Memorization Tips for Learning Chinese

We recognize that ChineseBug is not the only tool you'll need to learn Chinese. Below are memorization and language learning tips we've compiled to help you remember all the ways you can approach learning. The more techniques you put to use, the faster you'll learn!

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Understand That Chinese Is, In Some Ways, Easy

Most people believe that Chinese is one of the most difficult languages in the world. In some senses, this is true. The Chinese writing system is non-alphabetic, comprising thousands of pictographs called "characters", which need to be studied and internalized through rote memorization and constant reading and writing over a long period of time. Additionally, Chinese is a tonal language, meaning that changing the shape of one's voice over a single syllable can actually generate multiple words with multiple meanings.

However, what most non-Chinese do not realize is that the language boasts one of the easiest grammars in the world. Sentence structure largely mirrors that of English (subject + verb + object). Verbs exist in a single form, with no conjugations whatsoever.

There is no gender, no plural nouns, and while mechanisms do exist to express tense (e.g. past/present/future), they are much simpler than those of any Western language. American students who are much more familiar with both Spanish and French would instantly find Chinese grammar refreshingly basic, and much more accessible than those languages.

Here are a few more links that better describe how hard and easy Chinese is to learn:

Mandarin Is Easy..
Why Chinese is So Damn Hard

Watch Foreign Films or TV

Often, hearing words spoken in a foreign language will help you memorize vocabulary. Most film stores and rental shops have a foreign film section from which you can choose multiple titles. Take them home and watch them over and over again, looking for context clues to help you figure out what's being said. You can also turn on English or Chinese subtitles depending on your level of learning.

Sing A Song

Remembering lyrics to a song you like is a lot easier than studying a list of vocabulary words... and it's also much better. Even more than phrases, learning a song is more equivalent to memorizing complete paragraphs. And because it is in song, you'll be more likely to enjoy the process... and if you're learning a popular song, you'll likely hear it repeated again many times on the radio or in a restaurant.

Listen to Audio CDs

Follow a chinese course that comes with audio CDs (i.e., Pimsleur). There are also free and paid instructional podcasts available from various websites (such as chinesepod.com). Active listening, where you're trying to understand what you're hearing, is the best, but passive listening is also helpful. Play conversational tapes or foreign films in the background while you do other things.

Use Post-It Notes

One of the best ways to memorize foreign language vocabulary is to start with the objects you see and use every day. Grab your vocabulary textbook and a packet of Post-It notes and start sticking them on various objects in your home. The desk, a mirror, your refrigerator, a potted plant, the bed and everything else can serve as your study buddies. Just write the word in the foreign language on your Post-It and you'll see it each time you use or see that object. It won't feel like studying, but it will be far more effective.

Read Children's Books

Another great way to memorize foreign language vocabulary is by reading children's books. You can find them online or even in your local library written in multiple languages, and they use sufficiently simple vocabulary that you won't have trouble reading most of the words. When you run across a word you don't know or can't remember, have a foreign language dictionary handy to look it up.

Get A Good Dictionary

Get a good dictionary and make sure it has the phonetic spellings of the words. When you are visiting or living in China, carry it with you all the time! Whenever you see a character you don't know, look it up. This allows you to learn the language during everyday life.

Relate New Information To The Old

Integrating new characters or words into a foundation of material you've already learned is especially helpful, and the more connections you can make, the stronger your foundation.

Group Together Common Vocabulary

Create a concept map or a table to analyze parts of characters, or group similar characters you've learned and want to learn together. Words that fit into the same pattern, or characters that share the same radical or have similar pronunciation can be grouped together, as can words and characters that share the same idea; such as "foods" or "places" or "colors".

Cover Up the Pinyin!

While reading text or flashcards that have both Characters and pinyin... try covering up the pinyin and reading the words while looking at the character. ChineseBug helps with this process by always showing you the Chinese characters in large print - even when you're studying pinyin. You might find yourself learning the characters automatically over time if you do this correctly.

Find a Girlfriend/Boyfriend

Okay, this one may not work for everyone, but it shouldn't be overlooked that you'll learn much faster if you're dating someone who speaks a different language!

Find a Language Partner

It is usually very easy to find someone who is fluent in Chinese and willing to practice with you in exchange for improving their own English skills.

