Student Q&A, December 2024: Learning similar Chinese characters, polyphonic characters, and flashcards vs. reading for building vocabulary

his week’s podcast episode is a reader and listener Q&A, where I answer three questions about learning words and characters in Chinese. This time, I’m answering questions about:

• Learning similar-looking Chinese characters
• Reading vs. flashcards for building vocabulary
• Dealing with characters with more than one pronunciation

Tune in to the Hacking Chinese Podcast to listen to the related episode (#226):
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and many other platforms!

Links to things mentioned in the introduction

• Chinese vocabulary challenge, December 2024
• Courses on Hacking Chinese
• Skritter review: Boosting your Chinese character learning

Links related to question 1: Similar-looking characters

• The building blocks of Chinese, part 1: Chinese characters and words in a nutshell
• Phonetic components, part 2: Hacking Chinese characters
• Remembering is a skill you can learn
• How to create mnemonics for general or abstract character components

How to create mnemonics for general or abstract character components

Links related to question 2: Reading vs. flashcards

• Reading is a lot like spaced repetition, only better
• An introduction to extensive reading for Chinese learners
• Why flashcards are great for learning Chinese

Reading is a lot like spaced repetition, only better

Links related to question 3: Characters with more than one pronunciation

• Should you learn Chinese vocabulary from lists?

Should you learn Chinese vocabulary from lists?