This document provides an introduction to learning Chinese characters and pronunciation. It discusses that [1] Chinese characters are made up of basic building blocks similar to letters in the English alphabet, [2] understanding these basic blocks allows one to recognize enough characters to understand menus, and [3] in addition to reading, one needs to learn spoken Chinese to communicate through asking and answering questions. It encourages learning pronunciation through listening and repeating words without worrying about the technical aspects of tones at first.