A character fits inside an imaginary square. Leave a little space around the edges. Horizontal strokes usually go left to right; vertical strokes usually go top to bottom. Lift your finger or pen between strokes. Watch 一, then 二 and 三. In 十, draw the horizontal stroke before the vertical stroke. These are useful starting rules, not rules without exceptions.

Characters can stand alone or contain parts. 人 and 大 are single structures. 好 places 女 on the left and 子 on the right. 字 places 宀 above 子. Keep the whole character inside one square: do not give each part its own full square. Left usually comes before right, and top before bottom. Watch the animation for the exact order.

A component is a recurring part of a character. 木 appears twice in 林, helping you associate it with trees or woods. In 妈, 女 is a meaning-related component and 马 provides a sound clue: mǎ compared with mā. Sound clues are imperfect and tones can differ. A radical is the component used to organise a dictionary entry; not every component is a radical. Learn the whole word as well as its parts.

Look at the position and number of strokes. 大 has an extra horizontal stroke compared with 人. 本 has a short extra stroke near the bottom compared with 木. 日 has one inner horizontal line; 目 has two. Notice the overall shape before counting strokes. These comparisons help recognition; they do not tell you the stroke order.

Begin with the numbers you can use every day. 一, 二 and 三 return from Start Here; their completed practice carries over. Four and five have their own shapes. Watch 四 carefully: the enclosure is finished after its inner strokes.

Practise the next five numbers. Compare 八 with 人: their strokes meet differently. Use Watch before Practise whenever you are unsure.

他 and 她 sound the same but look different. Notice 亻, a form of 人, in 你 and 他. 她 uses 女 on the left. The left part becomes narrower to fit alongside the right part.

Each word repeats one character. Write both positions if you wish; learning the distinct character earns practice credit for both. The second syllable is normally light, shown without a tone mark here.

Notice that 子 appears in 儿子, while 儿 appears in both words. 女 on its own means female or woman; 女儿 is the word for daughter. Learn the meaning of the whole word, not just its separate characters.

你好 combines 你 and 好. The spelling nǐ hǎo shows the dictionary tones; in natural speech the first third tone changes before another third tone. For writing, concentrate on each character’s layout. 再见 is a useful goodbye.

谢 looks complex, so take it one part at a time: 讠 on the left, then the remaining structure. Watch the full animation before tracing. You do not need to memorise it without help to complete this lesson.

天 repeats in all three words. Notice 日 in 明 and 昨. Compare the whole words: the first character changes the day being described.

These characters occur in written dates. 月 can mean moon or month depending on context. 日 is common in written dates; 天 is common when talking about days.

米 refers to rice grain; 米饭 is cooked rice. Notice 艹 at the top of 茶 and 饣 at the left of 饭. Components can offer clues, but learn and check the whole word’s meaning.

苹果 is a two-character word. Keep the top and bottom of 苹 balanced. 果 also occurs in 水果, meaning fruit; you can explore that word later.

Learn these useful words together. 子 appears inside 学. Watch how each component fits into the whole character. The second syllable of 学生 is commonly light in everyday Mandarin.

学 returns in 学校. 校 has 木 on the left. Use the same character practice credit wherever 学 appears; practise it again whenever you want.

Compare 大 with the familiar 人. In 小, watch the central stroke before the two side strokes. 多少 is a question word: learn the complete word as well as 多 (many) and 少 (few).

Compare 上 and 下 around their long horizontal line. 里面 means inside. Keep 里 and 面 in separate imaginary squares when writing the word.

回 has a smaller enclosure inside a larger one. Watch when the outer enclosure closes. 家 means home or family; 回家 combines returning with home.

Both 吃 and 喝 have 口 on the left, a useful meaning clue. 饭 returns from 米饭. 吃饭 usually means to eat a meal, not specifically to eat rice. 喝 has more strokes: watch, then practise with guidance.

水果 reuses 水 and 果. Notice 艹 at the top of 菜, as in 茶 and 苹. 白菜 is a useful vegetable word; 牛奶 means cow’s milk. Learn these as whole words.

