Chinese characters are square-shaped written symbols to record the Chinese language. They are composed at three levels: strokes, components and the whole characters. Strokes are the smallest constituents of Chinese characters. In writing, a single movement of the pen (from the point where it touches the paper to the place where it is lifted) is called a stroke. 

一、“一” 横 [héng]

The first stroke is called héng, or horizontal, and looks like this:

If you look at it carefully, you will notice that it is not a simple straight line. It is not quite horizontal but slants slightly upward, and it is bent without looking crooked, like a flexible twig or a bone.

To write the stroke, set your pen down at the left with a certain force. Then move it slightly downward and to the right. This gives you the little ingress at the left-the well-defined start, separate from the rest of the stroke, like the tensing of muscles before a jump. Execute the stroke itself more quickly, and finish by again pressing more firmly and moving the pen slightly down and to the right. It will feel very awkward to write so carefully, but your speed will soon increase.

Avoid the following mistakes:

Matchstick. The beginning and end are missing, and the result is stiff and wooden.

Bent stick. The beginning and end have taken over too much of the stroke, so it does not look straight anymore.

Here are some exercises. Note the stroke order! 

一  (yī, one) {Play}

二 (èr, two) {Play}

十 (shí, ten) {Play}

Héng is rather hard to write. If you feel frustrated, try the next stroke for a while and then return to héng.

二、汉字“一” Chinese Character "一"

读音：yī

字义：表示数量1。

英译：one / 1 / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire / whole / all / throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) / also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit

三、词汇 Word

一个[yí gè]        a / an {Play}

一些[yì xiē]       some / a few / a little {Play}

一种[yì zhǒng]   one kind of / one type of {Play}

一次[yí cì]          first / first time / once / (math.) linear (of degree one) {Play}

一样[yí yàng]    same / like / equal to / the same as / just like {Play}

第一[dì yī]        first / number one {Play}

一点[yì diǎn]     a bit / a little / one dot / one point / 1:00 (one o'clock) {Play}

四、例句 Sentence

我来试一下。 {Play}

Let me have a try.

他是第一名。 {Play}

He won the first prize.

我过去看一看。 {Play}

I will go over and take a look.

她有一点害羞。 {Play}

She is a little shy.

我们的书包一样。 {Play}

Our bags are the same.

我下午要参加一个会议。 {Play}

I need to be in a meeting this afternoon.

五、汉字练习 Exercises

一、二、十、皮、买、口、日、月 {Play}