Essays
An App That Punishes You for Checking Pinyin?
Want an app that punishes you for checking the pinyin? You don't need punishment, you need the pinyin hidden. Here is the better, calmer design.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
An App That Tracks Parent and Child Stroke Practice
Want one app that tracks both your child's and your own Chinese stroke practice? Shared progress turns practice into a habit you keep together. Here is how.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Shatter the Character on a Stroke-Order Slip? Feedback Design
A character that shatters when you draw out of order is more fun than a red X, but good error feedback has to inform, not just punish. Here is what makes stroke-order feedback actually work.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
An App to Check Your Chinese Tattoo? Read This First
Before you ink a Chinese tattoo, can an app verify the translation and characters? Not safely on its own. Here is how to actually check it before it is permanent.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
Learning to Write Chinese Herbal Medicine Names
Chinese herbal medicine names use traditional characters that recur across formulas. Here is how to learn to write them by hand, by component and from memory.
Lawrence Arya··4 min
Essays
Hyperlapse Videos of Writing Chinese Characters
Sped-up clips of writing Hanzi are satisfying and great for sharing. Here is how to make them, and why the practice behind the video is what really counts.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
An App to Practice Chinese Handwriting With Your Kids
Practicing Chinese handwriting alongside your kids helps them and you. Here is how to make shared practice work, and why writing together beats supervising.
Lawrence Arya··4 min
Playbooks
Writing Chinese for Visa and Customs Forms
Filling in Chinese visa, immigration, and customs forms by hand needs a small, specific set of characters. Here is how to practise it, and an honest note on what an app can and cannot do.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
Practice Writing Your Chinese Address for Taobao
A return slip needs your address and name in clean Chinese, by hand. The fix is small: drill your exact, fixed set of characters from memory until you can write it cold.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Practising Xianxia and Wuxia Vocabulary by Hand
Xianxia and wuxia novels are full of evocative, character-rich vocabulary. Here is how to turn the words you love into a writing-practice set you can actually produce.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
Keeping Your Kid's Chinese Writing Alive for the Family
The real goal is not proving anything to in-laws, it is keeping a heritage kid's handwriting alive. A small daily from-memory habit does that, and the proof takes care of itself.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Showing Your Parents Your Chinese Writing Is Still There
Want to prove your Chinese writing hasn't atrophied? A tool that tracks from-memory recall gives real evidence, and rebuilds the skill if it has slipped.
Lawrence Arya··5 min