Best of Chinese Study Tools, Studying Chinese Online and Off

[CleverClogs]

Joseph, who's the vendor of the Learn Chinese app? I see quite a few listed that have a similar name.

If you are considering using a flashcards app, I can highly recommend Flashcards Deluxe. It's available both on iOS and on Android. It lets you study up to five sides on one single card and has numerous features that make studying Chinese extremely convenient.

[Shelley]

The Learn Chinese is made by AppVerk Ltd.

[Shelley]

More info on the other apps I mentioned earlier,

Spoken Chinese v0.6.5 by Stephen chin

Hanzi flashcards by Fernado Gil , GPL V3 Licence

Hope this helps

if anyone knows of handwriting practice app available off market I would really like to use it on my tablet.

[Joseph Kimbrell]

I got another app called Skritter. It was a bit confusing at first, but it seems like it will be good. I'm having a bit of a difficult time remembering characters (I remember the pronunciation/pinyin much more easily)

It will come! Just gotta keep at it, right?

[Joseph Kimbrell]

I like the One A Day link someone posted earlier! http://www.oneaday.org/index.html

[c_redman]

I like the One A Day link someone posted earlier! http://www.oneaday.org/index.html

Is "Monday, 15.06.09" their last update?

[CptGuapo]

That's a great list of resources! But some of the links are offline or need to update the URLs. So far (I'm in a hurry), the ones need a rechecking are:

- "Adsotrans" and "New, Improved and Awesome Adsotrans" are the same.

- "ChinesePod Dictionary (sentences w/ recordings)" and "Classical Chinese Dictionary" are offline;

- "Xiaoma Cidian" and "Guoyu Dictionary" need updating the URLs;

I'm missing other forums/portal like this in the list, since, in fact, this is the first one of such category I ever found. Great place.

[Madelynne]

Is there a good online learning site to learn speaking and characters? Free is nice but I'll pay for a recommended place to learn.

Thank you!

[Ruben von Zwack]

Madelynne, for a really really quick start, and if you don't mind watching a programme that is aimed at teenagers, you might check "Growing up with Chinese". It's a Chinese TV series they made, I believe, around the Olympics. I found it really useful.

You probably won't be able to understand one word that the actors say - at least I don't, or just with tremendous effort, lol! - but the presenter speaks very clearly.

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/36817-growing-up-with-chinese-the-series/

In post 20 and 21 of that topic, a friendly user provides download links.

I haven't found out how to download one episode in one piece. So I just downloaded no. 1 and 2 of each link - 3 is just the cast and credits - and put it into a playlist in my video player.

[Madelynne]

Madelynne, for a really really quick start, and if you don't mind watching a programme that is aimed at teenagers, you might check "Growing up with Chinese". It's a Chinese TV series they made, I believe, around the Olympics. I found it really useful.

You probably won't be able to understand one word that the actors say - at least I don't, or just with tremendous effort, lol! - but the presenter speaks very clearly.

http://www.chinese-f...ese-the-series/

In post 20 and 21 of that topic, a friendly user provides download links.

I haven't found out how to download one episode in one piece. So I just downloaded no. 1 and 2 of each link - 3 is just the cast and credits - and put it into a playlist in my video player.

Thanks Reuben I posted in the series' thread

[Ruben von Zwack]

Glad you like it

You mentioned the transcripts. If you want to dive in writing and reading, too, this online dictionary, nciku, might come helpful. It's a good one, I think a lot of us here use it. It comes with pronunciation audio, and a stroke-order animation, important for writing correctly:

http://www.nciku.com...etail/谢/1316875

A propos writing - it's good to know that Chinese characters consist of small components, and those components each have an individual meaning.

Being familiar with those makes the writing and the memorising of the larger character easier.

You can find a list of the 100 most common components called radicals (don't worry about the names now - it will eventually make sense) and their meaning online, at the blog "hackingchinese" http://www.hackingchinese.com/?p=2839 by a Swedish guy living in Taiwan.

I won't recommend you read the rest of hackingchinese for now, cause I think it's too overwhelming for a beginner.

But his list is brilliant for a beginner. I converted it from a txt format into a handsome Word document, and will attach the word document here. You can print it out and have it at hand when you study writing and reading!

List_The 100 most common radicals_Hackingchinese.docx

[Preet]

Hello everyone thanks for all the info. I just recently moved to China to study Zhineng Qigong and Taiji - originally lived in Wudangshan at foothills of Wudang mountains but recently relocated to Guilin of Guangxi province - but since our course is taught entirely in English my Mandarin has not improved and it's already been three months! As a complete beginner to Mandarin it's a little overwhelming to know where to start... I feel it would be helpful if the list in the first post was sectioned into what is recommended for the beginner through to the intermediate and more advanced levels. Thanks again.

