Reading a Chinese menu?

I'm going to China for a month by myself for the first time. I've been there 6-8 times before with my parents but I'm 17 now and I'll be on my own. I know how to speak Chinese but I have trouble reading and writing. Can anyone recommend a good resource I could use to brush up on my reading skills? I want to be able to go to China and be able to read a restaurant menu, shop names, maps, subway stations, etc. I know that I can take advantage my hotel's concierge service and I can get by with English in major cities but I would prefer to actually learn to read



I have roughly six months before my trip.



Thanks for the help!Reading a Chinese menu?
It is not hard.U just need a Chinese dictionary,since u can speak,so u can learn how to read easily in months.Just check anything u don't understand in the dictionary.

My grandma cannot read or write Chinese before 16.She attended evening school for two months in 1949,learned hundreds of Chinese characters.And after that she can read many basic books in Chinese,just could not write.So,Chinese is not hard to learn if u can speak fluently.U just need months to recite some basic ones,then check some hard ones in dictionary.Then u would be able to read anything.

In fact,the number of most common basic characters are about 800.If u know these basic ones,u will be able to read many basic stuff.With 2500 Chinese characters,u can read almost anything(99%).U don't need to recite any words.Because all words are made of characters.U can guess out the meaning of the words if u know enough characters.That is the most different thing from English.So,20 Chinese characters a day,2 months can make u able to read basic stuff,4 months can make u be able to read most things.
hi, I am a chinese girl, maybe I can teach you chinese, and you teach me english. as the best way to learn a language is speak loudly.

we can write e-mails or chat on skype.

if so ,pls contract me freely.

My skype:annefu1986

My MSN:fuyuanmei@live.cn

if you don't want to make any friend, you may surfer on

http://www.ehuayu.com/

http://www.yes-chinese.com/

just have a try.Reading a Chinese menu?
Im a chinese american and has been forced to study china's chinese syllabus since grade 1 so i guess i can help xD and im 17 too!

email me @ yuqing.csc@gmail.com xD
I'm a chinese in BeiJing, I can help you. My yahoo Messenger: jy02254082@yahoo.com.cn

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