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Language Learning › Learn Chinese (Mandarin) ›

214 Kangxi Radicals

The 214 Kangxi radicals (康熙部首, Kāngxī bùshǒu) are the indexing system for Chinese characters, established in the 1716 Kangxi Dictionary. Every character is classified under one radical. Why Learn Radicals Dictionary lookup — Traditional method for looking up characters without knowing their pronunciation Pattern recognition — Group ~50,000 characters into 214 families Meaning hints — Semantic radicals indicate the meaning category of a character Memory scaffold — Learn 214 units...
chinese radicals hanzi kangxi characters May 30, 2026
Language Learning › Learn Chinese (Mandarin) › Skills ›

Hanzi (Characters)

Hanzi (汉字, hànzì) — Chinese characters — are the writing system of Chinese. Unlike alphabets, which map symbols to sounds, Chinese characters are logographic: each character represents a morpheme (a meaningful unit), with pronunciation encoded separately (sometimes within the character itself, sometimes not at all). Chinese is the only major living writing system that is logographic. Learning it requires explicit study in a way that learning, say, Spanish script does...
chinese mandarin hanzi characters radicals stroke-order May 30, 2026
Language Learning ›

Learn Chinese (Mandarin)

Mandarin Chinese is spoken by ~1.1 billion native speakers. This guide covers everything from zero to C2 — HSK vocabulary, grammar patterns, all six skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing, tones, characters), and the best apps, textbooks, and resources. Quick Start (Week 1) Install Pleco — the essential Chinese dictionary app (free, iOS/Android) Learn Pinyin — the romanization system; 2–4 weeks of focused study Master the 4 tones — non-negotiable from...
chinese mandarin language-learning hsk pinyin hanzi May 30, 2026
Language Learning › Learn Chinese (Mandarin) ›

Skills

Mandarin Chinese has six core skill areas. Unlike European languages, three of them — Tones, Pinyin, and Hanzi — are foundational prerequisites that English speakers must explicitly study. The rest (Grammar, Listening, Speaking) develop more naturally through input and practice but have their own challenges. The Six Skills at a Glance Skill Description Difficulty Page Tones Mandarin uses 4 tones + a neutral tone. Same syllable, different pitch = different...
chinese mandarin skills tones pinyin hanzi grammar listening speaking May 30, 2026