Ready to feel real clarity about Chinese characters?

Crack Chinese Characters in 5 Days—Free Mini-Course

20–30 min/day

Free 100-character PDF

Simplified AND traditional

Starts immediately

CLICK BELOW TO WATCH FIRST!

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What You'll Learn in 5 Days

A clear path, one short step at a time.

Day 1

  • Intro to functional components and original meaning.

  • The first component types: form and meaning components.
    Of the most common ~4000 characters, Form components appear in 1201 characters (28.8%) in traditional Chinese, and in 1025 characters (25.6%) for simplified.

Day 2

  • Sound components and system-level logic (sound & semantic series).
    Of the most common ~4000 characters, Sound components appear in 3216 characters (77.3%) in traditional Chinese, and in 2975 characters (74.3%) for simplified.

  • Watch us break down 5 characters from the PDF from the first set of 25.

Day 3

  • The last component type: empty components.
    Of the most common ~4000 characters, Empty components appear in 347 characters (8.3%) in traditional Chinese, and in 432 characters (10.8%) for simplified.

  • Walkthrough of 5 more characters from the next set of 25.

Day 4

  • Another 5 characters from set three.

Day 5

  • Put It All Together: Final 5 characters—it will all make sense by now!

  • How to keep progressing—plus an intro to tools that make this easy.

Each day includes bite-size videos + a simple “do this next” prompt. Expect ~20–30 minutes per day.

Results by Day 5

  • You’ll spot sound vs. meaning components at a glance.

  • You'll be able to make sense of a character’s form by understanding its original meaning.

  • You’ll group new characters into families (sound/semantic series) instead of treating each as brand-new.

  • You’ll have a repeatable process for learning future characters faster.

What it is & How it Works

Brute-force memorization AND mnemonics both fail when you don't understand the system. We explain it simply and clearly.

  • Functional Components — every piece has a job.

  • Original Meaning — the only meaning directly connected to the character’s form.

  • System-Level Patterns — characters travel in sound/semantic families. Observing the family helps you make smart guesses about the sound and meaning of new characters.

Result:

Learners regularly report they can guess sound and meaning with ~80–90% accuracy once they learn to read the structure instead of the strokes.

What you get when you join

Bite-Size Training

11 short videos across 5 days.

Zero fluff.

100-Character PDF

Clear explanations you can understand immediately.

Daily Email Nudges

Quick reminders + your tasks for the day.

Practice Prompts

We'll tell you exactly what to do each day—no guessing.

Community of 5,000+

Join other serious learners—there’s strength in numbers!

Lifetime Access

Revisit the mini course any time you want!

About the 100-Character PDF

  • The 100 most common characters

  • Clear, detailed explanations for each character

  • Component breakdowns for multi-component characters

  • Each component's function clearly explained

  • Components color-coded by function

  • Meaning trees: see how each meaning is related to the others

  • Extensive academic citations

  • All written by a PhD in Chinese!

Who is it for?

Serious Chinese Students

Beginners through intermediate learners who want clarity on Chinese characters. Advanced learners who still find characters baffling. If you're serious about learning Chinese, we're your people.

Non-native and heritage speakers

Native speakers and teachers often default to a "just memorize it" approach. "Why does it look like that" isn't even a consideration. Our course is designed specifically for the needs of non-native and heritage speakers who want to understand, not just memorize.

Busy Adults & Lifelong Learners

The course is entirely self-paced, and like all of our courses, you'll still be able to access all of the materials after we're finished. No need to stress about time—you can go through the lessons on your own time, and ask us for help whenever you need it!

See why learners can’t get enough

We’ve helped thousands of students learn Chinese characters more effectively. Here’s what they say:

There are lots of methods out there that rely on made-up stories without digging into the actual components, which is ok for quick memorisation but doesn't build real understanding and long term learning like your approach does.

Allanah K.

I really enjoyed the Character Masterclass and it gave me so many valuable and fascinating insights that really help me in my understanding and learning of Characters

David K.

The advantage of the Outlier method of learning what the characters ACTUALLY mean and how they evolved is it scales remarkably well. Using Outlier methods I can guess the sound AND meaning with around 80 and 90% accuracy respectively. Thank you!

Eric E.

I have the Outlier Dictionary in Pleco, and look at it almost every day. It really helps me to remember & understand new characters over time.

Kien C.

READY TO GIVE US A TRY?

Get clarity on Chinese characters in just 5 days.

Join free, get the 100-Character PDF, and start Day 1 right now.

Meet Your Host

Ash Henson, PhD, MSc

Co-Founder

To say that Dr. Ash is a language enthusiast is an understatement. He speaks Dutch, Mandarin, Cantonese and German, all in varying states of decay. In addition to these, he has learned to some level or another another 7 languages and is currently working on Japanese and European Portuguese. He sees language learning as a chance to experiment. The goal is to find a better way (either getting the same result in a way that takes less time, or getting a better result). And he’s been at it for 30 years!

Dr. Ash got his PhD in Chinese at National Taiwan Normal University in paleography and historical linguistics. He was also in the PhD program for Teaching Chinese as a Second Language for six years. His research focuses on paleography (the origins and evolution of the Chinese writing system) and Old Chinese phonology (the sounds of the Chinese language ~3000 years ago) and the interplay between those two fields.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it really free?

Yes. 100% free. No hidden charges, no credit card required. We do have paid courses, but this mini course is completely free for you to enjoy.

How much time will this take?

About 20-30 minutes per day, including video lessons and "homework" (reading the 100-character PDF).

Do I need any background in Chinese?

No. We start from first principles. But if you’re further along, you’ll also benefit (maybe even more so!) from learning the real system underlying Chinese characters.

Is anything required in order to take the course?

Just a device with an internet connection. Everything is delivered in video and PDF form, and you don't need any third-party apps or any of our paid products in order to take the course.

Do I need to use my real photo in the community?

Nope! The setup asks for a profile picture, but it doesn’t have to be of your face or anything personally identifying. Use your favorite character, your pet, or a cool landscape if you'd prefer.

How long do I keep access?

You get lifetime access to the mini course recordings, so you can review anytime!

READY TO GIVE US A TRY?

Get clarity on Chinese characters in just 5 days.

Join free, get the 100-Character PDF, and start Day 1 right now.

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