Learning to write Chinese: Emoji to the Rescue

During lockdown I’ve been learning to write Chinese characters. I’ve been making slow but consistent progress. More importanly, I’ve been enjoying it again. Some characters are definitely easier to recall than others. As it turns out, emoji can be a great way to represent the stories I’ve used to get some of the characters to stick.

秋： 🌾 🔥

Think of the farmer who spends “autumn” throwing left over rice on the fire to burn it before it rots during winter.

愁： 🍂 ❤️

As autumn comes to an end your heart becomes “gloomy” as you only have winter to look forward to.

利： 🌾 🗡

If you want to make a “profit”, you’d better guard every single grain of rice with a sword.

揪： 🤚 🍂

Use your fingers to “hold on tight” to the last few days of autumn. It only gets colder from here on in.

香： 🌾 ☀️

Think of those bags of jasmine rice with the silhouette of the farmer in the logo of the shining sun. Jasmine rice is of course the most “fragrant” of all rice.