Hello, as a chinese students, our teachers told us to use pinyin only for pronunciation, and to never use it in class as its not important compared to characters. They highly discouraged the use of pinyin saying it is for children you should only know it when you want to learn the pronunciation of a new character. From the start, they introduced basic common characters, radicals, and small word components. Books like practical chinese reader (textbook and workbook) help us see how the past Chinese characters were developed over time and how the radicals show their meaning. Our teachers always said "radical shows the meaning, and the character on the right shows the sound"(not always true its just a general thing lol).
Personally what i did to improve my character writing, was to write on practice sheets until i learned the character, meaning and pronunciation by heart (Sheets are available on google just search character practice sheet). I would write the pinyin, character and then meaning, and write until my hands hurt. Another way to improve character recognition, is to read. Reading not only helps your character recognition, but also improves your speaking. Things like stories or cultural articles stay longer in the students minds, and it helps them remember the situation and phrases used in that moments of the story. Also, another thing which is the most important, is NONSTOP REPEATING and practicing EVERYDAY. Chinese is a language with simple grammar and context but not simple characters. Students have to work hard in the beginning but soon it develops into a routine and habit which is all for the best.
This is just my overall experience as a chinese student for 4 years. Hope this helps! Good luck!
(more)Personally what i did to improve my character writing, was to write on practice sheets until i learned the character, meaning and pronunciation by heart (Sheets are available on google just search character practice sheet). I would write the pinyin, character and then meaning, and write until my hands hurt. Another way to improve character recognition, is to read. Reading not only helps your character recognition, but also improves your speaking. Things like stories or cultural articles stay longer in the students minds, and it helps them remember the situation and phrases used in that moments of the story. Also, another thing which is the most important, is NONSTOP REPEATING and practicing EVERYDAY. Chinese is a language with simple grammar and context but not simple characters. Students have to work hard in the beginning but soon it develops into a routine and habit which is all for the best.
This is just my overall experience as a chinese student for 4 years. Hope this helps! Good luck!