A Short List of Resources for Studying Chinese

[imron]

6 hours ago, Kevin Li said:

I am basically just recommending products that I really believe in

 

That's all well and good, but keep in mind we ask people to disclose their connection to any product they are promoting.  Please see the our guidelines for commercial posters for more info.

 

6 hours ago, Kevin Li said:

where should I start a new topic?

 

The exact same sub-forum of this thread would probably be the best place.

[Kevin Li]

@imron Cool Thanks!

[roddy]

C'mon Kevin, if you bought something on someone's recommendation and then found out they'd neglected to mention they make money from the sale... it's tacky at best. I'm sure you're just a junior intern and not the founder or anything though. 

[Flickserve]

On 23/01/2017 at 7:41 PM, DanielG said:

 

The HSK apps offer a few lessons for free but you do not necessarily have to pay money to unlock the rest of the lessons.  The makers (hschinese) have a system of awarding you coins once a day for using any of their apps (they also have a slew of other chinese learning apps), and you can use these coins to unlock the rest of the lessons.  It took a few weeks, but in my opinion, it was worth it. 

 

Something seems to have changed. I tried the listening practice for HSK3 which I liked.

 

However there no free option to unlock further topic material. One can use the coins to get discounts.

[DanielG]

1 hour ago, Flickserve said:

 

Something seems to have changed. I tried the listening practice for HSK3 which I liked.

 

However there no free option to unlock further topic material. One can use the coins to get discounts.

Have you registered?  Once you've signed up, a popup should appear the first time you use one of the hschinese apps each day, offering you 5 "hansheng" coins.  You click on this and they are added to your account.  You can use these coins to buy their products, which can be found when you click the top right icon on the study page.  I think the full course costs 139 hansheng coins or $1.99 or a combination of coins and money.

[Flickserve]

5 hours ago, DanielG said:

think the full course costs 139 hansheng coins or $1.99

Oh, I have not yet reached 139 coins - am on 105.

 

It only offers the partial payment option so far.

[Guest]

How have I only just found this thread? This is wonderful. Thanks for making it.

[艾墨本]

On 2/1/2017 at 7:03 PM, roddy said:

Ha, it does work for Chinese sometimes) - I made that edit for you. Not sure what was happening, there's nothing showing in the error logs. If you have more problems drop me a line and let me know exactly what's happening. The editor can conflict with browser extensions and things like that. Obviously we need you to be able to edit the first post, so I'll see what I can do. 

 

 

I'll keep you posted if it continues happening. Traveling at the moment but will look into disabling browsing extensions when I have more time.

[tofulearn]

Please add Tofu Learn.

 

It would go under “Flashcards/Vocabulary” https://www.tofulearn.com/chinese
and “Online Dictionaries” https://www.tofulearn.com/dictionary/chinese/Front

 

Thanks!
 

[Luxi]

I like the TOFU Chinese flashcard system introduced in this thread. It's free, well thought and easy to use, and is free of annoying flashing animated adds and other pests.

 

[Shelley]

I also like the TOFU Learn flashcards, I like the fact there is a writing section.

Haven't used it much yet, its only been out a few days and is still in Beta but if it continues as it is, and even improves, it will be very useful.

[艾墨本]

TOFU Learn does seem quite fantastic. I haven't used Skritter, so my question to @Shelley and anyone else that can compare the two: Considering this is both free and easy to use, is there anything Skritter offers that outweighs the cost of it? If you were to recommend one or the other, which would you recommend?

 

@tofulearn, What dictionary is your dictionary based on? How are you generating the frequency numbers? Where do the example sentences come from? The example sentences all seem very simple and the several more difficult words I tried lacked examples, altogether.

[Shelley]

I think for me the biggest advantage is the fact it is free. I learn for pleasure and its like a hobby so I don't spend too much on my learning materials if I can help it. I haven't used TOFU long enough to be any kind of an expert and its still in Beta so I will save my final judgement till it is out of Beta. I like the style its nice and clean, simple to use, and so far it hasn't been buggy. I am not able to comment on the accuracy of the content competently but so far I haven't noticed any glaring mistakes.

 

I also find the fact that you pay for Skritter makes me stressed about wasting my subscription, I have some minor health problems and sometimes I am just not well enough to study so I waste my money.

 

For me its got to be worth having in my chinese learning tool box. I haven't yet found anything TOFU doesn't do that Skritter does but as I say I am still new to TOFU.

The people behind TOFU also seem very helpful, I have asked a few questions and they have responded promptly and helpfully. I have to say the Skitter team are also helpful.

 

[Shelley]

Just been and had another look at TOFU, I didn't realise that there was only the writing exercises for the HSK lists, not a problem in itself but I was confused why there were no writing exercises for the textbook NPCR. I am going to ask if this is something for the future.

 

I think it is difficult to really compare TOFU with Skriter mainly because skritter is a paid app and has been around a lot longer than TOFU. I would say that for the student on budget TOFU is very good.

 

[fabiothebest]

I haven't used Skritter for long time but I know there are many wordlists based on popular textbooks there. Anyone can create lists and also tofu learn website says users can create and share lists, though having the creator of the website creating the lists and guaranteeing their quality is a huge timesaver. Skritter also has an app and tofu learn doesn't, as far as I know. Is it currently providing a mobile version of the website for its use on the phone? Just asking and I'm not criticizing tofu learn in any way. I know it's relatively new and I hope it will develop further. Also taking a look at the competitors' work isn't a bad idea. Tofu learn is in beta and currently free. I wonder whether it will stay free forever or not. Free things are awesome, but it's right that the creators have some revenue, I just hope that if they'll charge for the use of tofu learn, the price will be low enough to be affordable for many.

[Shelley]

As far as pricing I also don't mind paying a reasonable charge, but I would prefer a one off cost, I am not keen on monthly subscriptions.

 

I have used Skritter, I started using it again but only the leftover characters that I still had to learn, once you down load the characters to learn while you have a subscription they are available for you to use without a subscriptions and you still get updates to the app. I am a Skritter beta tester and am at the moment testing the new version but all without a subscription  but no new characters to learn. I hope this is clear.

 

Nothing is going to be exactly like Skriter for obvious reasons, but a neat little web base app like TOFU is useful.

[fabiothebest]

I also prefer a one off cost.

[mlescano]

Thank you for this compilation. I'm discovering new things. 

 

I vote for including Heisig in the "Hanzi" section. I actually tweaked the method a bit and reused the books for learning to read after learning to write. You can read a short version of what I did in my Amazon review. (not a paid endorsement!)

 

Heisig seems to work only for nerds, however. I was able to finish it in half a year and in the meanwhile became an annoying evangelist for it among my friends. I tried to convince my friends to study this way, but not one has followed my steps yet. Then again, they don't really study... =P

 

Only one of my friends is actually able to read and write pretty much anything in Chinese. He used a different method, but never really explained it to me. All I remember is that he said he read a LOT.

[Mati1]

7 hours ago, mlescano said:

Heisig seems to work only for nerds, however. I was able to finish it in half a year ...

Nerd detected ...

[Shelley]

I am in the not nerd camp, I really don't like the way Heisig makes up stories as aid memoir that have little or no connection to the original etymology of the character and for me the inclusion of some religious related material just rubs me up the wrong way, also when some of the characters were first being used God/Jesus wasn't even around, so it bugs me.

I would rather learn the etymology, radicals and practice writing lots to memorise characters.

 

I definitely think there is a very strongly divided opinion about it - ie: either you love it or you hate it.