Form A Study Group

Even better than a single partner, forming a group can keep conversations more lively. Just set rules so things don't break down into gossip about unrelated topics or how difficult learning Chinese is.

Use Flashcards, Silly!

You're on ChineseBug.com, so you've probably already figured this one out. Flashcards are the tried and true method for getting things stuck in your memory. Using a service like ChineseBug can work better than index cards because it will keep track of your learning progress and order items according to your needs.

Start When You're Young

Don't delay... it's always easier to learn today than it will be tomorrow. Children pick up languages much faster than adults - but mostly because adults have become lazy and have convinced themselves of what they can and cannot do, what is easy and what is hard. Pretend you're a kid again and forget all this adult nonsense.

Total Immersion

You'll find yourself learning much faster when you have no choice! The best way to learn is to parachute down into a Chinese village... and work your way through the language by necessity.

Plan A Trip To China

What better way to learn Chinese than to be in China?

Phrases Are Better Than Words

The more context the better. You need to learn words, but you'll find your brain is much more powerful than you give it credit. If you memorize phrases, you'll find yourself more quickly mixing and combining to form new setences.

Use As Many Senses As Possible

In addition to seeing the pinyin and characters, be sure to say the words out loud so you can also hear them. Transferring language from your mind to your mouth is a skill that requires a great deal of practice. Find ways to look at images that correlate with the word or phrase. And if you figure out how to learn Chinese through smell or taste, please let me know! But all humour aside, I'm sure you'll learn the word for "hot" much better if someone tells you the word just after you burned your mouth. On a more pleasant note, you'll learn things much faster when you hear words in a joke. If we add emption (bad or good) and imagery to the material to be learned, we will remember it much better.

Don't Think, Talk!

In the beginning, don't waste your time stressing over the reasons for everything. Most often it's best to just go with it at first and later on pick up the reason. Become a parrot and repeat everything you hear - even if you don't know what it means. Don't worry about looking silly. "Language cannot be separated from sound, and that is the heart of the matter." When you learn new words, you will ideally first encounter them aurally, that is, hearing them. Learn to recognize them first by their sound, and then to say them correctly. After that, you can deal with how they are written.

Make Recordings of Native Speakers

When studying, you can't always have a fluent speaker at your side to help. The next best thing is to have a native speaker record your vocabulary words so you can play it back whenever you review. Seeing the pinyin for the word and knowing the "correct" pronunciation based on this pinyin is not enough as most words will be a little different in real life.

Create Mental Pictures

If you take the time to think of a story or picture behind a word or character, it will be encoded more strongly into your memory. Furthermore, reminding yourself of the story or picture will be much easier than just recall of the meaning alone - and will likely. Use your imagination by linking the shape of the new word by first glancing to something you are familiar with.

Learn The Most Common Radicals

All Chinese characters are formed from a common set of radicals. Learning the strokes and meaning of the most common radicals will make identifying and memorizing all characters much easier.

Go Broad Before Specific

You'll find that some things stick better in your memory than others. It may not be possible to determine exactly why, but the fact should also not be ignored. Primarily due to language courses using a defined curriculum, many language students are forced to learn all of the vocabulary - despite most of their study time going to a minority of the words. In general, it would be better if the student just dropped the words that aren't sticking and moved on to more words.

It is more effective to have many words at a lower level of memory than to be able to perfectly recall a few words. If you are able to recognize many words, even at a low memory level, then you are able to talk to native speakers, watch a foreign TV show, or listen to music in the language you are trying to learn. Since these activities are more enjoyable than staring at a vocabulary list for hours on end, you will probably do them more often. Every time you listen to that song or watch that movie you are actually practicing your vocabulary and moving your retention of those words to deeper levels.

Memorizing words this way is also more natural, and you will learn words in order of their importance. The importance of knowing a word is the frequency it is used in the language. Therefore the more important a word is, the more often you will hear it on TV and in music, the better you will remember it.

