Not that I have a problem with the part of the Japanese studying that just requires you say the definition out loud to yourself and click for the answer, but I joined this site mainly for the convenient and helpful feature it lets you try in the demo; Actually /writing/ Kanji yourself with your tablet.

Do I have to go through different levels of studying before getting to write the Kanji on my own? Or am I just missing /where/ I find that area of study?

You must have the writting turned off. Go to the account tab. Click on "study settings" and make sure the Writting box is checked. Also make shure the Writting box is checked in the settings popup when you are studying.

Actually, this is an ongoing user interface issue.

The reason why you're not studying kanji yet is because you're studying a list (Genki 1) that doesn't teach Kanji for the first few sections. Like most textbooks and the JLPT, Genki minimizes and staggers kanji learning to start off, so first you learn hiragana and katakana, then some super simple kanji start trickling into your studies during the latter half of lesson 3.

And so for the vast majority of vocabulary in many textbook's lists, you only need to learn the reading (kana) and the definition of most of the words, so by default that's what Skritter gives you. For example, lesson one in Genki 1 has you learn 国際関係 (international relations) whose kanji are not really good for giving to beginners. The writers of Genki don't even show you the kanji for that word at all, in this case.

More info here:

http://www.skritter.com/faq#why_no_kanji

Lots of Japanese learners get understandably confused by this though, so we need to make this clearer somehow in the interface... We've got some plans but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on how this could be made clearer.

ddapore99: I took a look at what you were talking about. In my general settings, the writing option was checked.
I got really confused, though, when I went into the settings while studying.. I wasn't exactly sure what to do, so I chose to "review these parts only", and checked writing, reading, and definition, but it still only quizzed me on reading/definition for some time (never did see any writing practices).

For now, I've set my general study settings only to writing, but otherwise, I don't really know what I'm doing with these settings.

**EDIT: Thanks, Scott! I'm about to read the link you gave me now, but I /think/ I get what you're saying.. Sort of.. So I assume once I move further into the textbook, I'll start receiving writing lessons instead of only the reading/definitions..?

@sarahcfgirl: Probably should leave the parts being studied settings alone for now. I don't think those are what you're looking for.

Also, looks like you set 'Section Movement' to 'Stop adding from list on section complete' here:

http://www.skritter.com/account/settings-study

So every time you finish a section in Genki, it pauses the list from adding any more words. And to get to the sections that teach kanji, you'll need to add the first few sections, so you'll either want to change that setting back to 'Move to next section when complete' or each time you finish a section you'll need to go here:

http://www.skritter.com/study

And click 'restart adding' for the Genki list. You'll need to do that now in any event to get it to start adding again.

Do you have the actual Genki book, by the way? If you're learning by the book, with a class, then by default the list should be following how your teacher is teaching the book, that is you only learn the kanji for a few of the words. The lists here on Skritter don't really work as well outside of the context of the books themselves. If you follow the book it will make more sense, I think.

Scott: Thanks, I put the study parts back to what they were. I also changed the section movement back. I think I was just so confused, that I was toggling with everything I could find.

Yes, the Genki I book is the one I'm using in my class, so I thought it would be a good idea to use that book on here.

Sounds good. If things aren't working right, don't hesitate to contact us and ask! There's a contact link at the bottom of every page. And also the FAQ is where we put answers for what most people have questions about, you can get there by clicking on the 'help' link near the top of any page.