinyin is practically not used in life.
Before you learn the characters, you need to find out how they are read and in what tone. Here pinyin will help, which will give an understanding of how a particular word should sound.
Hieroglyphics
Another recent change introduced to the Chinese language is the simplification of writing. Yes Yes exactly! Before, writing many of the characters was much more difficult compared to what is used in the language today. However, most students simply have nothing to compare, and therefore you should not think about it in vain. Everyone who has taken up the Chinese language every day thinks how to learn Chinese characters. The answer is complex and simple at the same time - constantly practice.
A hieroglyph is not a letter or a word. It is rather a concept or syllable. At the same time, one word can consist of either one or several hieroglyphs, which alone will not mean absolutely nothing. So you need to build a study very smartly, the approach should be comprehensive.
The fact is that in addition to remembering what this icon looks like, you also need to be able to write it, moreover, correctly. Hieroglyphics has very strict rules regarding the order in which elements and features should appear on paper. Therefore, remembering how to spell a particular word, it is worth practicing. Yes, you have to pick up notebooks that you hate from school. Moreover, they have to arrange a recipe. Before it turns out beautifully, you have to pore over the paper. And there, maybe, you don’t have to think about how to memorize hieroglyphs - it will come out by itself. The main thing is not to stop there.
The keys
Another feature of the Chinese language is the presence of a system of special characters. They are called keys, and they play a very important role: often they determine the sound of a syllable or word, and can also suggest its meaning. In addition, including with their help, dictionaries of the Chinese language are created.
There are not so many keys - 214, which in comparison with the number of hieroglyphs needed for free communication (about 5 thousand) seems completely insignificant. Radicals, as they are also called, are usually located in the upper or left part of the sign, there may even be several. They are important to know, as this will help to understand how to learn the characters.
Methodologies
It should immediately be said that the study should be comprehensive: reading with tones, writing, meaning and use in phrases. All this will help to immediately integrate new concepts into existing knowledge of the language.
Nevertheless, the stumbling block here is how to learn the characters. The main problem is that for a person accustomed to alphabetical writing, they are completely abstract and do not cause any associations. This should be fixed by connecting your knowledge of the above keys. For example, the hieroglyph "tea" consists of three radicals: "grass", "man" and "tree". You can connect these concepts with the direct meaning of the word and find a vivid association for yourself. This will help even those who do not have a good memory.
Unfortunately, there is no universal method for how to quickly learn Chinese characters. This requires serious labor and time costs. In addition to the method of complex perception of the concept, for several decades, many students, among other things, use banal cramming - they constantly write hieroglyphs so as not to forget them. In the end, each trial and error finds its own way, which helps to consolidate writing without an alphabet in mind. The main thing here is perseverance, Chinese and laziness are simply incompatible. So it is worthwhile to pull yourself together, think and decide how to learn the hieroglyphs.
Practice
In any case, it is important to constantly consolidate the material covered. Knowledge that is not used becomes a dead weight and is gradually forgotten. This should not be, training should be active. Ideally, you need to study Chinese every day for several hours. And then in a few years it will be possible to claim free possession of it. And if you just want to learn the basics so that you can build simple dialogs, it’s enough to pay attention to your skills every day at least a little. What if one day it turns out that you no longer have to think about how to learn Chinese characters?