30 DAY CHINESE LEARNING GUIDE WRITTENCHINESE.COM
WEEK 1 INTRODUCTION
InChinese writing,eachtimeyouliftyourpenfromthepaper thelineyou’vedrawnis calledastroke.
Forexample,when youwriteastandardcapitalletter“A” in Englishyouwouldcount 3strokes:onelinegoingfrom topto left, onegoingtoptoright, andfinallyonethroughthemiddle. Thefirststepis togetfamiliarwiththestrokesandto learnthe properstrokeorder. Youabsolutelymust writethecharacters inthecorrectstrokeorder oryouwillhaveproblems lateron. Ifhaveareal, liveChinese teacher,thenletthem helpgetyou startedwiththebasics.
Notallof ushavethechanceto haveaChinese teacher,butnot toworry!
Strokeanimationsare includedintheWCCDictionary appso thatyoucanwatchhowcharactersareproperlywritten. Ifyou aren’tusingtheapp,youcanseetheanimationsonline at WrittenChinese.com. ClicktheLEARNMOREwhen yousearch anywordinthedictionary toseethestrokeanimations.
Paycloseattentionto whetherthestroke iswrittenfrom leftto right, orrighttoleft andnogoingrogue!Theshortcutsyou make nowwillbackfirelater, sodoitcarefullyanddoitright!
YoumaynoticethatsomeChinese computerfontsaresimpler block letterswhileothersarewritten withmanyswoops likein cursive orinChinesecalligraphy.
Youdon’tneedto paycloseattentionto thewaythatChinese looksinits calligraphyform. Whenyouseelittleswoopinglines runningthiswayandthat,referto thesimplerblock letters. If theyalso makethelineswoop,thenyou knowit’snecessary to havethem.
我 versus 我
This Week:
Let’s Write Some Chinese
Tip: Don’t throw out your old Chinese writing notebooks.
They are a great way to remind yourself of how far you’ve come!
30 DAY CHINESE LEARNING GUIDE WRITTENCHINESE.COM
Step1
OpentheWCCDictionaryapp andtaptheflashcard icon.
TapHSKVOCABULARYandthenHSK1. Tap on thefirstnew character.
Ifyouaren’tusingtheapp,gettheHSK1 vocabularyPDF atWrittenChinese.com.
Step2
TapSEERADICALS belowtheworddetails intheapp,orsearchthepinyinof theword on ouronlinedictionary andclickthe LEARNMOREbutton nexttothecharacter. Bothmethodsallowyouto seetheradicals. Thinkof acreativeway thatthepiecesgo togetherto formthemeaning.
Example:“爱”(ai4)means “love”and includes theradicals:claw, cover,left, and righthand. Youmightimaginealioness COVERinghercubs withherRIGHTHAND andCLAWingata predatorwithherLEFT.
Step3
TapWRITINGatthebottom oftheappto seeastroke animationforthecharacter. Watchclosely whichstrokesarewritten
Step4
Write thecharacter onceusingapenand paper. Nowcarefully studytheproportions of yourcharacterversusthestroke
animation. Howfar awayis onestroke from another?Wheredoesonelinefinish in relation toanotherline?
Thisis whereChinese writingpapercomes in handysince itgivesyouaperfect square withgrid linesforeach character.
Step5
Write thecharacter again9 times. Each timeyouwriteit,writethePinyinandtone mark nearthecharacterandthinkabout themeaning oftheword.
Step6
Reviewyour10written characters. Which onedidyouwritethebest comparedwith thestroke animation?Circlethatonefor yourreference later.
Step7
Repeat steps2-6forthenext6 characters
WEEK 1 DAILY CHECKLIST
30 DAY CHINESE LEARNING GUIDE WRITTENCHINESE.COM
WEEK 2 INTRODUCTION
Oh dear…thisseemsto bethemost dislikedpart ofstudying Chinese:repeatingwords outloud. Itcansometimesbe uncomfortable, strangeorevena bitembarrassing.
Sorry tobreakitto you,butit’salsooneof themost critical componentsof learningthelanguagesolet’sconqueritand getitoutoftheway.
Tomostof us,Chinesesoundsquiteforeign andnasally. In factat firstitcanbequitedifficulttodistinguishoneword from another.
YoumightalreadyknowthatChinese isatonal language, meaning thatwhenyouchangethetone,itchangesthe meaning completely.
Congratulationsto thoseof youwhohavemusicalhearing!
You’realreadyonestepahead becauseyouknowhowtolisten fortonal changes. Forthoseofyou thatcan’t carryatune,this will probablybeyourbiggestfrustrationwhen learning
Chinese,buthaveno fear,you CANdoit!
Somepeoplemighttellyou thatyou don’tneedtolearn the tones. Imust admitthatitistemptingtolistentothese
people. Youmightthink, here’smyescape!Idon’treally need to botherwithtones!Sorry, butnoneofthepeoplewho
believe thatcanspeakproperly, guaranteed.
