Do You REALLY Need to Learn to Write Chinese Characters?

Learning to read and write Chinese characters is one of the most daunting challenges for Mandarin learners. But do you really need to learn to write Chinese characters by hand? In this blogpost, I’ll show you how I learned to read and type Chinese in five simple steps, and why you don’t have to learn to write Chinese characters by hand to do so.

Table of Contents:

1. Step 1: Start with Learning How Words are Pronounced
2. Step 2: Learning the Basics of How Characters Are Built
3. Why You Can Skip Writing Chinese Characters by Hand
4. Step 3: Drilling Chinese Characters with Spaced Repetition
5. Step 4. Practicing Reading with Graded Readers
6. Step 5: Learn to Write Chinese Characters Using a Pinyin Keyboard
7. Learning to Write Chinese Characters: Conclusion
8. Need help with Mandarin speaking?

Step 1: Start with Learning How Words are Pronounced

Have you ever noticed how children learn to write Chinese characters more quickly than adults?

There’s a simple reason for this

Children typically learn to read and write words they already know the spoken form of.

Let’s say a Chinese child is learning to write the Chinese characters for “why”: 为什么.

They already know that the pronunciation of 为什么 is wèi shén me. All they need to do now is match the sound to the character.

Conversely when adults learn to write Chinese characters, we often do so before having studied the pronunciation system or having any basis in the spoken language at all.

As a result, we end up attempting to learn hundreds of characters for words we’ve never heard spoken before.

Instead of matching the character to a sound and meaning we already know, we end up trying to learn the character, sound, meaning and stroke order all at the same time, which quickly becomes overwhelming.

This is especially the case as it’s impossible to predict exactly how a word should be pronounced by relying on characters alone.

When I started learning Chinese, the solution I found was to spend a few weeks learning to read using the romanised spelling system: Pinyin.

Pinyin uses a combination of roman letters to represent the initial and final sounds of syllables in Chinese, with marks indicating the four tones.

It provides a bridge to mastering pronunciation before focusing entirely on characters, and it is commonly used in language textbooks, dictionaries, and educational materials.

While it doesn’t replace the need to learn characters, it is essential for understanding spoken Mandarin and is the best place to start when learning to read Chinese.

Step 2: Learning the Basics of How Characters Are Built

Once I’d become fairly comfortable with the pronunciation system and was able to read some words using pinyin, I began learning about the basics of how Chinese characters are built.

Chinese characters are made up of components called radicals, which often give clues about the meaning or pronunciation of a character. Many characters are combinations of a radical and a phonetic element, which helps learners recognize patterns and remember new characters more easily.

For example, the radical “氵” (three water dots) is often found in characters related to water, like “河” (hé, river) or “海” (hǎi, sea). By learning common radicals and their meanings, you can break down complex characters into smaller, more manageable parts.

Understanding character structure also involves recognizing the difference between simple and compound characters. Simple characters, like “山” (shān, mountain) or “木” (mù, wood), are made of one part and often represent basic objects or concepts.

Compound characters, on the other hand, are formed by combining two or more simple characters or components, such as “休” (xiū, rest), which combines “人” (rén, person) and “木” (mù, wood) to represent a person resting against a tree.

Grasping these building blocks, enabled me to decode characters more easily.

Why You Can Skip Writing Chinese Characters by Hand

Shortly after I’d learned the basics of how characters are constructed, I discovered a book containing the top 1000 characters along with instructions for the stroke orders and began a daily process of copying each of them out repeatedly in an attempt to memorise them.

However, I soon began to have doubts about this method. Basic literacy in Mandarin requires 2000-3000 characters and the rate of my progress was too slow for this to seem attainable. I got to about 100 before the size of the challenge began to feel overwhelming and I gave up.

The experience almost made me give up learning to read and write Chinese altogether.

But not long afterwards, I discovered that many advanced Chinese learners can read Chinese novels fluently, and type using a computer, yet cannot write a single character out by hand. In fact, most serious learners I have met are in this category.

In the past, the only way to communicate in writing was by learning the strokes for each character and handwriting them out on paper.

