Here is my method of generating the character groups.

1. Identify structural relationships to other characters:

http://zhongwen.com/?lang=en

2. Based on the basic pronounciation variations identified with the tool hunt down more characters using Google Pinyin:

http://tools.google.com/pinyin/

Enter the Pinyin and work down to the most obstruse characters. Also try variants...

3. Find out about the meaning with the dictionaries of your choice, of course the cool:

dict.cn

4. For the main radical, traditional/simplified variants and the meaning of more obstruse characters you have the indispensable:

http://zdic.net/zd/

5. Important is definately the frequency:

http://lingua.mtsu.edu/chinese-computing/statistics/char/list.php?Which=MO

6. Gather everything, e.g. with MS Excel. Build a formula for generating some HTML that puts the data together and adds colors.

The boundaries I use are: Frequency

< 2,000 --> green

< 4,000 --> orange

< 6,000 --> brown

< 10,000 --> blue

>= 10,000 --> red

Here is my formula I am using

Note: N is the column with the frequency data:

IF(N3<2000;"<font color=green>";IF(N3<4000;"<font color=orange>";IF(N3<6000;"<font color=brown>";IF(N3<10000;"<font color=blue>";"<font color=red>")))) &G3 &IF(H3<>"";" ( "&H3&" )";"")&"@Pron: " &J3&"@Main radical: "&K3&"@Frequency: "&N3&"@Meaning: " &L3&IF(M3<>"";"@Examples: "&M3;"")&"@@</font>"

The placeholder for the linebreak here is the @-character which can be automatically replaced later, e.g. in Word with proper CPod-compatible linebreaks.

Note that the HTML is only interpreted correctly after a re-edit of the post.

大家好！ Just subscribed today! I'm really excited because I've been listening to these podcasts a lot lately, but never had the chance to subscribe. I'm glad I did!

Ok, so I just got back from living in Taiwan for two years (and just like Amber, I'm going to have to adjust my 說法 a little bit. Ok.. maybe more than just a little bit). But as you know in Taiwan, they only use traditional characters （繁體字。 《這個你們看得懂嗎？ 哈哈） I'm going to continue studying Chinese, but I know that studying simplified characters will be a lot more advantageous. I have a little over 2,000 characters memorized, and I'm trying to find out the tips and tricks of how to recognize simplified characters with a traditional character background. Does anyone have any similar experiences? Or is it just 'hey, just get used it to it!' type deal? Let me know!

Ni3 hao3

I as you may guess am a newbie and wherever im lokking for chineese resources online i find im asked about Simplified or Traditional characters. What's the difference and which are more common etc. 

For awhile now, I've been wanting to practice writing the characters that are in my ChinesePod vocabulary lists, and have wanted a practice writing grid which I can print out to practice these characters.

I've been working on developing a web tool that takes my ChinesePod exported vocabulary list (an XML file) and then creates a PDF file with a writing grid for those characters.  Here is a screenshot of what the final PDF looks like:

If you're interested in using this tool to create your own vocab writing PDFs, I've put the tool up at:

http://www.miryclay.com/chinesepod/vocab2grid.php

I hope that this tool will be helpful for you!  It has been for me.  If you have any comments or feedback, feel free to let me know.  Enjoy!

What do you recommend for a person living in the United States and learning Chinese for personal growth and does not expect to ever travel to China or do business with any Chinese companies. Most or all of the conversation would be for pleasure with Chinese Americans or other Chinese language students. Reading would be the local Chinese papers or restaurant menus and any opportunity to speak the language would probably be in Chinese restaurants or in the Chinese markets, culture centers or  China town. I took one semester of Mandarin Chinese and the instructor seemed adamant that we learn both simplified and traditional and at the time didn't seem so overwhelming in a classroom setting. However the class was cancelled after  the one semester and learning both styles on my own has become rather tedious. I am just wondering if I should buckle down and keep learning to read and write both or if it would be a better use of my time and energy to concentrate on one or the other, and if so which would be smartest given my current interest in learning. I noticed that the lessons give .pdf in both simplified and traditional so it is apparent that even after more than 50 years of simplified coming to be that traditional stills seems to have some place in Chinese language. Does anyone have any practical experience as if both are important or should one study just one or the other. And if I were to ever have an opportunity to visit some part of China would I be kicking my self for not studying both or find that I wasted my time studying both? What about school children in China, do they still learn both or is it just simplified? Are there other regions that do not recognize simplified besides Taiwan? 

