Essays
Meilleure alternative à Anki pour le chinois
Anki est un excellent outil de cartes mémoire, mais il entraîne la reconnaissance, pas l'écriture. Pour écrire les caractères de mémoire, il faut un autre type d'appli.
Lawrence Arya··6 min
Essays
Anki Alternative for Chinese Writing: Stroke-Level Grading
Anki grades your whole recall as one button press, so a missed dot and a botched character score the same. A writing-specific tool grades the strokes. Here is the difference.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
Looking for a Free, Open Skritter-Style Writing Tool
Want a free way to practice Chinese handwriting instead of a subscription? Here are legitimate free and open options, and why bypassing a paid app is the wrong move.
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
Playbooks
Dong Chinese Sentences but Sync Issues? An Alternative
Dong Chinese is great for sentences and reading, but mobile sync frustrations are common. Here is a focused, writing-first alternative for when sync gets in the way.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
Hack Chinese Doesn't Test Handwriting: an Alternative
Hack Chinese is a strong vocabulary SRS, but it tests recognition, not handwriting. Here is why that gap exists and what to pair with it to actually write.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
HackChinese Lacks Writing Practice: How to Fill the Gap
HackChinese is a strong spaced-repetition vocabulary app, but it tests recognition, not handwriting. For writing, pair it with a from-memory, stroke-grading tool rather than replacing it.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Looking for an Inkstone Replacement?
Inkstone was a free, open character-writing app that stopped working on modern devices. Here is what made it good, and what to look for in a current alternative.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Research
Active Writing vs Passive Quizzes: A Pleco Alternative
Multiple-choice quizzes test recognition by letting you pick from options. Writing a character from memory tests production. For handwriting, the gap between them is the whole ballgame.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Looking for a TofuLearn Replacement? Prefer Offline-First
When a cloud-dependent learning app goes quiet or shuts down, your data and progress can vanish with it. The lesson for a replacement: prefer offline-first tools with local data that survive a shutdown.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
A Skritter Alternative: Beyond the Guitar Hero Problem
Tracing prompts on Skritter can feel like Guitar Hero: you hit the cues, but that's not playing the song from memory. Here is why, and what a from-memory alternative looks like.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Why Isn't There a Clean, Aesthetic Skritter Alternative?
Frustrated that Chinese writing apps feel clunky and dated? The gap is real. Here is what a clean, focused, modern writing tool should be, and why it matters.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Thinking of Quitting Skritter? What to Look For
If a Skritter update soured your routine, here is how to evaluate alternatives without losing what made it work: from-memory writing, stroke feedback, and spaced repetition.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Research
Quizlet and Anki Defectors: The Gap for Chinese Writing
When Quizlet changed and learners fled to Anki and open alternatives, one gap followed them: no flashcard tool, free or paid, grades your handwriting. For writing, you need a different kind of tool.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
WritePad for Chinese Alternatives (and the Catch)
WritePad recognized your handwriting as input, but handwriting input is not the same as learning to write. Here is what modern alternatives do, and what you actually need.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
When a Course Has No Stylus Writing: Filling the Gap
Frustrated that a course's reading track doesn't support stylus writing on the web? It is a common gap. Here is why, and how a stylus-first tool fills it.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
An Adult Alternative to FunEasyLearn for Writing
FunEasyLearn is broad and game-like, built for vocabulary breadth. If you are an adult who wants to actually write characters, here is what to look for instead.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Is There a Duolingo for Writing Hanzi by Hand?
Duolingo gamifies recognition, but it barely touches writing characters from memory. Here is why, and what a handwriting-first alternative actually looks like.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
Ninchanese Stroke-Mode Alternatives for Writing Hanzi
If you like Ninchanese's stroke mode but want something different, here is an honest comparison: more gamification versus better writing recall, and which actually helps.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
Looking for a TofuLearn Replacement on iOS?
If TofuLearn no longer fits, here is what to look for in a replacement for writing Chinese characters, and an honest take on where Hanzi Write Practice fits.
Lawrence Arya··5 min