Updated on May 18, 2024
Learning Chinese characters is arguably the most challenging aspects of getting a solid hold on your Mandarin skills. There are thousands of those crazy pictographs. There is simply no shortcut to learn those characters (along with the tones, pinyin, and associated multiple meanings). Specifically, in order to have a decent level of communication of a native Chinese speaker, a foreigner will need to learn at least 3,000 characters. Obviously, this is going to be a long journey.
Feel free to check out my Barnes & Noble and Amazon home page.
That said, the old cliché, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”, still makes sense. In other words, you’ll need to learn Chinese characters one by one (this is how the natives learn Chinese characters). Really, no shortcuts! You can, of course, first learn the most frequently used characters (such as nouns, verbs, measure words), and gradually dig more and more characters.
Let me share with you certain tremendously helpful resources to learn Chinese characters fast. These materials are specifically prepared for the foreigners to learn Chinese characters.
All books for learning Mandarin Chinese
- Learn Chinese Culture
- Learn Chinese Reading
- Books to Learn Mandarin Chinese Grammar
- Learn Chinese Writing
- Chinese Dirty Words and Phrases
- Learn Chinese History
- Must Know Chinese Idioms
- Learn Chinese Characters
- Learn Simple Chinese Sentences
- Word Books to Learn Chinese Fast
- Phrase Books for Learning Mandarin Chinese
In this article, I am going to suggest you a list of books on Amazon (both print and eBook) and non-Amazon channels (eBooks only: Apple, Barnes and Noble (B&N), Rakuten Kobo, Scribd, Thalia, Bolde, Indigo, Angus & Robertson (A&R), etc.) to learn Chinese characters fast! Feel free to check out my Barnes & Noble home page.
Books to Learn Chinese Characters Fast (English, Chinese & Pinyin)
Mandarin Chinese is a pictographic language. The Chinese characters correspond to pictograms. Each and everything in the Chinese language can be represented (interpreted) in the form of characters. Although it’s complicated to estimate the total number of Chinese characters, it’s worth mentioning that the native Chinese people are proficient in over 5,000 characters. In particular, they use about 3,000 characters in their day-to-day life. If you wish to learn Chinese properly, you’ll need to learn those 3,000 characters. 🙂
3000 Must-know Chinese Characters (Part 6)
Large Print Size (8.5″ x 11″): Paperback (ISBN: 9798887341477). Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
3000 Must-know Chinese Characters (Part 5)
Large Print Size (8.5″ x 11″): Paperback (ISBN: 9798887341460). Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
3000 Must-know Chinese Characters (Part 4)
Large Print Size (8.5″ x 11″): Paperback (ISBN: 9798887341453). Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
3000 Must-know Chinese Characters (Part 3)
Large Print Size (8.5″ x 11″): Paperback (ISBN: 9798887341446). Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
3000 Must-know Chinese Characters (Part 2)
Large Print Size (8.5″ x 11″): Paperback (ISBN: 9798887341439). Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
3000 Must-know Chinese Characters (Part 1)
Large Print Size (8.5″ x 11″): Paperback (ISBN: 9798887341422). Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.
Feel free to check out the free online Mandarin Chinese lessons.
- Lesson 1 (Level 1): Common Mandarin Chinese Verbs with Examples
- Lesson 1 (Level 2): How To Say “To Think” With 以为 In Chinese?
- Lesson 1 (Level 3): Learn Must Know Famous Chinese Idioms
- Lesson 1 (Level 4): 2 Must Know Famous Ancient Chinese Poems
- Lesson 1 (Level 5): Chinese Reading Practice with Pinyin & English
-Best
Let me try to learn Mandarin, it’s a bit hard which is common when learning new things but I think it is worth it.
You are right. Mandarin Chinese is an interesting. Never give up! Best wishes.