Articles tagged with ‘Handwriting’
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How to nail dictation tests in Chinese: The ultimate guide to 听写/聽寫 (tīngxiě)
Dictation tests, or 听写/聽寫 (tīngxiě), are common in Chinese courses, but many students struggle with them. Here is a guide for how to nail any dictation test!
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Communicative handwriting: Writing Chinese with a real purpose
Flashcards can teach you to write Chinese characters, but they can be boring and hide problems. Communicative handwriting is more engaging and prepares you for real-world tasks.
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How to create mnemonics for general, abstract or overlapping character components
Mountains, trees and rocks are easy to use in mnemonics. But what do you do with character components whose meanings are general, abstract or overlapping?
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A minimum-effort approach to writing Chinese characters by hand
Chinese characters are beautiful and fascinating, but learning to write them by hand is time-consuming. If you want to learn to write Chinese characters by hand with the least possible time investment, what’s the best approach?
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How to talk about Chinese characters in Chinese
How do native speakers talk about Chinese characters? The writing system is not phonetic, so you can’t spell out words, but it is still possible to talk about Chinese characters.
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7 ways to learn to write Chinese characters
There are many ways of practising writing Chinese characters and they all have their pros and cons. In this article, I discuss seven different ways of practising and what advantages and disadvantages they have for you as a learner. Which do you use?
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16 reasons to learn to write Chinese characters by hand
Does handwriting still have a place in modern Chinese learning? Let’s explore 8 popular arguments in favour of writing characters by hand, each critically examined to see which ones truly stand up to scrutiny.
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Student Q&A: April, 2025: Reading with Pinyin, Chinese texts on your phone, and deciphering handwriting
Should you read Chinese with or without Pinyin? What are the pros and cons of reading on your phone? And how do you learn to read Chinese people’s handwriting?
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Three things I wish I had known as an intermediate student of Chinese: The time machine, part 2
Traversing the intermediate Chinese learning plateau requires a shift in focus. Here are three pieces of advice for intermediate students of Mandarin.
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Student Q&A, February 2024: Typing or handwriting, using new words in texts, and how to use AI to improve your writing
Is it better to practise writing Chinese on a computer or by hand? How do you find the right words when writing? And how can you leverage AI to improve your writing ability?
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