Best ways to Learn Chinese Vocabulary in 2021

While learning a language, people want to see constant and quick development. In this post, I have shared my personal method for learning Chinese vocabulary. I hope you will find it convenient and it suits your requirements. 

My method for Learning Chinese Vocabulary

While learning Chinese, I developed my own method based on my experiences for learning Chinese vocabulary. However, you can modify it according to your needs. 

Using this method, I can learn 20-30 Chinese words per day in an hour of study. For consistent results, you must practice this method every day. Once you become used to it, you will be able to learn Chinese vocabulary quickly.

This method allows the words to naturally go into the memory. Forcing the words into the memory is not good. If you use the right method, you can move the words into long-term memory. By repeating the words you can convince your brain that the vocabulary is valuable. 

I believe that this method, combined with the stress-free framework in which I am not pushing the words into my brain but letting them go in naturally, is the key to success. 

I divided my method into 6-stages.

Stage 1: Find a Source of Vocabulary

Though you can learn vocabulary from words list, I suggest you find your own words in the material you are studying, because:

• It matters to you: Word lists can be very wide-ranging, and it can make you stop learning vocabulary. Once I tried learning Chinese vocabulary as fast as I could, I realized that I forget many of the previous words that I learned after investing a couple of months.    
• Context is Key: Finding vocabulary words in context is great to memorize and learn how to use them.

I usually find words from Chinese TV shows. The advantage of Chinese TV shows is that they have subtitles in Chinese characters, so it is easy to recognize words and keep them in the brain. 

But for beginners, TV shows can be extremely daunting, so I suggest using some other tools and resources. Listen to the new vocabulary attentively and write the new words you hear in your textbook. That is the first stage of learning Chinese vocabulary. 

However, along with other languages, it could be hard to learn Chinese vocabulary, but due to the small number of sounds in Chinese, it is not so difficult to recognize new words. You will get better with practice.

When I find a new word, I research the word and try to explore what I heard and how it can be used in the context.

You can also reference the character in the Chinese description, but it is better to trust your listening and your skill of discovering the suitable word from context. After the first stage, you will have a list of new vocabulary to learn.

Stage 2: Select and Create a Vocabulary List

Select the new vocabulary, open up an Excel notebook and write down all words with the pinyin on the right side and the description on the far right. 

You can also use different apps to keep the list, but it is better to write yourself. Writing practice will help you to memorize the structure of each character. Don’t be rapid to write them down; try to understand their structure while writing them in your notebook. 

Stage 3: Learn to recognize the Chinese characters

Learning Chinese characters helps to understand the basic structure of characters. Each component of a Chinese character has a meaning. It helps you to recognize the character parts, their function, and usage. 

There are many apps and tools that can help you to learn Chinese characters. They can make learning easier and more effective.

When you recognize a Chinese character, write down the character 15-20 times in your character notebook. It can be a bit boring, but it is a very effective way to learn Chinese characters. The repetition process helps you memorize the character structure.

Always use a character notebook for writing practice, as the grids in character notebooks help you write every character with the right size and dimensions.

If you learn new words through learning the characters you become able to memorize them quickly. Try to learn each character individually, and move to the next character when you are sure that you have memorized the recent character. If a word contains only one character it is so easy to remember. 

Stage 4: Learn to write the Chinese character

When you want to move to the next new word, open up the list and review the new words along with the words you have learned before. Repetition will help you keep all new words in your memory.

Fix a time of day when you can invest your time into doing repetition practice. The different tools are available that can help you learn to write Chinese. 

Try to practice repetition regularly. When you start skipping days, it not only decreases the effectiveness of the method but also lets you stop learning Chinese. So, avoid skipping the practice. 

Stage 5: Learn How to use Chinese Vocabulary

It is very well to know that 礼貌 means courtesy and manners, but it’s not enough you have to get some more exposure to precisely and influentially be able to use the word yourself.

First of all, if you have extracted the word from a TV show, watch it again. Try to learn how Chinese words are used in sentences.

You can also use some apps which can help you learn how to use the words into sentence appropriately. 

Another way to understand the use of vocabulary is to learn the meaning of the word and read the example sentences. 

I even used Google to recognize how the Chinese vocabulary is actually used. This method is incredibly effective and easy. 

The sentences will provide various examples to the vocabulary in context as you do repetition practice. 

Stage 6: Refresh your Chinese Vocabulary

Learning vocabulary once is not enough to keep it in your brain, you need to often repeat and relearn the Chinese vocabulary you have already learned. 

It is easy to memorize the Chinese vocabulary if you are already familiar with the words. You will know the words which need to be repeated. 

When I was learning Chinese vocabulary, I regularly look into the word list and repeat the words that I have learned the previous day to see if I have forgotten any words. 

I used to highlight the forgotten words to label that they need some more writing and speaking practice before they enter into memory.

When I start learning new words daily, I go back to the start of my word list and start learning with all highlighted words. When I make sure that I have learned them well, I take away their highlight. 

I also used to repeat the word lists once a week and check out if I have forgotten any words. I look into the list whether there are any words that I am now having trouble writing them correctly. If I face difficulty remembering any words, I add them to my daily list of words to review. 

This way, you will be able to remember the words forever. Without a regular refresh, you may forget how to write the Chinese words.

Though, if you are not interested in learning character writing and only focus on reading, you can relax on character writing and maintain a daily routine of reading words. Otherwise, you probably won’t keep them in your memory. 

Luckily, repetition of forgotten characters is considerably easier as compared to learning them the first time.

Final Thoughts

This method requires constancy. If you are willing to invest your time regularly in learning Chinese vocabulary, you will see obvious results. You have to struggle with consistency so that you will be able to learn Chinese vocabulary effectively. Remember that Chinese vocabulary is not something that can be learned in days. It requires your time and complete devotion.

You can also develop your own vocabulary learning method similar to mine or make changes in my method so it can meet your requirements.

Try this method and see how much you can learn in a single month. For more guidance, you can check out the other posts I have created in the Chinese language. I hope you enjoyed this post!