Radicals

the very simple answer is radicals are the part of a written character (often left or top) used to organize characters of related meaning (semantic component) and in dictionaries. wikipedia has a lot more detailed explanation, and here's another source

:-)

Kevin, Are you learning Chinese in school at all? Interested to know what got you interested in learning Chinese. :)

Hi guys! Thanks! 谢谢你们！Thanks goulniky and AZERDocMom. Rich, I am a home-school student, so I do have a Chinese class through the county virtual school. But regular high schools in Florida do not have 汉语. Recently, my Chinese teacher, Mrs. Cramer, sent you guys an e-mail if we could have like a class subscription, now my teacher is just waiting for approval from her "principal." Well Rich, its kind of complicated why I got interested in Chinese. First of, its the culture. Chinese are so much nicer than Americans, I say Americans because I have only been here for two years; I am puerto rican, Chinese people are kind. Todays young culture of America don't give a shoot about education, Chinese have a much different mind set than that, so I want to make sure I have a good future in America, or China. Another reason is the challenge. I loe challenges and chinese is my biggest one so far. My goal is to be as good as I can in a time frame of 5-7 years, because Rome wasn't built in one day. I practice my listening skills and speaking by talking to Chinese friends in Skype and italki.com. Hopefully my Chinese teacher will have good news soon and I will sign up for the 6 months or maybe a year, because right now I only have the free trial. THanks all! 谢谢！ Kevin 凯文

ha ha.... hey, I'm American! But what you said is true. ;) Probably why I haven't lived in America for more than a short time in the last 6 years....

"only been here for two years"? you are still 14, two years are more than 14% of your life! Cut the Americans some slack, at least they're first to complain about themselves (take Rich as an example). I went to Florida once, it seemed like a nice place, nice people. People here in Brazil don't like to study as well. I imagined things were better in Florida. Many fellow Brazilians emigrate to Florida, I hope it is not they who are wrecking the country. It is very admirable of you to apply so hard in studying.

Welcome to CPod, Kevin : ) It's very nice to have some young poddies here. You can learn a lot from folks like goulniky and others who contribute so much to the community of learners. Chinese is a great language to learn. Have fun and persevere!

marcosbento, I live in Florida and can assure you Brazilian immigration is not wrecking anything. If it's something your countrymen/women are concerned about, perhaps you could send us a really good coach for our national soccer team as a "goodwill gesture"...or perhaps a few players come to think of it...and throw in some good samba leaders for the crowd while your at it. Tchao!

Lets not get personal people. We are here to learn Chinese, not insult people

Guys, If I wanted to start (really really start, because I always end up not finishing) learning the characters and how to write them, how should I start? Any advice from people that were successful at mastering HanZi. 谢谢！

If you are referring to my post, I wasn't trying to be insulting. I apologize it that's the way it was perceived. Actually, I was trying to be complimentary in a joking sort of way.

I think that for most people, learning a language involves falling in love with the country, the people, and the culture, as well as the language itself, to some extent. For a while, maybe a long while, everyone and everything to do with that country seems perfect, and nothing else can compare. The stronger you allow your belief to become, the easier it will be to stay motivated to work hard at learning the language. Just remember that others won't want to share your positive view all the time. I think it really helps to go with the flow, allow yourself that little fiction, avoid noticing anything negative and learn all the positive aspects you can find, because that makes the whole language learning process a lot more fun. After all, it is quite true that the grass on the other side of the hill is greener, and what a drab and dreary world we would be in if that were not so! Actually, it is possible to realise that it's just part of the "in love with everything Chinese" effect, and still enjoy it as if it is real, like we do when watching a movie. Ah, you never know, it might turn out to be real, mightn't it? Every country, people, culture, language, has good and bad. It doesn't hurt at all to focus on just the good, let your heart get swept away, because it really helps the learning. Just don't think about it too hard, don't let anyone force you to see the less appealing aspects, and don't bet your last ten dollars on it always being true, and then it's a lot of fun to dwell in a new passion that surrounds and propels the language learning. One way to help prolong the beautiful dream is to make it stronger by keeping it working away on its own, where other dreams and realities cannot interfere and it can't threaten other people's dreams. For example, just because one country is superior, doesn't have to mean that others are inferior, if you get what I mean. ;-) I wanted to ask whether others cultivate these kinds of dreams to help learning, but of course I can't, can I. Once you start to analyse these precious things, they go away, and there's no use destroying other people's dreams to make a point. So shhh! zzzz....

Actually marcosbento , I am 波多黎各人也是美国人