Today we’re going to talk about one question: How do Chinese people learn Chinese characters?
 I know that if you grew up with an alphabet system like A, B, C, you might feel like crying the first time you encounter Chinese characters.
I get it—Chinese characters can be really intimidating.
今天我们来聊一个话题：中国人是怎么学习汉字的？
我知道，如果你是从 A、B、C 这种字母体系长大的，在第一次接触汉字时，大概会忍不住想哭。
我懂，汉字真的很吓人。

Let me give you the answer upfront: Yes, they do.
Oh yes. Absolutely.
We cried, we struggled, we bargained with our parents, and some of us even threatened to go home and become farmers.
But in the end, we still learned them—thousands of characters.
Honestly, I’ve never seen an adult Chinese person who can’t read or write Chinese characters.
所以问题就来了：中国小孩在学汉字的时候，也会哭吗？
我先直接给你答案：会的。
哦，当然会。
我们哭过、挣扎过，跟父母讨价还价过，甚至威胁过要回家种地。
但最后，我们还是把它们学下来了——成千上万的汉字。
说实话，我从没见过一个成年中国人不会读、不会写汉字的。

In this video, I’ll explain clearly:
How many characters kids are expected to learn
How they connect a character’s shape, meaning, and pronunciation
How they memorize stroke order
And the part you’re probably most curious about: the classic, and often “strict,” Chinese style of education
在这期视频里，我会给你讲清楚：
孩子们大概要学多少汉字
他们是如何把字形、意义和读音联系起来的
笔画顺序是怎么记住的
以及你们最感兴趣的部分：经典又“严厉”的中式教育方式

1. How many characters do kids actually have to learn?
In China, the journey of learning characters starts very early, and it happens step by step.
Around the age of six—or even earlier, depending on how “pushy” your parents are—children begin learning how to hold a pencil properly to prepare for writing.
一、孩子们到底要学多少汉字？
在中国，学习汉字这条路开始得很早，而且是一步一步来的。
大约在 6 岁左右，甚至更早（具体取决于你父母有多“鸡娃”），孩子们就开始学习如何正确握笔，为写字做准备。

By the end of first grade (ages 6–7), kids are usually expected to:
Recognize about 400–500 characters
Be able to write around 100 very simple characters, such as:
一 (1 stroke)
人 (2 strokes)
大 (3 strokes)
Looks pretty easy, right? No big challenge so far.
到了小学一年级末（6–7 岁），孩子们通常需要：
认识 400–500 个汉字
会写大约 100 个非常简单的汉字，比如：
一（1 画）
人（2 画）
大（3 画）
看起来是不是很简单？没什么难度。
 
But then the difficulty starts to level up:
我 (7 strokes)
家 (10 strokes)
爱 (10 strokes—and emotional damage if you write it wrong)
It’s like an RPG game: once you finish the beginner levels, harder challenges immediately appear.
By the time they finish primary school (around age 12), kids are expected to know 2,500–3,000 characters.
And yes—they are tested on them.
但接下来，难度就开始升级了：
我（7 画）
家（10 画）
爱（10 画，写错了还会附带“情绪伤害”）
就像 RPG 游戏一样：完成了新手关卡，马上迎来更难的挑战。
到了小学毕业（大约 12 岁），孩子们通常需要掌握 2500–3000 个汉字。
而且，是要考试的。
 
2. So many characters—how do they remember the sounds and meanings?
You might ask:“That’s a lot. How are they supposed to remember the pronunciation and meaning of every character? Is there an easier way?”
There is.
The secret weapon is pinyin.
Pinyin is a system that uses the Latin alphabet to represent the pronunciation of Chinese characters. For example:
“你好” → nǐ hǎo
你可能会问：这也太多了吧？他们是怎么记住每个字的读音和含义的？有没有更简单的方法？”
有的。
秘密武器就是：拼音（Pinyin）。
拼音是一套用拉丁字母标注汉字读音的系统，比如：
“你好” → nǐ hǎo
 
Many people think pinyin is only for foreigners, but it’s just as important for Chinese kids.
When Chinese children first start learning to write characters, they learn pinyin at the same time.
It’s like training wheels for reading—not something you use forever, but crucial at the beginning.
 很多人以为拼音只是给外国人用的，其实它对中国孩子同样重要。
中国孩子在刚开始学写字的时候，就会同步学习拼音。
它就像是阅读的辅助轮——不是用一辈子，但在最初阶段非常关键。

In children’s books, you’ll often see pinyin written above every character.
This allows kids to:
Read the pronunciation first
Gradually connect the sound with the written character
As they become more confident, the pinyin slowly disappears, and characters take over completely.
在儿童读物里，你经常能看到：
每个汉字上面都标着拼音。
这样孩子就可以：
先读出声音
再慢慢把读音和字形对应起来
随着熟练度提升，拼音会逐渐消失，汉字本身“接管一切”。

For example:
First-grade textbooks: lots of pinyin
Third-grade textbooks: much less pinyin, most characters stand on their own
Sixth-grade textbooks: more complex characters, very little pinyin
It’s just like learning how to walk:
At first, you need support. Soon enough, you’re walking—and even running—on your own.
比如：
一年级课本：拼音非常多
三年级课本：拼音减少，大部分字不标了
六年级课本：字更复杂，拼音更少
这就像学走路一样：
一开始你需要人扶着，后来就能自己走，最后甚至能自己跑起来。

