Comments on: Chinese Writing Grid

By: Bill

Bill — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 20:17:07 +0000

Thanks for stopping by. I haven't been writing nearly as much Chinese as I should be. Time for a renewed focus on my Chinese studies I think. I've just had a look at your blog, Hello, London! 你好，伦敦！Helo, London! ハロー·ロンドン！, and have to say I am impressed. I long for the day when I am able to blog in multiple languages. What I am thinking of though is tweeting in multiple languages. 140 characters really shouldn't be too hard to translate and it would really make me think about what it was that I was posting on Twitter.

By: London Caller

London Caller — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 20:45:42 +0000

Hi Bill,
Chinese writing grid? Wow… that’s so nostalgic!
Of course, it’s good that you’ve decided to start writing Chinese.
But you see, Chinese cannot be spelt out quite easily as in English.
So you really have to write a lot, practise a lot and remember tons of characters.
你好，比尔。
方块字簿？哇…那多令人怀念啊！
当然，你决定开始学写中文是件好事。
但你看，这中文不像英文那样容易拼出来。
所以，你非得常常书写、常常练习来记起很多的汉字。

By: Bill

Bill — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:35:04 +0000

Thanks for the encouragement Min Min. I have subscribed to your site and will be following along from now on. Looking forward to picking up a few tips along the way.

By: Min Min

Min Min — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 05:15:24 +0000

Nice website.
I have created a learning Chinese website for people who are keen to learn Chinese. If you are interested in learning Chinese, please visit my site, and give me comments or suggestions for improvement.
Thank.

By: puerhan

puerhan — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:16:46 +0000

Oh OK I see. I treasure my old Chinese text books and writing practice books from Mandarin 101 (1996) !

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:26:40 +0000

Not missing anything at all. Could even stop in ChinaTown and pick up some real writing practice pads. For my part, this is sheer laziness, far easier just to hit print whenever I need something to practice on.

A book would have the advantage of keeping everything in one place, but I’m trying to minimise the number of things I carry around with me.

By: Puerhan

Puerhan — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:19:43 +0000

Perhaps I’m missing something, but why not just use a maths school exercise / workbook?

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:21:47 +0000

I did use Skritter before they started charging for it and freely admit that it is a wonderful tool. However, I haven’t (yet) managed to justify paying for it. Drawing characters using a trackpad still seems a little clunky and the vocabulary management interface still had significant issues. But, the main reason is that I need to reduce my dependence on the computer for learning Chinese. My teacher already has to write characters font-perfect before I’m able to recognise them. I’ll definitely take another look at Skritter though, recommendations go a long way.

By: Nicki

Nicki — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:54:21 +0000

If you are serious about learning to write characters, try http://www.skritter.com
My character ability has gone up considerably using the site. I live in China, so being literate is a major goal of mine. One I’m still working towards!

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:11:22 +0000

Glad you find it useful. Feel free to pass it on to anyone else who may need it.