I just found this interesting analogy to explain the Chinese writing system:
If English was written like Chinese

Definately has some entertaining value.

Hey guys, I wanted to know if anybody here uses this program called Pleco? http://www.pleco.com

It's a very extensive dictionary, has the ability to write a character in and it will recognize it and lead you to it's entry in multiple dictionaries. I just got the demo, will only let you look at A's, and I was delighted also to see that the dictionary I'm working with right now (being a new learner), the Tuttle Learner's Dictionary, is on there, on top of a few other ones.

So Before I purchase, does anybody else use this? Is it worth it? Something better out there, or what?

Thanks and p.s. this is my first post on ChinesePod so woo!

Fellow CPODers,

I love CPOD, unfortunately, there isn't a lot for learning how to write characters. This is the only area CPOD lacks, everything else is great. So I ask to those who do take time to learn how to write characters, what resources do you use? Books? Just writing a character hundreds of times? All advice is welcomed.

你们的朋友，

kevin_zhong

From today's New York Times

China Brushes Out Distinctive Hues of Names

BEIJING — “Ma,” a Chinese character for horse, is the 13th most common family name in China, shared by nearly 17 million people. That can cause no end of confusion when Mas get together, especially if those Mas also share the same given name, as many Chinese do.

Ma Cheng’s book-loving grandfather came up with an elegant solution to this common problem. Twenty-six years ago, when his granddaughter was born, he combed through his library of Chinese dictionaries and lighted upon a character pronounced “cheng.” Cheng, which means galloping steeds, looks just like the character for horse, except that it is condensed and written three times in a row.

The character is so rare that once people see it, Miss Ma said, they tend to remember both her and her name. That is one reason she likes it so much.

That is also why the government wants her to change it.

The rest of the story...

Actually, the character in question is 骉(驫) and as far as I can tell is actually pronounced biāo.

Hi - i really enjoy Cpod. Hearing the lessons over and over again really helps me already with my biggest problem: getting the vocabulary WITH THE CORRECT TONES in my head.

But one thing makes me feel Chinese Pod is not complete: why don't you provide character writing excercise sheets? That is not too hard for you to do and would add a great value to those who are interested in writing chinese as well.

You know what kind i mean - a page with a charakter on top - showing the stroke orders as well as common meaning of the sign.

i just bought "my first 100 chinese characters" and think it's great fun. walking arround in guangzhou - and suddenly i see a charakter i recognise. it's really rewarding.

This should be an interesting piece of news for anyone struggling with writing characters:

http://blog.skritter.com/2009/04/chinesepod-new-lists-users-guide-launch.html

My first post For the Love of Hanzi is not so much about 部首 (Radicals) but what make up 汉字 (hànzì / Characters / Words).

Each 部首 is made up of different strokes called 笔画 (bǐhuà). Some examples of 笔画 are:

一 横 héng
丨 竖 shù  
フ 横折 héngzhé
丿 撇 piě
丶 点 diǎn

For more information and animations for  笔画 see HERE

The specifics of which 笔画 make up certain 部首 seem to vary depending who I talked to. However, 笔画 put together in certain orders make up 部首, and different 部首 put together in certain orders make up 汉字.

For example:
一丨are used in making 田 (the 部首)
フ丿are used to make 力
田 and 力 are used to make 男 (the 汉字)

Watch this VIDEO of one of my friend’s daughters writing 笔画 and then demonstrating how the 笔画 make up a 汉字.

Notice in this VIDEO the slighty different 笔画 the student uses.

汉字 are made up of two basic elements: 偏旁 (piānpáng) and 部首, (笔画 also make up 偏旁 in the same way that 笔画 make 部首). I have asked many native Chinese over the past two weeks to define 偏旁 and 部首 and their relationship with each other and have received different answers. In fact this subject was hotly debated between my Chinese friends on more than one occasion, which was great fun to watch, but not very educational, at least not in language terms. So PLEASE, those of you who have a better and clearer knowledge of 偏旁 and 部首 (and 部件), PLEASE comment!

What I was able to gather were these two different ideas:

(1) 偏旁 is the meaning part and  部首 is the sound part of 汉字. An example of this is clearly seen in 妈 (mother). 马 (horse) is the sound (ma3), 女 (women) has the meaning.

(2) 偏旁 and 部首 are both names for Radicals, (偏旁部首). 偏旁 (偏 meaning one-sided, to lean) is the name of a Radical placed on the side of a 汉字, as in 汉. 部首 (首 meaning head) is a Radical when it is placed on the top, as in 安. This explanation sounds more reasonable because although the above explanation fits with 妈, it doesn’t fit for all 汉字, like 男.
 
