{"id":7882,"date":"2018-01-19T12:32:22","date_gmt":"2018-01-19T04:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/?p=7882"},"modified":"2021-01-17T13:10:03","modified_gmt":"2021-01-17T05:10:03","slug":"how-many-chinese-characters-do-i-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/how-many-chinese-characters-do-i-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"How Many Chinese Characters Do I Need To Know?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It will only take [est_time] to read this post!<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, you\u2019re wondering whether to study Chinese or not?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Probably one of the biggest questions you have is, \u2018how many Chinese characters do I have to learn?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Problem is, there are lots of numbers flying about on the old interweb, such as:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/languages\/chinese\/real_chinese\/mini_guides\/characters\/characters_howmany.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">50,000<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (whaaaaat?)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">91251<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. According to the Beijing Guoan Consultant Company, there are <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zybang.com\/question\/920cea61125bf0bf830d8dc03d2f2421.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">91251 Chinese characters<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (even crazier). <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">85,568. The <a href=\"https:\/\/dictionary.writtenchinese.com\/#sk=%E4%B8%AD%E5%8D%8E%E5%AD%97%E6%B5%B7&amp;svt=pinyin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u4e2d\u534e\u5b57\u6d77<\/a> (zh\u014dng hu\u00e1 z\u00ec h\u01cei), China\u2019s most comprehensive dictionary had 85,568 entries in 1994.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Luckily, we don\u2019t need to learn <\/span><b>anywhere<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> near this many characters (sigh of relief)!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The reality is, that a lot of Chinese characters become obsolete over time because they\u2019re no longer relevant to modern day culture. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>For example,<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dictionary.writtenchinese.com\/worddetail\/yao\/20300\/2\/1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u579a<\/a> (y\u00e1o) an embankment<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dictionary.writtenchinese.com\/worddetail\/xuan\/24714\/2\/1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u5b1b<\/a> (xu\u0101n) a girl&#8217;s dancing is soft and beautiful<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dictionary.writtenchinese.com\/worddetail\/jie\/12127\/2\/1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u52bc<\/a> (ji\u00e9) care \/ stability \/ diligence<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dictionary.writtenchinese.com\/worddetail\/ning\/59378\/2\/1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u752f<\/a> (n\u00edng) same as <a href=\"https:\/\/dictionary.writtenchinese.com\/worddetail\/ning\/213282\/2\/1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u5b81<\/a> meaning peace and stability<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From time to time, there are new characters \u2018invented\u2019 (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/popular-chinese-internet-slang\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">remember DUANG<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">?). In the case of \u2018creating\u2019 new characters, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/pages.ucsd.edu\/~dkjordan\/chin\/mojicakes.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">companies often take existing characters and add new radicals<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to make them more relevant to a product they want to name or promote. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fortunately, these new characters are rarely added to dictionaries. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But, there are several facts we need to address before REALLY deciding how many Chinese characters you need to learn: <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. A Chinese character does not equal a \u2018word\u2019<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although a single character does have meaning, most of the time, a \u2018word\u2019 is made up of more than 1 character, usually 2, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/chinese-bigram-why-learning-chinese-characters-is-easier-in-twos\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to make what is called a \u2018bigram\u2019<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. So, for learning\u2019s sake, it is much <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/chinese-bigram-why-learning-chinese-characters-is-easier-in-twos\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">easier to learn with bigrams<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> than by taking each individual character at face value. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2+ \u6c49\u5b57 \u2018characters\u2019 = \u8bcd \u2018word\u2019 \/ bigram<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, the \u8bcd \u2018word\u2019 for \u2018computer\u2019 is made up of 2 \u6c49\u5b57 characters \u7535 (<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">di\u00e0n)<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2018electric\u2019 and \u8111 (<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">n\u01ceo)<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2018brain\u2019. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-7883\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/computer-electric-brain-1024x260.png?resize=900%2C229&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/computer-electric-brain.png?resize=1024%2C260&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/computer-electric-brain.png?resize=510%2C129&amp;ssl=1 510w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/computer-electric-brain.png?resize=100%2C25&amp;ssl=1 100w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/computer-electric-brain.png?resize=300%2C76&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/computer-electric-brain.png?resize=768%2C195&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/computer-electric-brain.png?w=1151&amp;ssl=1 1151w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, if you\u2019re just learning to read Chinese for fun (yes, it does happen), you\u2019re probably better off focusing on Chinese \u2018\u8bcd\u2019 and not obsessing over each individual character.