Essays
Apple Pencil Hover to Preview Strokes: Helpful?
An app that previews the next stroke when you hover the Apple Pencil sounds slick, but showing the answer undermines recall. Here is the honest case against it.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Etymology Breakdown Plus Writing: the Right Combo
An algorithm that breaks a character into its etymological parts is a learning aid, not a substitute for writing it. Here is how decomposition and recall fit together.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
How to Break Out of the Pinyin Typing Trap
If you only ever type Chinese through pinyin, you recognize characters but cannot write them. Here is how to escape the pinyin-input loop and rebuild real writing.
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
Essays
Outlier Etymology vs Skritter Tracking: Which You Need
Outlier explains why characters are built as they are; Skritter drills writing them. They are not rivals but two halves. Here is how understanding and recall fit together.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Procreate Brushes for Chinese Strokes vs Learning to Write
Procreate is wonderful for making beautiful brushed characters, but it is an art tool, not a learning one. Here is the honest difference, and what each is for.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Daily Mandarin Writing Streaks (Beyond Tracing)
A daily streak is a great habit anchor, but a tracing streak builds the wrong skill. Here is how to keep the daily habit while practising recall, not just tracing.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
A Plain Anki Deck for Traditional Writing? The Catch
You can use a no-plugins Anki deck to study traditional characters for writing, but plain Anki tests recognition. Here is how to make it work, and where it falls short.
Lawrence Arya··5 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
Playbooks
Sticky Study Alternatives for Writing and Export
Sticky Study is a strong, customizable flashcard app with a writing mode and export. If you want deeper writing-recall focus, here is the honest comparison.
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
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
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
Playbooks
Anki Grid-Paper (米字格) Setups, and a Simpler Option
You can add 米字格 grid backgrounds to Anki cards with templates and add-ons. Here is how, the catch, and why a purpose-built writing tool may save you the trouble.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
What Is Blind Drawing for Chinese Characters?
Blind drawing means writing a character from memory with the prompt hidden. It is the single most effective way to practise Hanzi, and it is the core of how Hanzi Write Practice works.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Calligraphy Tracing on iPad Pro vs Writing Recall
Looking for a digital calligraphy tracing app for iPad Pro? Here is the honest difference between brush-art tracing and writing-recall practice, and which tool fits which goal.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
Dong Chinese vs Skritter: What Both Miss
Dong Chinese and Skritter take different paths to character writing. Here is an honest comparison of their tracing, and the from-memory practice both can leave underdeveloped.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Relied Too Much on Pleco OCR? Here Is the Fix
Pleco's OCR is brilliant and a quiet trap: scan, get the meaning, never learn the character. If you have leaned on it too long, here is how to rebuild real writing recall.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Can You Import Pleco Flashcards Into a Handwriting App?
Pleco can export its flashcards, but most handwriting apps cannot import them natively. Here is the honest state of moving your Pleco list into writing practice, and how Hanzi Write Practice approaches it.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Is Anki Bad for ADHD Language Learners?
Anki is not bad for ADHD, but its setup burden, open-ended sessions, and text-only recall trip up a lot of ADHD learners. Here is what actually helps, especially for writing Hanzi.
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
A Minimalist Anki Alternative for Hanzi (No Clutter)
Anki is powerful but famously utilitarian. If you want minimalist spaced repetition for writing Chinese characters, here is what minimal should actually mean, and where Hanzi Write Practice fits.
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
Open-Source Spaced Repetition for Writing Hanzi
The spaced-repetition algorithm is the commodity part, and good ones like FSRS are open source. What is rare is applying solid spacing to writing characters from memory. Here is the honest picture.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Outlier Linguistics + a Writing App: a Pairing
Outlier Linguistics explains why characters look the way they do. A writing app makes you produce them from memory. They are not integrated, but they pair beautifully. Here is how.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
Is Pleco's Stroke-Order Add-On Worth It?
Pleco's stroke-order add-on is cheap and genuinely useful as a reference, but it trains recognition and tracing, not writing from memory. Here is when it is worth it and what to pair it with.
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
Essays
Is OCR and Translation Making Character Amnesia Worse?
Instant OCR and translation let you read Chinese without ever recalling a character, which accelerates character amnesia. It is not permanent, but it is real. Here is how to reverse it.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Hanzi Writing App for Chinese Learners
Why a dedicated Hanzi writing app matters more than another flashcard deck, and what to look for if you want to actually write Chinese characters from memory.
Lawrence Arya··5 min