It’s commonly known Chinese has tones, (it can be one of the larger struggles of learning the language). While Japanese doesn’t use tones, there is however a stress or pitch accent. Pitch accent is where …
Japanese Animal Sounds
Have you ever wondered if the noises animals make are perceived differently by people in other parts of the world? It’s something you might not think about until visiting another country or studying a different …
Why writing helps you remember better than reading
Writing helps you remember Chinese characters and Japanese kanji better than reading does because is forces deeper processing.
Welcome to the new Skritter blog!
We have launched a new version of the Skritter blog! We hope that this new version will be easier to use both for you and for us. What kind of posts would you like to see on the new Skritter blog?
Engrish (Mistranslated Japanese)
As you continue studying Japanese or just walk around Japan, you’ll notice broken English (Engrish) printed on things like signs or shirts certainly isn’t hard to spot. I know it might not be the politest …
Skritter looking for JavaScript Developer
Skritter was founded by 3 college friends and language learners to make learning characters a fast, fun, and easy process. Today it’s the #1 character writing application on the market; providing a completely digital experience …
Hacking the most difficult Chinese characters (10-12)
We all have some characters that just refuse to stick and that we keep forgetting over and over. The best way of learning tricky characters in Chinese is to deal with them decisively. For more about …
Simplified and traditional Chinese characters in Skritter
As many of you probably already know, there are two sets of Chinese characters: simplified and traditional. As the names imply, the former is a simplification of the latter. Character simplification was promoted in Mainland …
The confusing stroke order of 车 and 牛
Are you confused about the stroke order of 车 and 牛? If not, it’s either because you haven’t noticed the unique behaviour of these two characters, or because you have noticed it and been able …
Mystery: 撮ったのかよ or エーアイアイ ?
The way the ear hears things can be very different, an interesting concept regarding listening comprehension in general. There’s a sound clip that roughly half of people hear one way, while the other half hears …