This week on the Skritter blog we’ll be addressing the issue of where to find suitable reading material for your level. I’ve been wanting to explore this topic for some time, but the post was …
Learning to Read in Late Imperial China
Here at Skritter we are all about making learning to read and write Chinese and Japanese characters as easy and effective as possible. For those who started learning characters in the pre-Skritter days, or the …
Polly Want a Cracker? Language Parroting Tips (Part 1)
If you’ve ever used or heard of programs like Rossetta Stone or Pimsleur, then you’re probably already familiar with the general concept of language parroting. Here I mean the act of listening and repeating in …
Tone Sandhi: Tone Changes for the Character “不”
Study the list over on Skritter Tone Sandhi: The First Tone Tone Sandhi: Tone changes for multiple 3rd tones The Neutral Tone This week on the Skritter blog we’ll be further exploring the tone sandhi …
Katakana and Gairaigo （片仮名・外来語）
Has there ever been that time where you come across a word written in katakana, but then find out that after sounding it out you still have no idea what it means? For those that …
Culture Corner : 好好学习，天天向上
In this weeks edition of culture corner we look back at revolutionary China, and a famous saying by Mao Ze-Dong: (S) 好好学习，天天向上 (T) 好好學習，天天向上 (P) hǎo hǎo xué xí, tiān tiān xiàng shàng (E) Study …
Tone Sandhi: Tone Changes for the Character “一”
Tone Sandhi: Tone Changes for the Character “不” Tone Sandhi: The Third Tone The Neutral Tone Studying words on Skritter I’m sure you’ve noticed when “不要” (don’t want) gets written as “bú yào” rather than …
Japanese Grammar
Slurping soup for politeness, reading a book right to left, the side of the road you drive on, and the emergency telephone number in Japan (119) are not the only things “backwards”-seeming to Americans, but …
Culture Corner: 少壮不努力，老大徒伤悲
Today on the Skritter blog I’m proud to introduce the first entry in the Culture Corner series. Culture Corner was inspired in a large part by an ongoing conversation I’ve been having with Olle over …
Making good use out of frequency lists
Last time on the Skritter blog I talked about the pitfalls of context free learning and list overdose. Near the end of the post I did, however, mention that these mega lists can be used …