---
product_id: 1210867
title: "Learning Chinese Characters: (HSK Levels 1-3) A Revolutionary New Way to Learn the 800 Most Basic Chinese Characters; Includes All Characters for the AP & HSK 1-3 Exams"
price: "8746 som"
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---

# Learning Chinese Characters: (HSK Levels 1-3) A Revolutionary New Way to Learn the 800 Most Basic Chinese Characters; Includes All Characters for the AP & HSK 1-3 Exams

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desertcart.com: Learning Chinese Characters: (HSK Levels 1-3) A Revolutionary New Way to Learn the 800 Most Basic Chinese Characters; Includes All Characters for the AP & HSK 1-3 Exams: 9780804838160: Matthews, Alison, Matthews, Laurence: Books

Review: A Solid Foundation - This book is superbly designed and executed. The story method is brilliant, fun and really works and you can use it for characters beyond HSK Level A. The book provided a foundation for me to "hook into" Chinese characters. Without it, I couldn't imagine how I would have gotten started. Characters no longer seem so intimidating and unintelligible. I finished learning all 800 characters in 5 months. I was on a mission and had a blast with this book. My method was to learn on average 5 to 10 a day. But a few weeks I learned as many as 100. After 5 - 7, I found it was important to review them. Review, review, review is the key. I wrote down the character, pinyin, meaning, tone (giant, fairy, teddy, dwarf), then sound word in a reporter notebook and used this for review. After learning 25 or so characters, I'd go back and review the last several pages of my notebook. After 50 characters, I'd go back and review half of what I'd learned. After 100, I'd go back and review them all and sometimes try to write out all the pinyin. I also did all the periodic character reviews the book provides. Now I carry around a copy of the table of contents and review 4 chapters a day like 40, 30, 20, 10, then 39, 29, 19, 9, etc., either saying the pronunciation or writing down the pinyin. I have moved on to other excellent learning sources: Tuttle Reading and Writing Chinese (simplified edition) for characters in the A, B, and C lists; Schaum's Chinese Grammar; Tuttle Chinese-English Dictionary; Berlitz 1000 Mandarin Words; Behind the Wheel Mandarin 1 audio program; and [...]. I have found that knowing how to write characters is very different than knowing how to read then. This takes much practice. Also, it is critical to hear the correct pronunciation of the pinyin. I still reference this book all the time to look at how they breakdown character parts (and the names they give them) and for guidance on writing characters. I'm using the story method for B, C, and D list characters in Reading and Writing Chinese. The limitations the book may have, such as providing mostly one word or phrase definitions and how the sound words are not exact, are really strengths because the authors keep it simple and encourage learning. Some people seem to think the story method is too difficult. Here's how the story method worked for me. I first tried to learn the exact story, taking a minute to get a mental impression of it. At first I would look at the characters and it would take some time to run through the story and get the meaning and pronunciation. But eventually it goes much faster and I would just say the components, tone and sound word such as for companion (peng2): moon + moon, companion, fairy, puncture and just see a vague mental image of all this. Now I look at this character and immediately just know the meaning and pronunciation. Sometimes the stories became something different in my mind from how they were originally written, but if I could look at the character and know the meaning and pronunciation, that's all I figured that mattered. The story method is only a bridge to learning to see the character and instantly know the pronunciation. Once you know that the character for one (yi1) means one and is pronounced yi1, you don't need the story. But if you forget a character, then it is good to have the story to review. I couldn't imagine just using wrote memorization to learn characters, that would have been way to boring for me. This method was a blast and I learned a lot of characters fast.
