Xiaomei, do you think characters look like pictures?

Yes! Are there pictures inside characters?

Some characters do. For example, “mountain”—look, it’s like three peaks.

Really! The one in the middle is the tallest!

Now look at “water”—it looks like flowing water with waves.

Water goes splash splash!

There’s also “fire”—it looks like flames dancing.

Fire can dance!

You’re very observant. When you see a new character, first see what it looks like, then remember it.

Okay! I’ll draw it with my eyes first, then read it out loud!