1. You find a page for each of the 270 Chinese line-drawings (radicals) which all Chinese characters are composed of.
2. On every page of a line-drawing (radical), you find a picture which enables you to understand the original meaning of the line-drawing quickly.
3. You also find the stroke order of every line-drawing (radical).
4. You find a simple navigation.
This is what one page of the radical part looks like:
When you start to read Chinese you will meet linedrawings. For example these three:
力, 人, 入.
Over the centuries, these line-drawings have been simplified. So, today one can't see the original picture easily anymore. Yet, when one adds a few grey lines, one can see the original picture easily and grasp the meaning!
These are three more line-drawings. What could they mean?
大, 口, 手.
These are the same line-drawings, yet with the complete picture.
Now you have just learned the meaning of six Chinese line-drawings (radicals).
Please look at the line-drawings now and try to remember the meaning without looking at the entire picture. Experience how your mind completes the picture and puts forward the meaning!
力, 人, 入, 大, 口, 手.
If your mind was able to complete the picture and you remembered the meanings of the line-drawings, the lenaia.com-system obviously works for your mind.
If you want to remember the meaings of these line-drawings long-lastingly, it is important that you write them a few times. By being active, you get emotionally and physically involved in the learning process which furthers the best results.
When you draw (write) the line-drawings (radicals) you should draw (write) them in the correct stroke order. You find this stroke order on the page of the respective line-drawing (radical). Just click on the following links in order to come to the respective page. When you draw (write) them, always start the next stroke at the orange beginning of the stroke.
Your exercise doesn't have to look good at all. The only thing that counts is that you are active! Write a few lines! Repeat them until you feel confident with the forms of the new line-drawings (radicals)!
After having drawn (written) them you can add the lines which complete the picture.
Because you are active, your mind will remember much longer.
All the line-drawings which you find in this part of the website are so-called radicals. The term radical comes from latin word "radix" which means root. The radicals, these line-drawings, are the root-elements, the core-elements of the Chinese written language. All Chinese characters are composed of these radicals.
Some Chinese characters are composed of just one single radical:
The Chinese character 力 is composed of the single radical 力 and means strength. The Chinese character 人 is composed of the single radical 人 and means person. The Chinese character 入 is composed of the single radical 入and means to enter. The Chinese character 大 is composed of the single radical 大 and means big. The Chinese character 口 is composed of the single radical 口 and means mouth. The Chinese character 手 is composed of the single radical 手 and means hand.
Other Chinese characters are composed of two radicals:
The Chinese character 从 is composed of the radicals 人 and 人. In this case, the two radicals tell us a little picture-story.
These picture-stories is what the characters-part of Lenaia.com is all about. Yet, the basis of the entire Chinese written language are the radicals. Here you should start off, if you want to progress systematically and quickly.
Are 270 radicals a lot? If you compare all of them with the 6 which you have just gotten to know, it seems like a lot. Yet, if you compare them to up to 50'000 Chinese characters it is little.
If you learn the radicals as it is proposed here, you can learn all of them within 2 to 3 days. This is only about line-drawings and meanings! Don't worry about how to pronounce the radicals! Just focus on the line-drawings, the stroke-orders and the meanings!
Proceed as follows:
1. Look at the radical, the added grey lines and the meaning.
2. Write (draw) the radical a few times by starting each new stroke at the orange beginning of the stroke. By writing you are active which makes you become physically and emotionally envolved. This activity will enable your mind to remember long-lastingly.
3. Take the sheets of paper, on which you have written the radicals, and add the grey lines, which bring out the meanings of the radicals. It will look great as you draw your own strokes! The only thing that counts is that you are actively learning!
4. After having learned about 10 radicals, you lean back and look at the navigation of the group of radicals which you are currently studying. Lean back, overlook the radicals in the navigation, add the grey lines in your head and recall the meaning. Click on the respective radical in order to check your knowledge! You will be surprised how fast you will learn!
5. Spend 50% of your time with repeating and 50% with learning new radicals. Understanding is key number one to learning success. Repetition is key number two.
Your mind can remember a meaningful picture much easier than a bunch of abstract strokes. So, if your mind can connect the abstract strokes of a radical to a meaningful picture, it is very easy for you to memorize the meaning of the radical. The completed picture is the bridge between the abstract radical and the world which you know already. You only have to learn to see the bridge. The rest happens automatically.
The grey strokes which complete the picture must be very closely connected to the strokes of the radicals. This is important as you will only see the strokes of radicals when you will start reading Chinese. So, when your mind will see a radical lateron, it can follow the strokes of the radical and see the grey lines grow from them. In this way, the radical itself turns into a bridge to the grey lines which complete the picture. So, ideally, the grey lines must touch the strokes of the radicals or grow from them and the whole form of the completing picture must be tightly connected to the form of the radical. This is what we have done for you on this website.
So, the radical is the bridge to the complete picture and the completed picture is the bridge to the world which you know already and the world which you know already is the bridge to the meaning.
Please also watch the introductory video about how to learn Chinese radicals joyfully and efficiently! By watching this video, you can experience how fast you can learn the meanings of 8 new Chinese radicals. You also get an example on how to actively learn radicals with lenaia.com.
Please watch the videos to the five parts (books) on this website in the following sequence:
1. Introduction to the Chinese Language
2. Chinese Radicals
3. Chinese Characters and Picture-Stories
4. Chinese Pronunciation
5. Chinese Grammar
6. Chinese Lessons
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We hope you will enjoy learning Chinese with us greatly!