Review: Without question the best method of learning Chinese characters for adult foreigners - Like another reviewer, I started out with James Heisig's "Remembering the Kanji". This book in and of itself was revolutionary. It taught characters in an evolving method, focusing on creating a story in your mind to help remember the characters. This approach was great, and I learned about 500 characters in that method. However, I began to realize that I wanted to learn Chinese instead of Japanese (the characters are fundamentally the same), and I also began to realize most of the characters in the first half of Heisig's book were not the most common characters - some were quite obscure - and may not even have the exact meaning of the keyword put forth. I commend James Heisig for pioneering that incredible method, but refinement was needed. Then I found this gem. "Learning Chinese Characters" combines everything you need to know to remember and pronounce the most common Chinese characters. It uses a combination of pictographic representations and plot nmemonics. It does cover pronunciation and tone fully, including them in the story. A basic character that cannot be dissected into any more parts is shown with a pictograph, simply so you can remember how character looks, which usually has something to do with the meaning (for example, the character for "eight" has an octopus drawn over it). More complex characters that are composed of other characters - the majority - are not represented by pictures, but instead by mnemonic stories, contrived using the elements that make up the character as actors (for example, an OCTOPUS ("eight") cutting a pizza with a KNIFE is the story for "division", which is composed of the elements for "eight" and "knife"). Pictures do indeed accompany these characters, but only to help you visualize the *story* (maybe it would show the octopus with a pizza cutter and a chef's hat). Most characters also include a secondary, related story to help you remember the pronunciation. In the end, you will know the pronunciation (including tone), the writing, and the meaning of every character in HSK A. I realize this might be confusing for someone that doesn't understand the Chinese writing system. If that is you, let me just say this: "it's easy!" Every character in HSK A is included, and even some other characters are included in a limited fashion in order to explain compounds including them. Most characters have: * A listing of the equation of elements (ie "eight+knife=division"), complete with cross-references to elements used and the page number on which they are more fully described. * A list of some words using this character. * A story to cement the meaning and pronunciation of the character in your mind. * A stroke-by-stroke guide. * Comments on the usage of the character. * The corresponding Traditional Chinese character (if the given character is Simplified) - the book is optimized for Simplified, but the Traditional character is always there if you'd like to learn them too. If you don't know what Simplified/Traditional is, you probably want to choose to study the Simplified characters (they are more common)... check out Wikipedia. * The radical of the character, which is commonly used for dictionary lookup. In my opinion, this method is best paired with using the Leitner system of flashcards (a quick Googling will find what I mean), so you can be sure you do really remember the characters. Simply, this is bar-none the best way to learn Chinese characters as a foreign adult - as long as you *concentrate on the story!* Don't just read without thinking. Everything you need to know about every character in the book is right there on the page, but you must concentrate. Etymology, the history of each character, might be a good tool to remember characters once you learn a lot of them, but this is by far the easiest, most painless way to learn the characters and *remember* them. One thing, however; it won't teach you grammar. You need to find another course to learn how to assemble characters into meaningful patterns. This book just teaches you how to write and remember those individual characters. On another note, I was in contact with the publisher and saw that they are not planning to publish a Volume 2 of this great book. This is sad news. This is a great format, and if you like it, I'd recommend emailing the publisher to let them know we want to see more like this!

