a method and system for training a handwriting recognizer at the time of misrecognition is provided . in a preferred embodiment , a trainer program traps and stores the output from a recognizer . the output includes the recognized symbols mapped to the handwritten data . when training is requested by a user , the trainer displays the handwritten data that was input by the user and the recognized symbols . the user then selects the symbols to train on . in response to the selection , the trainer displays the portion of the handwritten data corresponding to the selected symbols . the user then enters the symbols that the displayed portion of the handwritten data should be recognized as . the trainer then requests the recognizer to train based on the displayed portion of the data and the entered symbols . when training is complete , the trainer requests re - recognition of the handwritten data and displays the newly recognized symbols .