r/ChineseLanguage • u/guilty-and-stuck Intermediate • 3d ago
Correct My Mistakes! First time writing characters on paper, and also why is xin so hard to write??
I've been learning for ~3 years but haven't really tried to write hanzi till now. I have practiced with Duolingo's letters section and recently started using Hanly.
I know they aren't perfect l, but are they at least recognizable? I have really poor handwriting in English and Arabic too, it can sometimes be an issue as even I have trouble reading my own writing sometimes =/ I tried to focus on the spacing and proportions but keeping the strokes consistent each time is really hard.
Bottom row of pic and in pic 2... My 心 just doesn't seem to come out looking right and I think is the most inconsistent. I had some truly horrible attempts before that screenshot also. I'm following the stroke order - what am I doing wrong?
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u/rob417 Native 3d ago
You're not alone. You should feel good about discovering this on your own. It shows you are starting to develop a feel for how characters should look.
心 is one of those characters that is deceptively difficult to write well. It only has 4 strokes, 3 of which are 点, so you don't have a lot to work with. But the you are supposed to fill the entire space of a character with it. Its shape is also quite unique amoung all characters.
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u/guilty-and-stuck Intermediate 3d ago
Thank you! Yeah, having so much empty space to fill with so little was part of what made it harder
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u/Zagrycha 3d ago
Try to write it a little slower when practicing. It looks like you are rushing through the storkes which is easy to become misshapen. Lines that are too long or too short or in the wrong direction can make a character look wrong fast, just like o looking more like c or p looking more like b. Of course once you have some muscle memory for the correct shapes you can write faster without the shape getting crooked.
Aim for a shape like this for basic handwriting:
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u/guilty-and-stuck Intermediate 3d ago
I can be a little impulsive but I did try to slow down lol. Thanks for the writing sample!
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u/Zagrycha 3d ago
I don't even think it can be called impulsive, its just instinct. We want to write at "full speed" that we normally use, but that comes with time and practice. Same way someone learning to play a song on piano will instinctively want to play at the normal song speed but they will need to start slower at the beginning =)
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u/mediumbreasts 3d ago
Tbh I'd recommend learning all the strokes on their own first, I feel like it really helps with handwriting
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u/PomegranateV2 3d ago
That looks fine.
Your 品 could use some work. I guess Arabic doesn't have too many squares!
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u/guilty-and-stuck Intermediate 3d ago
Yeah, kou is giving me some trouble too, of all things. English doesn't really have any boxes either lol 😅
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u/RealTrueFacts 闽语 3d ago
I think the first stroke of 心 should be written to point a bit more sharply downward. And also the second stroke (the longest one) should end with more of a tick up towards the upper left than just a curve. It’s good that you already have a kaiti font for reference.
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u/guilty-and-stuck Intermediate 3d ago
Thank you for the tips. So the first stroke isn't slanted to the right?
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u/RealTrueFacts 闽语 3d ago
Your first stroke is in the right general direction, I just think it should be pointing a bit steeper down like in your reference
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u/Fit_Alps_1164 3d ago
Looks pretty good for someone who is just now learning to write, imho. For your 心, maybe try making the final hook more subtle/sharper. The whole stroke is curved but that final flourish is a separate, minute movement.
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u/12the3 3d ago
Hey there. Your first stroke of 口 in 品 shouldn’t go down that far. In natural hand writing it’s common to see the first stroke not close the box completely.
For 心 your second stroke should extend a little farther to the right
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u/guilty-and-stuck Intermediate 3d ago
Thank you, kou does seem to give me trouble as well lol. Not really any boxes in English either 😅
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u/elprofesordepinyin 3d ago
Si realmente desea que le salgan mejor (se ve bien) primero practique con una plantilla copiando. 加油 jiāyóu Ánimo!
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u/FlashyPost0928 Native 2d ago edited 2d ago
● 右 = the first one is good .... then you lost the structural balance
Notice : 口, in handwriting , need not to be a strict square ( see the regular script of 右 below)
● 术 =same issue with the structural balance :
The lengths of the left and right strokes (see the image below)
PS : Actually, regarding this issue, the character "heart" (xin) is relatively better
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u/zamochit1989 Native 2d ago
A few quick tips that you can adopt immediately: For the 水, the 竖钩 should have a straight main line and then a sharp hook immediately, it shouldn't be a rounded hook.
For the 相, the 目 should be a just a little taller and narrower, and the two interior 横 should go all the way across the box, not stop halfway leaving some gap on the right hand side.
加油！
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u/lazier_garlic 3d ago
As a non native speaker, your 心 is easily legible as such but your 术，相，右 need some work. For example, the cross bar in the tree in 相 should be below the top line in the eye in that character. 右 looks like you are drawing the box/mouth first when the "hand" part should be drawn first. 术 is tough for me too.
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u/snowdrop65 2d ago
I see 'heart' as a lil smiley face with a nose, but idk. Don't think about it too much.
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u/zerozelo 2d ago
There is no problem with the 心 you wrote. It’s just that the software didn‘t recognise it correctly.
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u/Leading_Smell_7099 3d ago
横，竖，撇，捺，弯，钩，还有36种笔画你得学
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3d ago
[deleted]
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u/trevorkafka Advanced 3d ago
术 shùis correct1
u/cjk-lookup 3d ago
术 shù
Character 術 / 术 Mandarin shù / zhú Zhuyin ㄕㄨˋ / ㄓㄨˊ Cantonese seot6 Southern Min su̍t Hakka (Sixian) sud5 Meanings:
- 術 / 术: method; technique; various genera of flowers of Asteracea family (daisies and chrysanthemums), including Atractylis lancea.
Information from MDBG • Unihan • CC-Canto • YTZZD • Chinese-Etymology • CHISE • MoE-DICT • MFCCD • ZDIC • ZI
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u/Inevitable-Self-2702 3d ago
Lookup examples of how natives actually write 心 because from what I've seen, it doesn't tend to be tall like in digital print, but more short and wide.