What Character Is That?: An Easy-access Dictionary of 5,000 Chinese Characters (edit title)

Shelfari edited the description of What Character Is That?: An Easy-access Dictionary of 5,000 Chinese Characters Sunday, August 2 2009.

• Ping-gam Go creates a dictionary ideal for the western student. This dictionary has been referred to as the Chinese Rosetta Stone . A must for every Chinese language student, it is the only dictionary where characters are looked up using the English word of the root (named the radical ), of a character instead of the number of strokes or the pronunciation of the character. Learning a mere 43 of the most common radicals will unlock 4,000 of the 5,000 characters in this dictionary. This dictionary teaches how to identify the radical and also provides the etymology to help with memorization. Practice exercises teach how to locate and identify the most common radicals appearing in characters found on a walk through Chinatown or on a Chinese menu.

Shelfari edited the contributors of What Character Is That?: An Easy-access Dictionary of 5,000 Chinese Characters Monday, July 27 2009.

• Added a contributor: Gam Go: (Primary Author)

Shelfari edited the first sentence of What Character Is That?: An Easy-access Dictionary of 5,000 Chinese Characters Friday, July 17 2009.

• The origin of Chinese characters goes far back to the early history of China as can be established from word-signs on broken pieces of pottery dating back to around 5,000 BC and from oracle bones made of tortoise shells dating from the Shang Dynasty (1523-1027 BC).