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What is HocHanh?
HocHanh is a personal collection of small, experimental web tools rather than a single product. Its own tagline describes it as "Experiments that don't always work," which sets the right expectation: these are focused utilities built to test an idea, not a polished suite with accounts, billing or support.
The listed experiments point to two clusters — Japanese-language study aids and document/image chores:
- RTK-search — a search engine for Kanji stories, aimed at people working through Remembering the Kanji–style mnemonics.
- MuseTrainer — a MusicXML piano trainer, for practising from score files.
- PlainMerger and Mergram — both described as PDF mail merge tools; Mergram is framed as "PDF mail merge, made simple."
- PlainRemover — an image background remover.
- Temway — an on-brand email builder.
A practical way to decide whether it's worth your time: pick the one task you already do repeatedly, and test it with your own file. If you study kanji, try RTK-search with a keyword you keep forgetting and see whether the returned stories are more useful than your current notes. If you send personalised PDFs, run a small batch through PlainMerger or Mergram and check how it handles your spreadsheet columns and output naming before trusting it with a real mailing. HocHanh
Because these are experiments, expect rough edges: verify output before relying on it, keep your original files, and treat any tool as a shortcut rather than a system of record.
What does RTK-search do for learning kanji?
RTK-search is a search engine for kanji stories, built around the "Remembering the Kanji" (RTK) method. Instead of showing you a dictionary entry, it helps you find the mnemonic stories learners write to remember each character's meaning and shape.
What that means in practice
- You look up a kanji and get matching stories rather than just readings and definitions.
- It suits learners who already follow RTK and want alternative or clearer mnemonics for characters they keep forgetting.
- The value is in the stories themselves: a good one links the components of a character into a single vivid image, which is exactly what RTK asks you to do.
Who it's for, and the trade-off
It's most useful if you're working through RTK and stuck on a specific character. If you're learning kanji through vocabulary in context, or you don't use mnemonics at all, a story search engine won't add much. The site itself is a collection of experiments, so treat RTK-search as a focused tool rather than a full study course.
Next step
Pick one kanji you keep confusing, search it, and compare two or three stories. Take the image that sticks fastest and rewrite it in your own words — that personal version tends to last longer than a copied one.
If you want a broader mnemonic community to cross-check against, Kanji Koohii is a well-known companion for RTK learners.
How does PlainMerger simplify PDF mail merging?
PlainMerger is a PDF mail merger: it takes a PDF you already have and produces one personalized copy per recipient, typically by swapping in names, addresses or other per-person details. The simplification comes from the workflow rather than from advanced layout tools — you bring a finished PDF and a list of recipients, and the merging happens in one pass instead of you editing each copy by hand.
What that looks like in practice
- One source, many outputs. A template PDF (invitation, certificate, invoice, letter) plus a recipient list becomes a folder of ready-to-send PDFs.
- No print-merge detour. You don't need a word processor or a spreadsheet mail-merge add-on; the starting point is the PDF itself, which is what most people already have.
- Repeatable for recurring batches. Once the template and list are set up, re-running for a new set of names is mostly a matter of swapping the data.
Who benefits
Someone sending 40 personalized certificates after a course, a small organization mailing membership letters, or anyone who has a designed PDF and a spreadsheet of names. It's less suited to documents that need heavy conditional logic or complex per-recipient layout changes.
Trade-off to weigh
The convenience of starting from a PDF is also the constraint: fields must line up with where the text belongs on the page, so a template with irregular spacing may need adjusting first. If your merge needs branching rules or generated tables, a word-processor mail merge or a scripting approach gives more control.
It sits alongside other small tools from the same maker, HocHanh, which also lists Mergram (described as PDF mail merge made simple), PlainRemover for image backgrounds, and MuseTrainer for MusicXML piano practice.
Next step: test with three recipients before a full run — check that names of different lengths don't overflow their space, and that accented or non-Latin characters render correctly in the output PDFs.
What is Mergram and how does it differ from PlainMerger?
