Do your primary school children find learning Chinese characters difficult? I did. I can vividly remember my frustrations when I had to study for my 听写.

Unlike English spelling, where I could attempt to phonetically spell a word, Chinese characters seemed to be made up of random lines and strokes. Committing the characters to memory through repetition was my only solution.

I have since discovered I was wrong.

Contrary to popular belief, there is a logical symbol system used to create the characters. Let’s try to decipher the character code now, beginning with the concept of “radicals”. Radicals are the “root elements” of Chinese characters and they explain the meaning of the characters. There are 214 of them in total and they exist either independently or as part of complex characters.

Once you have a general idea of the common radicals, you can start guessing the meaning of the Chinese characters. Most Chinese dictionaries are organised by radicals — starting with one-stroke radicals, two, three and so on — or by hanyu pinyin.

Some common radicals are as follows:

Radical Meaning Characters that contain the radical

和手有关 hand

dǎ (hit)

lā (pull)

tí (carry)

bào (hug)

和说话、语言有关language, talking shuō (talk / say)tán (discuss)dú (read)sòng (recite)

和嘴有关mouth

chī (eat)

hē (drink)

kū (cry)

hǎn (shout)

和食物有关food

fàn (rice)

jiǎo (dumpling)

bǎo (full)

饿è (hungry)

和水有关water

kě (thirsty)

jiǔ (alcohol)

hǎi (sea)

hàn (perspiration)

和冰有关 ice/cold lěng (cold)bīng (ice)dòng (freeze)liáng (cool)
和植物有关grass,plant

cǎo (grass)

huā (flower)

chá (tea)

葡萄pútao (grapes)

和树木有关wood shù (tree)森林sēnlín (forest)cūn (village)qiáo (bridge)
和行走、移动有关
move

táo (escape)

jì (enter)

yuǎn (far)

yù (meet)

和房屋有关
house, roof jiā (home)kè (guest)ān (safe)bǎo (treasure)
/ 和火有关
fire/heat

shāo (burn)

zhǔ (cook)

rè (hot)

tàng (scalding)

/

和心、情绪有关
heart,  emotions xiǎng (think/thoughts)yì (meaning, intention)huǐ (regret)hèn (hate)
和眼睛有关
eye/sight

眼睛yǎnjing (eyes)

shuì (sleep)

qiáo (look/see)

máng (blind)

和人有关
human, people nǐ (you)zhù (live)zuò (do)shāng (hurt)
和身体有关
human body

liǎn(face)

dù (tummy)

胳膊gēbo (elbow)

pàng (fat)

和动物有关
animal gǒu (dog)māo (cat)shī (lion)hóu (monkey)
和太阳有关
sun/light

míng (bright)

xīng (star)

hūn (dusk)

àn (dark)

和衣服有关
clothes,clothing kù (pants)qún (dress/skirt)wà (socks)衬衫chènshān (shirt)
和病有关
illness,disease

bìng (sick/ill)

tòng (pain)

shòu (skinny)

bā (scar)

和土有关
earth,soil dì (land)chéng(city)qiáng (wall)mái (bury)

和丝线有关
silk/thread

丝绸sīchóu (silk)

线xiàn (thread)

hóng (red)

绿lǜ (green)

和金属有关
metal,gold

qián (money)

yín (silver)

zhōng (clock)

jìng (mirror)

和刀剑有关
sword,knife lì (sharp)cì (stab)kè (engrave)jiàn (sword)
和脚有关
foot

tī (kick)

pǎo (ru)

tiào (jump)

cǎi (step)

和竹子有关
bamboo

lán (basket)

qiān (sign)

dí (bamboo flute)

děng (wait, grade)

和钱有关
money

guì (expensive)

gòu (purchase)

huò (goods)

贿赂huìlù (bribe)

 

Unfortunately, rote learning is still the most common method used in Singapore today. Characters are memorised by simply rehearsing over and over again. It’s tedious, especially for young children, and words learnt this way are easily forgotten as children don’t fully understand character meanings in the first place. 

Parents can make learning Chinese more engaging for their children by starting a game of identifying and exploring the radicals used in the Chinese character. This gives context to the meaning behind lines and strokes, thus improving retention.

We recommend practising at least twice a week for at least half an hour. Better yet, get a native tutor to go through the characters systematically with your child so the language becomes natural. This method will build a strong foundation so that your child can quickly master the complexities of Mandarin Chinese in the future — for good.

Also read: Book Review from a Primary 4 perspective