How To Learn Chinese

How to learn Chinese? Or, better, how to learn Chinese the smart and fast way? The answer is: start learning the most commonly used words and characters.

Yes, you don't need to waste your time with words or characters that you would never use again in the real life. But how could you know which words or characters are the most frequently used? Well, we can help! We have selected a small portion of them that make up 89% of all Chinese language usage. Click here to see the list.

For example, consider the following Chinese text (the characters belonging to the list of 1,000 most commonly used Chinese characters are highlighted in yellow -
for the list of the most frequently used Chinese characters click here):

欣赏这个美丽的地球。天文学家发现，在广大无边的宇宙中，人类的家园地球只是小小的一点。宇宙其他地方都找不到生命的迹象，只有地球才具备维持生命所需的一切条件。在这个美丽的地球上，我们不但能够活着，还能够好好享受生命。在寒冷的日子，感受到阳光的温暖是多么惬意！看到壮丽的日出日落，谁不为之心动呢？当然，太阳的存在，不只是让我们得到感官上的欢愉，也是维持我们生命非常重要的一环。亿万年来，太阳的引力使地球和其他行星的轨道稳定不变。另外，学生在课堂上都学过，整个太阳系都围绕着银河系的中心运转。可是，太阳只是芸芸天体之一，其实围绕银河系中心运行的恒星不下1 000亿颗。

The text above is composed by a total of 250 characters. 228 of them (91%), highlighted in yellow, belong to the list of 1,000 most commonly used Chinese characters -
for the list of the most frequently used Chinese characters click here.

English translation:

Enjoy Our Beautiful Earth. ASTRONOMERS have seen that mankind’s home is just a tiny speck in the immeasurable reaches of a boundless universe. Nowhere else in the physical universe has life been found. Only on planet Earth have just the right conditions existed. Moreover, we can enjoy life on this beautiful globe. How pleasant it is to feel warmed by the sun on a cold day! Who of us is not moved by a spectacular sunrise or sunset? Our sun, of course, does more than merely delight our senses. It is vital to our very existence. For countless millions of years, the gravitational force of the sun has held the earth and other planets in stable orbits. And, as students learn in school, the whole solar system moves in orbit around the center of our Milky Way galaxy. But in our galaxy the sun is just one of more than 100 billion stars making this journey together.

List of different Chinese characters contained in the text above:

欣赏这个美丽的地球天文学家发现在广大无边宇宙中人类园只是小一点其他方都找不到生命迹象有才具备维持所需切条件上我们但能够活着还好享受寒冷日子感阳光温暖多么惬意看壮出落谁为之心动呢当然太存让得官欢愉也非常重要环亿万年来引力使和行星轨道稳定变另外课堂过整系围绕银河运转可芸体实恒下颗

So, how would you answer now to the question "How to learn Chinese?" Focus your energy and time on the 1,000 most commonly used Chinese characters and you'll learn fast!