How Chinese Characters Work

[@MandarinBlueprint]

418 Must-know Mandarin Phrases👉🏼 Download the FREE pdf now: mandarinbp.com/418-phrases-yt ✅WATCH THESE NEXT 99 Must-know Chinese Words & Phrases▶ ▶kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXLKiXhmn9iofbs Mandarin Pronunciation Guide ▶ ▶ kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJ3Ee2RoqdKnq5Y

[@SunilDachmann-mg7mm]

Thank you so much this really helps me on my learning journey

[@w0ttheh3ll]

I downloaded the 418 phrases, but the Traverse app seems very unintuitive and a bit buggy. I got pretty frustrated until I figured out the basic functionality of reviewing the flash cards. Also note that the offer page on your website still promises Anki cards at the bottom ... that I would have preferred.

[@sunsjac599]

I am a Chinese living in America, and I am much impressed by watching this video for the first time. It is very well planned for those who want to learn the Chinese. This could be a door opener as a new way to learn the language.

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Thanks for the good review!

[@ThePopolong]

But there are errors about how are radicals are used in Chinese, knowing where is the main radical that is like the radical in indo-european languages, help a lot to memorize characters. Like 鱼(鳗 eel, 鲸 whale, 鱿，etc) used for fishes base names,木 for trees (松，枇杷，橄榄树...), 竹 for objects made of bamboo (笔 pen,笼 (long, used to steam baozi or cantonese dimsum, etc) 肉(looks like 月 in simplfied shape, slightly different in traditional) for all organs, 脑(brain),肌(muscle),肝(liver),腰... etc for organs. 虫 for insects (虾 shrimp, 蝴蝶 butterfly, etc)...

[@peteyhy]

As a Chinese (Singaporean) , even ourselves would struggle to pick up the language when we start school, it's all rote learning. The love of the language will make learning much easier. Immersion is the key to learning a difficult language like Chinese. Blend in with Chinese speaking communities will definitely enhance the mastery of the language.

[@revolution1237]

I'm sure you already know this, but you do have one (a Chinese-speaking community), and they're on your doorstep.

[@ranawaqar7140]

Can you help me for learning Chinese

[@peteyhy]

@@revolution1237 in Singapore, it's a unique situation. Mandarin is only taught in schools and is commonly encouraged to use when communicating with teachers or with fellow classmates. You are right to say among those who are Chinese. The best is other racial groups like indians and Malays learned some from the Chinese. My parents are born in the 40s, Mandarin are only taught in Chinese schools but since Singapore education has evolved to have everyone learn English as well, to be proficient in both mother tongue (Chinese, Malay or Tamil) is the main objective. Not sure about other languages, but. Mandarin is quite a tough nut to crack, even as a Chinese, it feels like another language, because we use mainly dialects at home. Our parents learned from us to speak Mandarin, those they have lost touched years ago.

[@Carbuncle0168]

​@@peteyhy if you love Xi Jinping or BRICS or have a Mainland Chinese girlfriend, then it'll be easier to learn Chinese

[@peteyhy]

@@Carbuncle0168 there's no need to. Singapore has good Chinese teachers.

[@RitaZ0518]

As a Chinese adult, if I were asked to teach foreigners Chinese, I honestly wouldn’t know where to start. Your video reminded me of my elementary school Chinese classes-this is pretty much how Chinese kids learn to recognize characters. Really well done, thumbs up to you!

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Thank you!

[@samwaldorf8777]

why does it remind me of trying to communicate in binary or computer code? the script and language seem extremely inefficient. it's almost like using "tally marks" to count, instead of using a base 10 numerical system of denotation.

[@Mark-ot4ub]

I have passed the HSK level three exam and this is by far the best description that I have seen so far for how Hanzi components function. Excellent, thanks.

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Glad it was helpful! Thank you for your kind words

[@islandgirl9479]

​@@MandarinBlueprint Can you do a video regarding the differences between the Portuguese language vs Cape Verdian creole Language? I understand the Spanish language better some of their words sound just like ours and some French & Italian words also.. Is it because the Romance language comes from Italy, Spain, France, Romania and Portugal ??? Thank you in advance ☺️

[@EdMcF1]

When I was a scientist in England, in my department were a Chinese scientist and a Japanese scientist, neither had at that point a strong command of technical English. I watched as they were having a technical discussion in English and both reached the end of their language and were 'stuck', so the Japanese guy grabbed a pen and paper and he wrote out in kanji what he wanted to get across, the Chinese scientist looked at what he'd written and understood immediately and wrote down a reply, which was also understood. If they'd spoken in their respective mother tongues, they'd've got nowhere.

[@da3m0nic_79]

Truly interesting

[@Al-waqwaq]

漢字における高級語彙は日本語も中国語もほぼ同じなので、専門的分野になればなるほど意思疎通が可能となる

[@metric7278]

it's called 筆談 Brushtalk

[@misslen575]

As someone who is both learning kanji and improving my mandarin, this is very true, a lot of the kanji and its meaning comes from mandarin but the pronunciation/sound is completely different Eg: 出口 deguchi is japanese, and in Chinese its chukou, both mean exit Of course, there are borrowed characters with completely different meaning and pronunciation like 先生 mandarin= xianshen, sir, mister Jap= sensei, teacher, professor

[@testxxxx123]

@@Al-waqwaq Indeed, me a Chinese person, who didn't know Japanese in particular, could understand majority of this sentence lol. So I agree.

