First learn and recognize the common radicals (root words). Know what they mean and represent. Once you know them, you can build upon them with other combinations. For example, ロ is the pictogram of the mouth. So any combination of other characters will mean that it has something to do with the mouth. For example, sounds of animals 咩 bleat mouth+goat , 鳴 chirp (mouth+ bird) 吠 bark (mouth+ dog). 扌is the abbreviation of the hand 手 so, any combination has to do with a verb using the hand, 打 = to beat, 拖 = to hold, 推 = to push. With the 女 female character, the character has to something to do with women. 好 = woman+son = good, 如 woman + mouth = if ( yes, Chinese language is very sexist!) 媚 (woman + eyebrow) = sexy. (ancient Chinese fetish). 亻is vertical form of 人 (man, male) and so the same reasoning... 仁 the relationship of two persons should be of benevolence (Chinese philosophy). 木 = tree-->wood, hence something that is made from wood or a name of a tree, same sense for 艸 grass 花 = flower, 莽 = weed, 椰 coconut, 林 forest, 森 jungle, 椅 chair, 桌 table.魚 all things fishy, fish-like 鱗 fish scales, 鮮 fresh (fish + goat because, if they are not fresh, they have a great odor!) 鱔 eel, 鯨 whale etc. Some characters are composed because they came from stories. So in order to learn a language well, you need to know its history, culture and tradition. Just by learning only the language, you will always be restricted to the lowest form of communication. Learning Chinese characters in this way, gives you greater mnemonic means to remember.