<p>Native speaker here.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>How do Chinese characters foreigners or beginner Chinese learners write appear to natives? Is there a difference?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yes. Chinese characters written by foreign beginners look like kindergartener writing to me. Imagine the strokes stacked together like tree branches. Adult native speakers usually show flows and edges in their handwriting.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Does it depend on how long they have been learning, or are they all different from a native Chinese's handwriting?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Depends on the amount of practice they have. Serious practice will take you very far.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Would the handwriting even strike a native as a foreigner's penning at all? And how about a beginner's handwriting?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Answered as above.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-12-19T11:20:23.257Z
2024-12-19T11:20:23.257Z
Lauren Yu
<p>How do Chinese characters foreigners or beginner Chinese learners write appear to natives?</p>
<p>Weird yet right.</p>
<p>Is there a difference? Does it depend on how long they have been learning, or are they all different from a native Chinese's handwriting?</p>
<p>Knowing the basics is what it takes to achieve writing Chinese. Lines and curves are the most important thing to keep in mind. There are different writings in Chinese, just like English. Cursive is one of them. Time is a huge impact. Have you heard of this saying: Practice makes perfect.</p>
<p>Would the handwriting even strike a native as a foreigner's penning at all? And how about a beginner's handwriting?</p>
<p>Shrug. Foreigner penning and beginner penning is almost like the same thing but with different practice. Even a Native would need to begin with the same method of writing. I know because I'm Chinese and learn this from painful writing experiences like writing a word 500 times before I got it right.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-22T15:55:06.667Z
2021-04-22T15:55:06.667Z
Artemis Silver
<p>There is no true difference.</p>
<p>In general, foreigners will have worse or slightly off handwriting.  However this is because of less time practicing writing chinese by hand, or not learning proper techniques.  You will also see natives who haven't had as much writing practice or learned improper techniques. These people with poor writing are indistinguishable as foreigner or native-- they are all equally &quot;incorrect&quot; or &quot;lacking practice&quot;.  Think of any native english speaker you know with not beautiful or even straight up illegible handwriting-- it can happen to anyone.</p>
<p>In the same way, there are plenty of foreigners who have put in the time to practice handwriting and learned proper techniques.  There handwriting will be indistinguishable from a natives, maybe even above average if its nice and legible.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, writing is its own skill, seperate from ability to read or speak or other language abilities.  Consider that everyday, our modern world moves more and more to typing, making writing less and less important. This lowers everyone's handwriting ability, and the lines become blurrier and blurrier everyday (literally lol).</p>
<p>Even so, anyone willing to put in the hundreds of hours of practice can achieve calligraphy level beautiful handwriting-- english or chinese, native or foreigner(･̑◡･̑)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-21T06:30:51.073Z
2023-11-21T06:30:51.073Z
zagrycha
<p>It does require a lot of effort. Some native speakers of Mandarin Chinese might write worse than non-natives. It all depends on how much time and effort you'd like to put in. First, find the writing you like, and just copy it as many times as it takes for you to write the same thing. It's the same as practice calligraphy really.</p>
<p>As a native of Taiwan, we write traditional characters. And I seriously cannot remember how many times I wrote the characters while learning... A LOT for sure.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-03-10T03:45:19.030Z
2022-02-28T14:00:13.790Z
2022-02-28T14:00:13.790Z
Jillina
<p>It is almost impossible. As a native, I was still be required to have the practice in my senior high school by my teacher. Do not give up. Have your paractice patiently and regularly. Maybe 5 years or 8 years, you will find your own way to write every character. And when you find that your same Chinese characters look almost same, then you might begin to have native handwriting. For now, just keep your handwriting clear and neat.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-08T10:02:27.790Z
This does not answer the question, which is about what handwriting from different types of learners looks like to native speakers.
Olle Linge
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-07T03:31:23.893Z
2021-02-07T03:31:23.893Z
whx
<p>How do Chinese characters foreigners or beginner Chinese learners write appear to natives?  Is there a difference?  Does it depend on how long they have been learning, or are they all different from a native Chinese's handwriting?  Would the handwriting even strike a native as a foreigner's penning at all?  And how about a beginner's handwriting?</p>
<p>Alright, those are all my questions.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-01T21:52:55.930Z
It is not a question that can be answered with fact. All beginners write horribly, a native Chinese 3 years old and a 60 years old non-Chinese man's writing might look the same in people's eyes. Once they get better at it, you can't tell the difference
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-01T21:54:30.723Z
I've heard of comparisons to Mao Xinyu's handwriting...
Mou某
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-02T01:55:48.000Z
My advice: 1. Find a copybook for calligraphy. Kaishu(楷书, regular script) is the best choice. 2. Practise a lot and think the structure of Chinese Characters. How much should you practise? I don't know, but a lot of Chinese practises for years to write well. Actually, three years' practice is enough to write well for a Chinese learner, in my opinion.
T-Pioneer
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-02T08:22:37.073Z
Having taught a large number of adult foreigners, I can say that it's certainly not true that everybody starts on the same level. Some students show great penmanship in English and are able to write neat Chinese characters very quickly compared to others. Their characters might be wrong in some aspects, but don't look childish at all. Ultimately, it's about spending a lot of time on writing, taking your time and caring about what it looks like. Most people don't, so their handwriting is horrible.
Olle Linge
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-09T05:03:49.000Z
Penmanship shows a person's artistic inclination and skill in balance, somebody just does not have any and never will, regardless of native or not, and intelligence or education level. BTW, I wonder how popular is for foreigners to learn "毛筆字":) It could be real benefits in learning Chinese writing though.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-09T05:07:53.337Z
@Olle Linge Have you taught any student using the traditional Chinese brush? If so, do you notice that those who did tend to write better with other writing medium? My personal view is that using the brush would improve one's character writing skill owing to the absolute need to achieve consistently near perfect accuracy in every stroke. Perhaps taking up some rudimentary Chinese calligraphy might help?
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-09T11:32:24.047Z
@WayneCheah No, I haven't! I think this is almost non-existent for practical language courses these days. Even handwriting characters in the first place is put at lower priority, so it goes without saying that calligraphy is even further down the list. There are simply too many things to teach to consider small benefits calligraphy might have on handwriting. Sad, but true!
Olle Linge
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-17T22:48:02.473Z
@OlleLinge I think you need to learn the "eight-ways" (永字八法), which forms the base of proper Chinese writing and can't be learned using tools other than the brush (毛筆).
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-26T08:20:35.003Z
@r13: I don't see the connection to the question here, could you clarify, maybe? And when you say "you", who do you mean? The students?
Olle Linge
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-26T15:07:57.913Z
@OlleLinge Although you don't need to teach handwriting class, you still have to write Chinese on the blackboard, don't you? You is simply you, no other meaning.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-26T16:35:31.373Z
@r13 I asked about "you" because it's often used in a generic sense. I'm still not entirely clear what you're trying to convey. Why do you say that I need to learn 永字八法? What makes you think I don't already know it? Do you mean "teach" when you say "learn", maybe? All I said above was that in a modern foreign-language context, handwriting is often not at the top of the priority list and calligraphy is focused on even less.
Olle Linge
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-26T17:13:33.483Z
@OlleLinge Yeah, in a "Practical Conversation" class, the writing part is not that important to you or your student, but I wouldn't call it a "Practical Language" class, which includes "Read, Speak and Write".
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-21T07:22:06.630Z
It depends. The traditional Chinese "brush" is harder to handle than modern writing tools. Then there are inherited differences. Some people have a natural flair to handwriting. My mother has a much better handwriting than my father even though they are around the same age, so they have more or less the same amount of practice. So the answer to your question is no. A foreigner might just have the natural ability to write nicely in Chinese.
fat penguin
<characters><handwriting>
How does a foreigner's handwriting look to a native?
# How does a foreigner's handwriting look to a native?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-02-01)

