Omniglot book store

Chinese Blockbuster

by Gilbert-C. Remillard

- a comprehensive, fun and pragmatic method to help you read simplified and traditional Chinese characters and pronounce them in Mandarin. A series of three books that teach you to read over 4,000 Chinese characters, including their ancient meanings and shapes.

Buy Chinese Blockbuster 1 from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Buy Chinese Blockbuster 2 from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Buy Chinese Blockbuster 3 from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Reading and Writing Chinese: A Guide to the Chinese Writing System

by William McNaughton and Li Ying

- introduces 2,000 Chinese characters with their Mandarin pronunciation in pinyin romanization, stroke order, English meaning and some sample compound words for each character. Concentrates on tradiational characters, though shows simplified characters as well when they differ from the traditional ones.

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Understanding Chinese Characters by Their Ancestral Forms

by Gam Go and Ping-Gam Go

- explains 288 common Chinese characters on the basis of their ancestral forms. Also includes 72 color photographs taken in San Francisco's Chinatown to show actual usage.

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Fun with Chinese Characters

by Tan Huay Peng

- tells a little story, complete with cartoon-like illustrations, to help you remember each character. Also gives examples of usage for each character.

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Learning Chinese The Easy Way: Read & Understand The Symbols of Chinese Culture

by Sam Song

- provides readers with the easiest entry point into the Chinese language and also helps readers establish a strong foundation through well-known fables and their entertaining Chinese characters.

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Chineeeasy Flashcards

by C3 apps

- flashcards designed to help you learn some of the 1,000 most common Chinese characters. They are useful for HSK beginner's test; include stroke numbers for writing practice; include measure words for some nouns; have concise English-Chinese definitions, and use easy to read fonts.

Buy from: Amazon.com

Chinese Characters: A Genealogy and Dictionary

by Rick Harbaugh (Editor)

- a dictionary that groups characters by phonetic elements.

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

 

The Art of Chinese Calligraphy

by Jean Long

- includes an overview of the history of calligraphy in China, details of how the characters are put together, and step-by-step instructions on how to write some of them.

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

The Art of Chinese Calligraphy

by Melanie Votaw

- a basic introduction to Chinese calligraphy which comes with an instruction book, brushes, paper, ink, inkstone and all the other tools you need.

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Ideogram: Chinese Characters and the Myth of Disembodied Meaning

by Marshall J. Unger

- in this book the author demonstrates convincingly and entertainingly that Chinese characters do not convey meaning directly without any reference to specific languages and cultural contexts as many people believe.

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Chinese Calligraphy: From Pictograph to Ideogram: The History of 214 Essential Chinese/Japanese Characters

by Edoardo Fazzioli

- a richly illustrated handbook of the most essential Chinese characters, offering a unique perspective on the history and philosophy of an ancient culture.

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

The Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters

by James D. McCawley

- an invaluable book for anyone who regularly eats at Chinese resaurants. Helps you to decipher the Chinese characters on the menus and explains the dishes so that you know what you're eating (not always a good idea!).

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

The Chinese Language - Fact and Fantasy

by John DeFrancis

- a fascinating account of written and spoken Chinese which debunks many myths and misconceptions. Essential reading for anyone interested in the Chinese language.

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Cantonese as Written Language: The Growth of a Written Chinese Vernacular

by Don Snow

- discusses the development of written Cantonese from 19th century poetry to contemporary usage in magazines and newspaper columns.

Buy from: Amazon.co.uk

10-Language Dictionary of Chinese Characters

by Glossika

• Classical Middle Chinese and modern Mandarin
• Regional languages: Cantonese, Taiwanese, Hakka, Shanghainese, Wenzhounese, Fuzhounese
• Non-Chinese languages: Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese
• Over 5000 Characters
• Radical and Stroke Lookup
• Middle Chinese readings with Rime and Grade Index
• Readings in IPA, Universal Pinyin, and native scripts
• Both literary and colloquial readings included
• Cross-reference tables of tones & consonant endings in each language
• Separate index available for each language
• Both Japanese Onyomi and Kunyomi readings with an index for both
• Explanation of Middle Chinese evolution to the modern languages
• Fast lookup: click on any character

Buy from: Glossika.com

Omniglot Chinese
learn to read, write and pronounce Chinese characters

Available for
Android & iPhone