New Chinese learning App: ChineseSkill

[wangzhulong]

Hi, roddy, thanks for your suggestion and I will check the files. 

[wangzhulong]

Hi, ChineseSkill Version 1.5 released yesterday.

In this version, IAP is removed, which means it is completely free now.

If you were annoyed by its price before, you may download the latest version and have a try now.

And still, if you have any feedback or suggestion, would you please let me know?

Thanks so much!

[Modena]

Thank you wangzhulong I'll be trying this out over the week and will post back with what I think

[wangzhulong]

@Modena, so happy you like ChineseSkill and I am looking forward to your feedback.

Can't wait to show my improvement of ChineseSkill...

[wangzhulong]

Hi everyone! 你们好! The long awaited ChineseSkill v1.0 for the Android is available now.tomorrow. Find it available on the Google Play Store!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chineseskill

 

I am also thrilled to announce the release of ChineseSkill v1.6 for the iOS platform, which has a completely new User Interface as well as a modified look. Check it out on the App Store!

https://itunes.apple.com/app/chineseskill/id777111034

 

Get started on your journey to fluency in Chinese. Join the expansive network of Chinesekill users that have met success now. 

 

[Auberon]

I wonder if anyone could tell me what sort of accent the audio in this app is. There doesn't seem to be any erhua, compared to, say, the audio in the Mandarin 'Teach Yourself' course, which is full of it (e.g. nar, nu:hair in TY; nali, nu:hai in ChineseSkill).

This isn't a criticism (indeed, I prefer the sound of the Southern/Taiwan pronunciation), but I'd like to know what I'm hearing from someone who knows more about it than I do.

 

Anyone? I understand it's free now!

[wangzhulong]

Hi, Auberon,

Thanks for your post here.

ChineseSkill's audios are all mandarin Chinese. Compared to Beijing Dialect, it has less erhua. 

We should make much clearer claim that ChineseSkill is teaching Mandarin Chinese in app's description. Thanks for your information.

And yes, you're right. ChineseSkill now is completely free.

If you have any other suggestion or feedback, feel free to leave a message here.

Thanks for your support!

[Auberon]

I'm well aware that it's mandarin; I think, to most people, 'Chinese' is synonymous with 'Mandarin', unless otherwise specified.

I just wondered whereabouts in China the speakers' accents in ChineseSkill are associated with. Just as a foreign learner of English, for example, might want to know whether a particular learning resource was teaching him an American or British accent.

As I am using a variety of Chinese-learning materials, I'm trying to pay attention to this sort of thing so I don't end up speaking with a weird mixture of accents.

 

Excellent app, still, however. My only other suggestion would be to incorporate some sort of spaced-repetition into the main lesson structure; perhaps in the form of a review every so-many-lessons that incorporates material and grammatical constructs from all earlier lessons.

[Reno]

@wangzhulong, Thanks for this excellent app.  I've been using the app for a while now and find it very effective and also a little addictive once you get started. I noticed that the latest android update asks for allot more permissions and it seems that the download feature to allow offline use is not available anymore. Offline use is really handy when travelling. Does the app still work offline? Why all the extra permissions (I'm wonder about user data), also it clear that you put in allot of time and effort into chineseskill. Its a free app without any built in advertisements so will you be adding extra paid features in the future. How will you fund future development?

[wangzhulong]

@Reno, Thanks for your message here. And thanks for your compliment.

ChineseSkill just starts and it needs a lot of improving.

In the latest update of Android version, we used a third party library to realize the sharing function. That's why it requests more permissions. But we didn't really access to any of users data. That is annoying. We highly respect users' privacy and are determined to solve this problem in the next update.

ChineseSkill is free now and will be free in the future. Maybe we will add some extra paid features in the future but not now. The most important task for the whole Chineseskill team is to make this app perfect. And we need your support and suggestion.If you have any suggestion or feedback, please leave a message here. I will reply as soon as I can.

Thanks so much.

[Reno]

@wangzhulong, Thanks for the information. Sound like your working pretty hard on the app. I look forward to future releases. I'm still wondering if the app will work offline.

[wangzhulong]

@Rendo, Yes, we will support offline study in the next update.  Just give me some time. 

