Why Are You Struggling to Remember Chinese Characters? It's Because You're Using the Wrong Method.

Have you ever had this experience: staring at a Chinese character, feeling like you're just looking at a pile of meaningless strokes, and having to cram it into your brain through sheer rote memorisation? You remember it today, only to forget it tomorrow. Even after learning hundreds of characters, encountering a new one still feels like meeting a complete stranger.

This feeling is like trying to learn how to cook whilst blindfolded.

Imagine someone hands you a cookbook as thick as a brick, filled with thousands of recipes. They tell you: "Memorise all the ingredients and steps for every single dish." So you start reciting, "Kung Pao Chicken: chicken, cucumber, peanuts, chilli...", and then "Fish-fragrant Pork Shreds: pork, wood ear mushrooms, bamboo shoots, carrots...".

You might barely manage to memorise a few dishes, but you'll never truly learn to cook. That's because you don't understand the ingredients themselves. You don't know that soy sauce is salty, vinegar is sour, or chilli is spicy. So, every dish becomes a brand-new problem for you, something that needs to be memorised from scratch.

Many of us learn Chinese characters using this clumsy 'recipe memorisation' method.

Stop 'Memorising Recipes', Become a 'Master Chef'

A true master chef doesn't rely on memorising recipes; they rely on understanding the ingredients. They know that 'fish' (鱼) tastes delicious and 'lamb' (羊) has a distinctive aroma, and combining them creates 'fresh' (鲜). They understand that 'fire' (火) represents heat and cooking, so characters like 'roast' (烤), 'stir-fry' (炒), and 'stew' (炖) all incorporate the character for fire.

Chinese characters are the same. They aren't just a random pile of strokes, but a wise system made up of 'ingredients' (basic components).

For example, once you recognise 'tree' or 'wood' (木), it's like understanding the ingredient 'wood'. When you then see 'woods' (林) and 'forest' (森), will they still feel foreign to you? You'll instantly see that these represent many trees gathered together.

Another example is the character 'person' (人). When it leans next to 'tree' (木), it becomes 'rest' (休) – a person resting under a tree, how evocative! When a person spreads their arms, wanting to protect something behind them, it becomes 'protect' (保).

When you start to deconstruct Chinese characters with this 'master chef' mindset, you'll find that learning is no longer painful memorisation, but an enjoyable puzzle-solving game. Every complex Chinese character is a 'creative dish' made from simple 'ingredients'. You no longer need to rely on rote learning; instead, you can 'savour' and understand the story behind it through logic and imagination.

From 'Understanding' to 'Connecting'

Once you master this method, Chinese characters will no longer be a wall between you and the Chinese world, but a bridge leading to it. You'll be eager to use these 'unlocked' characters to communicate and share your ideas.

However, at this point, you might encounter a new 'recipe' – the barrier of language differences. In the past, when we wanted to communicate with foreigners, we also had to memorise scattered travel phrases and grammar rules, just like memorising recipes. The process was equally painful, and the results equally poor.

Fortunately, we live in an era where problems can be solved in smarter ways.

Whether it's learning or communicating, the key lies in breaking down barriers and focusing on connection. As you begin to understand Chinese characters with a new mindset, why not also use new tools to connect with the world?

This is why tools like Lingogram are so insightful. It's a chat application with built-in AI translation, allowing you to converse freely in your native language with anyone from any corner of the world. You no longer need to cram another language's 'recipe'; the AI will handle those complex 'cooking steps' for you. You simply need to focus on the conversation itself – sharing your story, understanding others' ideas, and building genuine connections.

So, forget that thick 'cookbook'. Whether you're learning Chinese characters or conversing with the world, try to be a clever 'master chef' – understand, deconstruct, create, and then, connect.