Learning How To Write Hanzi Through Self-Study

[chinopinyin]

Which techniques/books would you recommend to learn how to write hanzi through self-study? My first goal is writing at the level of new HSK 3

[Erbse]

There are dictionaries that show the stroke order. They are really cheap, got mine for 10 yuan in Chengdu. Then just go ahead and learn as many characters as you wish.

[Chinadoog]

Writing is easy. Nciku is a good site which will show you the proper stroke order and direction of each stroke. After learning how to write a few hundred characters, you'll easily be able to figure out the stroke order of most characters on your own.

You can also find these cheap writing books that Chinese children use which have tracing paper and allow you to trace over each character 10-20 times. They're easy to find in China.

[Mouseneb]

skritter.com is perfect for you.

[edelweis]

To summarize (but I'm sure someone has summarized it in some thread already):

- learn basic strokes

- learn basic stroke order rules

- learn some characters, following a stroke order guide. Learning radicals will help.

Start with easy character, for instance those that are also radicals with few strokes. Repeat 10-20 times depending on complexity.

- add characters to your favorite SRS software and review. You don't need to write the character many times when reviewing, just once is enough if you can trace it without any hesitation.

I understand skritter includes all the necessary features, if you don't mind writing on the screen.

Personally since I started learning Chinese with the assimil "Chinese with ease", I use the accompanying writing book, ordinary paper and pen, and my usual SRS software jmemorize.

One thing which is not really well explained in the assimil writing book though, is how to tell the difference between the ㇀ stroke in 辆, the 丿 stroke and the slanted 一 stroke in 毛 when reading printed characters (say you want to look up a printed character in an online dictionary in which you can write the char with the mouse, or, I imagine, using an electronic dictionary). But it was explained in other resources. (namely, the rising ㇀ should be fatter at the bottom than at the top. The falling 丿 may be fatter at the top, depending on the font, and is slightly curved. The slanted 一, depending on the font, may have the little fat head on the right side).

［EDIT] Also please note, for the HSK level 3 test itself, I think you don't need to know how to write _every_ word in the list.

For sentence writing, you can copy the characters from the booklet, provided you have a good grasp of strokes.

For the missing characters, my experience (in the sample test and in the actual test) is that they ask you to write simple characters (3-7 strokes maybe).

[roddy]

Skritter, a tablet, and plenty of actual writing practice to keep your characters looking pretty.

[HerrPetersen]

You could give the Heisig-books a chance.

http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/miscPublications/pdf/RH/RH%20Simplified-sample.pdf

[JenniferW]

Look also at your handwriting in your first language. What do you like and dislike about it? What do other people think of it? At the same time as learning the mechanics of writing Chinese characters, you will be developing your handwriting in this new script. My English handwriting is large - on the large side of average. So are my Chinese characters - and Chinese friends tell me this is OK. It means my characters are more rather than less legible, but it also shows up every mistake.

I also paint and draw, and have had some calligraphy lessons. I would also suggest looking at calligraphy books - just so you start to develop an eye for what the Chinese find pleasing to look at. And look at a few examples in museums and galleries. It doesn't matter that you can't read any of it, it will just all help you to gain more of a sense of balance and composition and what matters when you write characters - because the rules and tastes are different for different scripts. Don't spend a lot of time on this, but looking at good handwriting in any script is not a bad thing to do.

Also, try to practice using the squared paper Chinese children use. The little exercise books for primary school children with squares which are large-ish and marked with diagonal lines, too, do wonders for making you get things correctly placed in a character. And the more you do of this early on, the more you'll appreciate later on the efforts you made. I've been learning Chinese for some years (though only just done the new HSK level 3), but had a spell around a year ago of using this type of paper for practicing all my new characters, and I realised how it really both helped and sort of knocked things more into good shape.

For stroke order, for years I've used CHENG & TSUI CHINESE CHARACTER DICTIONARY (0-88727-314-9), bought in the UK, and I really rate it - a reference book that's never failed me. Online, I use the Yellow Bridge website dictionary for stroke order - nice and clear and not too fast, but probably no better than anything else being recommended here.

[Hofmann]

First make sure you have adequate background knowledge about Chinese characters. The links in this table are a good place to start. After that, it depends on how thorough you want to be.