How do Chinese characters foreigners or beginner Chinese learners write appear to natives? Is there a difference? Does it depend on how long they have been learning, or are they all different from a native Chinese's handwriting? Would the handwriting even strike a native as a foreigner's penning at all? And how about a beginner's handwriting?

Alright, those are all my questions.

**Tags:** characters, handwriting

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It is not a question that can be answered with fact. All beginners write horribly, a native Chinese 3 years old and a 60 years old non-Chinese man's writing might look the same in people's eyes. Once they get better at it, you can't tell the difference  
> **username_2**: I've heard of comparisons to Mao Xinyu's handwriting...  
> **username_3**: My advice: 1. Find a copybook for calligraphy. Kaishu(楷书, regular script) is the best choice. 2. Practise a lot and think the structure of Chinese Characters. How much should you practise? I don't know, but a lot of Chinese practises for years to write well. Actually, three years' practice is enough to write well for a Chinese learner, in my opinion.  
> **username_4**: Having taught a large number of adult foreigners, I can say that it's certainly not true that everybody starts on the same level. Some students show great penmanship in English and are able to write neat Chinese characters very quickly compared to others. Their characters might be wrong in some aspects, but don't look childish at all. Ultimately, it's about spending a lot of time on writing, taking your time and caring about what it looks like. Most people don't, so their handwriting is horrible.  
> **username_5**: Penmanship shows a person's artistic inclination and skill in balance, somebody just does not have any and never will, regardless of native or not, and intelligence or education level. BTW, I wonder how popular is for foreigners to learn "毛筆字":) It could be real benefits in learning Chinese writing though.  
> **username_6**: @username_4 Have you taught any student using the traditional Chinese brush? If so, do you notice that those who did tend to write better with other writing medium? My personal view is that using the brush would improve one's character writing skill owing to the absolute need to achieve consistently near perfect accuracy in every stroke. Perhaps taking up some rudimentary Chinese calligraphy might help?  
> **username_4**: @username_6 No, I haven't! I think this is almost non-existent for practical language courses these days. Even handwriting characters in the first place is put at lower priority, so it goes without saying that calligraphy is even further down the list. There are simply too many things to teach to consider small benefits calligraphy might have on handwriting. Sad, but true!  
> **username_5**: @username_4 I think you need to learn the "eight-ways" (永字八法), which forms the base of proper Chinese writing and can't be learned using tools other than the brush (毛筆).  
> **username_4**: @username_5: I don't see the connection to the question here, could you clarify, maybe? And when you say "you", who do you mean? The students?  
> **username_5**: @username_4 Although you don't need to teach handwriting class, you still have to write Chinese on the blackboard, don't you? You is simply you, no other meaning.  
> **username_4**: @username_5 I asked about "you" because it's often used in a generic sense. I'm still not entirely clear what you're trying to convey. Why do you say that I need to learn 永字八法? What makes you think I don't already know it? Do you mean "teach" when you say "learn", maybe? All I said above was that in a modern foreign-language context, handwriting is often not at the top of the priority list and calligraphy is focused on even less.  
> **username_5**: @username_4 Yeah, in a "Practical Conversation" class, the writing part is not that important to you or your student, but I wouldn't call it a "Practical Language" class, which includes "Read, Speak and Write".  
> **username_7**: It depends. The traditional Chinese "brush" is harder to handle than modern writing tools. Then there are inherited differences. Some people have a natural flair to handwriting. My mother has a much better handwriting than my father even though they are around the same age, so they have more or less the same amount of practice. So the answer to your question is no. A foreigner might just have the natural ability to write nicely in Chinese.  

