Playbooks
Checking Students' Chinese Writing Homework Remotely
Grading handwritten Chinese homework remotely is hard, and OCR invites cheating. Here is what a teaching portal needs, and why from-memory writing is the fix.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
A Dopamine Loop for ADHD Writing: Engagement vs Retention
A satisfying, game-like loop can keep an ADHD learner practicing, which matters. But tracing for dopamine builds engagement, not retention. The trick is to reward from-memory production instead.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
ChineseSkill's Handwriting Module, as a Focused App
Want only the handwriting part of a broad Chinese app, done properly? Here is why a dedicated, from-memory writing tool beats a bolted-on sub-module.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Japanese vs Chinese Character Proportions
Japanese and Chinese write many of the same characters but with subtly different proportions and style. Here is what differs and how to write the Chinese forms well.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
Chunking 15-Stroke Characters Into a Story
A 15-stroke character is overwhelming as strokes but manageable as a few components. Here is how to chunk complex characters and still learn to write them.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Does Relying on Pinyin Keyboards Erode Your Chinese?
Worried that typing everything with a pinyin keyboard is eroding your Chinese handwriting and connection to it? The effect is real, and reversible. Here is how.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
A CLI That Gives You a Random Hanzi to Trace Daily
A daily-character CLI is a fun, easy build and a fine habit nudge, but a terminal can show a character, not grade your writing. Recognition is not recall. Here is the honest split.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
Turning Passive Anki Cards Into Real Writing Ability
Your Anki sentence cards built recognition but not writing? Convert that passive knowledge into production by writing those characters from memory. Here is how.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
Handwritten Hanzi Wedding Invitations: a Guide
Want to hand-write custom Chinese wedding invitations? Here is how to learn the names and ceremonial phrases, verify them, and write them beautifully.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Custom Font Upload to Tracing Paths: What Is Realistic
Turning an uploaded font into traceable stroke paths is harder than it sounds: font outlines are not stroke skeletons. Here is what is realistic, and why tracing is a scaffold.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
A Trace-to-Unlock Daily Hanzi Lock Screen: Good Idea?
A lock screen that makes you trace a daily character before unlocking is a clever habit nudge, but tracing to unlock is recognition, and it gets gamed. A from-memory prompt works better.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
Practicing for Rigorous Chinese Stroke and Structure Tests
Preparing for a rigorous Chinese program that tests stroke order precisely? Precise handwriting is built by from-memory practice with structure feedback.
Lawrence Arya··5 min