shikang Posted October 28, 2006 at 05:50 AM Report Share Posted October 28, 2006 at 05:50 AM I just started learning Chinese roughly eight weeks ago. I'm taking a class and I really love it. Unfortunately most of the students aren't as motivated as me and the pace is drudging along. I am planning to study in China soon and am doing as much as I can to try to learn on my own without learning improperly. I'm doing a lot of practice writing; we have to memorise dialogues, and I'm also memorising how to write each one. We're learning the first 100 or so characters in traditional, but I don't care if you provide simplified. All the character practice we have done in class is on those huge grid things; our character tests have been on them as well. When I am practicing on notebook paper I am unsure of how spacing and size should be working out (I'm usually just doing horizontal but have messed around with vertical as well). I have had little luck finding scans of normal peoples' hand writing, so if anyone has some scans on hand or would like to make some to give me an idea what it should look like I'd appreciate it! If you want something to write I'll give you part of our second dialogue: A: 那個人是誰, 他是不是一個大學生？ B: 不是, 他是我們的老師, 也是我們的老朋友 A: 老師是我們的朋友嗎？ B: 是的 A: 這張桌子是你的不是？ B: 不是, 這張桌子是他的, 這把椅子也是他的 A: 哪張桌子是你的呢？ B: 那張桌子是我的, 那把椅子也是我的, 那張桌子 跟那把椅子都是我的 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imron Posted October 28, 2006 at 07:15 AM Report Share Posted October 28, 2006 at 07:15 AM This is the book to read if you're interested in getting a handle on Chinese handwriting. You could also try this font. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kudra Posted October 28, 2006 at 07:59 AM Report Share Posted October 28, 2006 at 07:59 AM @imron I don't think the OP was talking about cursive. @shikang I'd advise against worrying about cursive at least until you know stroke order without being told explicitly. Search on the web for character practice sheets. I think there is one at Yale in with the David and Helen material. I'd stick with filling boxes to train your sense of proportions, I still do. Since you are doing trad. check out "Lady in the Painting" which has text hand written -- not cursive -- and uses "the first" 300 characters. try yale univ. press online. (I'm on my palm so cutting and pasting a link is a pain) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gulao Posted October 28, 2006 at 01:13 PM Report Share Posted October 28, 2006 at 01:13 PM "Normal people's" handwriting tends to not be as formalized as you should be going for to start out. It's more reduced and fast. What you want to do when you start out is try to think of your paper as made up of squares. Each character should roughly take up one square. As far as character proportions within the square paradigm, other than the ones they tell you about in class, you shouldn't need to worry too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted October 28, 2006 at 01:34 PM Report Share Posted October 28, 2006 at 01:34 PM shikang, I think this is probably what you want -> http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/8656/cimg2399bp9.jpg It is my handwriting. I don't have a scanner which is why it is a jpg. Hope it helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strawberries513 Posted October 28, 2006 at 02:14 PM Report Share Posted October 28, 2006 at 02:14 PM hehe I love your handwriting Skylee especially the "bu4"s how long did it take you to reach that level? and did you just do it by writing alot and eventually it looked pretty? lol Ive been studying for a year and my handwriting is poo... http://www.chinese-forums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=718&stc=1&d=1162045811 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted October 28, 2006 at 02:20 PM Report Share Posted October 28, 2006 at 02:20 PM strawberries, I am Chinese. I learnt to write (in traditional script) from about 3 or 4 to about14 (we had to write using brush and ink regularly, weekly practice and dictation etc, but it was probably just my school). And my handwriting is not great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shikang Posted October 28, 2006 at 03:10 PM Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2006 at 03:10 PM Thanks guys. But you think I should keep practicing on those grid sheets for starting out? How long should I keep using the grid sheets before I practice on regular paper? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shikang Posted October 28, 2006 at 03:13 PM Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2006 at 03:13 PM Ok I'm not seeing the edit button? edit: I just noticed neither of you used notebook/lined paper. Is it generally a bad idea to write on notebook paper or is it okay? That is part of the problem I was having is that I end up writing very small when I use notebook paper so that all the characters fit within the lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wai ming Posted October 28, 2006 at 03:14 PM Report Share Posted October 28, 2006 at 03:14 PM But you think I should keep practicing on those grid sheets for starting out? How long should I keep using the grid sheets before I practice on regular paper? Definitely. Until you're comfortable writing and all your characters are proportionate and the same size You said in your first post that you were using "huge grid things" in class; as you feel more comfortable writing, you might like to try using smaller ones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted October 28, 2006 at 03:16 PM Report Share Posted October 28, 2006 at 03:16 PM shikang, I think you can do them in parallel. Write the characters first on grid paper then on plain paper. Do this when you feel like it and when time allows it. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. strawberries, I think your handwriting is very neat and nice (and cute, if you don't mind). There are two errors on the last line (桌 and 跟), though. Edit - shikang, I just picked up the first sheet of paper on my desk and wrote on it. Lined paper would be fine for practising. Don't worry too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymoose Posted October 29, 2006 at 03:31 PM Report Share Posted October 29, 2006 at 03:31 PM I'm not a native chinese writer, but here's a sample of my writing, in case anyone is interested. I chose a dialogue from one of my books, as there is a slightly wider range of characters. Any comments or criticism welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy Posted October 30, 2006 at 01:04 AM Report Share Posted October 30, 2006 at 01:04 AM I took Imron's suggestion and wanted to look at the font. I think it is a good on to have on hand - I am always looking for handwriting-like fonts. Before you download the font however, you might want to go to http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm and download their free trial to extract the files. If anyone has other suggestions or ideas about this font, extration of this font, or other links to handwriting-like fonts, please le me know. Thanks, Kathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted October 31, 2006 at 11:51 AM Report Share Posted October 31, 2006 at 11:51 AM anonymoose, I think your writing is fine. IMHO it is a bit childlike but is very neat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naturegirl Posted February 12, 2007 at 12:52 PM Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 at 12:52 PM two samples of my handwriting http://img12.imageshack.us/my.php?image=2699920070es2.jpg criticism welcome, esp. on how to improve my cursive writing, coz everytime I see it it makes me wanna puke However my problem is that I don't really know what is considered good looking and what not. I grew up in Germany though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kudra Posted February 12, 2007 at 08:50 PM Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 at 08:50 PM @naturegirl You are joking about wanting to puke, right? I'm no expert, but speaking as someone who has less-than-flowing handwriting, I wouldn't mind at all having mine look like that. For something to shoot for there is this http://www.flickr.com/photos/pzlabs/sets/709578/ from our own geek_frappa. You could try to get the book by Fred Wang. See this thread. I have a copy and it has several contributors. The emphasis is on learning to read cursive, but I suppose you could learn to write from it. The link has other suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naturegirl Posted February 12, 2007 at 09:31 PM Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 at 09:31 PM @kudra: actually I wasn't ^^ since I'm chinese born my writing should be better I think. But thanks for the e-book link, it's great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gulao Posted February 12, 2007 at 10:17 PM Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 at 10:17 PM @naturegirl: not necessarily. I find that unless the person in question is an architect or interior designer (or other craft that requires legible handwriting), perfect handwriting is rare. In fact, native users of a writing system tend to be less legible, in my experience, because they've used it so often that they develop individualized abbreviations and slurs. Non-native speakers tend to lack those because they haven't had the time to. So I'd be surprised if your handwriting were to actually fit a drafter's standards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naturegirl Posted September 6, 2007 at 07:39 AM Report Share Posted September 6, 2007 at 07:39 AM I found this Chinese site containing many handwriting samples http://bijifenxi.com/graphology/zxfx/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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