Chinese distinguishes older and younger siblings. Each word repeats one character; the second syllable is normally light. Complete guided practice for 哥 and 弟, then write the full words again if you wish.

姐 and 妹 both contain 女 on the left. Keep that component narrow so the right side has room. 朋友 means friend. The second syllables in these words are commonly light in everyday speech.

手 is a useful standalone word. 脚 has several parts: use Watch to see their order. 口 is a basic character and a recurring component, as in 吃 and 喝; 嘴 is the usual everyday word for someone’s mouth.

目 returns as the left component in 眼 and 睛. Notice that both characters in 眼睛 relate to eyes. 耳朵 is the everyday word for ears. Write each character in its own square; the second syllables are normally light.

Notice the four dots at the bottom of 热 and the two-dot component 冫 on the left of 冷. 下 returns in 下雨. Watch the direction and order of the inner dots in 雨.

Compare 买 and 卖 carefully: 卖 has an additional 十 at the top. Their tones differ too. 钱 contains 钅 on the left. Watch each character before practising rather than guessing the stroke order from its appearance.

书 and 字 return from earlier lessons. 看书 is a natural way to say read a book. 写字 means write characters. 中文 refers to the Chinese language; keep 中 and 文 balanced inside separate squares.

Compare 千 with 十: 千 starts with a short slanting stroke. 百 contains 白, which you met in 白菜. 万 means ten thousand, not one thousand.

早 and 晚 both contain 日. 上 returns in two time words. Compare 午 with 牛: the central vertical stroke does not extend above the top horizontal stroke in 午.

几点 asks the time. 小时 means an hour; 分钟 means a minute. Keep 钅 narrow on the left of 钟. 点 has four dots at the bottom.

星期日 reuses the whole word 星期 and adds 日. In 末, the top horizontal stroke is longer than the lower one. Compare its stroke positions with 本.

门 is also the outer component of 间. 窗 has more strokes: watch its top and bottom parts before practising. The second syllable of 窗户 is normally light.

子 is a light syllable in 桌子 and 椅子. Look for 木 in all three furniture characters. Components can help you recognise the shape without replacing stroke-order practice.

Learn 衣服 first, then reuse it in 洗衣服. 洗 has the water component 氵 on the left. 手 returns from the body lesson.

睡 contains 目, the eye component. 休 puts 亻 next to 木; use the shape as a memory aid. 觉 is pronounced jiào in 睡觉. 息 has 心 at the bottom.

上班 and 下班 share 班. The first character changes whether you are starting or finishing work. 工 is a simple shape worth comparing with 土.

学 and 校 are not the only useful place words. Here, learn three destinations. 行 is pronounced háng in 银行; it has other pronunciations in other words.

车 repeats in every entry. 火 means fire; 火车 is the complete word for train. Compare 气 with 汽: 汽 adds the water component 氵.

机 appears in both 飞机 and 机场. 车 returns in 车站. These are words for recognising places and transport; practise the characters in each word in order.

Compare 左 and 右: 左 contains 工; 右 contains 口. Watch their animations because their starting stroke order differs. 面 returns in both position words.

山 has a distinctive three-part outline. 河 and 海 both use 氵. Keep those three water strokes to the left, leaving room for the other component.

天 returns in 天空. 花 uses 艹 at the top, like 茶 and 菜. 云 is the Simplified Chinese character used here.

猫 and 狗 share 犭 on the left. Watch that component as three separate strokes. 鸟 has its own compact structure: follow the animation for the hook and final horizontal stroke.

马 is the sound-related component you saw in 妈. 小鸟 reuses two familiar characters. Fish and horse use their Simplified Chinese forms here.

面 occurs in both noodle and bread words, where it relates to flour. Learn the whole word: 面 also appears in position words such as 里面 with a different meaning.

色 repeats in all three colour words. 红 and 绿 have 纟 on the left; 蓝 has 艹 above. Keep the dots over ü in lǜ: lǜ and lù are different sounds.

高兴 is a two-character word. 累 means tired here and is pronounced lèi. 忙 has 忄 on the left. Take each unfamiliar character through Watch and Practise before moving on.