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #145,322 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #88 in Alphabet Reference #124 in Grammar Reference (Books) #124 in Vocabulary Books |
| Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 422 Reviews |

## Images

![Learning Chinese Characters: (HSK Levels 1-3) A Revolutionary New Way to Learn the 800 Most Basic Chinese Characters; Includes All Characters for the AP & HSK 1-3 Exams - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81zZDBQ3SrL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Solid Foundation
*by J***R on September 23, 2010*

This book is superbly designed and executed. The story method is brilliant, fun and really works and you can use it for characters beyond HSK Level A. The book provided a foundation for me to "hook into" Chinese characters. Without it, I couldn't imagine how I would have gotten started. Characters no longer seem so intimidating and unintelligible. I finished learning all 800 characters in 5 months. I was on a mission and had a blast with this book. My method was to learn on average 5 to 10 a day. But a few weeks I learned as many as 100. After 5 - 7, I found it was important to review them. Review, review, review is the key. I wrote down the character, pinyin, meaning, tone (giant, fairy, teddy, dwarf), then sound word in a reporter notebook and used this for review. After learning 25 or so characters, I'd go back and review the last several pages of my notebook. After 50 characters, I'd go back and review half of what I'd learned. After 100, I'd go back and review them all and sometimes try to write out all the pinyin. I also did all the periodic character reviews the book provides. Now I carry around a copy of the table of contents and review 4 chapters a day like 40, 30, 20, 10, then 39, 29, 19, 9, etc., either saying the pronunciation or writing down the pinyin. I have moved on to other excellent learning sources: Tuttle Reading and Writing Chinese (simplified edition) for characters in the A, B, and C lists; Schaum's Chinese Grammar; Tuttle Chinese-English Dictionary; Berlitz 1000 Mandarin Words; Behind the Wheel Mandarin 1 audio program; and [...]. I have found that knowing how to write characters is very different than knowing how to read then. This takes much practice. Also, it is critical to hear the correct pronunciation of the pinyin. I still reference this book all the time to look at how they breakdown character parts (and the names they give them) and for guidance on writing characters. I'm using the story method for B, C, and D list characters in Reading and Writing Chinese. The limitations the book may have, such as providing mostly one word or phrase definitions and how the sound words are not exact, are really strengths because the authors keep it simple and encourage learning. Some people seem to think the story method is too difficult. Here's how the story method worked for me. I first tried to learn the exact story, taking a minute to get a mental impression of it. At first I would look at the characters and it would take some time to run through the story and get the meaning and pronunciation. But eventually it goes much faster and I would just say the components, tone and sound word such as for companion (peng2): moon + moon, companion, fairy, puncture and just see a vague mental image of all this. Now I look at this character and immediately just know the meaning and pronunciation. Sometimes the stories became something different in my mind from how they were originally written, but if I could look at the character and know the meaning and pronunciation, that's all I figured that mattered. The story method is only a bridge to learning to see the character and instantly know the pronunciation. Once you know that the character for one (yi1) means one and is pronounced yi1, you don't need the story. But if you forget a character, then it is good to have the story to review. I couldn't imagine just using wrote memorization to learn characters, that would have been way to boring for me. This method was a blast and I learned a lot of characters fast.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Without question the best method of learning Chinese characters for adult foreigners
*by C***B on July 14, 2009*

Like another reviewer, I started out with James Heisig's "Remembering the Kanji". This book in and of itself was revolutionary. It taught characters in an evolving method, focusing on creating a story in your mind to help remember the characters. This approach was great, and I learned about 500 characters in that method. However, I began to realize that I wanted to learn Chinese instead of Japanese (the characters are fundamentally the same), and I also began to realize most of the characters in the first half of Heisig's book were not the most common characters - some were quite obscure - and may not even have the exact meaning of the keyword put forth. I commend James Heisig for pioneering that incredible method, but refinement was needed. Then I found this gem. "Learning Chinese Characters" combines everything you need to know to remember and pronounce the most common Chinese characters. It uses a combination of pictographic representations and plot nmemonics. It does cover pronunciation and tone fully, including them in the story. A basic character that cannot be dissected into any more parts is shown with a pictograph, simply so you can remember how character looks, which usually has something to do with the meaning (for example, the character for "eight" has an octopus drawn over it). More complex characters that are composed of other characters - the majority - are not represented by pictures, but instead by mnemonic stories, contrived using the elements that make up the character as actors (for example, an OCTOPUS ("eight") cutting a pizza with a KNIFE is the story for "division", which is composed of the elements for "eight" and "knife"). Pictures do indeed accompany these characters, but only to help you visualize the *story* (maybe it would show the octopus with a pizza cutter and a chef's hat). Most characters also include a secondary, related story to help you remember the pronunciation. In the end, you will know the pronunciation (including tone), the writing, and the meaning of every character in HSK A. I realize this might be confusing for someone that doesn't understand the Chinese writing system. If that is you, let me just say this: "it's easy!" Every character in HSK A is included, and even some other characters are included in a limited fashion in order to explain compounds including them. Most characters have: * A listing of the equation of elements (ie "eight+knife=division"), complete with cross-references to elements used and the page number on which they are more fully described. * A list of some words using this character. * A story to cement the meaning and pronunciation of the character in your mind. * A stroke-by-stroke guide. * Comments on the usage of the character. * The corresponding Traditional Chinese character (if the given character is Simplified) - the book is optimized for Simplified, but the Traditional character is always there if you'd like to learn them too. If you don't know what Simplified/Traditional is, you probably want to choose to study the Simplified characters (they are more common)... check out Wikipedia. * The radical of the character, which is commonly used for dictionary lookup. In my opinion, this method is best paired with using the Leitner system of flashcards (a quick Googling will find what I mean), so you can be sure you do really remember the characters. Simply, this is bar-none the best way to learn Chinese characters as a foreign adult - as long as you *concentrate on the story!* Don't just read without thinking. Everything you need to know about every character in the book is right there on the page, but you must concentrate. Etymology, the history of each character, might be a good tool to remember characters once you learn a lot of them, but this is by far the easiest, most painless way to learn the characters and *remember* them. One thing, however; it won't teach you grammar. You need to find another course to learn how to assemble characters into meaningful patterns. This book just teaches you how to write and remember those individual characters. On another note, I was in contact with the publisher and saw that they are not planning to publish a Volume 2 of this great book. This is sad news. This is a great format, and if you like it, I'd recommend emailing the publisher to let them know we want to see more like this!

