<p>Similar to learning prefix/suffix and transformation of words in Latin derived languages, it's quite important to break down a Chinese character (in Traditional Chinese, 繁體字) into different components.</p>

<p>You will find most of the characters are constructed according to <a href="http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%AD%E6%9B%B8" rel="nofollow">六書</a> principles. Also Google for other resources on 六書.</p>

<p>For example, in 葉(leaf) 碟(disk) 蝶(butterfly) the common 枼 component provides for the pronunciation and meaning (thin and flat) for the character.<br>
The 廾，石，虫 indicates the word relates to plants, something hard, insects respectively.
Knowing these rules helps you to learn these three words with less effort.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-28T10:08:48.663Z
2014-04-28T10:20:01.227Z
2014-04-28T10:20:01.227Z
leesei
<p>Many Mandarin Chinese teachers claim that the step 3 for Learning Chinese is: Vocabulary Building. </p>

<p>Is it the same way(s) to memorize Chinese vocabulary as it is to memorize English vocabulary? Or are there any good tips to memorize Chinese vocabulary?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-28T02:46:25.163Z
And this guy is supposed to be writing/compiling his own textbook...嗚呼哀哉
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-28T02:50:28.453Z
Chinese is quite different from English. English can be memorized by its surfix or prefix+basic root of words, However Chinese should be memorized by its similar meaning.
xqMogvKW
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-28T04:08:39.507Z
Hello user3306356, I'm just a teacher assistant, trying to make sense of what the teachers are talking about and bring it up for discussion to clarify some crucial points that might be beneficial for learners :)
Chinese.Tutor.Frank
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-28T15:37:45.283Z
Using a "Thesaurus" dictionary is a good way to build one's English vocabulary. I think it would also work for the Chinese case by using a "同义词词典".
Stan
<vocabulary><simplified-characters><traditional-characters><learning>
Learn Chinese Step 3: Vocabulary Building. Is it the same way to memorize Chinese vocabulary as it is to memorize English vocabulary?
# Learn Chinese Step 3: Vocabulary Building. Is it the same way to memorize Chinese vocabulary as it is to memorize English vocabulary?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-04-27)

Many Mandarin Chinese teachers claim that the step 3 for Learning Chinese is: Vocabulary Building.

Is it the same way(s) to memorize Chinese vocabulary as it is to memorize English vocabulary? Or are there any good tips to memorize Chinese vocabulary?

**Tags:** vocabulary, simplified-characters, traditional-characters, learning
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: And this guy is supposed to be writing/compiling his own textbook...嗚呼哀哉  
> **username_2**: Chinese is quite different from English. English can be memorized by its surfix or prefix+basic root of words, However Chinese should be memorized by its similar meaning.  
> **username_0**: Hello user3306356, I'm just a teacher assistant, trying to make sense of what the teachers are talking about and bring it up for discussion to clarify some crucial points that might be beneficial for learners :)  
> **username_3**: Using a "Thesaurus" dictionary is a good way to build one's English vocabulary. I think it would also work for the Chinese case by using a "同义词词典".  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2014-04-28. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Similar to learning prefix/suffix and transformation of words in Latin derived languages, it's quite important to break down a Chinese character (in Traditional Chinese, 繁體字) into different components.

You will find most of the characters are constructed according to [六書](http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%AD%E6%9B%B8) principles. Also Google for other resources on 六書.

For example, in 葉(leaf) 碟(disk) 蝶(butterfly) the common 枼 component provides for the pronunciation and meaning (thin and flat) for the character.  
The 廾，石，虫 indicates the word relates to plants, something hard, insects respectively.
Knowing these rules helps you to learn these three words with less effort.


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