Student Q&A, December 2023: How many words to learn, if it’s good to learn radicals, and whether to learn simplified or traditional characters

• How many words is reasonable to learn in a day?
• Will focusing on radicals make learning characters easier?
• And should you learn simplified or traditional characters?

This week’s podcast episode (number 174) is a reader and listener Q&A, where I answer three questions sent to me about Chinese vocabulary.

Tune in to the Hacking Chinese Podcast to listen to the related episode:

Available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, Overcast, Spotify, YouTube and many other platforms!

Links to things mentioned in the introduction

• Chinese vocabulary challenge, December 2023
• Hacking Chinese Challenges
• Kickstart your learning with the Skritter Character Course

Chinese vocabulary challenge, December 2023

Links for question #1: How many words to learn

• Why flashcards are great for learning Chinese
• Should you learn Chinese vocabulary from lists?
• Which words you should learn and where to find them
• Learning Chinese words really fast
• How to become fluent in Chinese
• Analyse and balance your Chinese learning with Paul Nation’s four strands

Analyse and balance your Chinese learning with Paul Nation’s four strands

Links for question #2: If it’s good to learn radicals

• How to look up Chinese characters you don’t know
• The building blocks of Chinese, part 1: Chinese characters and words in a nutshell

The building blocks of Chinese, part 1: Chinese characters and words in a nutshell

Links for question #3: Simplified vs. traditional characters

• Learning simplified and traditional Chinese
• Are simplified characters really simpler to learn?

Are simplified characters really simpler to learn?