Character Writing - Stroke Order Animator

Learn to write Chinese characters correctly with animated stroke-by-stroke demonstrations. Master proper stroke order and improve your handwriting!

Interactive

Enter a Character

 

Stroke Order Animation

中
Strokes: -- Current: --

Animation Controls

1500ms per stroke
Animate Mode

Watch the character being written stroke by stroke. Use Play, Pause, and step controls to learn at your own pace.

Practice Mode

Trace over the character outline to practice your strokes. The system will guide you through each stroke.

Quiz Mode

Test your knowledge! Write the character from memory without any hints. Get instant feedback on your accuracy.

Pro Tip: Start with simple characters (1-5 strokes) and gradually work up to more complex ones. Master the basic strokes first: 横 (héng - horizontal), 竖 (shù - vertical), 撇 (piě - left-falling), 捺 (nà - right-falling), 点 (diǎn - dot).

See them in real characters: 横 in 一 (yī - one), 竖 in 十 (shí - ten), 撇 and 捺 in 人 (rén - person), 点 in 六 (liù - six). Then 木 (mù - wood/tree) uses the first four. Tap one to watch it drawn above.

Can you name the five basic Chinese strokes? · 0:46 Narration and Chinese audio are synthesized speech (Microsoft Azure neural voices). More short Chinese lesson videos
Transcript
  1. Five strokes. Can you name them?
  2. Characters are built from strokes, and these five come first.
  3. The horizontal stroke, left to right.
  4. 横 (héng)
  5. 横 (héng)
  6. The vertical stroke, top to bottom.
  7. 竖 (shù)
  8. 竖 (shù)
  9. The left-falling stroke slides down to the left.
  10. 撇 (piě)
  11. 撇 (piě)
  12. The right-falling stroke sweeps down to the right.
  13. 捺 (nà)
  14. 捺 (nà)
  15. Together, they make a person.
  16. Last, the dot, a short stroke down to the right.
  17. 点 (diǎn)
  18. 点 (diǎn)
  19. Now put four of them together.
  20. 横 (héng)
  21. 竖 (shù)
  22. 撇 (piě)
  23. 捺 (nà)
  24. 木 (mù)
  25. 木 (mù)
  26. Four strokes, and you have written a tree.
  27. Master the basic strokes first.
  28. Draw them yourself, free, at The Pure Language dot com.

Master the basic strokes first.

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Writing Tips

  • Top to bottom: Write strokes from top to bottom
  • Left to right: Write strokes from left to right
  • Horizontal before vertical: When strokes cross, write horizontal first
  • Outside before inside: Write enclosing strokes first, then fill in
  • Close last: Seal enclosures at the end