Vocabulary learning software?

[twinmatrix]

A few years ago when I studied Japanese I had this amazing free vocab software. It allowed me to enter different languages and create flash cards, and it kept track of my progress, etc. You could time yourself and increase your score. I think it even kept track of your progress online.

 

But I have noooo idea what it was called... I really can't find it back..

 

So can anyone recommend me a good software for learning Chinese vocab?

Repetition and visual learning is key for me. I think in visual words before I speak.

[Shelley]

I would suggest Pleco, and use the flashcards to review and practice vocabulary. It is also a dictionary, OCR, and many other things. Have a look here for more details.http://www.pleco.com/ The cost is very reasonable and worth it and you can try the free version but remember its not as comprehensive as the paid for version.

 

I believe no serious student of chinese should be without Pleco.

 

Another great little app for learning vocab, grammar, writing, speaking and reading is Hello Chinese - Learn Chinese have a look here its free and I find it very useful and fun.http://www.hellochinese.cc/

[大块头]

Many people studying Chinese find Anki to be indispensable.

[kawakusong]

Maybe what you mentioned is Anki. Widely used one for memorizing vocab.

A new rising one is called Memrise. Many people think it's very effective.

[twinmatrix]

Hmm, it's not Anki because the one I had also allowed typing the answer (so more than flash cards).

 

Those are all great suggestions though, thanks.

 

I've had paid Pleco for a while but had no idea it allowed flashcards! Cool.

 

Edit: Hmm. Anki is odd, I can't switch front/back around? I have to make 2 cards for each word or phrase so I can learn it both ways?

 

Also Pleco and Anki don't allow multi-choice flash card answering?

 

The software I had would take multiple cards and randomize them for multi-choice answers, I found this was really useful when learning new words for the first time because you can make an educated guess based on stuff you already know.

[Shelley]

Pleco does allow multi- choice. You should read the user manual section on flashcards, there is so much that it does that it too much for me to write here.

 

i strongly suggest you spend some time exploring Pleco, it is a very powerful flashcard tool.

 

There is also a Pleco user forum that has the answer to many questions and you can ask your own questions if you register.

 

There is also a lot about it here on this forum, its probably worth searching previous Pleco questions.

 

Hope this helps and you able to make use of the excellent flashcard tool Pleco has to offer.

[twinmatrix]

there is so much that it does that it too much for me to write here.

 

That is also why I did not notice I guess. xD

 

I'll look into Pleco a bit more, thanks. The UI is very simple, so it's kinda puzzling where all these features are hidden. I'll go check stuff out.  The feature that has me sold is the audio. That'll be super helpful.

 

So far I am also very very happy with Hello Chinese!

[Shelley]

I am glad you are happy with Hello Chinese and that you find out all the good things Pleco has to offer.

[twinmatrix]

Sorry, one more thing!

 

Is there a website or app or something with a large audio library for word pronunciation? One that has full word readings and doesn't slap pre-recorded syllables together.

 

e.g. "xiangjiao", I want to hear someone pronounce this. Pleco is not very good for that, because it sticks audio samples together. Of course, Google Translate is also really bad.

It would be ideal if there was an audio of someone saying the entire word, instead of just "xiang" and "jiao" and the program slaps it together. It sounds really weird when compared to the real pronunciation.

[大块头]

Pleco sells audio pronunciation add-ons with unique recordings for each word. Look for the "add-ons" menu in the app.

[twinmatrix]

Woah, nice, thanks! Affordable, too. Bought!

 

SEE!

 

Pronunciation of the 1st tone is so much different in "real speech" than syllable pronunciation.

 

e.g.

syllable pronunciation: xiiiiaaaaaaaaaaang jiaaaaaooooooo like a crazy robot

real pronunciation: xiaang jiaao, kinda like toneless speech, just slightly longer.

[JesseMcNick]

Trainchinese is also a good free option for android, it allows you to do flashcards and gives you audio playback, stroke order and gives some good examples of phrases.

[Shelley]

I used to use Train chinese and its not bad but there are better things out there now, and its not entirely free. If I remember rightly there are costs if you want to add more than 50 words a month or something along those lines.

 

Another good free dictionary is Hanping lite but it has more features if you pay for it.

 

Have a look at my blog for some more about what I use for learning chinese and how I use it. http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/blog/108-my-chinese-learning-blog/

[yifeng]

Smart Chinese Reader 2.0 has a nice full-text pronunciation feature. Based on the advanced Text-to-Speech technology, it can read aloud an entire sentence. Its pronunciation quality is fairly good with Microsoft Lili voice for Windows 7 or Microsoft Huihui voice for Windows 8 (the best), both voices are based on native speakers from Beijing and can be downloaded and installed from Microsoft for free. Samples of the sentence "第29届奥运会在北京圆满闭幕"  read by Smart Chinese Reader in Microsoft Huihui voice and Lili voice respectively are attached. For details, please visit http://www.nlptool.com/TTS.html

[twinmatrix]

Thank you.