Kanji stroke type (not stroke order)


My former teacher made us really pay attention to kana stroke order _and_
stroke types (とめる、はねる、and はらう). Yet when it came to kanji she only made us
study the stroke order. I've noticed that other people also disregard kanji
stroke type.

Why is that? Is it because of the sheer amount of information? (It's easy to
remember a few kana stroke types while the same does not hold true to kanji.)
What do natives have to say about this?




I think that in elementary school stroke type (at least はねる) is definitely
regarded an important part of learning kanji.

For instance, the kanji [竹 is a first-year
character](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AD%A6%E5%B9%B4%E5%88%A5%E6%BC%A2%E5%AD%97%E9%85%8D%E5%BD%93%E8%A1%A8)
and the hook on the last stroke is an important part. I think that most
elementary schools would take marks off (i.e. not ◯ but △) for omitting the
hook in a test.

(The hook is even part of ゴシック fonts, which often don't detail はらう or とめる.)

When written in pen or pencil, とめる and はらう are much harder to identify and
produce and are often neglected.

In any case, stroke type is definitely taught in elementary school. I don't
know why your teacher chose not to teach you stroke type. One reason may be
that she assumes you'll be sensitive enough to stroke type once she showed you
how important it was (for kana).

If you feel you need more practice, I can highly recommend practice books
(like [this
one](http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%BC%A2%E5%AD%97%E7%B7%B4%E7%BF%92%E3%83%8E%E3%83%BC%E3%83%88-%E5%B0%8F%E5%AD%A61%E5%B9%B4%E7%94%9F-%E4%B8%8B%E6%9D%91%E5%BC%8F-%E3%81%A8%E3%81%AA%E3%81%88%E3%81%A6%E6%9B%B8%E3%81%8F-%E6%BC%A2%E5%AD%97%E3%83%89%E3%83%AA%E3%83%AB/dp/403921210X/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1/376-5671165-6516813?ie=UTF8&refRID=1KEQB622NW5R51SVQAF1))
for school children for developing nice handwriting. (Many foreigners I've
seen try to imitate a 明朝 font...)




I think that in elementary school stroke type (at least はねる) is definitely
regarded an important part of learning kanji.

For instance, the kanji [竹 is a first-year
character](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AD%A6%E5%B9%B4%E5%88%A5%E6%BC%A2%E5%AD%97%E9%85%8D%E5%BD%93%E8%A1%A8)
and the hook on the last stroke is an important part. I think that most
elementary schools would take marks off (i.e. not ◯ but △) for omitting the
hook in a test.

(The hook is even part of ゴシック fonts, which often don't detail はらう or とめる.)

When written in pen or pencil, とめる and はらう are much harder to identify and
produce and are often neglected.

In any case, stroke type is definitely taught in elementary school. I don't
know why your teacher chose not to teach you stroke type. One reason may be
that she assumes you'll be sensitive enough to stroke type once she showed you
how important it was (for kana).

If you feel you need more practice, I can highly recommend practice books
(like [this
one](http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%BC%A2%E5%AD%97%E7%B7%B4%E7%BF%92%E3%83%8E%E3%83%BC%E3%83%88-%E5%B0%8F%E5%AD%A61%E5%B9%B4%E7%94%9F-%E4%B8%8B%E6%9D%91%E5%BC%8F-%E3%81%A8%E3%81%AA%E3%81%88%E3%81%A6%E6%9B%B8%E3%81%8F-%E6%BC%A2%E5%AD%97%E3%83%89%E3%83%AA%E3%83%AB/dp/403921210X/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1/376-5671165-6516813?ie=UTF8&refRID=1KEQB622NW5R51SVQAF1))
for school children for developing nice handwriting. (Many foreigners I've
seen try to imitate a 明朝 font...)