[@itstheLittleThings9]

i dont have the best memory, but i am dedicated to learning Chinese, I find it really helps to study the history of the language and the strokes, as you can finally satisfy that monkey in your brain who asks “but why do I have to say it like this” best of luck to anyone learning and don’t stop, great video thank you!

[@voxifera2300]

What have you been using to learn it? I’m definitely interested!

[@leesnotbritish5386]

Just messed around on that dictionary, the word “beautiful” uses the components for “big” and “sheep” and I love that

[@gusslee8415]

That’s true. Our teachers have said that “羊大为美”, which means in ancient China a big sheep is great.😂

[@mattdavis4701]

So how do you actually say or write big sheep LOL

[@eduardmanecuta5350]

​@@mattdavis4701That's a good point. Maybe they use the character for "sheep" two times? Or maybe they use the character for "animal", "sheep" and "big" to make the distinction?

[@BoLi-rl1fu]

​@@mattdavis4701大means big,羊mean sheep,美means beautiful,its a cobination of big and sheep,but when it become a character, will have a independent meaning，it does't have any meaning connection with big or sheep, if you want to say a big sheep, it's 大羊

[@anemos_uenh]

​@@mattdavis4701 big is 大, sheep is 羊, big sheep is 大羊. 美 is up and down combination of 大 and 羊, which is an independent character

[@scanvil3766]

i started chinese with duolingo 9 days ago and because of this 15:33 i finally understand why 叫 looks the way it does. this is so helpful for future reference. i noticed just yesterday, that 她 (she/her) and 妈 (mother) share that symbol on the left and i thought "woah maybe this indicates "female". and i realized drink and eat also share the mouth symbol on the left. amazing explanation. thank you so much!

[@1997zqy]

Yes, the left part is “女”, which means female or a woman. Another basic character contains 女 is 好(good). 女(a woman) has a 子(son) means 好(good).

[@MandarinBlueprint]

You are most welcome! We are glad we were able to help. Here's a gift from us . Here are a few resources to assist you with your study www.mandarinblueprint.com/resources/

[@qlyx-cn]

I study Japanese and Cantonese with Duolingo too！I’m Chinese, if you learned Chinese, you’ll find it very simple to learn Japanese.

[@1997zqy]

@@markpalmer8083 you can just remember it as a whole, and no need to think too much about it.

[@garyyuan6388]

There was no 她 in the history until 20 centuries.

[@CloudHan-han]

The oldest languages in the world, such as ancient Egypt, ancient India, and ancient Babylon, have all been lost, and their cultures have also been disrupted. The Chinese language of the same era has been passed down, so much so that modern Chinese scholars can study cultural relics from 5000 years ago. A language with such a long history is worth exploring and learning, and Chinese is the language with the simplest grammar!

[@samwaldorf8777]

nah, it's too inefficient. it's like trying to speak in binary or computer code.

[@voxifera2300]

@@samwaldorf8777nah that’s a skill issue, even children can learn it. Clearly it’s perfectly understandable amongst speakers and people can learn it as adults, so it’s more complicated for you but not necessarily other people

[@samwaldorf8777]

@ no, it is actually considered the most "complicated language" according to most experts. however, english has the most words in its vocabulary. why the discrepancy? well, i already said. it is about memorization of independent functions, not adaptive chronological order. all languages have the standards for particular functions, but the most limited parameters tend to be the easiest to learn(hence pidgin). the chinese pendulum swings completely in the opposite direction and complicates language and writing to an extreme degree. again, it's like trying to speak and write in binary code.

[@tapeNJ]

I don't know a thing about Chinese characters, but when I was a young guy I asked a friend who spoke and wrote Chinese very well what it was all about. He said, "Imagine that two lines could mean 'some trees, or woods'. Now imagine that 4-5 of the same lines now means 'forest'... it's kinda like that." Thank you, Bing, all these years later. I wish you well!

[@davidbroadfoot1864]

FYI, it takes four strokes to represent a "tree". Two (or three or five) of those tree pictograms represent a "forest".

[@johnhe2908]

木 means tree or wood 林 means forest 森 means big forest 森林 aslo the same meaning as 森

[@山阿ShanE]

@@johnhe2908 人 means people 从 means follow 众 means a crowd

[@mariagomez5879]

Most chinese adults cannot write their own characters 😅

[@piaohei5984]

@@mariagomez5879 你这是哪年的数据

[@timcent7199]

I applaud your positivity but you can reassure as much as you like. Chinese is waaaaay beyond convoluted. I learned to read, write and speak Dutch, self taught, in 3 months. Chinese will take me 3 centuries.

[@MandarinBlueprint]

We beg to differ :) I'd encourage you to check out the following www.mandarinblueprint.com/blog/chinese-fluency-with-mandarin-blueprint/ . Learning Chinese doesn't have to take 3 centuries and you'll see why once you read the above .

