Quiting Heisig!

[webmagnets]

Just kidding.

I don't want to quit his method, I just want to modify it.

I have memorized the first 500 characters.

I want to skip ahead and just learn all of the primitives. That way I can start reading and just look up words and make up stories as I go along.

How would you suggest I go about finding all of the primitives and learning them.

Also, if you think this is a bad idea, please tell me why.

[xiaotao]

Not sure what you mean about the primitives.

You can learn the radicals.

There is a book called Chinese Characters by Dr. L. Wieger that covers character origin entymology, history, classification, and signification. Some may think this book is outdated however, it does cover the (primitive) character origin.

[imron]

I say do whatever works well for you. Don't think you have to follow some method in a rigid manner until you obtain proficiency.

[OneEye]

xiaotao,

He's talking about a specific aspect of the Heisig method of learning characters. I'm not sure why you made a suggestion when you admitted you don't know what he's talking about. And it isn't too hard to find out what he meant. Here, let me Google that for you.

OP,

I agree with imron. Do what you want. If something besides what Heisig writes works better for you, do it. I personally like Heisig's method, but I've also found that adding the pronunciation to the question side of the card in Anki helps me, so I do it.

[xianhua]

That 'let me Google that for you' tool is brilliant! I'm going to use that all the time. Sorry, I must lead a shallow existence.

[xiaotao]

One, Eye,

It's only at this forum that I learn about so many ways to learn Chinese. Chinese folks don't do Heisig. haha

[QingdaoDragon]

Have you tried skritter?

Their website has a nifty program that is way better than any flashcards, and in the last 3 weeks I learned more than 700 characters and more than 500 words.

Cheers!