---

## 5 answers

### Answer by username_8 on 2024-12-19. Score: 0

Native speaker here.

> How do Chinese characters foreigners or beginner Chinese learners write appear to natives? Is there a difference?

Yes. Chinese characters written by foreign beginners look like kindergartener writing to me. Imagine the strokes stacked together like tree branches. Adult native speakers usually show flows and edges in their handwriting.

> Does it depend on how long they have been learning, or are they all different from a native Chinese's handwriting?

Depends on the amount of practice they have. Serious practice will take you very far.

> Would the handwriting even strike a native as a foreigner's penning at all? And how about a beginner's handwriting?

Answered as above.


---

### Answer by username_9 on 2021-04-22. Score: 0

How do Chinese characters foreigners or beginner Chinese learners write appear to natives?

Weird yet right.

Is there a difference? Does it depend on how long they have been learning, or are they all different from a native Chinese's handwriting?

Knowing the basics is what it takes to achieve writing Chinese. Lines and curves are the most important thing to keep in mind. There are different writings in Chinese, just like English. Cursive is one of them. Time is a huge impact. Have you heard of this saying: Practice makes perfect.

Would the handwriting even strike a native as a foreigner's penning at all? And how about a beginner's handwriting?

Shrug. Foreigner penning and beginner penning is almost like the same thing but with different practice. Even a Native would need to begin with the same method of writing. I know because I'm Chinese and learn this from painful writing experiences like writing a word 500 times before I got it right.


---

### Answer by username_10 on 2023-11-21. Score: 0

There is no true difference.

In general, foreigners will have worse or slightly off handwriting. However this is because of less time practicing writing chinese by hand, or not learning proper techniques. You will also see natives who haven't had as much writing practice or learned improper techniques. These people with poor writing are indistinguishable as foreigner or native-- they are all equally "incorrect" or "lacking practice". Think of any native english speaker you know with not beautiful or even straight up illegible handwriting-- it can happen to anyone.

In the same way, there are plenty of foreigners who have put in the time to practice handwriting and learned proper techniques. There handwriting will be indistinguishable from a natives, maybe even above average if its nice and legible.

At the end of the day, writing is its own skill, seperate from ability to read or speak or other language abilities. Consider that everyday, our modern world moves more and more to typing, making writing less and less important. This lowers everyone's handwriting ability, and the lines become blurrier and blurrier everyday (literally lol).

Even so, anyone willing to put in the hundreds of hours of practice can achieve calligraphy level beautiful handwriting-- english or chinese, native or foreigner(･̑◡･̑)


---

### Answer by username_11 on 2021-03-10. Score: 0

It does require a lot of effort. Some native speakers of Mandarin Chinese might write worse than non-natives. It all depends on how much time and effort you'd like to put in. First, find the writing you like, and just copy it as many times as it takes for you to write the same thing. It's the same as practice calligraphy really.

As a native of Taiwan, we write traditional characters. And I seriously cannot remember how many times I wrote the characters while learning... A LOT for sure.


---

### Answer by username_12 on 2021-02-07. Score: -1

It is almost impossible. As a native, I was still be required to have the practice in my senior high school by my teacher. Do not give up. Have your paractice patiently and regularly. Maybe 5 years or 8 years, you will find your own way to write every character. And when you find that your same Chinese characters look almost same, then you might begin to have native handwriting. For now, just keep your handwriting clear and neat.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: This does not answer the question, which is about what handwriting from different types of learners looks like to native speakers.  

---

