monto 11 Report post Posted March 16, 2008 "How many" depends on "for What". One never learns enough characters, so we have 活到老,学到老(You learn while you live). In the campaigns to eliminate illiteracy in China after the Liberation , 1500 - 2000 characters was the goal. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leosmith 24 Report post Posted March 16, 2008 I thought the goal was 26. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sgt_Strider 10 Report post Posted March 24, 2008 It's just like English, not everyone will be able to learn every single word of the language. I can't quantify how many English words I know, but I know more than enough to read a newspaper, academic paper, and writing a high level essay in university. So what is my point? I think the number of characters or words a person needs to know depends on what their objective is. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites