Scoop up a Summer of Skritter, free!

[Melanie1989]

Skritter Evan, No i got it in the end, thanks!

[roddy]

Voucher sent, Hofmann. Looking forward to any updates people post. 

[li3wei1]

Got the voucher, signed up, downloaded the Android app, but it's not working, so when I have time I'll try to reinstall it. It gives me the character, rather than a blank slate, and when I try to trace it it shows a random stroke and asks me to decide whether I got it right or not. Can do it on my laptop, but am limited to the mouse at the moment.

[roddy]

Yeah, it's maybe a bit unfair to be giving people a 'try out Skritter' opportunity  then sending them into the Android app, which is very much still in testing. Shame I can't afford to give you all graphics tablets (although I do strongly recommend getting one if you're using this on anything with a USB port). 

 

Incidentally, those of you with students - Skritter plays very well with institutions. 

[Melanie1989]

I managed to download the app in the end, but am having some trouble too. It's showing me lots of lists but i can't click on anything. Not once have i been able to draw a character yet..

 

But i have been using the voucher through the laptop with, what i believe is a "wacom pad", whatever the heck that is... it's very difficult to use but we're working on adjusting the settings to make it easier. Right now though, i am loving Skritter. Just wish the tablet app worked a bit better, but i know they're working on it.

[SkritterEvan]

It's great to see so many people taking advantage of this offer! And yes, let me reiterate that our Android app is currently in beta, with several fixes being implemented daily! If you want to get a more complete picture of what Skritter has to offer, the iOS and web versions are your best bet. If you're using the web version, using something like a Wacom tablet that allows you to reinforce muscle memory and write just as you would on paper is the optimal course of action, so if you don't have an Android or iOS device, why not take some of that money we helped you save and invest that in a USB tablet (or a Roth IRA, your choice)?  

 

If you've signed up using the Android beta, the first thing you're going to want to do after registering is navigate to the "textbooks" section of the "lists" page and pick a list to enable. If you'd like to make your own list from scratch or use another we've published that is not a textbook, for the time being I would highly recommend that you add or create a list on our website, and then allow that data to sync to the app.

 

Before releasing the beta out to you all, we only had access to a few different devices, so we expect to continue working with testers to work out the many kinks that are specific to each of the many we weren't able to get our hands on, as well as implement similar levels of swag and functionality that our iOS and web users boast so much about.

 

To help us expedite the QA process, be sure to let us know about any issues you encounter on our community page, including in the post your device model and Android verson. We'll continue to hang around here to answer general inquiries and chat, but if you are having issues with the Android version we'd prefer it if you left that on the community page.  

[Shelley]

Ok so I signed up with my coupon on the website, chose a word list and tried a couple of characters. Then I went on line with my tablet an ONDA MID running android version 4.0.3.

 

It all loaded fine, my chosen word list synced and I then went on to try with a few characters just to see how it all worked. I am completely new to skritter so am having to work it all out as I go. On the android version what is the meaning of the red x, greenish equal sign, the green check and the blue check?

 

The rest seems to be relatively intuitive and works fine for me. The writing seems a bit slow, my finger seems to be ahead of any ink appearing this may just be settings so i am going to go and have a proper look tomorrow. Today unfortunately for the first time in ages I lost internet connection for most of the day..Got the tech guys on it and now we are back up and running

 

I will report back on my skritter experience in a few days, maybe sooner depends how it all goes.

 

Once again thanks for the opportunity to give skritter a really good trial.

[Ania]

I've always thought Skritter looked like a wonderful tool, but sadly I don't have any devices that it's compatible with. When there is an Android version, I would definitely like to try it!

[Shelley]

I found problems with the HTML5 version so I have joined the beta testers for the Android app and have loaded it on to my device. After a few false starts and some teething problems I have been using it with great results.

 

I have been slightly skeptical of the benefits of this type of learning, but now that I am using it I am seeing real results already.

 

I really like being able to use it on my tablet it works well and i like the feel of writing with my finger, reminds me of a thread about getting the automatic feel to writing. it certainly seems to do that.

 

@Ania there is an Android version in beta testing. If you go to the website you can find out all about it and join the beta testers if you want.

