Got another Skritter iOS app tester experience report for you, this time from Marleen De Mol. Marleen has been Skrittering like crazy and making a ton of progress; we last heard from her in the November newsletter, and when I heard about her trip to Myanmar, I knew it was a perfect opportunity for some mobile Skrittering.
My name is Marleen De Mol; I am Belgian living in Shanghai with my husband and daughter. Very quickly after I started using Skritter, I became a big fan, and in the past 1.5 years I was able, through lots and lots of reviews, to build my Hanzi knowledge from scratch to about 2000.
Skrittering became part of my life, and my family learnt to accept it. When we went traveling I would always carry along the laptop/tablet combo to squeeze in some Skritter time whenever possible. But sadly often I came back from holidays very frustrated because my due list had grown to huge numbers and it would take me sometimes weeks to get back on track.
When we were planning a trip to Myanmar, stressed because I knew the internet connection would be erratic, I thought of the iOS app as a possible solution not to get too far behind, and I asked to be included in the tester group.
I was very excited after the first download, and although back then, when it was basically just writing, tone and definition (none of the other features were in place), I was already blown away by what had been achieved. And not completely to my surprise, I happily discovered that the team had added some brilliant details like for example glowing fireworks when you have a long stretch of correct items. It certainly keeps the spark in your relationship with Skritter!
But, normal for an app in the alpha testing phase there were still lots of issues to be resolved and bugs regularly came up. However this has never stopped me from using it; I’m always excited to test a new version, to find out what has changed, to discover new features! I don’t often use the web program anymore, mainly to work on vocabulary lists and to stay in touch with the community through the forum.
The team certainly goes out of its way to build an awesome app; the writing feels very smooth, the design is sleek and it is a lot of fun to use. But for me the biggest advantage is the freedom that comes with Skrittering offline at any location. Before, I was always studying at my desk, and now I can sit anywhere and get the job done. My favourite Skritter session of the day is after breakfast enjoying an extra cup of coffee while the rest of the family is getting ready. I can also make much more use of idle time: I Skritter in cars, trains, planes…
Since I downloaded the app, I’ve used it at home in Shanghai, on trips to Bangkok and Singapore, in Hong Kong overlooking the harbour, in Myanmar taking a break between temple visits, biting the cold at the Harbin Ice festival–and that in just a few months’ time. I have attached some souvenirs of our trip to Myanmar, but being the photographer in the family, I was forced to use my husband and daughter as model!
This app has certainly given me a much more relaxed attitude towards learning Hanzi. It has taken the pressure off, like it is almost not studying anymore. I am grateful to be given the opportunity to test this fantastic tool the Skritter team is developing. It is going to rock the world’s Chinese-language-learning community!
If you haven’t already, go check out the Skritter iOS app teaser page and sign up to get an email when we launch the free app. You’ll also be entered to win a free iPad to Skritter on.