Viewing characters as LEGO blocks is the most important method native learners use.
| Character | Meaning | BoPoMoFo | PinYin |
| 口 | mouth | ㄎㄡˇ | kou3 |
| 人 | person | ㄖㄣˊ | ren2 |
| 火 | fire | ㄏㄨㄛˇ | huo3 |
| 木 | tree | ㄇㄨˋ | mu4 |
| 山 | mountain | ㄕㄢ | shan1 |
| 日 | sun | ㄖˋ | ri4 |
| 月 | moon | ㄩㄝˋ | yue4 |
| 門 | door | ㄇㄣˊ | men2 |
| 女 | women | ㄋㄩˇ | nü3 |
| 宀 | roof | ㄇㄧㄢˊ | mian2 |
| 王 | king | ㄨㄤˊ | wang2 |
| 水 | water | ㄕㄨㄟˇ | shui3 |
Here are the examples Ms ShaoLan gives us. They show how the characters work as LEGO blocks.
Click HERE to watch the stroke orders of the above Characters.
Click HERE to watch the stroke orders of the above Characters.
| Basic Character | Derivatives | BoPoMoFo | PinYin |
| 人(person) | 从(follow) | ㄘㄨㄥˊ | cong2 |
| 众(crowd) | ㄓㄨㄥˋ | zhong4 | |
| 大(big) | ㄉㄚˋ | da4 | |
| 犬(dog) | ㄑㄩㄢˇ | quan3 | |
| 太(too much) | ㄊㄞˋ | tai4 | |
| 人人(everyone) | ㄖㄣˊㄖㄣˊ | ren2 ren2 | |
| 大人(adult) | ㄉㄚˋㄖㄣˊ | da4 ren2 | |
| 大众(public) | ㄉㄚˋㄓㄨㄥˋ | da4 zhong4 | |
| 太太(wife) | ㄊㄞˋㄊㄞ˙ | tai4 tai | |
| 吠(bark) | ㄈㄟˋ | fei4 | |
| 火(fire) | 大火(big fire) | ㄉㄚˋㄏㄨㄛˇ | da4 huo3 |
| 火大(angry) | ㄏㄨㄛˇㄉㄚˋ | huo3 da4 | |
| 木(tree) | 林(woods) | ㄌㄧㄣˊ | lin2 |
| 森(forest) | ㄙㄣ | sen1 | |
| 休(to rest) | ㄒㄧㄡ | xiu1 | |
| 山(mountain) | 火山(volcano) | ㄏㄨㄛˇㄕㄢ | huo3 shan1 |
| 火山口(crater) | ㄏㄨㄛˇㄕㄢ ㄎㄡˇ | huo3 shan1 kou3 | |
| 日(sun) | 晶(sparkle) | ㄐㄧㄥ | jing1 |
| 旦(sun rise) | ㄉㄢˋ | dan4 | |
| 月(moon) | 明(tomorrow/bright) | ㄇㄧㄥˊ | ming2 |
| 門(door) | 閃(to dodge) | ㄕㄢˇ | shan3 |
| 問(to ask) | ㄨㄣˋ | wen4 | |
| 女(women) | 奻 | rarely used | |
| 姦(adultery) | ㄐㄧㄢ | jian1 | |
| 宀(roof) | 安(peaceful) | ㄢ | an1 |
| 王(king) | 女王(queen) | ㄋㄩˇㄨㄤˊ | nü3 wang2 |
| 水(water) | 水門(water gate) | ㄕㄨㄟˇㄇㄣˊ | shui3 men2 |
| 牛(cow) | 牢(prison) | ㄌㄠˊ | lao2 |
| 豕(pig) | 家(home) | ㄐㄧㄚ | jia1 |
| 家人(home) | ㄐㄧㄚ ㄖㄣˊ | jia1 ren2 | |
| 大家(everyone) | ㄉㄚˋ ㄐㄧㄚ | da4 jia1 | |
| 子(son) | 好(good) | ㄏㄠˇ | hao3 |
| 大家好(hello, everyone) | ㄉㄚˋ ㄐㄧㄚ ㄏㄠˇ | da4 jia1 hao3 | |
| 王子(prince) | ㄨㄤˊㄗˇ | wang2 zi3 | |
| 小王子(little prince) | ㄒㄧㄠˇㄨㄤˊㄗˇ | xiao3 wang2 zi3 |