A single 汉字 is called 字 (zì). Compound words, words made up of more than one 字 are called 词 (cí), and words made up of four or more 字 are called 成语 (chéngyǔ). 成语 are proverbs or idioms eg. 一心一意 (yīxīnyīyì, one heart one mind) and 安不忘危 (ānbùwàngwēi, in peacetime, do not forget the possibility of danger)

Despite my best research, many interviews and drafts, I am sure I’ve managed to make all this as clear as mud, so please, comment, clarify, add your own explanations and if I have got any of it wrong, please do correct me.

zhǔ 'dot'

Strokes: 1 Examples: 之 为 头

yī 'one'

Also means a, an

Strokes: 1 Examples: 于 下 上

shù 'down'

Strokes: 1 Examples: 中 北 冉

piě 'left'

Strokes: 1 Examples: 九 乃 千

yǐ 'twist'

Also: 乛 乚, the top and side of 刁

Also means Heavenly Stem, an old character for Fish Guts.

Strokes: 1 Examples: 乞 乡 以

Sources: http://www.kzxy.com.cn/Article/ArticleShow.asp?ArticleID=17116#%E4%B8%80%E7%94%BB%EF%BC%885%EF%BC%89 / William McNaughton Reading and Writing Chinese. Tuttle Langauge Library / http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Index:Chinese_radical#1_stroke / http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/pagoda/3847/flux/radscheme.htm

http://blog.skritter.com/2009/08/teaming-up-with-chinesepod.html

!!!!

For some while I've followed the fail blog site and the subsite that  deals with translation issues.   this is often amusing but also educational as quite frequently the translation issues  are English translations of Chinese signs.   As for example this one:

http://failblog.org/2009/08/15/lightswitch-fail/

The translation of 天花灯  as smallpox light seems obvious when looked up in MDBG as it lists the following definition

天花  = Smallpox / ceiling

So I can read the intended translation as "ceiling light"

However if I look up 花灯  I get

花灯  = coloured light

So maybe the Translation is "day coloured light"  or "day light" given the context.

Is this because of the translations in the dictionary I am using?  It is just that it seems nuclear to me how I would ensure I understand the intended meaning  and  how two readers would  be sure they were thinking the same.  In English the spaces between the words mark the boundary between the words but Chinese uses no spaces to define the gap.

For example if I write goatherding  when I mean waiting for the noise of a lady ringing a bell before leaving  I would came confusion.

I'm sure this is a confusion every English speaker approaching Chinese encounters but any insights into how I learn to  avoid these pitfalls would be welcome. I suspect the answer will be experience. . .

Hey, guys.

Just a quick note to let you know that the free Skritter integration (we call it "Skritter Lite") is now live.  Premium and above subscribers can see it by going to either (1) the Vocab Manager (click on "Me" at the top, then "Vocabulary"), where there is now a "Writing Practice" link, or (2) from individual Lesson pages, on the Vocabulary tabs (select words to practice, then click on the new "Writing Practice" button).

I will do a blog post about this soon.

Is there any way to toggle flashcards between traditional and simplified?  All my lesson dialogues toggle back and forth no problem and, of course, PDF's have had a fix from the beginning.  However, the flashcards only seem to display simplified characters, regardless of lesson settings.

Any help would be appreciated.

I find that I can memorize a character better if I can name and write the radicals that compose it.  The problem is, I often forget the name and the stroke order, which basically means I don't remember the radical.

Does anyone know where to find online, free directions on how to write the most common 214 radicals, and what their names are?  I can never find a decent site when I do Google searches.

Note: I'm not looking for general guidelines for stroke order.  I know that.

Thanks in advance

Hello Everyone,

I'm hoping we can have a discussion on the difference and advantages between the two learning methods presented in:

James W. Heisig's, "Remembering Simplified Hanzi Book 1: How not to forget the meaning of Chinese Characters"

vs.

Matthews & Matthews, "Tuttle:  Learning Chinese Characters Volume 1"

Other than the obvious, which is that Heisig's book covers 1,000 characters while the Tuttle book covers 800, what are the advantages and disadvantages to both?  Which book is better in regards to being effective in remembering the Chinese characters?

I am currently using the Tuttle book, but have never used Heisig's book.  I'm looking to get peoples opinion about the difference between the two methods (are they the same method or are they different)?

Also looking for opinions on which is better.

Thanks,

欧阳骏