Every key on my keyboard has 4 characters on it. There's the alphabet, 2 Chinese characters, and a 3rd symbol that Chinese people can use to enter their language phoenetically. Chinese is just not meant for the modern world.
Once, when I misplaced my wallet, I tried to use Chinese to ask someone if they'd seen it. Unfortunately, I asked them if they'd seen my foreskin (they hadn't). That's the sort of thing that happens with this language. My phrasebook points out another possible mistake, whereby a "poem" becomes a "handful of shit." At least I can understand that one. No one's foreskin is big enough for a wallet.