3. What about writing? How do kids learn to write characters?
When it comes to writing, I can confidently say this:
Every Chinese kid has been through the same thing.
That thing is—
Repetition. Repetition. Repetition.
三、那写字呢？怎么学会写？
说到写字，我敢说：
每一个中国孩子都经历过同一件事。
那就是——
重复、重复、再重复。

Welcome to the legendary Chinese character practice notebook—
a grid-lined notebook where every single square seems to beg you to write the same character 20 times.
Parents usually supervise from the side.
欢迎来到传说中的：汉字练习本——
一本格子密密麻麻的本子，每一个格子都在“请求”你把同一个字写 20 遍。
父母通常还会在一旁监督。

I still remember my mom’s comments on my handwriting:
“This character looks like it was written by a chicken’s foot.”
Or:
“One more page, then you can go play.”
Looking back, it was painful—but genuinely helpful.
The more you write, the more your brain remembers the character’s structure, meaning, and stroke order.
 我至今还记得我妈对我字的评价：
“你这个字，像鸡爪写的。”
或者：
“再写一页，就可以去玩。”
现在回头看，确实很痛苦，但也真的有用。
写得越多，大脑对结构、含义和笔画顺序的记忆就越牢。

4. The most frustrating part: stroke order
Yes, Chinese characters have a “correct” way to write them.
Take this character, for example: 回
You can’t just randomly draw a box inside another box.
四、最让人抓狂的：笔画顺序
是的，汉字是有“正确写法”的。
比如这个字：回
你不能随便画个“框里套框”。

There are strict rules for stroke order:
Top to bottom
Left to right
Horizontal before vertical
Inside before enclosing
正确顺序是有严格规则的：
先上后下
先左后右
先横后竖
先里后外

If you freestyle it, teachers will absolutely scold you.
Why? Because:
The character becomes harder to read
Your writing rhythm gets messed up
And it drives calligraphy teachers completely insane
如果你乱写，老师是真的会骂你的。
原因包括但不限于：
字会变得难看
写字节奏被破坏
会把书法老师直接气疯

To make memorization less painful, teachers and clever parents often use small stories to explain why characters look the way they do.
For example:
休 (rest) = 人 (person) + 木 (tree)
A person leaning against a tree is resting.
仙 (immortal/fairy) = 人 (person) + 山 (mountain)
A person living in the mountains is probably not an ordinary human.
为了让记忆没那么痛苦，老师和聪明的家长常常会用小故事来解释字形。
比如：
休（休息）= 人 + 木
一个人靠着树休息。
仙（仙人）= 人 + 山
住在山里的人，大概率不是凡人。

This method works especially well for younger kids.
When I was little, we even had flashcards with cartoons and silly rhymes—
whatever works, works.
这种方法对小孩子特别有效。
我小时候还有那种配着卡通图案和顺口溜的识字卡——
只要能记住，什么方法都行。
 
5. The classic Chinese education style: dictation and exams
Finally, the part you’ve been waiting for:
Classic Chinese education—tests.
The most typical form is dictation.
The teacher reads out words or sentences, and students must write the characters correctly.
五、经典中式教育方式：听写和考试
终于来到你们最期待的部分：
经典中式教育——考试。
最典型的形式就是：听写（听写）
老师念词语或句子，学生必须把汉字完整、正确地写出来。

Make a mistake?
Sorry—copy it 20 more times.
Sometimes even more.
For many students, this is pure nightmare fuel.
That said, things are slowly changing.
We’re living in the digital age, and kids now type a lot—on phones, tablets, and computers.
写错了？
对不起，抄 20 遍。
有时还不止。
这对很多人来说简直是噩梦。
不过，现在情况也在变化。
毕竟是数字时代，孩子们用手机、平板、电脑打字的机会越来越多。

Pinyin input is extremely convenient:
Type “nihao,” choose “你好.”
Simple and fast—no need to write stroke by stroke.
But this creates a new problem:
Many people can read characters, but can’t always write them by hand.
That’s why some schools still insist on handwritten homework—to keep that “writing muscle memory” alive.
The balance between technology and tradition is still being figured out.
拼音输入法很方便：
输入 “nihao”，选择 “你好”。
简单、省事，不用一笔一画写。
但问题也来了：
很多人能认字，却写不出来。
所以，一些学校仍然坚持布置手写作业，就是为了让“写字的肌肉记忆”不要退化。
科技和传统之间的平衡，还在慢慢摸索中。
 
6. Conclusion
Learning Chinese characters is hard.
It’s slow, sometimes painful, but incredibly rewarding.
Chinese kids don’t have some kind of magical brain.
They just grow up with it and gradually get used to it.
六、总结
学习汉字很难。
过程缓慢，有时候痛苦，但回报巨大。
中国孩子并没有什么“神奇大脑”，
只是从小接触，慢慢习惯了。

I’ll say it again:
I’ve never seen a Chinese adult who can’t read or write characters. Not a single one.
So don’t worry—you can do it too.
You’re not alone.
Think about it: China has 1.4 billion people.
If that many people can learn Chinese characters, it really can’t be as impossible as it seems.
我再说一遍：
我从没见过一个不会读写汉字的中国成年人。一个都没有。
所以别担心，你也可以的。
你并不孤单。
想想看，中国有 14 亿人。
如果这么多人都能学会，那它一定没你想象中那么可怕。