People tend to say Chinese is difficult to learn. As a native Chinese language teacher and a Spanish/ESL learner, I would like to say all languages have their 'easy' and 'difficult' parts. For example, while English pronunciation is hard for Chinese speakers to master, Spanish pronunciation is much easier for them. However, the grammar in Spanish is much harder than in English for Chinese speakers like me.
From my own teaching experience, I find that for non-Chinese Mandarin learners, the pronunciation and grammar are not difficult to manage. Most of them think Chinese characters are too hard to master.
Here, I would like to suggest an effective way to learn Chinese characters. The principle is very simple: Start from ‘small’ ones (less strokes) and learn by differentiating similar characters.
Start from ‘small’ characters
For example, once you have mastered 妈(mā) (mother)，好(hǎo)(good)，你(nǐ)(you)， then try to find out 女(nǚ)(female)，马(mǎ) (horse)，子(zǐ)(son)and 小(xiǎo)(small). What I mean is that once you have mastered THREE characters （妈，好，你），you have actually learned SEVEN characters（妈，好，你，女，马，子，小）.
Learn by differentiating similar characters
Since Chinese characters are often formed by ‘smaller’ characters, being able to differentiate characters is very important. The ‘theory’ here is very simple. If you can identify the difference between two twin brothers, you should be able to know who is who. Have a look of the following examples.
1. 母(mǔ) (mother)→每(měi) (every)→海(hǎi) (sea)
2. 头(tóu) (head)→买(mǎi) (to buy)→卖(mài) (to sell)→读(dú) (to read/study)
3. 止(zhǐ) (to stop)→此(cǐ) (this)→些(xiē) (some)
4. 田(tián)(rice field)→果(guǒ)(fruit)→课(kè) (lesson)
5. 口(kǒu)(mouth)→各(gè) (each)→客(kè)(guest)
If you manage the last character of each row, you actually have learnt three characters (You ‘buy’ one and get two ‘free’).
There are many other ways to learn Chinese characters effectively. I will keep blogging in the future.