[@susa1373]

With the help of CangJie chinese input method(cim) atttached in the chinese computer invented by Mr. Ju BoonFu from Taiwan in 1979, the cim which incorporates all(>100000) Chinese words in history gives you 114(5th gen) radicals(fundamental strokes and their combinations "parts") to help input chinese as well as to act as learning helper. The radicals are like the alphabets in english. 114 radicals are catagorised into 24 groups represented by 24 CJ(label on key) codes and each is assigned a key for input chinese. CJcim is supported in all languages version of MS-Windows and mobile, and it is free. You need to turn it on in "SETTING". 【penetratingly cutting out the left(of paratactic)/top(of stacked)/out(of surrounded) block, get 1st & last code】repeat; max 2 cut into 3 blocks giving 5 codes. -> lead to ●4 formats: 4--, 23-, 221, 212. (number=max qty of radicals in corresponding block) eg 覆=format221=[1st last][1st last][ last]=cut-block[覀][彳][复]=pick-radical[一 囗][ノ亻][ 又]=code[一 田][竹人][ 水]=type一田竹人水, this coding method is corresponding to : covering=format221=[1st last][1st last][ last]=cut-syllable[co][ver][ing]=pick-letter[co][v r][ g]=code[co][v r][ g]=type covrg. ●鳥=4--=[1st 2nd 3rd last]=cut-block[鳥]=pick-radical[ノ曰卜 灬]=code[竹日卜 火]=type 竹日卜火(=key location hayf) ●買=23-=[1st last][1st 2nd last]=cut-block[罒][貝]=pick-radical[囗 丨][月凵ハ]=code[田 中][月山金]=type 田中月山金(=key location wlbuc) ●賣=221=[1st last][1st last][last]=cut-block[士][罒][貝]=pick-radical[士][囗~丨][~ハ]=code[土][田 中][ 金]=type 土田中金(=key location gwlc) ●蓮=212=[1st last][1st][1st last]=cut-block[艹][辶][車]=pick-radical[艹][辶][十~十]=code[廿][卜][十 十]=type 廿卜十十(=key location tyjj) (chinese words are stroke-glyph/writng leading phone/speech, not like spelling languages phone/speechk leading morph-glyph/writing. Instead of using phonetic coding like HanYuPinYin or ZhuYin-BoPoMoFo which is wrong way to type chinese and learn chinese, we should use glyphic coding, especially CangJie to type.)

[@RussellCatchpole]

Chinese writing maybe difficult to learn (I only know one character), but the spoken language isn't as hard as people make out. The grammar is far easier than English for a start. I'm really enjoying learning to speak Cantonese, which apparently is harder to master than Mandarin.

[@leisulin]

The other thing I find so fascinating and aesthetically pleasing about Chinese characters is how different components deform themselves to accommodate the other components when they are used together to produce a new character. Remember: they all are designed to fit inside a square of the same size as all the other characters, no matter how many components are combined. A simple example is the character consisting of two trees side by side: 林. It may look just like two trees, but if you look closely you'll see that the right-hand side of the left-hand tree has its right-hand downward branch stunted to enable the trees to stand close together without bumping into each other or overlapping in any way at all. When two or more components are combined to form a character, they NEVER overlap each other, as far as I can tell. Instead, the components squish together in some fashion, while still making visible what each component is. My favorite is this character: 雀 ("sparrow"). (It's a little hard to see what's what at this font size. If you copy and paste these into a larger font, it becomes much clearer). The two components are 小 ("small") and 隹 ("short-tailed bird"--yes, it's a radical!). The "small" component sits on top of the short-tailed-bird radical, squishing it flat, to form the full character for "sparrow"! It's really interesting and beautiful how the forms of classical Chinese characters of multiple components are formed!

[@jiayilim1986]

雀 is one of the most commonly used component in Chinese characters I have ever seen. 雙 確 蕉 谁 推 準 應 鹰. Sometimes it gives the meaning, sometimes the sound. It's more apparent in older dialects like Cantonese or Hokkien.

[@leisulin]

@@bonbonpony And 人 abbreviates itself to 亻 to become the left side of many, many characters, and 肉 shrinks itself to become the left side of 肌, and 入 "opens wide" to admit 肉 in 肏! And no doubt other examples as well.

[@leisulin]

@@bonbonpony I think it's a matter of two different-looking ancient forms which evolved from their earlier pictographic forms to ultimately look exactly the same, but are otherwise unrelated. There is a very good book that traces the pictographic forms through the "grass style" forms and their history to how they ended up: "Chinese Characters: Their Origin, Etymology, History, Classification, and Signification: A Thorough Study from Chinese Documents". I have a copy at home but I'm traveling now, or else I'd look it up in that book. I think it would almost certainly clarify the evolution of these characters into their modern form.

[@ibut713]

I'm Chinese,actually 肏 this character is now so rarely used that many Chinese people don't recognize it , and its meaning has been replaced by 操 or 草 ，I'm surprised you know that character😮​@@leisulin

[@voxifera2300]

Wow, this actually helped me understand how to read these characters and make meaning out of them, thank you so much!

[@TheSwiftMagician]

I LOVE this one. I was stuck with the old radical ideas, but this seems so much more ordered. 謝謝你

[@Junaiia]

You said xiè xie ni3(third tone)

[@orion8764]

you did a fantastic job in explaining what every other course, video or site has failed to say. i can finally understand it now!!

[@conho4898]

Japanese also simplified their Kanji, called Shinjitai. Their traditional forms are called Kyuujitai.

[@maxheadroom1506]

Japanese you can get away without the writing and it is actually a lot easier to learn.

[@チーニーズ-y1j]

@@maxheadroom1506 Chinese can too, it's called Pinyin. And trust me Japanese is way harder than Chinese given the culture background.