Youcanroll youreyesifyouwant, butifyoudon’tlearnhow to usetonesfrom thestart,you’llenduprepeatingyourself overandoveragainwhileChinese peopleattempttocorrect every wordyousay. Orworse,they won’tunderstand youat all.
Remember, sayinga Chinesewordintwo differenttonesis like saying twodifferentwordsinEnglishsuch as“dead” and
“bed”: itcompletelychangesthemeaning. Thus,speaking tones correctlyiscritical tolearning tospeakChinese well.
This Week:
Let’s Speak Some Chinese
Tip: Learning to train your ear will not only help you speak properly, but it will help you to understand Chinese speakers faster.
30 DAY CHINESE LEARNING GUIDE WRITTENCHINESE.COM
Step1
OpentheWCCDictionaryappto the dashboard. Ifyoudon’tseeit, tapMENU andthenDASHBOARD.
Ifyouaren’tusingtheapp,Loginto your freeonline accountatWrittenChinese.com. Step2
Lookatthecharacterof thedayandits definition. ThentapLEARNMORE tosee more detailsaboutthischaracter. Step3
Taptheaudiobuttonto theupper leftof thecharacter tohear its pronunciation.
Listentoit3 times,paying closeattention toevery partof thepronunciation.
Howdoesthewordstart?Whatdoesthe vowelsound like? Canyou recognizewhich toneitiswithout lookingatthepinyin?
Howdoestheendingof theword sound?
Step4
Repeat theword3 timesoutloudandthen listenagainto theaudiofile.
Thekey tolearning anewlanguage is
Step5
Record yourselfsaying theword3times. Listenagaintotheaudiofilebeforeplaying yourown recordingback.
Have youevermetsomeonewho thinks they areanamazing singerbutreallyaren’t thatgood?It’sthesameprinciple:Howyou think orimagineyourselfsaying theword isn’tnecessarilyhow itactuallysounds. Invest timelisteningtoyourselfcarefully. Tip:Sayingthecharacter louderwillmake it easierforyouto hearandcorrect
pronunciationmistakes. Step6
Go totheHSK1vocabulary list. Repeat steps3-5 with4more charactersfromthis list. Startfromthetopandworkyourway down thelist.
Asyou practicethewords,visualize their meaning. Don’tthinkoftheEnglish translation. Instead, imaginetheactual object oractionassociatedwiththeword. Thiswill helpyou tobetterrememberits meaning.
Step7
WEEK 2 DAILY CHECKLIST
30 DAY CHINESE LEARNING GUIDE WRITTENCHINESE.COM
WEEK 3 INTRODUCTION
Yousurvivedweek2,nicework! Nevergiveupontryingto perfectyourpronunciation,even ifitputsyououtofyour comfortzoneat times.
Ifyouhavenative Chinese-speakingfriendsaround,bug theminto showingyouwhichwords you’renotsaying well. Watch theirmouthsasthey speakandimitatethe shapestheymake whenyouspeak.
Ifyoudon’thave anynativespeakersaroundyou, try gettingyourhands onsome Chinesemovies orTVshows. Netflixdefinitelyhassome andifyou’re lookingfor
recommendations,checkouttheTVShows sectionof WrittenChinese.com.
Nowthatyouhavea generalconcept forwhatChinese soundslike,it’stimeto testwhatyou’velearnedaswellas continue writing.
Youcanuseavoice-to-textservice suchasSiriorGoogle Voiceto checkifyou’resaying theChinesecorrectly. Ifthe servicecanunderstand yourChinese,thenyou’re onthe righttrack!
KeepinmindthatmanyChinese wordshave thesame pronunciation. Ifyousaya2-character word(calleda Bigram)ora phrase,itismore likelythevoice-to-text servicewill beable tomore accuratelyproducethe Chinese charactersthatyouweretryingto say.
Ifyouaresaying onecharacterata time,thevoice-to-text servicemightgiveyou adifferentcharacter fromtheone youwereaimingfor. Checktoseeifthatcharacterhasthe samepinyinAND toneastheoneyouweretryingtosay. You’repronouncingthewordcorrectlyifyou’re gettinga wordwiththerightpinyinandtone,even ifit’sa different Chinese character.
This Week:
Listen and Write Chinese
Tip: For Siri, switch the keyboard Chinese so that it knows you’re trying to speak Chinese.
For Google Voice, it will detect which language you are
30 DAY CHINESE LEARNING GUIDE WRITTENCHINESE.COM
Step1
OpenyourHSK1vocabularylist intheWCC Dictionary app.
Rememberyoucanalso getHSK1
vocabularyonline atWrittenChinese.com. Step2
Startfrom thelast wordthatyoulearned andpracticewritingit10times.
Writethepinyinandtonemarkoftheword eachtimetoreinforcethepronunciation. Step3
Do Step2forthenext6 wordsin thelist. Makesureto thinkaboutthemeaningof thewordasyouwriteit.
