One of the most powerful ways of staying motivated is doing things with others, preferably during a limited amount of time with a clear goal. That is exactly what the sensible character challenge 2014 is …
Vending Machines in Japan (自動販売機)
Vending machines (自動販売機； じどうはんばいき), or just 自販機 （じはんき） for short, are a convenient way to grab a small snack or a quick drink to keep you going throughout your day, but in Japan vending machines …
How Skritter Helped Me Stop Worrying and Love Writing Characters
I have studied Chinese for almost seven years now, but I have only been an active Skritter user for the last year or so. Today I want to share with you the story of how …
Sensible character learning challenge 2014: Milestone #2
Establishing good habits is a key ingredient in any successful learning strategy. It’s not that hard to focus on learning something specific for a week or two, the real difficulty lies in long-term stamina . …
Japanese You Probably Shouldn’t Use
There are some bad words that cannot be included in a blog post of course, so with that said, these words and expressions are rude but not bleep-able. There really aren’t any Japanese swears exactly, however these are close!
Skritter’s New Team Member: Olle Linge
Hi! I’m Olle Linge, the newest member of the Skritter team. You might have heard about me, either in last week’s newsletter or from somewhere else (I have been known to write about learning Chinese …
The 2014 Sensible Character Challenge
I just wanted a take a moment to let you all know that Olle Linge over at Hacking Chinese is in the process of organizing the 2014 Chinese Character Challenge. Last year he got over 100 …
Expressions in Japanese ⑤
…And even more expressions in Japanese leaving off from last time! 一期一会 （いちごいちえ） Lit: One period of time, one meet A once in a life time experience; an opportunity you should take advantage of because …
Mandarin Companion: Guided Readers for Chinese Language Learners
Are you a beginning Chinese language learner who is tired of using traditional textbooks? Are you trying to find fun and interesting content that is targeted at your current level? Are you looking to simply …
Expressions in Japanese ④
Yet again here are more Japanese expressions, this time all following a similar theme. 始めましょう！ 瓜二つ （うりふたつ） lit: Melon two To resemble each other, for instance a kid and his/her parent; This is a lot …