[bluetortilla]

I just went through a very instructive tour of West Yunnan recently and headed to the Guilin area as a final diversion before heading back to Guangzhou (yes, got the famous back of the 20 RMB snapshot to show friends- only 5 more bills to go). I found the Guilin/Yangshou area to be 'extreme' tourism and would imagine that you would have a very difficult time learning putonghua there, especially if you're not enrolled in a course (great place to learn English though if you're Chinese ). Other members may not agree with me, but it's awfully hard to remember phrases when half the time people answer you in English, and when people get impatient trying to understand your poor tones and pronunciation and either ignore you or bust out their best try at English. In Western Yunnan (Tengchong for example) I heard nor spoke ANY (well, maybe a line or two) of English for nearly three weeks. People were also far more patient listeners than they are in big cities or places where there are lots of tourists. My Chinese, both in fluency and in confidence grew more in those three weeks than it did in the last three months. if you can get off the beaten path (have a Chinese friend help you) for the remainder of your stay, and get a teacher that doesn't speak English, you'll be speaking basic Mandarin in no time. Good luck.

[Preet]

Hey bluetortilla thanks for your perspective. Out of interest when you where in Guilin did you meet or see any Westerners? How many days did you spend here? SInce being here over a month I only came across one married couple from Germany... personally I haven't encountered many tourists at all - but I don't often venture into the city centre - there where many more Westerners in Wudangshan compared to here. It depends on which part of the city you're located in I've found. As I understand putonghua is spoken by most in Guilin but people mainly use a local dialect called 'Guilin Hwa' that is difficult to discern.

The tourists that I did notice appeared to be from different parts of China or Asia but nowhere near some of the other places I've heard about for instance Yanshuo (some people confuse Yanshuo and Guilin as one place but they're two neighbouring places with different identities) although to be fair I have not yet had a chance to visit many places in Guilin - mainly due to our intensive Qigong/Taiji training/schedule - the only day we have off is Monday, by that time most people are exhausted and don't venture too far away from the center which is located within the suburbs of Guilin city along the Li River - there are no tourists where we're situated besides ourselves, a group of about 21 from all over the world, mainly europe -

Generally speaking my first impression of Guilin is that it's a really beautiful city... there's a good mixture of nature and urban, the air is clean and the sky is always blue. People are very welcoming and friendly - I tend not to get ripped off here compared with my experience in Wudangshan where they always had set prices for foreigners - in terms of speaking English I found the opposite, most people here speak very limited English and welcome foreigners to speak in Mandarin or the local dialect that even our native speaking teachers struggle with understanding.

My origin is Indian but I grew up in UK and hold a British passport, as a result of my appearance many people tend to assume I'm Indonesian or of mixed nationality but and treat me very well. Due to my asian background (I lived in India as a yound child) I have not had many problems adjusting to life in China where I can see many similarities with Indian tradition. I had heard from people that the Chinese could be rude to Indians but I have not encountered that here. Infact I've had the opposite with many Chinese men saying hello, asking where I'm from and how old I am, I think they where trying to flirt! In any case when my course finishes in October I will try to enrol in one of the Universities nearby to study Mandarin and also will have lessons from my teachers.

[bluetortilla]

Well, that is another interesting perspective. Actually I was in Yangshou for a night and two days, saw lots of young Western tourists, and the place was elbow to elbow with Chinese tourists. It was as they say a total madhouse. But I'm happy to hear you're in quieter environs.

In my experience in China, wherever the tourist industry is, be that Chinese tourists, package tour Westerners, or backpackers, the costs go up, and the authenticity and friendliness go down. From the experience you're having though, I don't understand why you would be having any trouble with learning Mandarin. I have found that as long as I'm in a situation where Mandarin is the only choice, or where someone is curious about me but cannot speak English, my Mandarin gets better. Of course as an English teacher I almost never use Mandarin at work, and find my students too strict on my tones to be really helpful anyway (they act like parents!). So I have to look for situations in which I'm required to speak Chinese, for better or worse.

I don't know about the 'remoteness' factor. In Guizhou and Western Yunnan I felt like I was the only foreigner in the whole province. In Tengchong, Yunnan, there are some hot springs and volcanoes where you'll mingle with busloads of Chinese tourists of the worst sort but I didn't notice any at all in Tengchong proper, so they must be staying in some resort. In Guiyang I noticed quite a few tourists but they seemed 'local' if you know what I mean. Off the beaten trail amongst the Karst wonders along the Li River, I still got the heavy tourist come on from local vendors and proprietors, but things were much more laid back and friendlier than Yangshou; hardly any English spoken either. We did get stopped by the river police for 'crossing the river without a ticket' but that's another matter.