[wangzhulong]

Any English Native speaker wants to be a volunteer for improving ChineseSkill's user experience here?

Please contact with me: wangzhulong@chinese-skill.com

Thanks in advance! 

[wangzhulong]

Hi, guys, ChineseSkill released version 1.23 for Android and version 2.0 for iOS. Don't forget to update.

What's New in this update:

1. Fix several crash problems

2. Added a score system

3. Added a collection function in Survival Chinese

4. Added a password retrieve function

5. Fixed some bugs

For Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chineseskill

For iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/app/chineseskill/id777111034

 

Again, I am always here waiting for your precious suggestion.

[Garethw87]

Hi wangzhulong!

 

Thanks for making this app, its great! I appreciate it and the fact you are here listening to feedback is awesome too, not many people would bother doing that.

 

I have a question... What are the chances of a Cantonese version being made? Thanks!

[Melanie1989]

Don't know how i have missed this discussion until now. @Wangzhulong i have been using ChineseSkill for the last two months or so now and i have been loving it! I am in no way a beginner (just a really bad student) and this is definitely for beginners, but i usually use the app when i am having trouble sleeping. I genuinely think it's a great way to revise and practice for most learners -at least for those of us who haven't achieved a decent level of reading fluency. Also, the sounds really keep me addicted too, for some reason.

 

I have noticed that it is available offline now, which is great, but i tried to download all the lessons -following the instructions- hopefully for a bit more of a challenge, but it didn't work. It took a long time to download it all but then they didn't show up anywhere at all. Has anybody else had this trouble, or am i missing something? Also, there are still a couple of little (but very annoying) flaws, if you don't mind me saying so. Sometimes example sentences are given in a way that makes it clear that they were written by a native Chinese --obviously that's fantastic and just what most people want, but if i'm given a sentence in Chinese and asked to translate it into English and my English is correct, but yours isn't, that makes me fail the test. I hope that doesn't sound offensive, i don't mean it to. I could take screenshots maybe and show you what i mean? 

 

 

Are there any plans for creating an elementary or intermediate level, or maybe a similar app for more advanced learners? Teeny flaws aside, i genuinely love the app. I would be happy to pay for lessons or put up with annoying ads if there would be a few minor improvements. Though obviously, i'm chuffed to bits it's free. Also, last question, there seems to be a few more features for iphones than there are for android devices, do you think this will change in future?

[wangzhulong]

@Garethw87, thank you so much. I am so happy that you like ChineseSkill. We want to polish it and make it perfect. Only you guys who are using it can help me make it.

I am a little curious about why you wanna learn Cantonese?

Honestly, I am still not ready for making Cantonese version. But before we decide to develop more language versions, we will some surveys. 

Thanks again, and if you have any question or feedback, please let me know.

[wangzhulong]

@Melanie1989, Thanks so much for your feedback. We highly appreciate it.

The offline download is now 10 times faster than previous version for Android phones. For iOS devices, we made a new version which has the same download speed as Android. But this version is still in review. Hope it is available soon. I know the slow download speed hurts...

 

We really understand how frustrated it is when you give a correct answer while be marked as wrong . We are now inviting some English speaking friends to do prof-reading and working on improving our English quality.

 

Another secret, we will give you a surprise in a month. Hope you like it.

Thanks again. Any feedback, please don't hesitate to let me know.

 

Have a nice day!

[Garethw87]

@Garethw87, thank you so much. I am so happy that you like ChineseSkill. We want to polish it and make it perfect. Only you guys who are using it can help me make it.

I am a little curious about why you wanna learn Cantonese?

 

Hi again Wangzhulong!

 

Well China isn't solely Mandarin speaking, obviously My interests lies mainly with Southern China (Guangdong/HK) thanks to my long term girlfriend being from Taishan! And where I live the Chinese community is majority Cantonese speaking too so I can practice in Chinatown! Cantonese is useful to me in my personal life and Mandarin at work (hotels) so I enjoy both but a CantoneseSkill App would be awesome!! But I wish you well with ChineseSkill and improving it and it helping me learn more! 

[Kaci]

Oh, cool. I've been using this app for about a month now, as an absolute beginner.  Quick question, I kept seeing on the reviews in the Google Play store comments about a log in, which I don't think I've actually seen. Am I missing something? Thanks!