Given how long it takes to master other aspects of Mandarin which are essential for communication – tones, spoken fluency, listening ability and reading – many learners now opt to abandon handwriting characters in favour of learning to recognise the characters visually and typing them with the phonetic Pinyin keyboard system which native speakers use to communicate in daily life.

(Disclaimer: If you really enjoy learning to write Chinese characters and want to spent your time doing that then don’t let anyone tell you not to! Although it may not be the most efficient way to learn to read or write, following your passion and sticking with what you enjoy doing is often the best choice. To help you do so, I recommend trying the app, Skritter.)

Step 3: Drilling Chinese Characters with Spaced Repetition

The most important skill you need to learn to read and write in Chinese is to learn to recognise the characters visually.

My experience – and that of many others – shows it is entirely possible to retain thousands of characters in our memory without writing them all out by hand.

How did I do this? By using spaced repetition apps.

Spaced repetition is a memory technique where information is reviewed at increasing intervals over time to optimize retention. The system presents material right before you’re likely to forget it, reinforcing learning without overwhelming repetition.

For learning Mandarin characters, this method is particularly effective because it helps solidify the recognition and recall of complex characters, their meanings, and pronunciations (pinyin).

By strategically timing reviews, spaced repetition ensures that new characters are mastered, and older ones are retained, making it an efficient tool for long-term language learning.

I started using the free app Quizlet to drill flashcards daily and within a few months could recognise all the characters in the HSK 3 exam deck containing around 600 words.

Later I transitioned to using Hack Chinese which is very user friendly and a great way of learning your first few hundred characters.

Step 4. Practicing Reading with Graded Readers

Once I had drilled and could visually recognise my first few hundred characters, I began seeking out simple reading material that could reinforce my recognition of characters and build my reading skills.

The best materials I found to do so were graded readers. Graded readers are a powerful tool for learning to read Chinese characters, especially for beginners and intermediate learners.

They are short novels aimed at elementary to intemediate students that use controlled vocabulary, gradually introducing new words and characters in context while keeping the language simple and comprehensible.

By reading materials at an appropriate difficulty level, learners can reinforce characters they’ve already studied and slowly expand their vocabulary without feeling overwhelmed.

This scaffolding approach allows readers to build confidence and fluency while becoming more comfortable with Chinese syntax, character combinations, and sentence structures.

They also offer engaging and meaningful content, which helps maintain motivation. Instead of memorizing isolated characters or words, you encounter them within narratives, dialogues, or informative texts that reflect real-world usage.

Two of the best Chinese graded reader series I benefited from include Mandarin Companion and Chinese Breeze.

Step 5: Learn to Write Chinese Characters Using a Pinyin Keyboard

As I got better at reading characters I started texting my friends by typing Chinese characters using a Pinyin keyboard. This involves inputting the Romanized spelling of a character’s pronunciation, and then selecting the correct character from a list of options.

For example, on a Pinyin keyboard, you type the Pinyin (e.g., “hao” for “好”), and the system presents multiple characters that match the pronunciation. Since many Chinese characters share the same Pinyin, you often need to choose the correct one based on context.

This system requires an ability to visually recognise characters and recall their phonetic spelling but, crucially, not their strokes. All you need to do is install a pinyin keyboard on your phone or computer, type out the pinyin for the word you’d like to write and select the correct characters.

With a little practice you can learn to type Mandarin just as fast you would in English.

Learning to Write Chinese Characters: Conclusion

Learning to read and write Mandarin may seem like a daunting task at first, but by breaking it down into manageable steps it becomes much more approachable.

Starting with Pinyin will allow you to grasp pronunciation and build a foundation before diving into the complexities of characters. Understanding how characters are built with radicals and components helps to decode new ones more easily.

By focusing on character recognition through spaced repetition and practicing reading with graded readers, learners can steadily improve their skills without feeling overwhelmed.

Finally, typing characters with a Pinyin keyboard further accelerates progress by simplifying the writing process.

With patience and consistent practice, mastering Mandarin literacy – including reading newspapers and novels – is within reach.