My time on Skritter is split somewhat evenly between using a mouse and writing tablet. Though if the question was "What do you use most to Skritter?" then it's probably a mouse by a small margin.

I switch between several locations and computers a day so I thought it would be a hassle to carry my writing tablet around with me. Does anybody carry it around with them when they switch locations or do you just settle for the mouse?

I had to answer Other, since Pen and Paper was not a possible choice. I don't use mouse or tablet at all now -- I'm an analog user :-)

@murrayjames: So did you disable writing practice or just grade it based on what you wrote on paper?

The latter. I write with my left hand and grade at the keyboard with my right.

Once I started using a tablet I haven't touched a mouse anymore for "skrittering". There's just no way back for me, resulting in having several tablets spread over home and office. :-)

I wouldn't Skritter with a mouse or a touchpad - it's just too painfully inefficient. The pen and paper idea is interesting, though - I might try that out as a backup sometimes.

If I know or think I'll be Skrittering away from home, though, it's easy to carry my Bamboo Pen (small) around with me - it actually fits very snugly in the exterior pocket of my laptop sleeve, so it works out very nicely.

Anyone use any other methods? Trackball? Trackpoint? Telekinesis?

I'd be keen on developing the ability to Skritter telekinetically.

"If you believe in telekinetics, raise my hand"

It would be nice to have a direct brain interface, so we just think at the computer and it writes for us. How long would that take, Nick? ;)

James

Well, there is the computer that Steven Hawking uses that he controls by blinking.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/hawking-uses-blinks-to-activate-voice-computer/2005/09/06/1125772509441.html

I've been eagerly evaluating all the direct brain interface demos I have seen, but I would guess that it'll be 5 years before it'll work okay and 10 years before it'll be affordable.

By the way, I have tried the writing-on-paper method of Skrittering and, while nice, it was really slow compared to writing on the screen.

I have found that there is a serious disconnect between experience writing on Skritter and on paper. Even if you are ultra strict with yourself, the jump to paper from your stylus is huge. If I decide to take the HSK, I have already decided that I need to take up the paper and Skritter method for a couple of weeks before hand.

Skritter does wonders for speeding up my rate of practice, but this divide is something that I suspect the Skritter gods simply can not correct.

Writing on paper is nice but the stroke order and instant feedback is not there, two things which should really help people learn those new characters.

I guess if I wanted to improve my hand-written essays, I'd write essays for an hour a day rather than (or in addition to) focusing on new vocabulary with Skritter. Two different bananas in my opinion.

@west316 that has not been my experience at all. When I write with a pen (I've never used a brush) it feels pretty much like using Skritter, except that the characters are smaller.

@west316: I don't think the jump from Skritter to paper is that huge. I don't do too much pen and paper practice while Skrittering. Yes, my handwriting isn't that "beautiful" but I've never had someone struggle to read it as long as I was writing the correct character to begin with. I think my Chinese handwriting actually looks better than my English.

I don't think it's necessary to study every word with pen and paper, because a little paper practice with a few characters will transfer over to new ones.

One thing I've been doing is writing a paragraph (2-4 sentences) diary entry every night. First I plan out what I want to write in English to set a goal. Then attempt to write it in Chinese and finally use the internet to correct it.

for me it's like this: When I first try to reproduce a character outside the safe and warm Skritter environment with instant feedback, I feel a bit insecure. But after writing it three times or so it's like on Skritter, so no huge jump (using raw squigs of course), my handwriting is at least ok...

Using raw squigs in Skritter is probably essential for developing proper handwriting on paper. I find that if I don't use raw squigs, seeing part of the type-set perfect character on the screen triggers my brain to remember the whole character with less effort. When using raw squigs, you have to think more and characters get fortified in your memory better. I don't really see how it's much different than on paper, especially when using a tablet.

Lots of my friends just practice writing characters in the air with their fingers and ace their tests. I think it's more in the brain than in the hand.

I wouldn't argue that doing some handwriting on a regular basis isn't a great additional practice method though~