[@maxheadroom1506]

i tried mandarin could not do it. tried japanese was able to form sentences and distinguish words. sure there is certain endings one must use but one can get their message across. to me japanese is way easier. very simple structure no pronouns just a no bs language. @@チーニーズ-y1j

[@jiayilim1986]

​@@maxheadroom1506It's easier until everything looks like ははははながすきだ. You'll learn to appreciate Kanji as you progress, and I say this as a Chinese speaker who has been learning Japanese for years.

[@jiayilim1986]

​​​@@チーニーズ-y1jChinese characters may be nightmarish, but everything in pinyin would be utter hell. Think about poems, which are meant to be read. The amount of homophones in Chinese already scares me. If they all look the same, that wouldn't be a usable language anymore.

[@potatoproud]

This is the first video i watch and I went to put like but i was surprised by the fact that its just 600 the video is amazing and the delivery of the ideas is clear and amazing it helped me alot to understand the origin of the characters and not just memorizing it blindly plus the man also have calm beautiful voice 😄its a great a channel and am glad that dicovered it

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Hey there, Thank you so much for your kind words, we appreciate it. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any upcoming videos :)

[@ThePopolong]

no radicals are not randoms, radicals are used in top, left or around to categorize characters, the other part to differentiate names in the category, and/or for pronunciation

[@jeanyuan9852]

Thank you for your presentation and this is a wonderful show. Chinese is an integral part of Chinese culture, learning Chinese entails understanding Chinese culture. Have a wonderful journey of learning and appreciating Chinese. Thanks again

[@jonseilim4321]

Learn Chinese by leaning your passions, for me that's lyrics to songs or lines of poetry or even subtitles in dramas, there's no need to force one's self into rote memorization

[@deniaridley]

True! (That goes for every language of course.)

[@Dionn743]

I’m OBSESSED with Chinese web novels at Mtl limits my access so would learning pinyin and the radical for the most common words be good ?

[@ananda_miaoyin]

Singing was a great tool for learning Spanish for me. That and some semesters in college. And living in California.

[@Dionn743]

@@ananda_miaoyin I wanna learn Spanish too 😫 but I prefer Puerto Rican songs and artist than Mexican like un beso and I want a Mexican dialect

[@ananda_miaoyin]

@@Dionn743 Juan Gabriel was my favorite of the Mexican singers. Also, the band, Mana kicks ass. I saw them in concert. So good. Their Mexican Spanish is so clean, you can understand every word. I don't know any PR groups; DR has some hardcore reggaeton (Lapiz Conciente, Toni Nash, etc.) and a crazy accent!

[@janlloyd6138]

You are great, this is something I will watch over and over. The pronounciation and the characters of mandarin Chinese fascinate me. I read somewhere there is actually no limit to the characters in Chinese which I think really sparked my interest to begin with. Thank you so much.

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching

[@mastersquishy2388]

this was the most effective ad i swear to god 😭😭 got me clicking all the links

[@MandarinBlueprint]

We're happy to hear that! We hope you keep enjoying our content!

[@vegtab6556]

"A home is a roof and under the roof some family members" The family member in the Chinese character 家: A PIG🤣

[@graciegolding9508]

@@vegtab6556 yeah Pigs roamed freely. Imagine fitting the entire family under that roof. That character would be really complex and silly. I can visualize it.

[@asqwer8]

family property, not family member

[@esayasnida4553]

I am interested learning Chinese recently and I'm fascinating by it. I hope my ADHD brain will help me to connect dots to understand the language better. Because that's what we do we can dissect words and look beyond their face value. thanks for incredible explanation.

[@MandarinBlueprint]

You got this! Good luck!

[@arsenyprokhorenko8649]

Beautiful explanation, very thorough and well-rounded. Thank you!

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Thank you for your kind words! We appreciate you supporting the channel

[@MissNulis]

Thank you for making this content!! This maps the jungle well, making it look less wild and easier to navigate. This helps me to memorize hanzi much easier now!!!

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Glad to help!

[@mianhaeioi]

If you are studying Mandarin, learning the traditional form of the most common characters is highly recommended! For example, the character for 'door' is more recognizable in its traditional form than the simplified form. Good luck to all - Chinese language and culture is so much fun to learn and experience!

[@RaymondHng]

門 = 门 問 = 问

[@fireflyd-q3v]

not really, you learn a language is to use it, simplified chinese is more easy to learn and more wild used.

[@mianhaeioi]

@@fireflyd-q3v are you recommending people NOT learn more about the intricacies of the Chinese language? 🤔

[@fireflyd-q3v]

yes, the purpose of learn a foreign language is to use it, not because those so called intricacies to feel superior than those simplified version. when you master the simplified version like those locals, you will realize from simplified to traditional is very easy@@mianhaeioi

[@mianhaeioi]

@@fireflyd-q3v Stick to the basics. Got it.

[@evanl6819]

Not currently learning Chinese but I’ve always been very interested in how the language and its writing system works, this is very informative

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Happy to help

[@gibee624]

You gotta post more. I love your content man.

[@bryanvanloo5454]

I have been in China for 12 years learning the language, as an English teacher. Your explanations in every video are by far the very best I have ever experienced. I have downloaded every single one of them and will be turning colleagues on to them this coming semester... and the links to advance as well. Thank you so very much for sharing your talent for teaching the Chinese language in all forms.

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Thank you so much for your kind words! We're thrilled to hear that our explanations have been so helpful to you. It's wonderful that you're sharing them with your colleagues as well. We're here to support you every step of the way on your Chinese language journey. If you ever have any questions or need further resources, don't hesitate to reach out. Happy learning!

