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[關於康熙部首01] Why Learn the Kangxi Radicals?

3,449 views · Published 16 March 2014 · 12:42 · Indexed 6 November 2026

Channel: à-bas-le-ciel · 2014 · Education

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Your textbooks have probably told you two things about the Kangxi Radicals: (1) you absolutely must study this system if you're ever going to make progress with the written language, and (2) don't worry, nobody actually does it, so forgive yourself now for your inevitable failure, and just muddle along in ignorance.

This is a mixed message that reflects the mixed emotions the Chinese often have toward the "roots" and etymologies of their written language: your teachers will simultanously tell you that this stuff is crucial to understanding anything at all, yet, also, they will complain that any questions you may have on the subject are just a waste of time.

I have met many foreigners who have become fluent in Chinese without learning the radicals (and etymologies) of the written language, but they look back on this subject wistfully as part of their education that was missing.  They tend to think of it as something that still impairs their work in the language (from day to day), and, for at least some people I've met, it genuinely does.

In this first video, I look at a set of examples to rapidly answer the question, "Why Learn the Kangxi Radicals?"

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