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
A Skritter Alternative for Taiwanese Hokkien?
Taiwanese Hokkien (Taiyu) is deeply underserved by character apps. Here is the honest state, why shared characters still help, and what to expect from any tool including ours.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
Pushing Your Class Vocab List to Students' Practice Apps
Want to sync your class vocab list straight to students' writing apps? Custom-list import makes it possible; a full open API is roadmap. Here is the practical path.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
An iOS Widget for One Random Hanzi a Day?
Want an iOS homescreen widget that shows one random Hanzi to draw each day? It is a great habit nudge, and a daily character fits how memory works. Here is the idea.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Research
Do Pressure Curves Affect Retention? The Honest Answer
Stylus pressure data is interesting telemetry, but it doesn't drive retention, and offloading memory to a device is the opposite of learning. Retention comes from retrieval, not from measuring strokes.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Is Writing Characters on a Tray Table a Sickness? No
Caught yourself drilling characters on a tray table and wondering if it is unhealthy? It is a normal, healthy habit. Here is a reassuring, honest take.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Essays
Froze on a Bank Slip After 5 Years in Shanghai? Normal
Living in Shanghai for years and freezing on a handwritten bank slip is not a failure, it is character amnesia from typing. The slip needs a small fixed set you can relearn fast.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
Japanese Kanji vs Chinese Hanzi Stroke Order
Kanji and hanzi often share a character but write it in a different stroke order. Here is where they diverge and how to retrain your hand for Chinese.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
From Kanji to Hanzi: Bridging the Two by Hand
Know Japanese kanji and learning Chinese? The forms and stroke orders differ in traps. Here is why an overlay is not enough and how to retrain your hand.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Playbooks
A Macro to Toggle the Pinyin While You Practice
Want a shortcut to hide and show the pinyin during writing practice? The instinct is right: hiding the prompt forces recall. Here is why, and how to use it.
Lawrence Arya··5 min
Research
Kinesthetic Alternatives to Rigid SRS for Tactile Learners
Spaced repetition isn't the enemy, rigid card-flipping is. For tactile, ADHD, or dysgraphic learners, handwriting is itself kinesthetic, so from-memory writing is the hands-on version of SRS.
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