Insteadof thinkingof theEnglish
translation,picturethemeaning visually. YoucanalsotapSTUDY inthelowerright corneroftheapptotestifyoucan
rememberthemeaningsand/orwritethe words frommemory.
Step4
On theWCC Dictionaryapp,tapinthe search boxtobring upyourphone’s keyboard.
Note: Ifyou arenotusingtheapp, many texteditingprograms suchasMicrosoft Word also includevoice-to-text
transcription technology. Step5
Hold down thevoice inputbuttonand
speakthewords thatyou havejustwritten. iOS users:Remember toswitchyour
keyboard toChinese. Step6
Onceyou’vefinishedspeaking, tapthe search buttonon yourkeyboardtorun a search forthosewords.
Someof themmaynotbethecorrect character, butcheckto seeifthevoice recognition gottheright pinyin. Thetone must alsomatch togetitright!
Forthose wordsthatyoudidn’tgetright, listento theaudiofilesandtryagain. Step7
WEEK 3 DAILY CHECKLIST
30 DAY CHINESE LEARNING GUIDE WRITTENCHINESE.COM
WEEK 4 INTRODUCTION
Tosaythatyou“wanttospeakChinese”is nota good learninggoal becauseyou’llneverknowevery word. Words getborrowedfrom otherlanguages,new inventionsget named,andslangevolvesconstantly. Youmust definewhat youhopetoachieve more clearlyifyouwantto succeed. Youmightwanttodecide howmany charactersyouwantto learninagiven timeframe. Asapointofreference, most Chinesehighschoolstudents canrecognizebetween 4000-6000characters. Wow…that’s alot, right?Butdon’t worry,youcanlearnFARlessandstillbeableto
communicatewellinChinese andevenread.
Hereare2 ideasforgoalstokeep yourlearningon track:
Idea1:StartStudyingtoTakethe HSK
TheHSKisastandardized testforChinese proficiency. It’s dividedinto 6levels, andyoucanfindmore detailed informationaboutiton WrittenChinese.com.
Ifthisisyourgoal,startbylearning Level1 vocabulary. The WCCDictionaryapphasfree vocabularyforallthelevels. Idea2:Read75%of Chinese byLearning 521Characters Youdon’thaveto learnthousandsof charactersto beable toread mostChinese text. We calculatedwhichcharacters areusedmost oftenandputthem intoaflashcard setcalled MOSTCOMMONCHINESE CHARACTERSintheflashcard sectionof theWCC Dictionaryapp.
Afteryoulearnall521words,you’llbeableto readover 75%ofwrittenChinese. Notsuch adaunting taskafter all!
Youcanalsogetthewallposterof thesecharactersfrom WrittenChinese.com byclickingCHINESE TOOLS->PHYSICAL STUFF.
Finally,setan achievablegoal,such aslearning 100words inamonth. Then calculatehowmany wordsper dayyou needtolearn
This Week:
Setting a Learning Goal
Tip: Learning 3-5 words a day may seem like a super easy goal at first, but remember that you must retain all the vocabulary as the days pile up.
We recommend you learn about 20 words per week.
Set a reasonable goal to get it right! Trying to do too much at once is how many students end up failing.
30 DAY CHINESE LEARNING GUIDE WRITTENCHINESE.COM
WEEK 4 DAILY CHECKLIST
Step1
Chooseaflashcardsetthatyouwant to learnintheWCCDictionary appandtap STUDY inthelowerright corner.
MakesurethattheDisplayQuestionis markedasChinese sothatyou seethe Chinese characterfirstandtrytoguessthe Englishmeaning.
Ifyou’renotusingtheapp, youcanuse yourownhandmadeflashcards.
Step2
Gothroughthefirst20flashcards,saying theChineseoutloudandthinkingthe meaningin yourhead, thenflippingover theflashcardtoseeifyou gotitright. Step3
Forwordsthatyouhave ahard time remembering,drawapictureorwritea sentencethatwillhelpyouremember its meaning, pronunciationandcharacter. Seehow otherlearners aredoingthisby searching fortheword intheonline
dictionary atWrittenChinese.comandthen clicking theLEARNMORE button.
Step4
Shuffleandswitchyourflashcardsetto the other sidesothatyouseetheEnglish meaning first.
Study 20wordswhilelookingat theEnglish first. Write thepinyinandtonemarkwitha penandpaper,thentrywritingtheChinese character tothebestof yourability.
Ifyou onlyhave avagueidea whatthe character lookslike,justtrydrawing its generalshape.
Youmightbeway offat first,butthat’s okay. Give yourselfsomeslack,ittakes timeto learnChinese!
Step5
Onceyouhave gonethroughall20 flashcards,lookbackatyourwrittenlist andtrytorecall whateachcharacter means.
Step6
Now re-writeeachword3 timeswithits pinyin andtonemark.
Step7
30 DAY CHINESE LEARNING GUIDE WRITTENCHINESE.COM