[@Nagalipton]

This was very helpful, thank you! I'm learning Japanese rather than Chinese, but this is still useful since Kanji are just Chinese characters effectively. Learning how they break down makes the task of learning them much more manageable.

[@jiayilim1986]

Very much. I got so much better at writing Chinese characters after studying the history and evolution of 1000 Chinese characters from a kid's book (?)

[@engyeefoong4080]

The word 海 actually tends to be compound ideograph. 氵 means water , 每 means every，when combined 海 is where every drop of water ends up to be, namely sea.

[@HFG]

Armed with all of this knowledge, I still have no idea what it means lol. I don't have a reason to learn Chinese but this was still fascinating.

[@wesleylee4962]

A Chinese individual, as a kindness, taught me the Chinese character of my family name "Lee". Years later, another Individual taught me the definition of the "Building Blocks". This video has re kindled my curiosity re: Chinese "Writing" plus added details of which I didn't have a clue. At 77 years old, I now have a body of knowledge to explore. Excellent Video

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Thank you!

[@weigangfu8826]

作为一个母语者，我也觉得你的视频挺有意思的，讲的很清楚

[@dubo-i8p]

宝宝贴贴🥰

[@mattdavis4701]

My gosh that is alot of symbols for very little number of words.

[@Iris梁]

@@mattdavis4701because Chinese is very effective, sometimes a sentence will end in just a few characters.中文效率高，有时候一句话几个字就完了。 See?

[@mistSEVEN]

@@mattdavis4701 正是如此

[@KneelBeforeBlue]

Tiur first example waa awesome. Structure is everything. You ened to find the key not memorize characters/alphabet

[@杜-j4q]

I want to study English,if someone wants to learn Chinese,we can learn from each other.

[@UnraveledwithJoy]

Hey I speak English and have been looking for someone to practice Chinese with

[@杜-j4q]

@@UnraveledwithJoy We can help each other ，I am following you

[@BellaYudikay]

Hello, drop your classin Id so I can add you up.

[@abdigaiye715]

I don't want to study Chinese. It's not that I don't want to, but I can't. It is very complicated with more than 70,000 words.

[@杜-j4q]

@@BellaYudikay What app do you use for communication

[@valcone]

Just started to learn chinese because of work, i will travel to harbin in february, damn it is hard but fun and interesting to learn, i am glad that i discovered your channel, i hope i can have some little conversations when i am there 🙏🏼

[@MandarinBlueprint]

We're so glad you found our channel and are excited to learn Chinese for your trip to Harbin! It can definitely feel challenging at first, but it's great that you're enjoying the process. If you want a kickstart, be sure to check out our MB Challenge, where you can master the basics of Chinese in just 30 days-for FREE. Here's the link : www.mandarinblueprint.com/mb-lite/

[@Muslim_Lady]

This video is awesome. Your explanation of how Chinese characters work makes it easier to learn and understand, it also makes it sound more fun, especially the compound ideographs. Thank you for this.

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Glad it was helpful!

[@theamesavenue9834]

This is pretty cool. I love how the evolution of cultures and scripts were different and followed totally different paths in different parts of the world as a result of thousands of years of isolation. Latin, Indian, Arabic are different writing systems on their own. And then there is East Asian writing system which is a whole different unique and fascinating thing of its own!

[@ibrahimferit9567]

I loved this video as you said it yourself it demystified the ideas I had. I hope I have enough time someday to learn chinese.

[@scottnj2503]

Working for a Korean corp, I've strived to learn how to effectively communicate in English. Admiring/respecting my Korean co-workers read, write and speak at least 2 languages. Most able to read Chinese. I regularly butcher my birth tongue English, the only language. This post sheds light and insight I find valuable. Language, both written and spoken are directly correlated to thought process and culture. Thank you.

[@MandarinBlueprint]

You are most welcome :)

[@yoongzy]

Looking at the Chinese Periodic Table of Elements you'll understand why the semantic-phonetic compounds can be very useful sometimes to identify the properties of the characters.

[@mordshu3144]

不仅如此，在有机化学中往往可以根据汉字的结构推测化合物拥有的结构。比如一个化合物的中文名汉字中有“口”这个偏旁，那往往意味着这个化合物有环状结构。例如最简单的含氧五元杂环化合物“furan”，它的中文是“呋喃”。

[@jiayilim1986]

Yep, at that point they just function to give sound.

[@tomheinemann7616]

Xie xie ni! I have been living 8 years in China, now 3 years in Malaysia, always struggling with structuring the characters. And of course tried many courses like rocket-chinese, chinese 101, others, even tried the teaching by my Chinese wife - but had to learn, Chinese learn by "learning", not by understanding. My German mind always needs to understand. Your explanation is brilliant. Never got so much valid info to the structure and meaning of characters as in this 15 min. You reactivated my desire to learn more and learn writing. And by the way, you are a super positive character, really motivating.

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Thank you! We are glad you found our video helpful. Thanks for watching. If you have any questions or need help with anything, definitely let us know.

[@amrismail921]

Man , thank you so much for your videos , really helpful One request please , don't remove the characters so fast when you are explaining them , you can keep them on the screen while talking , this will really help people spend enough time to memorize and inspect the character details Thank you

[@MandarinBlueprint]

We're happy to hear you like the videos! Thanks for the feedback, we'll consider it for future videos!