[li3wei1]

I too am using it mainly on my Android, and I also had a few false starts. My current issue is getting it to add characters. I go through about 10, and it starts repeating things that I've just got right 3 times in a row. I've read through some of the FAQs, but they don't all seem to apply to the Android app, or refer to things that I can't find. But still, it's very useful, and together with Pleco I feel I'm finally going to plug some massive holes in my character knowledge.

[EricJMa]

Wow! I really would like to give skritter a new try. I tried it when it first came out. I had just moved to China during that time and was trying to adjust to my work and lifestyle here and didn't have time to take advantage of the full two weeks.

 

I have already passed the HSK 3 last year. I really want to ace, not just pass, the HSK 4 and eventually HSK 5. I think Skritter is the kind of app that will help me accomplish this.

 

I plan to take my HSK 4 in August and HSK 5 in Nov-Dec time frame. So I need something until for the rest of the year to help my writing studies.

 

I really want to take advantage of this deal. Thanks you so much for providing this offer!

[SkritterEvan]

Hey Liwei! Great to hear you're liking the app. I think that the issue you're encountering with word-adding can be resolved by logging out and back in again. This should allow the app to freshly reload your account data, and hopefully throw out anything that's been corrupted in the process.  Be sure to let me know if this does the trick! 

[li3wei1]

Had to do it twice, but yes, I now have 50 items for review, that should take a while.

[Alicia Janis]

If there is still a voucher, I would like one!

 

I'm a new member. My husband just recommended me to this site.

I'm an English teacher in Guangzhou, and I'm almost ready for my summer break which means I get to study Chinese more! It's difficult living in China without knowing a lot of Chinese, so I really want to improve!

 

I've seen some of my friends using Skritter, but I've never tried it. I would love to try it because I've heard its a fun way to learn characters. If it is really beneficial, I may consider buying it. My plan is to study several hours everyday, at least 4 hours or more, because I don't get this kind of time when I'm teaching. I will need a variety of methods and resources, so that I can stay engaged.

 

Can't wait to check out all your information and resources on this site and to post my updates. Thanks!

[roddy]

That's a couple more vouchers sent out - looking forward to seeing how people are getting on. 

[SkritterEvan]

Great to hear--we look forward to hearing what all the newbies have to say!

[Milkybar_Kid]

 One week in and not very pleased.

 

First, there is no sound on the app.  I have searched online and discovered that this is a common fault.  I have even tried a hard reset of my iPad to bring back the sound, however it was all to no avial.

 

Secondly, I can't really see how the app is guiding me to learn the written form of characters.  The process seems to be as follows; Skritter presents a blank square, student doesn't know the stroke so taps the sceen once, said stroke is displayed and then fades away, student writes that stroke and then repeats the above method. 

 

To sum up - it seems that Skritter is good for reviewing characters that you have already learned, however if you are completely new to writing characters you probably need to start somewhere else first.

[li3wei1]

To sum up - it seems that Skritter is good for reviewing characters that you have already learned, however if you are completely new to writing characters you probably need to start somewhere else first.

 

And what would you do somewhere else? Look at the character, copy it. Do this until it starts to stick in your head. Why is Skritter any less efficient than that? If you want to do some mental exercise or mnemonics, you can still do that. All that Skritter does is speed up the physical processes of looking, writing, checking, and filing.

[imron]

we look forward to hearing what all the newbies have to say!

Added my review here.

 

@Milkybar_Kid, I agree somewhat with your comments about review vs learning, and have mentioned a similar thing in my review, along with a suggestion for how Skritter can address this issue.

[Melanie1989]

I disagree with @Milkybar_kid. There have already been a few characters which i have never seen before and i have memorised all of them already. Your score might be really bad at first, but if you keep copying them out using the eye, you will start to remember them. 

 

To be honest, i was very skeptical of Skritter after using the demo available through laptop. But since i have been using the app i have found it to be invaluable already and definitely will be paying for it fully when the app is completely ready. Baring in mind, the app (i presume this is what you're using) is not fully ready yet which is why they're asking for beta testers to report all the bugs and to work with the developers to help them fix them. They probably hate me already! I have found lots of problems, but understand this is the point. 

 

It does not detract from how good the idea is, at least for me. Also, the guys who work at Skritter are very helpful and friendly.