How Many Characters (Do I need to read Chinese)?

OVER 9000!!!!! 

…is not the answer to dis question🙅🏻‍♀️

F O O T N O T E S:

1 Actual estimates are closer to 50,000 characters. In reality, though, the vast majority of these characters have fallen out of use. A college educated Chinese person will know an average of 8000 characters, but a grasp of 2-3000 characters will let you read serious newspapers (like…Economist level serious). Source BBC (link).

2 Note that these percentages assume conversational proficiency in spoken Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese, etc).

3 A solid grasp of about 100 characters will allow you text (with the aid of emojis) in your family WeChat/whatsapp! Source: author’s own Xperience🙃

5. These percentages were adapted from @yoyochinese

My Parents

I originally started drafting this comic as a “Vocabulary Review” for the educational graphic novel I’m working on for Panda. While it still functions as a vocab review (this one covers the characters 字，你，好，妈，爸，and 爱), it’s so much more:

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Growing up, I never heard my parents say “I love you” (我爱你).⁣ This bothered me. It seemed my friends’ parents said it to them all the time. ⁣ As the years pass, however, I’ve begun to see the many, *many* ways my parents have shown their love. Their love is quiet. Unspoken. Expressed through countless acts of service — big and small. ⁣

妈妈，爸爸，女儿爱你们⁣
Mom, Dad, I love you too. ⁣
⁣
— Linda ⁣

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GLOSSARY:

字(Zì) character ⁣
⁣
你(nǐ) you⁣
⁣
好(hǎo) good⁣
⁣
妈(媽)(mā) mother⁣
⁣
爸(bà) father⁣
⁣
爱(愛)(ài) love⁣
⁣
妈妈好(媽媽好)(māmā hǎo) Hi mom⁣
⁣
爸爸好(bàba hǎo) Hi dad⁣
⁣
好妈妈(好媽媽)(hǎo māmā) Good mother⁣
⁣
好爸爸(hǎo bàba) Good father ⁣
⁣
你妈妈爸爸爱你!(nǐ māmā bàba ài nǐ!) Your mom and dad love you! ⁣

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LANGUAGE POINTS

1️⃣ Greetings using “好”⁣
⁣
STRUCTURE: ⁣
n./pn./pron + 好⁣
⁣
EXAMPLES:⁣
妈妈好! = Hi Mom! ⁣

Cindy好! = Hi Cindy!⁣
⁣
你好! = Hi you! (Also known as “hello”)⁣
⁣
——————————————— ⁣

2️⃣ Expressing love “A爱B”⁣
⁣
STRUCTURE: ⁣
S + 爱 + O ⁣
⁣
EXAMPLES:⁣
我爱你 = I love you ⁣
你爱我 = you love me⁣
🎵We’re a happy familyyyyy🎵… anyone? Sing along? Ahem. Moving on…⁣
⁣
——————————————— ⁣

3️⃣ Possession (Infomal)* ⁣
works only with relationships⁣
⁣
STRUCTURE:
Pronoun + noun(belonging to subject)⁣

EXAMPLE: ⁣

你妈妈 = your mama (yo’mama)⁣
你爸爸 = your papa ⁣
我妈妈爸爸 = my mom and dad ⁣
⁣
*the character “的” is used to formally express possession. We’ve covered this in a previous comic! ⁣

The Building Blocks of Chinese