Chinese Characters. A Guide from Keys to HSK 1 Words (3.0)

The guide "Chinese Characters. A Guide from Keys to Words" presents all the characters and words for preparation for the new HSK 1 format (3.0) with a total of 300 characters and 500 words. However, the characters and words are not arranged in the usual alphabetical order, but are divided into key groups.

The basis of Chinese writing is not an alphabet, but characters. The only correct and convenient classification scheme invented by the Chinese several centuries ago is the key system. Moreover, most keys are semantics, graphemes that hint at the meaning of the characters.

In this guide, all keys are divided into five groups, with "Nature" and "Human" being the most numerous. From the keys, one can trace the path to the characters, and from the characters, in turn, to the words. Words consisting of two or more characters will appear two times or more accordingly. This arrangement allows one to organize characters and words in their mind, understanding that the logography and word formation is one huge and quite logical system where everything is interconnected.

Also in the guide, a musical note icon marks the most frequently encountered phonetics (graphemes that hint at pronunciation) with all the pronunciation variants they provide. Remembering the phonetics will help predict the possible sound of encountered characters.

At the end of the guide, there is an alphabetical index of words for familiar searching.