How to Read Chinese/Kanji and unlock your inner intellect
Learn how to Read 漢字 the efficient way, not with rote memorization.
Ever wondered how to read this Millennia old writing system? Will it help me do magic or perform ninja techniques? This post will teach you how to read 漢字 easily and improve your logic skills in the process.
Admit it… You have always been curious.
You look at a Chinese restaurant, or watched the latest anime and thought to yourself, “how do I read that strange alphabet? It looks like a bunch of magic spells!
And you can’t help but wonder, “If I am able to read those letters, will it enable me to do magic? or perform powerful ninja techniques?”
How do I even start?
Well this guide is meant to teach the basics of reading these mystical symbols.
By the end of this guide, you should at least understand the basics and start the process of unlocking your mind. You probably will NOT perform mystical ninja moves, but you will probably “level up” your logic skills and change the way you perceive the world.
The first step you need to consider is how to NOT read Chinese. If you are reading this in English, you are probably familiar with how phonetic alphabets work. Chinese is NOT a fully phonetic alphabet (more on this later) and you need to change your mentality in learning how to read it.
Why should you do this? It is actually an ancient puzzle game waiting to be solved. Unlocking this mentality will help you look at the world differently.
The second step is to learn how to identify what type of Chinese Character you are trying to read, there are three types (not the official name, but ones I will be using to simplify the learning process.
The three types of characters:
The radical (as in “from the root): These are stand-alone characters that is usually a picture. An example of this is which means “horse”. Look at the character and see that it looks like a horse, with it four legs and a flowing mane.
馬
At the end of this article, I will list some common radical types and their meaning and pronunciation
The second type is the semi-phonetic character.
In mandarin horse is pronounced as “ma3” (third tone).
You know what else is pronounced “ma?”
Mother 媽媽
To scold 駡
The question particle 嗎
Note: I will not go into the pronunciation of tones, that is whole different topic but just understand that the pronunciation is different）
While not used in normal conversation the phrase “mother scolded the horse” is written as:
媽媽駡馬
This is pronounced:
Ma1 ma1 ma4 ma3
Bonus: The same phrase can be changed into a question by adding the question particle shown above,
媽媽駡馬嗎
Ma1 ma1 ma4 ma3 ma(neutral)?
Again, there will be more examples at the appendix
These types of Chinese characters encompass about a third of all Character Types. Patterns can then be recognized
The third type is the “logogram” where it is a logic game, that has no connection to the phonetic sound. Here is one example:
我, which means (me or I)
我 pronounced as (wo) and has no phonetic elements and is purely a logical phenomenon.
我 is comprised of two components手 (hand) and 戈 (a type of spear)—no need to know how it sounds like. A sense of self is shown as having your own autonomy by holding up a spear with your hand. Think of this the next time you think who you are (and define your own boundaries).
More than half of all Chinese characters are this type, and you do not even need to know the pronunciation.
That is, the two basic steps on how to read Chinese. The mentality, and the identification.
Just imagine using philosophy and logic just to write things!!
Lastly, learning how to read these characters is a good way to delve into the question of what language is, and how to express language. It is so utterly alien to people who speak a language like English to encounter these logic games in a language, and the mind can be opened up to new possibilities by thinking differently. Plus, you can impress your friends too!!
Next time, when you go to a Chinese restaurant, watch the latest anime, or even encounter something written in this wonderful alphabet, it will not be intimidating anymore.
Instead of being confused by what it is going on, you will now be able to look at things differently and adapt when needed.
Do the work, get curious, become a student of philosophy and language. These are the first steps on the long journey to become a Ninja master.
A world of the mystical arts and thousands of years of history awaits.