Lesson 45 — Characters 653–662: 慢 情 慣 快 適 敵 欠 次 姿 冷 Companion file to Workbook

Quick Reference

#	Kanji	Stroke Order	Strokes	Links
653	慢		14	Jisho · AnimCJK
654	情		11	Jisho · AnimCJK
655	慣		14	Jisho · AnimCJK
656	快		7	Jisho · AnimCJK
657	適		14	Jisho · AnimCJK
658	敵		15	Jisho · AnimCJK
659	欠		4	Jisho · AnimCJK
660	次		6	Jisho · AnimCJK
661	姿		9	Jisho · AnimCJK
662	冷		7	Jisho · AnimCJK

These PNGs are generated from KanjiVG using kanjivg-to-png, so each image shows the character being built stroke by stroke in panels.

Per-Kanji Stroke Notes

653 — 慢 (arrogant / slow) — 14 strokes

• Structure: 忄 (3) on the left + 曼 (11) on the right.
• Watch: 忄 first (left dot, right dot, vertical). Then 曼: 日 on top, the broad 罒 frame in the middle, then 又 at the bottom.
• Pair drill: Write 慢 and 漫 (Lesson 44) side by side — same right-side 曼, only the radical differs.

654 — 情 (feeling) — 11 strokes

• Structure: 忄 + 青 (8 strokes: 龶 + 月).
• Watch: 青's top is 龶 (three horizontals + vertical, 4 strokes), bottom is 月 (4 strokes — a thin moon shape).
• Common error: Writing the bottom as 円 — it's 月, not the round-bottomed 円.

655 — 慣 (habit) — 14 strokes

• Structure: 忄 + 貫 (11 strokes).
• Watch: 貫's top is 毋-like (bowl shape, 4 strokes), then 目 (5 strokes), then 八 / a wide base (2 strokes).
• Common error: Mistreating the top of 貫 as 母 — it's similar but the inner stroke pattern differs.

656 — 快 (pleasant) — 7 strokes

• Structure: 忄 + 夬 (4 strokes — small but tricky).
• Watch: 忄 first. Then 夬: a horizontal slash with downward hook (the 一+丿 shape on top), then a long vertical with sideways tail.
• Common error: Mistaking 夬 for 央 — 央 is symmetric, 夬 is asymmetric (tail goes right).

657 — 適 (suitable) — 14 strokes

• Structure: 啇 (11 strokes) inside 辶 (3 strokes — written last).
• Watch: Write 啇 fully first (top 立-like cap, then 冂 and inner strokes, then 口 at the bottom). 辶 always wraps around last (dot, then the swooping body).
• Pair drill: 適 and 敵 share 啇 entirely on the right — drill them together.

658 — 敵 (enemy) — 15 strokes

• Structure: 啇 (11) on the left + 攵 (4) on the right.
• Watch: 啇 same as in 適. Then 攵 on the right: short slash, then horizontal-vertical-sweep combination.
• Common error: 攵 has 4 strokes but novices often treat it as 3 — the order is: short slash, horizontal, slash, sweep.

659 — 欠 (lack / yawn) — 4 strokes

• Structure: A simple compact shape — 𠂊 (bowing person) on top + 人 below.
• Watch: First the angled top (a single stroke that turns), then the second hook stroke, then the slash and final sweep below.
• Common error: Treating 欠 as a 5-stroke kanji — it's strictly 4.

660 — 次 (next) — 6 strokes

• Structure: 冫 (2 strokes — two slashes on the left) + 欠 (4).
• Watch: Both 冫 strokes first (top dot, then lower slash), then 欠 to the right.
• Common error: Drawing 冫 with 3 dots like 氵 — it's only 2 strokes.

661 — 姿 (figure) — 9 strokes

• Structure: 次 (6) on top + 女 (3) on the bottom.
• Watch: All of 次 first (in the order described above), then 女 below: the diagonal sweep, the horizontal, and the long final stroke that crosses through.
• Common error: Putting 女 on the side rather than the bottom — 姿 is a vertically stacked kanji.

662 — 冷 (cold) — 7 strokes

• Structure: 冫 (2) on the left + 令 (5) on the right.
• Watch: 冫 first (two strokes — note again, not three like 氵). Then 令: 𠆢-like cap on top (2 strokes), then a small angled stroke and a vertical with hook below.
• Common error: Writing 冷 with 氵 (water radical) — it's 冫 (ice). The difference matters semantically as well: 氵 = liquid water, 冫 = frozen / chilled.

Stroke Patterns in This Lesson

The 忄 cluster — 慢 情 慣 快

Four of ten kanji begin with 忄 (3 strokes: left dot, right dot, vertical). Always: 忄 first, then the right-side phonetic. The right side fully determines reading and meaning:

Practice 忄 in isolation a dozen times — it makes all four kanji feel routine.

The 啇 pair — 適 敵

Both kanji are 啇 + a different "going / striking" radical. The 啇 itself is dense (11 strokes) — drill it in isolation, then add 辶 (for 適) or 攵 (for 敵). Practice 適 and 敵 together: they reinforce each other.

The 冫 pair — 次 冷

Both use 冫 (ice radical, 2 strokes — distinct from 氵 water radical, 3 strokes). 次 has 冫 on the left of 欠; 冷 has 冫 on the left of 令. The 冫 vs 氵 distinction is one of the most commonly missed points in stroke-order practice.

The yawn family — 欠 次 姿

欠 (yawn / lack) is a building block: 次 contains it (冫+欠), and 姿 contains 次 (次+女). So building up 姿 is also building up 欠 and 次. Practice in this order: 欠 → 次 → 姿.

Sources

• KanjiVG — Stroke-order SVG source. CC-BY-SA 3.0. https://github.com/KanjiVG/kanjivg
• AnimCJK — Animated SVG (browser viewing). Arphic Public License. https://github.com/parsimonhi/animCJK
• Jisho — Reading and meaning verification. https://jisho.org
• Kakijun — Stroke-order reference. https://kakijun.jp