The Importance of Stroke Order

I was trying to write 機 (き； ハタ： opportunity; machine; aircraft） this morning during my morning practice session and I noticed I was guessing on the stroke order. As you can see in my image below, my second attempt is more balanced.

Click to enlarge.

The second attempt is better because it is better balanced and because I was more careful to follow my general rule of stroke order: For each element (and for the whole kanji character, in fact) we must start from the upper left and move towards the lower right. Sometimes if you don't know the stroke order (like me), you can use this rule to make an educated guess as to how to write the character.

The stroke order that you and I should use to make this kanji look superb is as follows:

My new vocab word of the day (circled) happens to include 機. It is 扇風機（せんぷうき）, meaning electric fan. (Literally: FAN + WIND + MACHINE.)

Another common words using this kanji for machine is: 飛行機　（ひこうき：airplane）.

Now for my final attempt:

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN! What kanji do you already know? Do you know their stroke order?

Check http://jisho.org/kanji/ or ask me for help when in class.