Questions related to written Chinese. Note: there are separate tags for 'handwriting' and 'characters'.
Questions tagged [writing]
159 questions
52
votes
9 answers
How many characters do I need to learn?
How many Chinese characters would I generally need to learn to be able to handle most text in typical every day circumstances?
How many would be required to be considered fluent?
Are there any good resources for learning the most commonly used…
Cocowalla
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26
votes
17 answers
Techniques for learning and retaining characters
For many of us, memorizing characters is a difficult thing. In Chinese, just because you can speak the word doesn't mean you can read it. Just because you can read it doesn't mean you can write it. At least for me, I find myself constantly…
mugetsu
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23
votes
4 answers
How can I get better at reading handwriting?
How can I get better at reading handwriting? Are there fonts that look like it, or web sites with examples for practice? Are there some common shortcuts that people take when writing by hand?
Don Kirkby
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22
votes
4 answers
Lowest pixel resolution needed to support Chinese?
We are creating a product which has an small embedded OLED display (64 x 48 pixels). We would love to support Chinese in this product and wonder what is that smallest resolution that would be needed to support Chinese writing?
I assume simplified…
TheGrovesy
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18
votes
2 answers
How do native speakers structure their essays?
When analyzing Chinese speeches or essays, I often have difficulty understanding how their the authors organized their ideas.
In North America, for example, a common template for writing an essay is the five-paragraph essay. This organizes the…
Village
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17
votes
8 answers
How to improve my Chinese handwriting?
When someone has grasped the basic concepts of writing Chinese, there comes a point where handwriting starts to look plain or mechanical. From what I have seen, the lines look very straight and like someone who has just copied directly from a…
going
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13
votes
3 answers
Are there differences in writing between Chinese languages, such as Mandarin and Shanghainese
There are already many questions about the different spoken languages that can be called Chinese. This question on the other hand asks about the written one(s?).
Well, to start, is the written language different at all?
If not - is it because…
Falko
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13
votes
2 answers
How are blanks indicated for placeholders in Chinese (like ???)
In English, in the middle of a sentence if data is being left blank (such as an unknown date, or a name to be filled in at a later time), commonly you see ???, ___ (underscore(s)), or -- to mark this. You can see examples in books such as Mary…
sqrtbottle
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12
votes
7 answers
How gender specific in writing is the character 他
A couple of years ago I wrote this comment below an answer:
On mainland China 他 is used for both male and female. I've only seen 她
used as a stylistic thing for advertising and some old formal writing.
Since I wrote that comment I have had a few…
going
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12
votes
5 answers
How to (hand) write Chinese characters faster
Are there any resources / how-to sources about how to write Chinese characters faster than normal while still being readable? It took me forever to take notes while in class.
Meandering
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12
votes
3 answers
Thought Experiment: Twitter Character Limits
This is hopefully a fun question that is a little bit off the standard path. It's meant to elicit a light conversation but nevertheless one that illuminates fundamental characteristics of Chinese as a written language.
Question: Twitter, which was…
Tang Nawen
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11
votes
1 answer
Why 福 is often used upside down?
On Chinese houses, people often place scriptures for luck, health, wealth, etc.
Often, they use the word 福 [fú] turned upside down, like this:
What is the reason for it?
Be Brave Be Like Ukraine
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9
votes
2 answers
Proper letter writing etiquette
I've recently been writing a lot of letters in Mandarin and I have several questions regarding the form.
Chinese has many salutations in letters. For the most part, is it okay just to use 亲爱? If not, what is most appropriate?
Are Chinese letter…
TrustedDeveloper
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8
votes
1 answer
General guidelines for learning stroke order
A friend asked me for a brief description of the general guidelines for writing Chinese characters. What are the simplest ways to describe those "rules" that apply across most characters?
Don Kirkby
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7
votes
1 answer
What are the different kinds of poems in Chinese?
In the question "Are there poems in Chinese that rhyme?", a debate started about what is considered a poem in Chinese.
The texts I presented — 《三字經》 (Three Character Classic), 《百家姓》 (The Hundred Surnames), 《千字文》 (Thousand-Character Essay) — that I…
Alenanno
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