Playbooks
Reverse-Engineering Character Components, Not Memorizing
An algorithmic tool can decompose any character into its components, which beats blind memorization. Here is what that gets you, and where you still need recall.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
A Screenless E-Ink Slate Just for Chinese Writing?
An e-ink slate is wonderful for distraction-free writing, but it captures ink without grading it. For learning, you still need stroke feedback and spacing. Here is how to combine them.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Self-Hosted Hanzi Writing Tracker? The Honest State
Self-hosting appeals to learners who want to own their data, but self-hostable character-writing tools barely exist. Here is the reality and the closest open options.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Self-Hosting a Writing Server? Offline-First Beats It
Self-hosting appeals to the data-control crowd, but a writing-practice tool needs no server at all. Offline-first, on-device design gives you the same privacy with nothing to host, run, or secure.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
A Beautiful Indie Game for Tracing Chinese Vocabulary?
Want a shanshui-aesthetic indie game to learn Chinese by tracing vocabulary? Beauty motivates, but tracing builds recognition. Here is how to get both.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Learning Shufa (Calligraphy) Basics in English
Chinese calligraphy resources are mostly in Chinese, which is a barrier for English speakers. Here is how to start with shufa, and the honest line between calligraphy and writing recall.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
Prepping Chinese Writing for Singapore PSLE and O-Level
No app issues an official PSLE or O-Level grade, but you can drill the exact characters those papers demand, from memory, with stroke feedback and timed review. Here is the approach.
Lawrence Arya··4 min
Essays
Smartpens for Learning Mandarin: the Honest State
Smartpens digitize your handwriting on real paper, but no Mandarin-learning app meaningfully integrates with them. Here is the reality and what actually helps.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Gentle Spaced Repetition When You Have Brain Fog
Want spaced-repetition writing that adapts to brain fog? Gentle, adaptive spacing can help, but this is not medical advice. Here is an honest take.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
A Spaced-Repetition Writing Tool for I Ching Characters
Want to learn to write the characters in I Ching or feng shui texts with spaced repetition? The method works for any character set. Here is how to apply it.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
Spaced Repetition for Written Recall, Not Pinyin
Most SRS tests pinyin and meaning, not handwriting. Here is how to run spaced repetition strictly for written recall, by hiding the pinyin and producing characters.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
Spaced Repetition for HKDSE Traditional Writing
The HKDSE Chinese paper is written by hand in traditional characters. Here is how spaced-repetition, from-memory writing practice fits exam prep without burnout.
Lawrence Arya··4 min