It all started with no ‘abc’…

We find that pupils enjoy the ‘code breaking’ side of learning Chinese characters - it’s so logical. The artists of the groups also particularly enjoy writing the characters and having the opportunity to learn some calligraphy skills. 

There are lots of characters to learn and this can sometimes be challenging for pupils until they start to see patterns emerging. For example, if we look at 人 (ren): a single 人 means a person. Two 人 make a new character, 从 (cong), which means to follow (one person followed by another person). Three 人 make 众, which means the masses or a crowd. Likewise, a single 木 means a tree or wood. Two 木 make 林, meaning woods. Three 木 make 森, which means a forest. We can build more complex Chinese characters by learning basic components and single-structure characters step by step. It is like we learn various English words by starting from the 26 letters.

Creative illustrations of Chinese characters help learners to create memorable associations, leading to better understanding and retention of written characters.