Online Chinese Dictionary Manual to help you cope with everyday life
Log on to zdic.net
（Just remember this website, it will be good enough to assist you anywhere in your life）
Once you are in the page, the home page will look like that.
You can key in your search in Chinese characters or hanyu pinyin (Red box).
Otherwise you can use it like any dictionary, step by step to find the word through radical (Navy Blue box).
I will be creating the step by step user manual, to introduce to you and share with you the basic function for you to benefit effectively from this online dictionary.
Upon clicking on the Navy blue box, you will see all the radicals displayed in accordance to the number of strokes of the radical.
In this example, assuming we all choose the grass/plant radical (Red Box), we will be seeing a large amount of characters that is associated to plants.
After clicking on the plant related radical, the drop down of the planted related radical words are displayed (based on the amount of strokes).
Assuming we choose the word 艺 from the whole list (Red Box).
After clicking on it, information of the word 艺 will appear.
Red box will display how the word is being written, it will play stroke by stroke, so you know the correct sequence in writing the word.
When you click the orange box, it will read out the sound and tone of the word.
The navy blue box will display the Chinese and English meaning of the word.
When you click on the second box (Red outline), the dictionary will explain the word in detail, it will also show where the word appeared in ancient text. This will help you understand how the meaning of the word is derived.
3rd box show the ancient Qing dynasty dictionary, whereby that dictionary will further explain and illustrates the meaning of the word. Sometimes when you come across character that look a little unique or funny, you can try looking at this Qing dynasty dictionary, as it helps to collate all the words in the world.
This tab shows the character 艺 in various forms and style. How the word evolved in different eras. You will need it when you decide to buy ancient seal with the carvings of your name or when you write calligraphy.
From the drop down, you can choose 成語, whereby you can look for idioms.
You can type “yi”, then all the idioms with the sound yi will come out, unless you specifically type the Chinese word “一”. You have the option of using hanyu pinyin or type the Chinese characters, it will generate all the possibilities for you.
Assuming you are looking for 成語 associated with the word 艺.
All the idioms related to 艺 appeared upon your request.
Assuming you chose the below idiom.
In the Red box, you can see the idioms written in Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese, depending on which region you are at.
The Yellow box is the hanyu pinyin of the idiom, you can click on the sound logo, to listen to its pronounciation.
The blue box contains the explanation of the idiom that you have chosen.
Lin Lao Shi has a wealth of teaching experience and is a MOE-trained teacher. Trained in Differentiated Instruction, he has helped many students with different learning needs with their Chinese language. If you have any enquiry, call or message him at +65 9727 9365.