At the risk of rubbing anyone the wrong way, I don't like touristy places (though I did go to Yangshou voluntarily), I don't like touristy crowds, and I don't think you can really learn about local culture and language in a place that tourism has a grip on. That doesn't go for expats mind you, of which I'm one, just tourism- especially tourism China style. I've been to Yunnan twice for a month each trip, but still haven't made it to either Dali or Lijiang out of fear. But maybe I'm wrong, maybe you just need to live at the edge of town.

By the way if I'm not mistaken the Zhuang language is spoken in Guangxi, including Guilin, and is a form of Northern Tai. The Zhuang people of Guangxi are considered an ethnic group, not a linguistic group. I got that off of Wikipedia fyi. Good luck with your 普通话!

[Preet]

Hi bluetortilla thanks for your response. So to clarify as I understand you visited and stayed in Yanshuo not Guilin city? Downtown Guilin has some tourist hotspots apparently although where I've been has not been that busy tourist wise all things considered. I'd recommend a trip to Guilin if you haven't visited yet, it's one of Chinas most scenic cities. Certainly a perfect blend of cityscape and nature. If you're thinking of a visit I would be happy to show you around after my course finishes in October.

Actually I don't mind a little bit of tourism, it's especially nice to meet people from different parts of the world. I've heard Yanshuo is very tourist led with many foreigners living there, I'm quite interested to experience it.

The reason why my Mandarin hasn't really progressed is because our course is taught entirely in English. Our enthusiastic teachers are keen to improve their English too so they normally speak to us in English outside of classes. Since the course is quite immersive (we practice 4 x a day) with only one day off in the week it leaves little time to practice Mandarin which is why when the course finishes in October I'll probably have a better chance to grasp the language. Although I will make a commitment to put a little time aside for it and start improving now!

I find it amusing that your students are so strict on your tones. There is a guy in my class who can string a good few Mandarin sentences together but speaks with a French accent and the locals appear to understand him! It's quite miraculous and entertaining to witness.

Yes there are a few ethnic minorities in Guilin, around 12 officially with Zhuang being one of the more popular ones. I also read online that Guilin Hwa is a dialect spoken here, but I suppose I will have to ask one of the locals for a clearer understanding regarding the local dialects. In any case thanks for sharing your experience and the good wishes. Warm regards from Guilin :-)

[bluetortilla]

I don't see what's so great about Popup Chinese. If you have a free account everything linked as 'Download' sends you to the subscription page. Maybe there is a lot of free material here, but it's like looking for needle(s) in haystack(s).

$100 USD isn't bad for a year's subscription, but I think CSL Pod has a better strategy. You know what you're getting before you pay for it.

Finally, why in the world would I pay for Skype lessons when I live in China? Besides, I already set up my own Skype account and actually do free exchange lessons on that sometimes.

[flowertea]

Hello, eveyone, I am a Chinese teacher. Some students asked me for good websites to learn Chinese, especially after they finish courses and don’t have fixed time to continue with a teacher or a school. I also want to tell all foreign friends and share with you the followings. You can make good use of the resources.

http://learning.chinese.cn/en/

 (Different levels with clear types and interesting forms)

 

http://adult.chinese.cn/node_677.htm

(You can hear a short explanation of modern words and some topics from a speaker)

 

http://english.cntv.cn/learnchinese/

(This is the home page)

http://cctv.cntv.cn/lm/learningchinese/01/index.shtml

(100 lesson videos; pay attention to the different series below, you will see more.)

 

http://www.china.org.cn/learning_chinese/index.htm

http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/Lesson/151243.htm

 (Dialogues, new words, videos, allegories, ancient poems, idioms etc.)

 

http://english.cri.cn/08chinese/

(Everyday Chinese, Chinese Songs, "In" Chinese, Bilingual News, and Chinese Studio, latest updates, etc.)

 

http://www.learnchinese.cn/default.aspx

(Very simple except the stories and news)

 

 

[miaomiao]

I browsed through this whole sticky and couldn't find any resources for pre K kids who already speak Chinese (ABC kids).

 

Any ideas?

[Tommie C.]

I think it would be great if some answers could be converted to wiki style (allowing community edits). That way we wouldn't have to search every post for a specific resource. In addition to the resources on my profile I am adding the following:

 

Language Partners: http://www.italki.com

Wise Talk: Free iPhone app allows users to hear, read, and lookup definitions for Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese) and English. The app teaches using Chinese idioms (see video demo)

NiHao!: Commercial iPad app allows users to solve Chinese language grammar puzzles (app speaks Mandarin and English). The app is essentially a Chinese grammar book and a puzzle game in one (see video demo)