Category: Learn Chinese Characters Through Poker Cards

Easy Chinese Characters - 喝(hē) Hi, there, 喝(hē) means “drink”. Under the burning sun日，a man 人hides in a cave and opens his mouth 口 to DRINK喝.  水(shuǐ) means “water” so 喝水 is “drink water”.

Easy Chinese Characters - 要(yào) Hi, there, You can easily remember many Chinese Characters by making up your own stories. For today’s instance, the top part (西) means “west” and the bottom part (女) “woman”. You can think about a WESTERN (西) WOMAN (女) WANTS要 a lot of attention.  “钱” (qián) means “money” so “要钱” is...

Easy Chinese Characters - 有(yǒu) Hi, there, Creating a story about the character by linking its components increases your retention. 有(yǒu) means “have”. It looks like a man using his hand to hold a piece of moon cake (月means “moon”) says “I have 有”. 车(chē) is “car” so “有车” means “have a car”. If you...

Easy Chinese Characters - 是(shì) Hi, there, 是 (shì) BE/CORRECT is a commonly used character and it is not too difficult to remember if you use a little bit of imagination. Proclaiming under the sun (日) that something is true 正 and does exist. (BEING 是).  “吗” is the question word for “Yes/No” so “是吗”...

Easy Chinese Characters - 住(zhù) Hi, there, Most compound Chinese characters have two components. The left is for meaning and the right for pronunciation. The left component of (住) is called “human radical”.  The right component (主) means “host”. A person (亻) is the host (主) so he LIVES 住 there.

Easy Chinese Characters-说(shuō) Hi, there, The left component (讠) is a short form of 言represents “speaking or speech”. So speech comes from children’s 儿mouth 口. Children learn to speak 说 (shuō).  你 (nǐ) means “you” so “你说” is “you speak”. If you want to learn Chinese online with a professional Mandarin teacher, check out how Flipped...

Easy Chinese Characters-问(wèn) Hi, there, To know the story behind a character also helps you remember its meaning. 问(wèn) means “ask”. In old times people at the door 门 and open their mouth 口 to ASK 问 for directions. 请(qǐng) means “please” so “请问” is “May I ask…?”

Easy Chinese Characters-回(huí) Hi, there, 回(huí) means “return”.  Looking at the poker card, you can find it looks like water turning in circles. It keeps returning. 来(lái) means “come” so 回来 is “coming back”.

Easy Chinese Characters-懂(dǒng) Hi, there, Here comes another Chinese Character 懂 (dǒng) UNDERSTAND with heart radical (忄). Ancient Chinese believe UNDERSTANDING 懂 takes heart. If you are interested in learning Chinese on your own, check out our fun and easy-to-follow Chinese video lessons.

Easy Chinese Characters-见(jiàn) Hi, there, The Character “见”(jiàn) means “see”. Because the top part (目) of traditional 見 means “eye” and the bottom part (人)means “person/man”. So a Man (人) SEES 见 with his eyes (目).