ABOUT

A small tool, made by one dad

Hanzi Sprout connects a word your child already says to the character as it is written. A few minutes at a time. No stroke drills, no homework.

Why this exists

My daughter is five. She can say 山 (mountain), 水 (water), 太阳 (the sun) without thinking. But the square, printed characters in a book might as well be another language.

I spent over a decade in tech operations. I am not a teacher, and I never studied early-childhood education. But one thing I was sure of: I did not want her first step into Chinese characters to be tracing strokes and memorising stroke order.

What this site is

One animation per character, about ten seconds long: it opens on a scene a child already knows and ends on the character as it is written.

The child sees what the character looks like first, then meets it again in everyday life — on a street sign, in a picture book, on a package.

The picture has one job: to connect a meaning the child already has with the shape as it is written. When the animation ends, the picture gets out of the way and the character stands on its own.

• Every character has Mandarin pronunciation audio.
• The parent can mark a character as “Recognized.” That mark lives only on this device — it is a progress note for you, nothing more.
• The free characters need no account and no payment. They just play.

What this site is not

I would rather be clear about these than let you assume otherwise:

• Not a full Chinese course. It covers the first step of literacy — recognising the character — and stops there.
• No stroke order, no exercises, no homework. No leaderboard, no points, no streaks.
• No promised results. Watching an animation is not the same as knowing a character. “Recognized” is a note the parent makes; we do not measure it and we do not claim your child has learned anything.
• No data collected about children. No name, birthday, photo, recording or school, and no behaviour tracking or ability scoring.

Who makes it

One dad, living in Dali, Yunnan, who built this in the gaps between looking after his daughter. The animations are self-taught; the characters were chosen one at a time. No team, and no ads.

Where the library stands today

117 characters are watchable right now, and the library keeps growing. One-time early-bird pricing — not a subscription — and anyone who buys locks in the price they paid.

Get in touch

Questions, suggestions, or just want to tell us how your child reacted: support@hanzisprout.com