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+--- Thread: Stroke order not so important after all... (/thread-4662.html)
Stroke order not so important after all... - Javizy - 2009-12-20
Okay, it is important to learn the correct stroke order to learn a character properly, and it's necessary for looking up characters manually and with handwriting recognition. However, when it actually comes to writing, it seems that a lot of Japanese don't actually write kanji the "proper way".
I remember thinking characters like 白 and 自 looked kind of "funny" when written on paper. It turns out that's because most people merge the first two strokes into one, and there are many other examples of 'stroke merging'. I was writing something the other day, and my girlfriend rewrote just about all the kanji differently. She said everyone does it because writing Japanese 'takes too long'.
Has anybody else noticed this yet? And does anybody do it themselves? It'd be like relearning stroke order, and I doubt there's any resource for it, but it would probably give you more natural looking handwriting.
Stroke order not so important after all... - donjorge22 - 2009-12-20
Whenever I'm writing ngo5 我 (and other characters with "fiesta") I usually write the last three strokes as one. There are some others, but I can't think of them off of the top of my head...
Stroke order not so important after all... - Tobberoth - 2009-12-20
I stopped caring about stroke order a long time ago. Once you learn to consistently write kanji good and you've learned the basic pattern of how kanji are made up, you really don't need it anymore. Writing a kanji 100% perfect according to an official stroke order list and writing it how it feels best to you is the same thing as long as it looks like it should.
However, if you want to get into calligraphy, it becomes important again.
Stroke order not so important after all... - Burritolingus - 2009-12-20
Having failed one too many kanji stroke questions in Kanken DS recently, I've come to realize how rebellious my kanji strokes have become, as well. I think a prime example is writing 女 - it simply doesn't feel natural to me to write it the official way, so I do the horizontal, 3rd stroke first. (I believe Aijin mentioned something similar before, but don't quote me) It ends up looking deformed and squished if I write it "properly".
It's like typing, I guess. By no stretch of the imagination do I type properly (my index, middle fingers and thumbs do all the work), but I can type at about 80wpm with very few errors, so what does it matter?
Stroke order not so important after all... - yudantaiteki - 2009-12-20
Usually the cursive simplifications still follow the official stroke order, though, and it can be easier to read the handwritten forms if you're familiar with it.
Stroke order not so important after all... - Machine_Gun_Cat - 2009-12-21
When I write 糸 I merge the first three strokes and 口 I ussually do with one stroke going down then looping around and out in a flicking motion I also often zigzag out the last three strokes of turkey into one
Stroke order not so important after all... - GoddessCarlie - 2009-12-21
I think a lot of people do follow the correct stroke order, but just don't lift their pens. I agree with yudantaiteki that it def makes trying to work out what a scribble on the paper actually is.
Stroke order not so important after all... - zohar - 2009-12-21
Plus, when you spell out words on other people's palms, you'll lose them completely if the stroke order's off...