Mandarin Chinese Characters Made Easy: (HSK Levels 1-3) Learn 1,000 Chinese Characters the Easy Way

Description

This highly-visual book introduces an effective new method for learning Chinese characters using visual stimuli and pictographs. Learning the basic characters used to write even simple Chinese sentences can be a long and arduous process. Chinese Characters Made Easy makes the learning process fun and easy by presenting the 1,000 most common characters using a new mnemonic approach that associates each character with a memorable visual and verbal clue—making memorization easy. The character for person, for example, is superimposed over a sketch of a man representing "a person standing on two legs"—drawing the reader's attention to the distinctive shape of the character and associating the sketch with the character's meaning. The Chinese characters are presented in groups or clusters all sharing common elements and meanings, for context and ease of identification. These groups of characters all share common root symbols known as radicals, or relate to a particular theme or topic such as colors, numbers, animals, or body parts. Pronunciations, meanings and vocabulary compounds are provided for each character in the group. A free audio CD provides native-speaker pronunciations for all the characters and their associated vocabulary. Key features of Chinese Characters Made Easy include: Audio recordings of native-speaker pronunciations for all the characters An introduction to the history and structure of the Chinese writing system 1,000 characters and over 3,000 words for beginning learners of Chinese This Chinese character book's visual approach is a powerful learning tool. It can be used by serious students and is entertaining and useful to general readers who are curious about how the Chinese writing system works and how it developed. Frontcover Title Page Copyright Contents How to Download the Bonus Material of this Book Introduction How to Use This Book CHAPTER 1 NUMBERS AND COLORS Numbers Colors CHAPTER 2 PERSON Person Family Man on the Move Self CHAPTER 3 THE BODY Body Head Mouth Eye and Ear Nape of the Neck Heart Blood Hand Foot CHAPTER 4 ACTIONS Stride Stand Sliding Up and Down Power Speech or Words Directions Coming and Going CHAPTER 5 PLANTS AND TREES Rice and Tree Fancy Tree, Rice Plant Bamboo Grass CHAPTER 6 ANIMALS Animals Shellfish Insect, Bugs Skin and Meat Eating and Drinking CHAPTER 7 THE WORLD Day, Sun Time Moon Fire Water Springs Gold (Metal) Soil, Earth and Ground Mountain and Dotted Cliff Stone Rain Four Seasons CHAPTER 8 MEDIEVAL Medieval Knight, Warrior, Scholar Arrow Gods CHAPTER 9 TOOLS Swords and Blades Writing Brush Books and Writing Show or Indicate Divining Rod Bow Axe Spears Well and Fields CHAPTER 10 TRANSPORTATION AND BUILDINGS Vehicles Tables Roofs Door and Gate Enclosures CHAPTER 11 GARMENTS AND SILK Garments and Silk Cloth Shape and Form Measurement Index