Help & support

How does daily practice work?

Pick a deck and each session gives you up to 8 characters: reviews that are due first, then new ones. A new character plays its stroke order, then you trace it over the outline. The next day it comes back on an empty grid, to write from memory with only its reading and meaning to go on.

Each time you write a character from memory without a slip, the wait before you see it again doubles: 2 days, 4, 8, 16, 32. One or two slips keep it where it is. Three or more, or asking to see the stroke order, send it back to the next day. Characters you know well come round rarely, and the ones you're still learning come round often.

Why was my stroke marked wrong?

Each stroke is checked for its shape, its position in the square, its direction and its place in the order. The most common reasons a stroke doesn't count:

• It was drawn in the wrong direction, such as bottom to top, or right to left on a horizontal.
• It was a different stroke from the next one in the order.
• It started or ended too far from where that stroke goes.

After three misses on one stroke, the stroke is shown to you. "Show stroke order" replays the whole character at any time.

Simplified or traditional Chinese?

Both. Use the 简体 / 繁體 switch on the home page; your choice is remembered. Simplified is used in mainland China and Singapore, traditional in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Characters written the same way in both are shared, and each stroke-order page links to the other form.

Can I use a phone, tablet or stylus?

Yes. Ink a Day runs in the browser on phones, tablets and computers, with a finger, a stylus or a mouse. A tablet with a stylus is closest to writing on paper. On a phone you can add it to your home screen from the browser's share or menu button, so it opens like an app.

Where is my progress saved?

Without signing in, your progress belongs to a random ID kept in this browser. Clearing your browser's site data, using a private window, or switching to another device or browser starts you from scratch.

Sign in with Google on the home page to keep it on your account instead. Whatever you practised before signing in comes with you, and signing in on another device adds that device's progress as well. Our privacy policy sets out exactly what is kept.

How do I delete my account?

Email [email protected] from the address you signed in with, and we'll delete your account and its practice history. Signing out only ends the session on that device; your progress stays on your account for next time.

Why did my streak reset?

The streak counts days in a row on which you finished at least one character, going by your own device's date. If yesterday had no practice, it starts again today. It isn't lost until the end of the day: it still shows in the morning before you've practised.

Does it cost anything?

No. Ink a Day is free to use.

Found a mistake?

If a reading, meaning or stroke order looks wrong, email [email protected] with the character and what you expected. Stroke order sometimes differs between Chinese and Japanese, and between regions, so tell us which you learned.