Plan Handwriting

Plan: handwriting the script, stroke by stroke

Source of truth: this wiki page.

Written 2026-10-05.

What the owner asked

script handwriting to be added as well when scripts start appearing. app will show the sequence of strokes in a GIF animation. user will have two levels, once trace over existing character line, and then draw blind. like how wagatomi does this for japanese. ask if there is still doubt

Decided with the owner:

• The animation is drawn live in the app from vector stroke paths, not shipped as GIF files. It stays sharp at any size and follows the theme and text size, and the same paths check the drawing.
• The app checks both levels. Each stroke is compared with the model for order, direction and shape, within a tolerance. If the app is wrong, the learner can override it with "I drew it right".
• Handwriting answers Write (owner's decision, 2026-10-06; it replaces "a skill of its own"): writing in the script by hand is one way to answer a Write question (ADR-0034), not a schedule of its own:
  • a letter is traced first, in the script units;
  • then drawn blind;
  • after that, Write's script questions can be answered by hand;
  • it can be switched off.
• First the letters and vowel signs: vowels, consonants and vowel signs, about 70 per Indian script, plus hiragana and katakana. Conjuncts and kanji come later.

What exists

• Each Indian language has script decks: 11–13 vowels, 34–39 consonants, 18–24 vowel signs, 17–25 conjuncts, and a reading deck. Japanese has a hiragana deck of 46, kept but hidden.
• The script comes late in every path (owner's ruling). A learner who learns without the alphabet skips the script units, and would skip handwriting with them (ADR-0023).
• The app has no drawing input. Its painters only draw the brand mark and a progress wave.
• Skills are modes, stored by name, so adding a writing mode is additive in the database.

Stroke data

• Each character needs its strokes, in order. Each stroke is a path with a start and a direction. Some scripts also need the frame they are written in, such as Devanagari's headline.
• Japanese: KanjiVG has stroke paths in order for kana and kanji. Its licence is CC BY-SA 3.0, so it must be credited and shared alike. The decks are CC BY-SA 4.0 since ADR-0040; whether its 3.0 data may go in them is still to decide.
• Chinese: Hanzi Writer's data, from Make Me a Hanzi, has stroke paths and order for hanzi, under the Arphic Public License (its graphics derive from Arphic fonts); the licence terms are to be checked before use, like KanjiVG's.
• For later stroke-order decks (owner, 2026-10-09): KanjiVG for Japanese and Hanzi Writer / Make Me a Hanzi for Chinese are the sources to use, each with its attribution and licence.
• Indian scripts: I know of no open dataset of stroke orders (confidence medium). The strokes would be drawn by hand, about 490 characters for seven scripts.
  • Stroke order also differs between schools. Devanagari's headline is often drawn last, for example.
  • Each script needs one stated convention, and a check by someone who writes it.
• Format: a stroke file per script, such as decks/<lang>/<lang>-strokes.yaml, with one SVG path per stroke for each character. That is a new file kind, and a deck format change needs the owner's answer (AGENTS.md). The validator checks that every character has strokes and that each path is valid.

What it takes

1. The animation: strokes drawn one after another, at the learner's speed, with replay. The start of each stroke is marked.
2. Tracing:
   • the model shows faintly, and the learner draws over it, stroke by stroke;
   • each stroke is resampled and compared with the model's: the right start, end and direction, near its path;
   • a wrong stroke is shown at once, and can be drawn again.
3. Drawing blind:
   • an empty box, with only the script's guide lines;
   • the same check, more forgiving of position and size, since the drawing is scaled to its box first;
   • afterwards the model is shown beside the drawing.
4. Recorded as Write:
   • right first time is 5, right with forgiveness is 3, and wrong is 1;
   • "I drew it right" counts as right with forgiveness.
5. Where it appears: after a character is taught in the script units, and then in reviews. A learner without the alphabet never sees it.
6. Tests for stroke matching on drawn fixtures, the levels, the override, and recording as Write.

To decide

• The stroke-order convention for each Indian script, and who checks it.
• KanjiVG's CC BY-SA 3.0 licence beside the CC BY-SA 4.0 decks.
• How forgiving the check is, tuned on real drawings.
• Whether a vowel sign is drawn alone, or on a consonant (कि).

Estimate

Part	Hours
Drawing, the animation, stroke matching, the two levels	9–13
The skill and its scheduling	2–3
Kana from KanjiVG	2–3
Strokes drawn by hand for about 490 characters in seven Indian scripts	40–80

Confidence: low for the strokes, medium for the app.

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