简体还是繁体？Simplified or traditional?

简体字是中国大陆和新加坡的标准，繁体字通行于台湾和香港。本课程使用简体字——它笔画更少，也是大多数学习者的起点。两套系统的底层逻辑相同，学会一套后再认另一套并不难。Simplified characters are the standard in mainland China and Singapore; traditional characters are used in Taiwan and Hong Kong. This course uses simplified — fewer strokes, and the usual starting point. The underlying logic is the same, so picking up the other set later is far easier than starting over.

一切从笔画开始It all starts with strokes

每个汉字都由有限的几种基本笔画组成：横、竖、撇、捺、点、钩等。笔画按固定的顺序书写——这不是形式主义，正确的笔顺让字形自然、书写更快，也帮助你记住字的结构。Every character is assembled from a small set of basic strokes: horizontal, vertical, left-falling, right-falling, dots, hooks. Strokes are written in a fixed order — not as a formality, but because correct order makes the shape flow, speeds up writing, and anchors the character in memory.

• 先横后竖（十：先一后丨）。Horizontal before vertical (in 十, the bar comes before the down-stroke).
• 从上到下，从左到右。Top to bottom, left to right.
• 先外后内，最后封口（如：口）。Outside before inside, closing the box last (as in 口).

部首：汉字的积木Radicals: the building blocks

大部分汉字是组合字：一个部首提示意义类别，另一部分常提示读音。比如带"氵"（三点水）的字多与水有关：河、海、洗。认识最常用的一百来个部首后，陌生字会开始"讲道理"——你能猜出它大概的意思和读音。Most characters are compounds: a radical hints at the meaning category, and another component often hints at the sound. Characters with 氵 (the "water" radical) tend to involve water: 河 river, 海 sea, 洗 wash. Once you know the hundred or so most common radicals, new characters start to make sense — you can guess roughly what they mean and how they sound.

什么时候开始写？When should you start writing?

不必第一天就写字。建议先用一两周建立发音基础（课程第1-7天），从第二周起每天练几个字。本站的写作练习提供笔顺动画和手写画布，从基本笔画和常用部首开始，逐步过渡到HSK词汇和主题汉字。You don't need to write on day one. Spend your first week or two building pronunciation (Days 1-7 of the course), then add a few characters a day from week two. The writing practice here gives you stroke-order animations and a drawing canvas, starting with basic strokes and common radicals and building toward HSK vocabulary and themed sets.