Skritter is a paid online service that helps you learn how to write kanji. The concept is simple: the site prompts you to write a kanji using your mouse, trackpad, or tablet. As you write the kanji, Skritter helps you out by giving you an outline, correcting your stroke order and quizzing you on a kanji’s meaning. You can practice kanji from a number of different sources, whether it’s a set of kanji you’ve gathered yourself, or kanji from your favorite Japanese textbook.
Check out a video tour from the company:
Pros
- Provides immediate feedback on stroke order.
- Tracks your progress.
- Incorporates kanji from textbooks and other sources.
- Free one week trial.
- iOS app coming soon.
Cons
- Small monthly charge ($9.95)
- Skritter recommends that you buy a tablet to best use the site.
- The site is built off of Flash, which means no iPad support (although they say an iOS app is coming soon).
Skritter is a great resource to help you learn kanji and stroke order. The instant feedback the site provides is fantastic and site itself well-designed. The biggest downside for me is the necessity of a tablet for the site. I definitely agree with Skritter that it’s much easier and better to practice kanji with a tablet, but it’s a bit of an investment on top of the monthly fee for Skritter itself.
iOS Users Out in the Cold
Skritter does offer support for Android users, but those using an iPhone or an iPad are out of luck. You can’t use the site with iOS because of Flash. It’s a shame, because a device like an iPad seems ideal for a site like Skritter.
On the bright side though, there’s already a Skritter Chinese iOS app, and the company promises that a Skritter Japanese app is coming soon.
Final Word
Even if iOS support isn’t quite there yet, there’s still lots of useful aspects to Skritter, and for those looking to really focus on their kanji practice, Skritter is a fantastic tool.
Pictures
Displaying different lists of kanji to study.
Adding new words and kanji to a list.
A Skritter user’s dashboard.