[@Tardus89]

Here because of Red Note😂

[@AuthenticwandererINFP]

4:05 I have watched one other video by a Chinese person who claimed that actually relying on looking for a phonetic or semantic hint is not always reliable quite a lot of time because of the evolution the characters have undergone, meaning that at one time the components may have had relevant meanings , but no so now , as you went on to explain with one of your examples in the video

[@StardustAnlia]

It took me until third grade to accurately pick up English letters ( bs and ds). I relearned Hebrew letters in 2 weeks and assimilated Hebrew script in 3 days. I look at Chinese characters and completely forget them as soon as I look away. At this point I just have to admit it’s in my blood.

[@Klaus293]

I have no idea how I stumbled upon this video, but it’s very interesting! I didn’t have anything remotely related to the Chinese language in my history.

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Maybe it's a sign that you needed to start learning Chinese!

[@thethirdeye8893]

I learn Chinese with a meditative mode. Each character I try to write with a high precision and a focus. I imagine myself as a kunfu master who write characters up in air with my sword. I try to bring a mystic atmospere into the learning process. All characters look cool and are enjoyable to look at. Some chs which are hard to memorize I usually write them down on my skin, hands and feet. It helps a lot )

[@andrelamotte9002]

Love this

[@jingliu2861]

Wow you really look like a master. 你的确像一位大师！

[@colincolenso]

Thanks mate, I lived in Shanghai for 6 years and probably have 1-2k words in my database in pinyin, but other than ren, yi and zhong, had no clue about Chinese characters and figured the task of learning them was a mountain too high. You've given me hope to tackle it. Each time I've said 'wo bu ming bai' or 'wo bu ji dao' feels like a disconnection, a failure. There's much mutual pleasure in sharing one's understanding of a culture and language with those we're foreign to.

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Glad we could help! If you're looking to delve deeper into Mandarin, here's a link to our free webclass www.mandarinblueprint.com/free-webinar

[@roshanme2k]

Hello your videos are very helpful man

[@felicianbauer]

I am currently 2 weeks away from starting my first semester at university and I have to choose between Chinese and Spanish as a second (theoretically, third) language. This video was really interesting and helped me a lot to imagine how my learning journey could be. Nevertheless, I must also heavily criticize you for explaining the language in such a concise manner. Before watching the video, I hoped that you would elaborate how complex the Chinese language is, but, since this was not the case, I am now again really interested in learning Chinese and undecided what language I should choose... :)

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Thanks for your feedback! While Chinese is indeed complex, we've made it simpler using what we call the Hanzi movie method . This is to show that it’s an accessible and rewarding language to learn. If you’re excited by the challenge, Chinese could be a great choice! Curious about how we made it easier , watch this : kzbin.info/www/bejne/mnWuZZR5bLpmrqs

[@sskyles]

My favorite Chinese character from the compound ideograph category is 『臭』(chou4/"stink"), which combines the characters 『自』 (from) and 『犬』 (dog). I imagine the person who came up with this character probably had a flatulent dog in his house, and he thought this was an appropriate homage to his pet. :D

[@jiayilim1986]

It actually makes more sense than you think. 自 originally means nose. Hence the word for nose 鼻 which includes 自. It later came to mean "self" I guess because you point at your nose to refer to yourself.

[@AtifHieder]

这个字的原始象形就是一个鼻子👃＋一条狗🐶，字义所指是很明显的，但实际上这个字本义是指所有的气味，后来字义缩小专指不好的气味

[@shaabanmutale]

You have made learning Chinese easy wonderful work brother

[@MandarinBlueprint]

We're really happy to hear that! Keep up the great work!

[@eplorise]

谢谢, 来自中国云南。汉字非常有趣和复杂，们简化了它们，因为写它和学它的好处是写字少费力

[@salentinest]

视频中用简体字来象形有点不达义，应该用对应的甲骨文来象形的。能再同时贴上繁体、简体对比就更好了,能直观体会到简化的必要性。就是可能英文解释起来会太啰嗦😁

[@justicewillprevail1106]

Your Chinese pronounciation is amazingly accurate. Wow..

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Thank you :)

[@scottlarson1548]

I saw a video of two Japanese guys going around Tokyo challenging people to correctly draw kanji characters. A majority of them couldn't correctly draw characters that 14 year olds were learning in school. They said it's common to see Japanese people looking up characters with their phones when filling out paper forms. I wonder if that's common with Chinese people too.

[@辉周-g8g]

Yes.

[@omnomnom5359]

no its not, chinese characters are replacable in japanese but not in chinese@@辉周-g8g

[@redmondlee9579]

不，这不常见，日语的构成与中文完全不同导致了不同的结果。日语中大多数时候只是用一个汉字来代表某些读音，日语并不如中文一样真正理解字的含义。包括日本人取名时，通常也是先选择读音，然后再查找有哪些符合这个读音的汉字，这与中国是完全相反的。

[@pycpenn]

In the old days, when communication in writing was done only through hand writing, most Chinese with high school education rarely need to look up a word. It's not really that hard to memorize Chinese characters once one has learned how those characters are constructed with just a few elements and rules, such as those mentioned in the video.

[@danielantony1882]

@@redmondlee9579 That is not correct.

[@Ytmmery878]

Ngl, the beauty of chinese characters attracts me. That's how I started learning Chinese and I was able to learn a few characters though I can't make sentences yet.

[@MandarinBlueprint]

It will take some time and effort, but we're sure you will achieve your goals!

