Scoop up a Summer of Skritter, free!

[roddy]

"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"

You're a little confused there - the Android app you're using is a new and in testing. The iOS app Milkybar and Imron are using has been out for a few years. 

 

Glad you're enjoying Skritter. Did you get your free trainchinese time yet?

[Melanie1989]

Oh, in that case, bugger what i said. 

 

Yeah, they've opened up a few more lists for me but i have been too preoccupied with Skritter. I will get started on it though and set up a proper review soon, if anyone's interested.

[imron]

but if you keep copying them out using the eye, you will start to remember them.

This is true, but it doesn't really change the criticism I (and Milkybar_Kid) have.  Bearing in mind that Skritter is an app all about learning to write characters, the criticism is not so much that you can't learn new characters well, just that it could be doing more to improve the process for completely new words (see my review for my suggestions on this).

[Melanie1989]

Fair enough, my mistake. I have no idea what it's like for iOS (i don't even know what that is), but i still think the techniques work very well, at least for me. In my dense head, it kind of forces me to think of my own mnemonics which haven't worked for me so good ever, but in this case it seems to help. 

[imron]

iOS (i don't even know what that is)

iOS is the operating system used by Apple's mobile devices such as iPhones and iPads.  Basically it just means the iPhone (or the iPad) version.

[Shelley]

@li3wei1 It is asking for a tone mark. When you see a grey character it is expecting you to write the tone over it. It expects the 2nd tone to go from bottom to top.

 

You get a blank grid to write characters on. If you want to see the character you need to click on the little eye, it appears for a few seconds and then disappears. you can click on the eye as many times as you like but it takes it in to consideration when deciding if you know it.

 

I got caught out by this at first, a prompt would be helpful.

 

I have had a few teething problems but they have been sorted and I am really enjoying using Skritter.

[Alicia Janis]

Got the voucher and downloaded the app. So far, it's working 太好了！谢谢!

I've got a lot of work ahead of me : )

[photoman]

I asked for a  voucher about 2 weeks ago. I don't think I received it yet(just checked my emails again). Any chance of sending me one now ? Thanks.

[roddy]

Can you confirm your email address is correct? Check here - that's where I sent it. 

 

If that's correct it might have landed in spam I guess. Let me know and I'll resend. 

[photoman]

Yes, that is my email. Please can you resend. Thanks.

[Malloryoh]

If you still have subscriptions, I'm very interested. My husband speaks Mandarin fluently and I've been working on learning the language for about two years. I would say I'm still at a very beginner proficiency because a lot of things have come up in my life that made me pause language learning to focus on those other things. First of all I used skritter briefly last summer and found that I really enjoyed it but decided not to continue as I felt I could not dedicate the time to it that I needed to. My husband and I are looking to move to Taiwan soon, so that is another reason I'd like to use this app. I am a teacher and a lifelong learner, and someday I hope to teach English abroad. I would be more than willing to post my experiences on this forum and look forward to reading more about what people experience as they learn Mandarin/Chinese. This time around, I intend to keep using skritter as I know the benefits of this app and also plan to work hard on my chinese for the foreseeable future.

 

Thank you!

 

Mallory Hummer 

[Shelley]

Hello and welcome

 

i was lucky enough to get 3 months skritter free and I also joined the Beta testers for Android. i am finding it very useful, fun and productive.

 

I don't know if there are any vouchers left.

 

Hope you get a voucher.

 

Good luck

[roddy]

Sorry, Mallory, missed your post. Still want a voucher?

[spiff]

Following imron's lead, I posted my review here.

[Chief123]

Hi Roddy,

 

I would love a voucher if you still have one. Every time I've posted here for help the answer has always been some version of I need to get on with the character learning. I'm coming off a 4 month break and this would help me tremendously, I think, to get to the next level. 

 

Mark 

[patrickhart11]

Hi there! I actually just stumbled onto this site when searching for a coupon for skritter led me to this topic, which seems to be really good luck! I poked around here a bit and there are some great resources. I've been going back and forth between LA and taipei for the last couple years, so in skritter I was hoping for something that would help me maintain and solidify my characters back in the US... so far it's been tough making progress when I'm not in taiwan.

 

Anyway, thanks! I'm gonna go dig around the site a bit now.

[John21]

Hi Roddy,

is there any more vouchers for Skritter available?  I'm off to China at the end of September to learn Mandarin full time - (almost) from the beginning  - at the ripe old age of 65.  The closer the day of departure comes, the more nervous I'm getting.  I've only booked a (private) school for a month to see how it goes, but I will stay at least 3 months but hopefully 6 months or more.  I have a weeks trial of Skritter and the more I use it the more valuable it becomes.  Hope you have one for me.

[Tony Baronie]

I hope I haven’t missed the boat on this, but if you do have any free Skritters left, I’d really appreciate one. Such a good wheeze for outing some of us old lurkers!

 

I guess I’d have to describe my level as ‘repeat beginner’. My first Chinese class was in 1979, believe it or not, and I studied conscientiously for a while, until life got in the way and I lapsed. Every few years since then I’ve started again, then lapsed again. I don’t have any pressing personal or professional reason to know Chinese, so that level of motivation has never been there. I just enjoy the process.

 

This time, though, I really want to escape the beginner-sphere, using the 21st century methods I’ve been checking out here. So… Anki, Audacity, podcasts and Fluent-U…and Skritter. It’s all so much more available than it was, and I want to finally make the step up from language beginner to full-on Chinese culture.

 

I’ve gone through Pimsleur and Assimil (again) to tune my ears and loosen my tongue, and my aim now is to learn the 750 characters / 1793 words of Rapid Literacy in Chinese (Zhang Peng Peng), then go the Extensive Reading route with all the graded readers I can get hold of. That’s where Skritter comes in of course (along with hanzicraft).

 

I’d probably make the jump into a Skritter subscription anyway, so it’s maybe not a great deal for them, but a free introduction would be very welcome, 

[Mouseneb]

In case there aren't any vouchers, feel free to use my referral link. That will net you (and me) two additional weeks of free skritter subscription. It's not as good as the voucher, but better than nothing

http://www.skritter.com/refer/wallaby78erik

[studychinese]

I have a note 3 with the S pen so I feel I may get a lot out of skritter. I am a regular forum participant and I haven't tried skritter before. Please take me under consideration. Cheers.