Learn Chinese characters step-by-step: basic strokes, radicals, and common characters. Includes handwriting exercises, templates, and tips to develop regular writing practice and improve character formation. Perfect for beginners and improving writers.
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Hanzi, or Chinese characters, are the building blocks of written Mandarin. This brief guide introduces their key features and types so you can start recognizing and making use of them.
Hanzi are logographic characters, each representing a syllable and usually a meaning. They are used across Chinese dialects for consistent written communication.
Radicals
偏旁部首是更小的组成部分，常常暗示一个汉字的意义或发音。学习常用偏旁能够加快记忆和查字典的速度。
Radicals are smaller components that often hint at a character's meaning or pronunciation. Learning common radicals speeds up memorization and dictionary use.
Types of Characters
汉字可以是象形字、指事字、会意字、形声字等。大多数是形声字，结合了表示意义的部分和表示发音的部分。
Characters can be pictographs, ideographs, phonetic compounds, and more. Most are phonetic compounds combining a meaning part with a sound part.
Simplified vs Traditional
简化字的笔画较少，主要在中国大陆和新加坡使用。繁体字在台湾、香港以及海外华人社区中使用。
Simplified characters have fewer strokes and are used mainly in Mainland China and Singapore. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and overseas communities.
Characters represent syllables, not individual sounds. Words can be one or more characters, and tones matter when speaking but are not marked in standard writing.
Learning Tips
首先专注于高频汉字和偏旁部首。练习书写有助于内化笔顺和字形，但在早期识别更为重要。
Focus first on high-frequency characters and radicals. Practice writing helps internalize stroke order and shape, but recognition is more important early on.
Summary
汉字是由偏旁组成的有意义符号。掌握基本的字符类型和简繁区别，为进一步学习打下坚实基础。
Hanzi are meaningful symbols built from radicals. Knowing the basics of character types and the difference between Simplified and Traditional sets a strong foundation for further study.
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