Hi all!

I am just wondering, how long do you think it would take to obtain written fluency in Chinese? For those at the advanced level, do you feel like you can pick up a piece of paper, and write a note to a lover of some sort? Or write an "in class essay"?

I guess what I am asking is this: is it possible to be a fluent writer in Chinese?

It is entirely possible to become a fluent writer in Chinese, but if Skritter is your ONLY study aid then I'm afraid it won't be enough. Skritter lets you practice how to write characters, and can help you remember words, but it doesn't teach you anything else.

You'll still need to learn and practice how to use those words with correct sentence structure. Remembering vocabulary is only half the battle!

What other written methods do you use? Do you have pen pals? I find I do lots of typing, but not much physical writing...

I took two years of Chinese classes that involved lots of writing. My handwriting these days has actually declined, even though I work as a translator in a Chinese company, because all of my work also involves typing.

The only things in daily life that actually REQUIRE me to write are when I have to do things like fill out an application form.

If your Chinese is already good enough for typing, and you already practice writing characters with Skritter, then the next step to writing sentences on paper shouldn't be too intimidating. You don't need to wait until you have some specific circumstance that requries you to write, you can do it whenever you like. You could even write to yourself!

hahaha thanks man =D

One last question: where did you go to school for two years? And how did you land a job as a translator? 囧

No problem!

I studied at Beijing Language and Culture University, and I found my current job just by searching for translation-related work in Beijing.

depends what you mean by fluency - if you mean easily write a reasonably complicated message so understandable, 3 years full time, if you mean write so that not obviously written by a foreigner (both writing and what is written), no idea, but 10+ years I'd imagine.

For me, fluency is being able to pick up a news paper, read it, discuss it, and then write about it on pen and paper. Thats my benchmark.

I think 3 years sounds like a good guess, has anyone ever skrittered for 10 years? What other methods does everyone use to practise writing?

Skritter has only been around since 2008/2009, so I don't think anybody's been doing it for ten years.

I haven't been on Skritter for a long time but I know I'm up there in the stats, in terms of words learned and characters learned. I wouldn't consider myself close to fluent, though. I just haven't put in enough time yet to feel natural with the words coming out of my mouth. It's a matter of reading a LOT more, and listening a LOT more, and Skritter is great but it's not for that. And to me, at this point, getting that exposure and that naturalness is so much the biggest issue that being able to write by memory from hand recedes into the background somewhat.

@Stuart

I'd be interested to know what level your Chinese is at? Did you only study at BLCU for two years or had you studied previous to that. What HSK level are you at? Cheers.

I'm not really sure how to classify my level other than "Advanced". I've always struggled with oral Chinese and while these days I can converse in Chinese quite comfortably most of the time, I still have a lot of difficulty discussing complex topics.

I worked as an English teacher in China for 3 years before I started to study at BLCU, during which time I learned some Chinese by myself, so it's always difficult to answer the "how long have you been learning Chinese" question.

I've never taken the HSK, but if I were to take it I don't imagine I would have much trouble passing level 6, as long as I prepared for it. I had quite a few Korean classmates at BLCU who all passed it and their Chinese was... not great!

I think Skritter is excellent for maintaining the ability to handwrite characters. I write almost no characters by hand and yet I passed an in-class exam last year. It was designed for native speakers, handwritten and took four hours to write. I couldn't write quickly, my hand hurt like hell afterwards, but I did remember how to write the characters! The exam was in a course in teaching methodology in a graduate program here in Taiwan, in case that's interesting to someone.

Hm... I should probably write a blog post about that.