HackChinese has earned a loyal following as a spaced-repetition app for Chinese vocabulary, and the appreciation is deserved: it builds recognition and recall of words efficiently. So the complaint that it lacks tracing or physical writing is not really a criticism of HackChinese; it is a category observation. Like other flashcard-style tools, it tests recognition, not handwriting. The fix is not to abandon it but to pair it with the missing piece. Here is the gap and how to fill it.
What HackChinese does well
Give the tool its due first. HackChinese is good at vocabulary: it uses spaced repetition to build your recognition and recall of words over time, which is genuinely valuable for reading and comprehension, and the spacing it relies on is the well-evidenced spacing effect. So for the job of growing and retaining a vocabulary, it does that job, and there is no reason to drop it. The point is simply what that job is, and what it is not, the same fair framing as for any recognition-focused tool.
Why it does not build handwriting
The limit is structural and shared with flashcard tools generally. HackChinese tests recognition: you are shown a prompt and you recall or recognize the answer, which never asks you to produce a character stroke by stroke from memory, and it cannot see or grade your handwriting. Handwriting is uncued production, forming the character from nothing in the right order and structure, a different skill that recognition does not train. So however well it builds vocabulary, it leaves writing untouched, the same recognition-versus-production gap every recognition app has.
Why writing needs a different tool
Building handwriting requires producing characters and grading the strokes, which a vocabulary app does not do. For Chinese, handwriting beats typing for learning, the testing effect shows production builds memory, producing rather than recognizing engages the generation effect, and the order matters per stroke-order learning. None of that fits a recognition card, so it lives in a dedicated writing tool that hides the character, makes you produce it, and checks your strokes. The gap HackChinese leaves is a whole category, not a missing feature, the case for a writing app.
Pair, do not replace
So the sensible move is to keep HackChinese for vocabulary and add a writing tool for the hand. Use HackChinese to build and retain the words you recognize, and a from-memory, stroke-grading tool to turn the ones you need to write into characters you can produce, broken into components so each is a few known parts. Each tool does its job, and together they cover both recognition and writing, the same complementary setup as pairing a dictionary with a writing companion. Defection is not required; addition is.
HackChinese versus a writing tool
| HackChinese | Writing companion |
|---|---|
| Vocabulary recognition and recall | From-memory production |
| Spaced flashcard review | Stroke-order grading |
| Builds reading and recall | Builds handwriting |
| Keep it for vocabulary | Add it for the hand |
Keep the left for what it does well; add the right for the writing gap it leaves.
A plan to fill the gap
- Keep HackChinese for vocabulary recognition and recall.
- Notice it does not make you produce characters by hand.
- Add a from-memory, stroke-grading writing tool.
- Produce the characters you need to write, with feedback.
- Run both: recognition with one, writing with the other.
How Hanzi Write Practice fits
Hanzi Write Practice fills the writing gap HackChinese leaves. It hides the character, you produce it from memory, and it checks stroke order and structure with a radical and component breakdown and spaced repetition, with a stylus and e-ink-friendly drawing mode. It does not compete with HackChinese on vocabulary, that is HackChinese’s strength; it adds the handwriting a recognition app cannot do, so you keep your vocabulary practice and gain the writing it does not cover. A free comparison checklist can help you weigh the options. The app is in early access.
Bottom line
HackChinese is a strong vocabulary spaced-repetition app, but it tests recognition, not handwriting, so it leaves a writing gap, like any flashcard-style tool. The fix is to pair it with a from-memory, stroke-grading writing tool, not replace it. Hanzi Write Practice fills that gap, and it is in early access, so join the list.
Frequently asked questions
Does HackChinese teach you to write characters?
Not really. HackChinese is a strong spaced-repetition app for vocabulary, building recognition and recall of words, but, like other flashcard-style tools, it tests recognition rather than making you produce characters by hand and grading your strokes. So for handwriting, pair it with a from-memory, stroke-grading tool rather than replacing it. Hanzi Write Practice fills that writing gap alongside it.
Should I replace HackChinese with a writing app?
No, pair them. HackChinese is good at vocabulary recognition and spaced recall, so keep it for that, and add a writing-practice tool for the handwriting it does not cover. Replacing a tool that does its job well would cost you; adding the missing category fills the writing gap without losing your vocabulary practice.
Why don’t vocabulary SRS apps build handwriting?
Because they test recognition: you see a prompt and recall or recognize the answer, which is valuable for vocabulary but never produces a character stroke by stroke from memory or checks your stroke order. Handwriting is uncued production, a different skill, so a recognition-based app, however good, leaves it untrained.
What fills the writing gap that HackChinese leaves?
A tool that makes you produce characters from memory and grades your stroke order and structure, with a component breakdown and spacing. That is the category HackChinese is not, and it is what builds handwriting. Hanzi Write Practice provides it, as a companion to your vocabulary practice.
Strong vocabulary but can’t write? Join early access and add the writing HackChinese lacks.