1. Have you ever wondered how many Chinese characters there are? Can you guess?

2. How old do you think the oldest Chinese characters are?

3. If you wanted to learn Chinese characters, what do you think would be the best way to start?

M at Hello again! Today, we're talking about Chinese characters! As we may already know, Chinese characters have a long and rich history, and are an essential part of the Chinese language and culture. Today, I'll be asking some important questions about this fascinating aspect of Chinese culture. Let's start with the basics. How many Chinese characters are there? Is it hundreds? Thousands?

J ocelyn Well, the thing about Chinese characters is that there are a lot of them. Like, seriously, a LOT. The exact number is kind of hard to say, but it's somewhere in the region of 50,000 to 60,000 characters.

And, of course, you don't need to know all of them to be able to read and write in Chinese. In fact, you only need to know a few thousand to be considered literate . But still, it's kind of crazy to think about just how many characters are out there!

M at So, if there are over 50,000 of them, I guess they've been around for a long time. I don't think they are a modern invention, are they? So, tell me something about the history of Chinese characters.

J ocelyn Chinese characters have a fascinating history that goes way back in time. The earliest known examples of Chinese characters were carved onto bones and other objects during the Shang Dynasty , which was over 3,000 years ago! And these characters were originally pictographs , which means they looked like pictures of the things they represented. For example, the Chinese character for “sun” originally looked like a circle with a dot in the middle, representing the image of the sun. And the character for “tree” looked like a simple drawing of a tree, with roots, a trunk, and branches. Over time, the characters evolved and became more complex. And today, some characters look like the things they represent, but many have evolved into more complicated characters.

M at As someone who grew up with English as a first language, I am very familiar with the English writing system—ABC, spelling. You learn the alphabet, and then you can read words, even new words—words you've never seen before. You can sound out each letter and then say the word, even when you don't know what it means. Now, can we do this with Chinese characters?

J ocelyn Well, when it comes to writing systems, Chinese and English are pretty different. The big thing is that Chinese uses characters that represent whole words or ideas, while English uses letters that stand for sounds—and these sounds make up the word. It's definitely easier to sound out new words in English because you learn the alphabet, and then you can say the letters to read a word or say it out loud. But when it comes to Chinese characters, it's a little different. Chinese characters don't really follow the same rules as English words, and we can't just sound them out based on the characters themselves or the lines within the character. Instead, each character represents a word or an idea, and they're often made up of multiple parts that give us a clue about the meaning. So, yeah, it's quite different. When we learn a Chinese character, we have to learn how to read and write it, what it means, and how to pronounce it, and then we have to remember all these elements.

M at Yeah, that sounds much more challenging than learning the English alphabet. Now, when I look at Chinese dictionaries and textbooks, I often see something like “traditional characters” or “simplified characters.” So, what's the difference between traditional and simplified Chinese characters?

J ocelyn OK, that is a good question. There are two types of Chinese characters: traditional and simplified. Traditional characters are the older version of the characters, and they're still used in some parts of China—for example, in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao. But most people nowadays use simplified characters, and these are kind of like a newer version that was introduced in the 1950s to make writing easier and faster.

The main difference between the two types of characters is that simplified characters have fewer strokes than traditional characters—fewer lines. And this means they're generally quicker and easier to write. For example, the traditional character for “horse” ( 馬 ) has ten strokes, while the simplified version ( 马 ) has only three strokes.

So, if you're learning Chinese, it's important to know that both traditional and simplified characters exist, but you'll find simplified characters much easier to learn and use, especially if you're just starting to learn Chinese.

M at OK, so finally then, let's give some advice to anyone thinking of learning Chinese characters. How can I learn Chinese characters?

J ocelyn Oh, you want to learn Chinese characters? That's awesome! It's definitely not the easiest thing in the world, but with the right approach, you can totally do it.

First of all, start with the basics. Learn the most commonly used characters first, like numbers, colours, and simple everyday objects.

Another tip is to use visual flashcards . You can make your own or use an app or website with pre-made digital ones. Flashcards are great for memorisation, and they'll help you learn characters faster. Learning Chinese characters requires a lot of memorisation, so it's a good idea to use some tools to help us.

But you have to practise writing them out by hand, too. So, get a notebook and a pen, and start copying these characters down. It may feel tedious at first, but the more you practise, the better you will get.