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Good tool for learning mandarin
*by B***N on July 13, 2009*

This book can help you on your way to learning Mandarin. If you work at it, you will be able to read and write the Chinese characters (hanzi) using this book. It's important to keep in mind that this book is not a complete recipe for learning the language but only a small part. For instance, millions of illiterate people can communicate effectively only by spoken word and yet reading/writing these characters remain beyond their ability. What I found most useful: * Provides a useful learning set and ordering of the thousands of characters in the language. * Helpful for identifying the various parts that make up some characters. Stroke orders are accurate and a must for learning to write the characters correctly * Pinyin text is accurate and helps you learn to pronounce the characters. Some of the characters have English 'sound words' to help you with the approximate pronunciation. Learning to speak pinyin correctly is a problem with all materials. * All HSK Level A characters are in one place. I am using this book as part of my study of learning Mandarin but here are some things I found to keep in mind or that are are not so helpful: * Doesn't teach grammar at all. This is to be expected as it is character-based and not sentence-based. If you only want to learn to recognize, understand basic meanings, pronounce and write Hanzi characters, this book will help you do that. If you want to become more fluent in conversing in Mandarin Chinese and reading and writing complete sentences then you'll have to go elsewhere. * Some of the character 'meanings' offered seem arbitrary and chosen to fit the 'story' as compared to the more common meanings found in other resources (books, official HSK A list, internet...) * Sound-words don't always help with the pinyin. A lot of the characters are DIY pronunciation anyway (have no sound words) and so offer no help at all. Perhaps it's just differences with dialects/regions, but the sound words chosen do not sound like real-world speakers. Having an audio companion to this book would be very helpful. * In my opinion, the character stories are of little value for recognition. With enough repetition, you will eventually recognize the character instantly (pinyin + meaning(s)) vs. remembering the 'story' can take a long time and clutter your mind with useless trivia. * Helps with speaking but listening is the other skill needed for communicating orally and that is not addressed - other than listening to yourself. * The HSK Level A words are not all single characters but most are 2 and some 3 and 4 characters. This books does not make it easy to learn these compound words. All the compound words are in there but it's not the most effective layout for learning them. * Using the book in 'flash-card' manner for learning new characters and testing yourself is difficult since you have to cover up various parts of the page. I have supplemented by using flash cards (purchased sets and missing ones printed on business cards).

## Frequently Bought Together

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*Last updated: 2026-03-06*