Animated Graphics- Chinese characters

I prefer animated graphics over static images when I teach Chinese characters.  Each Chinese character consists of different strokes and it looks like a drawing for nonnative people.

Some difficulties for students learning to write Chinese characters are: 

1) They don’t know where to start

2) They are not sure about the stroke order

3) Some strokes are hard to count

Animated graphics show students how to write Chinese characters with correct stroke order and number of strokes. I found this very useful and save a lot of my instruction time on characters.  Instead of teaching strokes order in class, I can do other more interactive games with students.

Another benefit is that animated graphics can show radicals, part of the characters, in different color.  Radicals are the foundation of characters and categorize Chinese characters.  Knowing radicals can help students’ comprehension ability to decode new Chinese characters they encounter.