[@Ytmmery878]

@MandarinBlueprint Thank you. I thought it was tough, but I tried it, and yes, it was, but not as much as I thought. I can make one or 2 sentences, but not so many. Also, it's just adding characters. You dont have to conjugate.

[@michaelcampbell9844]

The ancient Chinese pronunciation of 海 (sea) was something like "hmər" or "hmrə" and in some way looks pretty similar to European "mar" as in "marine". But in the modern language, only one of these early compound consonants get left in words, so you get h- in 海 and m- in 每. Same for 各, originally kl-, so you have 洛 lak and 各 kak. When you learn similar compounds that have different onsets, this is usually because they descended from clusters.

[@AngelaRPierce]

I always wondered how that worked. Thanks for the explanation!

[@AngelaRPierce]

BTW... You have a great "radio voice". I could listen to you talk all day.

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Glad to help! and Thank you for the compliment :)

[@novaevan]

I'm learning Japanese instead of Chinese, but this is still helpful as Kanji work similarly :D

[@scottwong426]

Excellent video. Good pints to know. Makes chinese learning so much memorable and easy

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Glad it was helpful!

[@nni9310]

How are new words formed?

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Stay tuned for a video called "How Chinese Words Work"

[@nickieshadowfaxbrooklyn5192]

Internalization is carried out by compounding via phonetic and/or semantic paths by language own means, rarely in foreign graphics. Bluetooth 蓝牙, WI-FI无线网络， Coke 可口可乐， KFC 肯德基，Starbucks 星巴克, KTV KTV, Coronavirus 型冠病毒，Apple 苹果, Android 安卓.

[@DaimaLu-rb4nl]

@@MandarinBlueprint More than one character combind

[@lilili-k8r]

I think there's no new word will be formed .new concept usually will be made up by old word combining😊

[@josir1994]

Having some experience in writing Chinese characters in a good stroke order also help in reading different fonts or style of writing.

[@arlo5740]

Thank you this is an awesome video! Super helpful to understand the history and whole process of chinese characters better.

[@alexplatjadaro-yx2nn]

No

[@ManagerProjetsExport]

Hello, thank you for the interesting figures you gave. You spoke about 2000 simplified charachters : could you provide a list of them please ? Best regards 👍(or a link to a list...) at least.

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Hey there! We break down and teach over 3,000 characters throughout our course, and that's where you can find the list. You can check out our course here: www.mandarinblueprint.com/buy-the-blueprint/

[@jamesnasmith984]

One connection between ocean and sheep is found in Quebec where whitecaps can be called “moutons” (french for sheep).

[@deniaridley]

True, and in French in general, not just quebecois.

[@robertking6924]

Wish I had this in high-school, it was one of 3 languages I took. Mandarin was the hardest.

[@田城朋]

谢谢

[@norasuen9083]

I'm so impressed ,your chinese was really good.

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Thank you

[@Yellowbeetle28]

河 and 可 don't sound similar in the Mandarin dialect. In another, perhaps older, dialect it could retain the same sound, eg in Cantonese both are "hor"

[@zero-ln2tl]

yep!

[@tanglediver]

"Fascinating.", to quote Mr. Spock. I never had the interest to learn Chinese language, but I did spend time in the orient.

[@JosiahWillis-u7q]

Very Helpful!

[@uttpiew]

It is true that many characters are compound charecters. When I encounter unfamiliar compound charectors, I will try to search by its component. For example the word 贏, I will search for 亡口月贝凡 and I will be able to find the compound word.

[@susa1373]

please use CangJie chinese input method, CJcim, which was attached by the chinese system when Mr. Ju BoonFu invented chinese computer in 1979. CJcim incorporates all chinese words(>100000) in the history and it is free, it is supported by all languages version of MS-Windows and mobile. You will find that CJ radicals compose characters easily and is a great help in learning chinese, especially when you want to check out the character from online dictionary. You dont know the word so you want to check it out from dictionary, but then you need to type it out, it rounds back you should know the word and so the pronunciation before you can type it out with phonetic methods. Now you see, the trouble of phonetic method. CangJie type chinese words only by looking at its glyph(the shape formed from the strokes and stroke combination) but not the pronunciation, how you write the glyph implies how you type.

[@kenjet2784]

你很好看 也很有气质 也很耐看，有一股不可抗拒的魅力。才貌双全，文质彬彬，优雅出众。

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Woah...

[@atomyq]

​@@MandarinBlueprint您的瞳色也好特别，带美瞳眼镜还是天生的？我从来没见过，像宝石一样~

[@jimmylam1486]

You know the principles of Chinese character more than I do. Well done.

[@VictorThang-b5p]

My gifted son sent by the Lord Jesus told me Mandarin is the most difficult language, but he managed to overcome it.He got a A1 for GCE O and A level. All subjects A .Currently, he is in NUS major in Maths.

[@ChadGardenSinLA]

This was such a good overview of Hanji for English speakers. It was a great refresher for me - I learned Kanji when I was stationed in Japan. But I'm confused, is pinyin like hiragana? Did I miss that the Chinese do (or do not have) a phonetic alphabet?

[@shiny_ch3139]

Pinyin/zhuyin/jyutping are for prononciation only, written Chinese will be character-specific (from the perspective of a mainlander speaking mandarin, at least)

[@FatherOf1450]

问：knock the door 门 and open your mouth 口 to ask 问

[@toma110363]

This is an awesome video. I had no idea about the language. Thanks

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Glad you liked it!