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. Read 75% of Chinese with 500 Characters<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HSK exams also cater towards \u2018words\u2019 instead of Chinese characters, so you often see recurring characters that you already know.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to MIT, <\/span><b>learning a little over 500 characters will allow to read 75% of Chinese<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">! How is that possible? Well, the first reason goes back to the bigram revelation above. If you know 500 characters inside out and back to front, then you must be able to read even more actual Chinese words, or bigrams. Even if the characters are repeated in those bigrams, there are so many combinations to create from those characters, you eventually end up learning more. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. Jobs Requiring Chinese<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Talking of HSK exams, most jobs or universities <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/chinese\/2014\/10\/06\/new-chinese-hsk-test-why\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">requiring Chinese fluency ask for levels 5 &#8211; 6<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which <\/span><b>requires you to know between 1500 &#8211; 2500 Chinese characters<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Essentially,<\/span><b> you need to know approximately <\/b><b>2600<\/b><b> characters to be able to read to the highest degree<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. To pass an HSK exam you will need to know approximately <\/span><b>5000 words<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which will be a combination of said 2600 characters. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. How many characters can a native read?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7886\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/zhouyouguang-Chinese-scholar.jpeg?resize=426%2C258&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"426\" height=\"258\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/zhouyouguang-Chinese-scholar.jpeg?w=426&amp;ssl=1 426w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/zhouyouguang-Chinese-scholar.jpeg?resize=100%2C61&amp;ssl=1 100w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/zhouyouguang-Chinese-scholar.jpeg?resize=300%2C182&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 426px) 100vw, 426px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consider that <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/languages\/chinese\/real_chinese\/mini_guides\/characters\/characters_howmany.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>a well educated native Chinese person knows approximately 8000 characters<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, but in order to read a newspaper, you <\/span><b>only really need to know around 2000-3000<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> characters. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Interestingly, an English native speaking adult <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.economist.com\/blogs\/johnson\/2013\/05\/vocabulary-size\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">should know around 20,000-35,000 words<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">! <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How Can I Learn So Many Chinese Characters?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, we\u2019ve established that to be able to read Chinese fairly well, <\/span><b>you need to know around 2500 Chinese characters<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Well, that\u2019s way better than 85000, 50000, or even 8000, but 2500 still seems a daunting number. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How is it possible to read all of these characters? Here are just a few ways you can get closer to becoming fluent in Mandarin: <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As I mentioned before, learning <\/span><b>500 Chinese characters<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, allows you to read 75% of Chinese, which is a start, right? So let\u2019s go from there. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1.Study the first 512 Common Characters<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-7885\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/learn-2500-characters-to-read-a-Chinese-newspaper-1024x683.jpg?resize=900%2C600&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/learn-2500-characters-to-read-a-Chinese-newspaper.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/learn-2500-characters-to-read-a-Chinese-newspaper.jpg?resize=510%2C340&amp;ssl=1 510w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/learn-2500-characters-to-read-a-Chinese-newspaper.jpg?resize=100%2C67&amp;ssl=1 100w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/learn-2500-characters-to-read-a-Chinese-newspaper.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/learn-2500-characters-to-read-a-Chinese-newspaper.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/learn-2500-characters-to-read-a-Chinese-newspaper.jpg?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/learn-2500-characters-to-read-a-Chinese-newspaper.jpg?w=1800 1800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the reasons why this is a good option, to begin with, is that these are the most common SEEN Chinese characters, so you\u2019re actually learning to read useful Chinese characters or bigrams that you\u2019ll see in newspapers, for example. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. Take an HSK Exam<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another option is to study towards an HSK examination. There are six levels, with 1 being the easiest, and 6 being the most difficult. Our HSK flashcards are free to study, and we also have free PDFs for levels 1-5. The exams are held all over the world, usually once a month. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/want-take-hsk-test-9-tips\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can find out more information about taking an HSK exam here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. Write the characters<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1673\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Writing2small.png?resize=469%2C352&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"469\" height=\"352\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Writing2small.png?w=469&amp;ssl=1 469w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Writing2small.png?resize=100%2C75&amp;ssl=1 100w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Writing2small.png?