Hanzi & Characters

Hanzi 汉字 are logographic characters used in Mandarin and other Chinese languages. Each character typically represents a morpheme and has a pronunciation and meaning.

Radicals 部首 are components that often hint at a character's meaning or category. They are used to organize characters in dictionaries and help you guess unfamiliar Hanzi.

Stroke order 笔画顺序 is the prescribed sequence for writing a character's strokes. Following it improves handwriting, makes learning more efficient, and aids memorization.

Simplified characters 简体 are used mainly in Mainland China and Singapore to make writing faster. Traditional characters 繁体 are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau and retain more complex forms.

Pinyin 拼音 is the Romanization system that shows pronunciation using Latin letters and tone marks. It is essential for learners to input Mandarin digitally and to pronounce Hanzi correctly.

Focusing on characters for everyday words gives you practical reading and writing ability quickly. Start with nouns, verbs, and adjectives that appear frequently in speech and text.

Hanzi 汉字 are the building blocks of written Mandarin. Learn radicals 部首 to recognize patterns, practice stroke order 笔画顺序 for neat writing, and use Pinyin 拼音 to master pronunciation.