Is there shortcut to learn Chinese characters ( Han Zi ) ?

My foreign friends keep asking me how to learn Chinese characters (Han Zi)...
Is there any quick way to learn Chinese characters?

To tell the truth, I think there is no shortcut to master Chinese characters...
One has to practice writing every character again and again to memorize it.

It is said that after one has learned more than 3000 characters, he can understand over 90% contents from Chinese magazines or newspaper. 

Since there are lots of characters needed to be memorized, Chinese students have to spend several years on learning writing...

Year / Grade in School	How many characters have been learned?
1st ~ 2nd Grade	700~800
3rd ~ 4th Grade	1500~1800
4th ~ 6th Grade	About 3000

However, fortunately...
Since there are some repeated elements in Chinese characters, once you've learned more and more of them, you will find your learning curve also shortened more and more.

Good luck on your learning!