We have hit our first double-chapter lessons in Integrated Chinese level 1 - part 1. This means that I have until thursday to learn 70 characters.

My current plan is to get down and busy with Skritter first, having added chapter 3 to the first 2 chapters. After some practice, I will be hitting the character book and write each character about 5-10 times while repeating the word to myself as I write it. Then return to Skritter. I will be going back and forth between these 2 methods during saturday, then add chapter 4 to skritter and repeat the going back and forth with that. Then for the rest of the time, use Skritter the most and track my progress.

Am I doing this in the best way possible, or is there an even better way to help me learn the characters fast? :)

There are hundred and one different way to study but to learn 70 characters by Thursday is not that hard actually. When i used to just study textbook directly using my portable white board it could barely do 70 in a week, now I can actually do much more than that.

For me I do it this way:

- Add the list to skritter. Set skritter to add words manually. I add new two characters at the time.

- Once the first new character comes up I write it and erase it 5 times at a minimum. If I feel that I have it in my short time memory i go on to the next one and repeat this. When leaving the next one the first one will come back and If I still remember it I add two new ones and if not i write and erase it another 5 times.

- I like to add mnemonics for my words so I usually take the time to either use others or to write my own. That speeds up the recognition much for me.

- Once I feel that I have the hang of the word i force mys elf to create silly or useful sentences with the word. That helps me recall them better and also puts them in an usage context.

-Take several shorter sessions in Skritter instead of one long. I can only focus 100% for about 20 minutes so I try to break it up in 20 minutes chunks and then do something else between. It is important to be focused on just the words and nothing else. You can watch TV when Skrittering but the effect will not be the same.

If you do not want to get bugged by other previously studied words you can study in cram mode just the new characters isolated. I love that. Then you can focus hard on just those characters. Words that i find extra hard to learn i also mark as starred and take an extra session on every day to really burn them in.

I have also used the integrated books a long time ago and then i used to listen to the sound files when i where running, riding the bike to work etc. To combine writing and listening and also reading really enforces the learning of new words and characters.

This works for me. It think that I learned some 110 (easy ones) characters last week and I work full time so I have limited time to actually study.

Good luck with your 70 characters. You can do that!

I used to constantly erase and rewrite characters several times before moving on. One day I read one of nick's posts about letting the computer figure it out when you need to see the words should be much more efficient.

Since then, I've trained the computer to show me new words right away, within a minute usually. If I don't know it, I'll click show and write it once, mark it wrong, and move on. I've also trained my memory to get much better this way. I'll remember most words for several minutes from the first time I saw them.

The only time I use the erase and rewrite method is if I have some question about stroke order or can't remember a new radical in the character. I'll never do it more than twice, though.

I think it was Lurks who once said you are training your memory to learn, being more strict on what you require from yourself will train your memory to remember it the first time, not the fifth.

Maybe erasing and rewriting, doing paper exercises, then coming back to Skritter will help you today, but letting the computer know real intervals your memory needs to remember characters will change your profile in the computer and will soon make it possible to learn much, much, much more efficiently from now on.

My advice, put it on Write raw squigs mode, grade everything strictly, and don't do extensive paper exercises which wont be takin into account in Skritter.

I agree with this advice, but note that it will probably take Skritter a while to bottom out your review intervals. As a new learner, if you find yourself having trouble remembering characters long enough before you see them again on Skritter, it may help to erase it and write it again once, until Skritter can adjust your initial intervals down to a couple minutes.