Essays
Simplified or Traditional Characters for Writing?
A practical answer rather than a cultural one: learn the set used where you are going, expect heavy overlap, and know that switching later is easier than doing both.
Lawrence Arya··10 min
Playbooks
Writing Hospital and Triage Terms in Chinese
Expats sometimes need to write medical and triage terms in Chinese by hand on forms. Here is the bounded vocabulary to drill and how to make it reliable.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
Learning Traditional Characters for Taiwanese Dramas
Taiwanese dramas use traditional characters in their subtitles. If you read simplified, here is how to bridge to traditional, and how much writing practice you actually need.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
How to Stop Writing Shinjitai Instead of Simplified
Japanese speakers often write the shinjitai form when they mean the simplified Chinese one. Here is why the habit fires and how to retrain it from memory.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
Simplified or Traditional for Reading Danmei Novels?
Learning Chinese to read danmei novels online and unsure whether to study simplified or traditional? It depends on your sources. Here is how to decide.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Switching to Traditional Makes Your Hand Hurt? Why, and the Fix
Traditional characters have more strokes, so jumping from simplified strains a hand used to shortcuts. The ache is real but temporary. Here is why it happens and how to ease it.
Lawrence Arya··5 min