<p>Is handwriting Chinese characters slowing you down? In today’s digital world, <strong>does it still make sense to focus on writing by hand or should you just type?</strong> In this episode, Jared and John dive deep into this hot-button issue for Chinese learners: <strong>handwriting vs. typing</strong>.</p><p>Pulling insights from a research paper by <em>Chinese Breeze</em> creator Chengzhi Chu (储诚志), they explore how character instruction is evolving and why <strong>prioritizing typing can make your learning faster, more efficient, and less frustrating</strong>, especially for adult learners.</p><p>They’ll break down:</p><ul><li><p>Why <strong>typing Chinese is not “cheating”</strong>, it’s how Chinese is actually used today</p></li><li><p>How <strong>handwriting can become a bottleneck</strong> to fluency and motivation</p></li><li><p>What it really means to “know” a character in the modern era</p></li><li><p>The myth of muscle memory and why stroke order perfection isn’t essential</p></li><li><p>Why it’s okay to treat handwriting as a <strong>hobby</strong>, not a core skill</p></li></ul><p>You’ll also hear how character writing has changed more in the past 20 years than the previous 2000, the &quot;three eras&quot; of Chinese writing, and how modern teachers are shifting to a “typing-first, handwriting-second” approach in classrooms around the world.</p><p>If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by handwriting or wondered if you’re “doing it wrong” by typing, this episode will give you the clarity, and permission, you need to move forward confidently.</p><p><strong>Links from the episode:</strong></p><ul><li><p><a href="https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-store-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781003285779/25f1cfa0-8a59-4d13-89e3-9aa58e20be86/chapters/chapter1.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAQFVOSJ57XYLMUSFL%2F20260102%2Feu-west-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20260102T084544Z&X-Amz-Expires=172800&X-Amz-Signature=f9258a12b1358773817f5d146a5415b57bb9e94ab6ebffeb2057597dc72df527&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&response-content-disposition=attachment%3B%20filename%3D%2210.4324_9781003285779-3_chapterpdf.pdf%22"><u>The Evolution of Hanzi Proficiency and the E-Writing Transformation of L2 Chinese Teaching in the Digital Age</u></a> | Paper by Chengzhi Chu </p></li><li><p><a href="https://mandarincompanion.com/products/"><u>Mandarin Companion Graded Readers</u></a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.allsetlearning.com/books"><u>Learn Chinese Characters by Reading</u></a> (the book)</p></li><li><p><a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/Learn_Chinese_Characters_by_Reading"><u>Learn Chinese Characters by Reading</u></a> (free resources for 200 characters)</p></li></ul>