Mnemonics Are Good, But Don't Overdo It

The idea behind mnemonics is to make up another word in your native language that sounds like the word you're trying to learn and whose meaning is somehow intertwined with the new word. Sometimes this system can work magic, but perhaps not for every word or character you're trying to memorize. The simple suggestion here is not to force it. If it fits, use it, but otherwise stick to other methods of learning. Mnemonics require extra processing and an indirect step every time you think of the word. The idea is that eventually that middle step is automatically dropped when you become faster and more comfortable with the answer... but if the particular mnemonic isn't working very well, then you may find it has become a crutch and hindered your progress.

Here's a website that offers ideas for Mandarin mnemonics.

Consistency and Discipline

This can't go without saying. No system will work if you don't do it. It would be better to learn the language a few minutes here and there throughout the day - spontaneous and unplanned (such as an immersion program would provide), the next best thing is regular scheduled study with a school program or partner... to help force you to show up and do the work regularly. Lastly, you can do it with self-study, but you'll be relying on discipline alone to make it happen. This is another area where software programs ease the burden... taking some of the effort out of organizing your own learning, and just requiring you to show up. As Woody Allen said, "80% of success is showing up". It's also often easier to get started on an activity if you know you'll finish it after a certain time.

Revise & Review Regularly

ChineseBug (or some other flashcard tools) can help with this by automatically calculating when a word is likely to be forgotten and ensuring that you are tested again on the word before it leaves your memory. This principle should not be left entirely to a computer however, it is important to periodically review things you've learned in general. Go back to pinyin tones and check your hearing and pronunciation... there's always room for improvement too!

Set Reachable Goals

Most people work better when they set reachable goals and track their progress towards those goals. ChineseBug provides measures of the number of words you know and the speed of your response time. Many students choose to work towards taking the HSK Chinese proficiency tests. Remember to make your goals realistic though... don't set yourself up for a big crash.

Break Study Time Into Smaller Chunks

Research shows that language students learn more effectively and retain more when they study frequently and for shorter periods of time than if they study infrequently for extended periods of time. Try to study each day, and whenever possible, several times a day. This means, for instance, doing a few homework exercises each day rather than doing all homework assignments the night before they are due.

In addition, there are many otherwise mentally "idle" moments during the day when you can work in some studying. For example, you can review vocabulary while eating breakfast, recite the alphabet while showering, count your steps as you walk between classes, name as many object as you can in the target language on your to way school, take your vocabulary flash cards with you on a road trip.

Translate A Book

Find a fun popular novel which has been published in both languages. Buy both versions and get your dictionary handy. Work, one sentence at a time, to learn the characters. It's very painful - but also very rewarding... eventually, you'll find the sentences get easier because more of the characters are familiar - like magic! It may take days, weeks, or months to finish the book... then start at the beginning and read it again until it becomes comfortable.

Focus On Personal Interests

Building vocabulary related to topics you are personally interested in will be more fun and rewarding. You'll find yourself using the words more quickly and more often.

Go To School

Enrolling in a school program automatically provides a whole host of benefits. The curriculum and speed may be too fast or too slow (such is the common complaint), but it keeps you in the game, provides learning partners, and invariably exposes you to more of the language than the vocabulary in a textbook. Pay attention to your own motivation and recognize when you begin to stray.

Repetitious Writing

When learning Chinese characters there is no substitute for writing the character, again and again. Keep the sound and meaning in mind as you do it and you'll gain even more. Rather than writing one word many times before doing the next one, write each word once or twice then go through the whole list again until you've done the required number of repetitions. This will reinforce the new words more firmly in your memory.

Identify Your Learning Style

Each person has his/her own learning style and everyone learns at a different pace. Try not to get frustrated if someone else in class seems to be progressing more quickly than you. You might find that you have a knack for grammar but have difficulty with speaking. Or you may find that you understand things perfectly in class, but when it comes to the homework assignments, you feel lost. Strive to identify your own personal strengths and let these help you in your learning process. If you are a visual learner, for example, write things down and try to associate words with images. At the same time, strive to identify your own personal learning barriers and make efforts to overcome them. For example, if you tend to be quiet in classes and often refrain from participating, force yourself to sit at the front of the classroom.

Don't Get Discouraged

Everyone has their ups and downs with language learning. When you find yourself in a slump, remind yourself that it is part of the process and keep the big picture in mind. You are further along than you were when you started... and one step at a time works wonders. Give your ego a stroke and remember how many people are amazed to know you are learning Chinese because it is so difficult!!