Making Chinese Words Easy
Chinese words have a reputation of being hard, especially thanks to the character-based writing system. Indeed, some learners complain that Chinese words are a 3-headed monster with its meaning, sound and character not necessarily providing clues for each other, making the association difficult. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. Chinese words are often intuitive and there are tips and tricks you can use to remember them. In “Lost Abroad” the game, we use all the following techniques to help you learn and memorize Chinese characters and words.
Picture-based Characters
Chinese characters are picture based and, after some training, you will find many words easy to understand. For example, numbers 1-3 are simply strokes: 一 (yī), i.e., one, is just one stroke. 二 (èr), i.e., two, is just two strokes. And 三 (sān), i.e., three, you guessed it, is just three strokes. Easy peasy. Of course, not all characters are this simple. For example, the word for “tea”, 茶 (chá), seems much more complicated. However, if you look closely (see illustration below), the top part of the character represents tea leaves while the bottom is a house with a roof. So the character actually depicts the tea drying process as Chinese people used to dry fresh tea leaves on the roof of their homes.
Meaning-based Words
Different cultures form words differently and Chinese is particularly fun because of how literal it often is. For instance, the Chinese word for “cellphone”, 手机 (shǒu jī), literally means “hand machine”, which is pretty fitting, though giving off a Transformers’ vibe lol. Another word, 企鹅 (qǐ é), which means “penguin”, literally means “business goose”, since penguins look like they are wearing a black business suit over a white shirt. How vivid! Once you discover the meaning of these fun words, you’ll have trouble ever forgetting them!
“Memory Palace” Technique
Memory Palace is a way that learners use to creatively associate the meaning, the shape or the sound of characters or words. This technique is particularly useful for more abstract concepts and offers unlimited opportunities for personalization as each learner can come up with something unique to them based on their own imagination and personal experience. For example, in Chinese, both “I” and “me” are 我 (wǒ), which can be perfectly memorized by the English phrase “Woe is me.“ When you play the “Lost Abroad” game and come across a new word, you can click on it to open the learning interface (see below). There, you will see the word’s pinyin, character(s), meaning, and the buttons to play the word at varying speeds. If you click on the button that says “Show Fun Facts“, you will see an example of “Memory Palace” we provide to help you memorize the word. It aims to make your learning experience easier and more enjoyable but if you can come up with something better yourself please be our guest and use your own!
In sum, Chinese words can look daunting but with the right techniques, they are actually quite fun to learn! And our job at “Lost Abroad” is to teach you these techniques so you will master Chinese words effortlessly.
