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 …
Kanji vs. Hanzi
As anyone reading this probably knows, the concept of kanji first originated from China way back when, and there is a whole other theory on how Chinese characters themselves may have been created, which involves …
List Overdose
I promised Nick I wouldn’t be a grump while writing this post, so let’s kick things off with a tragically funny comic I found on Laowai Comics: Who really wants to be like Harry? (image …
Chinese Character Acquisition: A Native Perspective
This week’s blog post is in response to a question submitted by one of our Skritter members, Drew. He wrote us and asked: “I am always fascinated by how native Chinese speakers identify characters by referencing the pronunciation and …
Japanese Language Brain
This post has a Japanese version below. Feel free to practice by reading it first! There is something fascinating about the way the Japanese-language-speaking brain works. It has to do with the way that the brain …
Skritter iPad and iPhone 5 App Launched
The iPad apps are out! Both Skritter Chinese and Skritter Japanese have been updated to 2.0 to provide universal iPad support. They also capitalize on the taller iPhone 5 and iPod touch 5th gen screens, …
An ACTFL 2012 Recap
Skritter has attended the ACTFL three times, and every time I organize it, I forget how busy it is to do the conference right before Thanksgiving! Jake and I were in attendance in Philadelphia last …
Skritter Subscriptions
When we launched the Skritter iOS app in June, we wanted to be able to provide the same, simple subscription model in the App Store as we have on the web. Because of Apple’s policy …
Beyond the Cold: Extended Usage of “冷”
Fall is upon us, and for many that means that the weather outside is getting a little “冷” (lěng: cold). This week on the Skritter blog we focus on the more extended usage of “cold” …
Chinese in the Moment: Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy is leaving a path of destruction from the Caribbean all the way up the East Coast of the United States right now. Disasters like this are terrible things, but they certainly don’t go away on account …