[chinopinyin]

Thanks a lot for your suggestions.

Has anybody used Learning Chinese Characters from Ms. Zhang?

and Tuttle's 250 Essential Chinese Characters for Everyday Use?

[Hofmann]

I have the possibly related Reading & writing Chinese: Traditional character edition by McNaughton and Ying. If you want an education that just works, it will give you about average native speaker levels of character proficiency, which is good enough for most people. However, if you're considering buying it or any textbooks like it, I'd recommend against it (unless you have a shitload of money). It would probably be better for you to just use a normal textbook which teaches the whole language, instead of one aimed at foreign language students that focuses on writing characters.

Why? Because if you're going to get detailed information about writing characters, you might as well get good information. Such information is rare in English, so you're currently stuck with Chinese sources like this, which will have to wait until you can understand spoken Mandarin.

[JenniferW]

'Edelweis' pointed out that for the writing test in HSK 3 you don't need to be able to write all the characters in the vocabulary list for level 3. I've recently taken the new HSK level 3 and I agree.

I would advise you to download the vocabulary list for level 1, and learn to write those characters. Then add the characters for level 2. From the level 3 list, you can see that it's very unlikely you will have to write some of them.

Also, have you looked at the level 3 writing test?

The first part combines grammar and writing. You're given a list of characters and you have to re-order them to make a grammatically correct sentence. You have to copy the characters - putting them in the correct order. Because you're thinking about the grammar problem, this makes correct copying more difficult. If you really don't know the character well, you'll be more inclined to make writing errors (wrong strokes, missing strokes, etc). But this type of writing test is easier than a traditional dictation, for example.

The second part of the test gives you sentences with gaps in - but you're given the missing word in pinyin. Some of these will be homophones. So this is a harder test of writing - choosing the correct character as well as writing it correctly.

But the total number of characters you write in the test is very small. Your present goal is really not too enormous a task.

[character]

If you want to get a feel for how to catch the nuances of writing Chinese characters, I recommend:

Learn to Write Chinese Characters (Yale Language Series) by Johan Bjorksten

I'm not an visual artist, and have poor handwriting. This book was a great help in learning how to produce correct characters and not gibberish.

[chinopinyin]

Good suggestions all around. Some questions:

1. How many times do you recommend writing each character? Is 100 times enough? My idea is to first learn characters by tracing them and then start to write them from memory.

2. From the mock tests I've seen, new HSK level 3 requires two differentes types of exercices

a. Writing some simple characters. Starting from those in the HSK 1 list seems a good idea.

b. Reordering sentences. I think I'll have to practice copying HSK 3 sentences.

Are you given enough time in the written part of the exam?

3. Should I practice with a pen (as in new HSK exams)/ballpoint pen/fountain pen?

4. Skritter will help you learn how to write with a mouse on a screen. But is it useful for handwriting?

5. Will Heisig book teach you how to write? I thought it was aimed at helping to recognize characters?

I'll try to have a look at Assimil, Bjorksten and McNaughton and Ying (if there is an edition with simplified chaaracters)

Nciku is great

[Chinadoog]

I usually write out each new character 10-20 times. 100 just seems like a waste of time IMO. I also have an ANKI deck where it shows me the pinyin and definition in english, and then I test myself to see if I can write the character from memory. This is a really good method.

[chinopinyin]

The idea of using an SRS method to help you learn how to write is great!

[Glenn]

5. Will Heisig book teach you how to write? I thought it was aimed at helping to recognize characters?

It's all about remembering the writings and meanings. So, yes, it will teach you how to write.

[Hofmann]

If your objective is to learn the character (i.e. its components, where the components are placed, and what it means) I recommend writing each character less than 5 times, but only if you have adequately examined it. If you haven't examined it, 100 times won't be helpful. The writing instruments you listed all behave in pretty much the same way. Skritter is useful for handwriting, but not as useful as writing with a pen. There is a Simplified character edition of McNaughton and Ying.

[chinopinyin]

Does a character stick in your memory by writing it less than 5 times (if you examine it thoroughly)? Really?

[Hofmann]

Does a character stick in your memory by writing it less than 5 times (if you examine it thoroughly)? Really?

It usually doesn't even take writing for me.