How to actually learn/memorize words? A complete guide.

Before learning words, be sure to first read the explanation of how characters work. Full info on this takes about 15-20 minutes (ru guide | eng guide). It’s also important to have at least a basic grasp of phonetics.

1. Break down multisyllabic words (those consisting of 2+ characters) into individual characters. Look up each one in TrainChinese or Pleco.
2. Examine the radicals that make up each character. Knowing graphemes helps with long-term memorization. No need to cram, but do study them carefully. Here are the most common radicals (ru playlist).
3. Identify the phonetic and semantic components (radicals). This also greatly aids long-term retention. (You’ll notice the benefits by HSK 2-3.)
4. Practice writing unfamiliar characters, paying attention to stroke order and proportions using animations from strokeorder.com. Don’t just copy blindly—focus on which graphemes you’re writing.
5. Find example sentences containing the word. Important: Try to find sentences where, aside from the new word, everything else is already familiar. Also, choose sentences you’d realistically use. Search BKRS/MDBG or TrainChinese/Pleco. If none are available, ask DeepSeek/ChatGPT to generate a few level-appropriate sentences with the new word.
6. Add the new word to Quizlet/Anki in a deck with no more than 30 cards. On the front, include the word and at least one example sentence.
7. Review your Quizlet/Anki deck daily, reminding yourself of the phonetic/semantic components of each character in the word (if they exist).