Mergram and PlainMerger are two separate tools listed on HocHanh, the personal experiments site whose own tagline is "Experiments that don't always work!" Both sit in the same problem space — combining a document with a list of recipients so each output is personalized — but they appear to be aimed at different levels of effort.
Mergram is described as "PDF mail merge, made simple." The emphasis on "simple" suggests it is the friendlier entry point: you bring a PDF and a set of recipient data, and the tool handles the merge with as little setup as possible.
PlainMerger is described only as "PDF mail merger." That plainer label, without the "made simple" framing, suggests a more literal or general-purpose merge utility — the kind of thing you reach for when you already know what you're doing and just want the merge performed.
How to choose
- If you are sending a personalized PDF to a handful of people and do not want to think about configuration, start with Mergram.
- If your merge is more of a mechanical, repeatable job and you want the tool to stay out of the way, PlainMerger is the more likely fit.
- If you are unsure, run the same small test batch through both and compare the outputs; on an experiments site, behavior in practice matters more than the label.
Because both live under the same "experiments that don't always work" umbrella, treat either as a convenience rather than a guaranteed production pipeline, and keep your source PDF and recipient list so you can redo a merge elsewhere if needed.
When should I use PlainRemover for background removal?
Use PlainRemover when you want a quick, low-friction way to strip the background from an image and you don't need studio-grade masking. It's one of several small experiments on HocHanh, a site whose own tagline is "Experiments that don't always work!" — so treat it as a handy utility rather than a polished production tool.
Good fits
- Removing a plain or near-plain background (white, solid color, simple gradient) from a photo of an object, product, or scanned item.
- Preparing an image for a slide, document, or mockup where a rough cutout is fine.
- One-off jobs where opening a full editor would take longer than the task itself.
Poor fits
- Hair, fur, glass, smoke, or other fine or semi-transparent edges — these usually need manual masking or a dedicated matting tool.
- Busy or high-contrast backgrounds, where automatic removal tends to leave halos or leftover patches.
- Batch work at scale or anything needing precise, repeatable output.
How to decide
| Situation | Use PlainRemover? |
|---|---|
| Solid or simple background, casual use | Yes |
| Complex background, fine edges | No — use manual masking |
| Large batch, consistent results | No — pick a dedicated tool |
| Quick prototype or throwaway asset | Yes |
A practical next step: run one representative image through it first and zoom in on the edges. If the result holds up at the size you'll actually display it, continue; if you see fringing or missing detail, switch to a manual masking workflow.
How does MuseTrainer help with practicing piano using MusicXML?
MuseTrainer is a MusicXML-based piano trainer listed among the experiments on HocHanh. Its core idea is to turn a score file you already have into practice material, rather than asking you to learn a separate notation format or rely on a fixed song library.
What that means in practice
- You supply a MusicXML file — the same format exported by most notation apps — and practice from it.
- Because MusicXML encodes pitches, rhythms and parts rather than just audio, a trainer can follow what you are supposed to play and respond to what you actually play.
- That makes it useful for drilling specific passages: you can prepare or edit a file for the bars you keep fumbling, then loop them.
Who gets the most from it
| Situation | Likely fit |
|---|---|
| You already own MusicXML scores or can export them | Strong — the file is the starting point |
| You want to practise isolated bars slowly | Strong, if the tool supports looping and tempo control |
| You want a large built-in graded course | Weak — this is an experiment, not a curriculum |
| You need hand-holding on technique or fingering | Weak — a trainer checks notes and timing, not posture |
Trade-offs to weigh
The advantage of a MusicXML approach is flexibility and ownership: your practice material is a file you control, not a subscription catalogue. The cost is setup effort. You need a clean, correctly encoded score, and files with odd notation, repeats or multiple voices can behave unpredictably. As the site's own framing suggests, these are experiments rather than polished commercial products, so expect rough edges and treat it as a tool to try rather than a guaranteed daily driver.
A concrete next step
Pick one short passage you can already play slowly, export it as MusicXML from your notation app, and run it through MuseTrainer at a reduced tempo. If the note tracking lines up with what you hear yourself playing, the tool is worth building into your routine; if the file causes confusion, simplify the score — single voice, no repeats — before deciding it is not for you.
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