[@townietang6246]

I think I should learn English well before learning Chinese.

[@maynardhogg]

The best way to learn how your native language actually works is by studying how other languages work.

[@Cid-4-Cid]

不错的视频，对于外国人来说，你的汉语普通话发音很不错了～ 加油。 另外，顺便提一下，对于汉语感兴趣的朋友，学好中国的普通话之后，可以试着了解一下繁体汉字的情况，算作是学习汉语的补充。作为中国中央政府地区的居民，出生于1960年后的我们，不会在日常生活中书写繁体汉字，但汉字的演化非常有规律，所以我们读取繁体汉字的信息时，基本没有阻碍。 但碍于繁体汉字的状况，它之后会慢慢存在于一些特定的书写场合，除了港澳台地区会因为整个中国地区的兴盛，慢慢增加新的简体字的使用，繁体汉字之后仅会存在于对于文献研究或者文化艺术创作中。

[@AlexeJade]

Who is here after the TikTok ban?

[@briantomoconnor]

Brilliantly summarized, as usual. By the way, Mandarin Blueprint's Hànzì Movie Method really works. And it's fun! (I'm not affiliated with Mandarin Blueprint in any way, by the way, other than being a consumer and student of their courses.)

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Glad you are finding the Hanzi Movie Method to work for you! keep up the great work

[@hualahualalake]

You really know how to teach Chinese!when we in primary school we learn characters in the similar way

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Thank you :)

[@sonilarai5975]

I'm learning Japanese then 💀

[@actionlessaction]

😂

[@ivobg574]

There’s some kanji😅

[@jackorta1613]

Learned japanese for a year made it easier tk learn chinese

[@pritipana6821]

😂😂😂

[@Csilla417]

Japanese is even worse, most of their kanjis have both chinese and Japanese pronounciation, sometimes several ones. Completely confusing and irritating. (I have been studying Japanese for 3 years)

[@Junaiia]

In my opinion I think learning simplified Chinese till HSK4/5 is good then learn traditional characters I’m still learning pinyin and after that I’ll be in HSK1 after getting the book and workbook inshaallah Wish me luck!

[@mydogisbailey]

sir your voice is yummy buttery chocolate

[@llamallamaduck4450]

Seconded

[@MF-gk5qi]

Many thanks for your instructive funny energetic explanations 🎉🎉🎉

[@MandarinBlueprint]

You're most welcome! Thank you for watching

[@charlesvanderhoog7056]

Chinese characters should be used all over the world instead of alphabets because the meaning is independent of language, enablong all people to communicate with one another without the need for translation.

[@devroombagchus7460]

I am afraid you do not realize how different languages work. Even in Japanese, kanji (characters) have to be complemented by Kana (syllables).

[@belle_pomme]

But different languages have different grammar and syntax. They would have to adapt the characters to their language rendering it unintelligible. Just like how Chinese don't really understand written Japanese, only a few random characters.

[@miketan4803]

I'm Chinese but not sure I think that will work. Language is not without context or culture. Even different Chinese dialects may emphasize different words. Understandable, not not elegant. And it will make it harder to learn the basics. Mandarin which is the most used "dialect" is actually a foreign northern barbarian adoption (mongol / e.g. manchu) as opposed to original imperial languages of the south (e g. Cantonese)

[@charlesvanderhoog7056]

@@miketan4803 Thank you. Interesting. Are the imperial languages more elegant than Mandarin?

[@charlesvanderhoog7056]

@@belle_pomme I don't agree. The Chinese characters are rather independent of grammar. E.g. it does not matter whether you have an agglutinative language like Turkish or a language with propositions like German and English, The pronunciation is independent of the characters. That is the beauty of it. I am certain that in a 2000 years or so, a character set or writing system will have developed that is independent of the languages spoken but intelligeable for all denizens of Earth.

[@justme9818]

Feedback: I really like your explanations. They're packed with information, yet easy to understand. The only drawback is, you speak so quickly, they're a bit stressful for me to watch....

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Glad to hear that you can understand them. As for the speed, you can use a tool on KZbin to help - go into settings > playback speed, slow it to a pace where you can follow more easily.

[@walidbounoir]

Armed with all of this knowledge, I still have no idea what it means lol. I don't have a reason to learn Chinese but this was still fascinating.

[@FrankSun-p6q]

I am a Chinese native. I’m learning English, I know it is hard to learn a language so I’d like to help people who are learning Chinese. And if it is possible, we can teach each other through Ins....😁

[@Puyol1972]

You make it look so easy 💕

[@kerik_lovebird]

Thank you so much for your video it's extremely helpful

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Glad it was helpful! You are most welcome :)

[@jameskwa]

Excellent l think this explanation was very good

[@mikeash7428]

Thanks. Wonderful lesson

[@MandarinBlueprint]

You are welcome! Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@216dark2]

Chinese is probably the most constant and modularized Language in the world. Each character doesn't gets changed by grammar and can have an entire story to describe its meaning. It's the most advanced language in this world.

[@laifamily7804]

the grammar is very concise and stripped down, but it's not based on phonetics because pronounciation varied vastly from region to region in the past, so it had to be based on ideograms...that's what makes chinese difficult. Otherwise, it's pretty simple/straightforward

[@TheFinRevolution]

Impressive video with a lot of knowledge summarized.

[@MandarinBlueprint]

Thank you :)