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 469px) 100vw, 469px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even if you\u2019re not interested in learning how to write Chinese characters, actually writing with a pen and paper can really <a href=\"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/chinese-character-stroke-rules-break\/\">help solidify the strokes<\/a> and shape of a character, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.medicaldaily.com\/why-using-pen-and-paper-not-laptops-boosts-memory-writing-notes-helps-recall-concepts-ability-268770\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">helping you to remember it<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. If you like using your tablet or mobile to practice Chinese, then you can also use the Chinese keyboard to practice the strokes and see if you can recognize the right character.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6912\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Character-Story-yang-raise.jpg?resize=500%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Character-Story-yang-raise.jpg?w=500&amp;ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Character-Story-yang-raise.jpg?resize=100%2C60&amp;ssl=1 100w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Character-Story-yang-raise.jpg?resize=300%2C180&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/secrets-to-remembering-exactly-how-to-write-a-chinese-character\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">coming up with a memory technique<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, will also aid recollection and help with learning so many characters.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. Learn Radicals<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yep, those little things again. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/radical-truth-importance-learning-radicals\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learning Chinese radicals<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will create an association between other characters. So every time you see the dog radical, \u72ad(qu\u01cen), you\u2019ll know it has something to do with an animal, such as \u72ee \u2018lion&#8217;, \u732a \u2018pig\u2019 and obviously \u72d7 \u2018dog\u2019. This is effectively like batch learning, and will not only help with memory but also with spoken Chinese, too!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although around 3000 characters seems to be how many Chinese characters you need to learn in order to read, at the end of the day, it\u2019s all down to personal preference and why you\u2019re learning to read. &nbsp;The worst thing that you can do, is to rush and try and learn to read in a hurry. Learning to read Chinese characters can be a time consuming and detail oriented task, that should be taken at whatever speed is right for you. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It will only take [est_time] to read this post! So, you\u2019re wondering whether to study Chinese or not? Probably one of the biggest questions you have is, \u2018how many Chinese characters do I have to learn?\u2019 Problem is, there are lots of numbers flying about on the old interweb, such as: 50,000 (whaaaaat?) 91251. According&#8230; <a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/how-many-chinese-characters-do-i-need-to-know\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[142,3],"tags":[259,175],"class_list":["use-editor no-single","post-7882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-learner-tips","tag-beginners","tag-chinese-characters"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.13 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Many Chinese Characters Do I Need To Know?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you&#039;re new to Chinese, you might be asking the question &#039;How many Chinese characters do I need to know?&#039; Find out how many characters you need to read a paper, or pass an exam!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/how-many-chinese-characters-do-i-need-to-know\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Many Chinese Characters Do I Need To Know?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you&#039;re new to Chinese, you might be asking the question &#039;How many Chinese characters do I need to know?&#039; Find out how many characters you need to read a paper, or pass an exam!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/how-many-chinese-characters-do-i-need-to-know\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Written Chinese\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/writtenchinese\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-01-19T04:32:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-17T05:10:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.writtenchinese.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/How-Many-Chinese-Characters-Do-I-Need-To-Know.png?fit=560%2C315&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"315\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hollie\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hollie\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/how-many-chinese-characters-do-i-need-to-know\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/how-many-chinese-characters-do-i-need-to-know\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hollie\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4ddea0bca7341106151502ecfb02f406\"},\"headline\":\"How Many Chinese Characters Do I Need To Know?\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-19T04:32:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-17T05:10:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/how-many-chinese-characters-do-i-need-to-know\/\"},\"wordCount\":989,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"beginners\",\"chinese characters\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Blog\",\"Learner Tips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/how-many-chinese-characters-do-i-need-to-know\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/how-many-chinese-characters-do-i-need-to-know\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/how-many-chinese-characters-do-i-need-to-know\/\",\"name\":\"How Many Chinese Characters Do I Need To Know?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.writtenchinese.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-19T04:32:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-17T05:10:03+00:00\",\"description\":\"If you're new to Chinese, you might be asking the question 'How many Chinese characters do I need to know?' 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