Day: April 24, 2022

Which mobile app do Chinese learners find to be the most helpful? There are a ton of amazing Chinese learning Android and iOS apps out there. However, their usefulness is usually limited to the goals and habits of those who are using them. The key to learning with these apps is to find what works for you, and what doesn’t. Accordingly, you can then separate these apps by their strengths and weaknesses, their purposes and their main training targets, which will save you time and energy that you can then give to proper learning.

So here it is, my dear readers, my recommendations of the best Chinese language learning apps that are available right now. Some of these apps may be a surprise, while some are quite popular. Make sure to return to this article from time to time as we will be constantly updating it with the latest apps we will test.

The Best Apps to Learn Chinese ( by function)

1. Chinese Reading Apps
2. Chinese Characters Apps
3. Chinese Dictionary Apps
4. Chinese Listening Apps
5. Gamification Apps
6. Chinese Speaking Apps

Chinese Reading Apps

Du Chinese

Du Chinese is a revolutionary app will help you to improve your Chinese reading skills.

I am impressed by the clean design and user interface. It is easy to use and loading material takes only seconds. You can read by yourself or listen to an audio recording and read along. The characters and pinyin layout look very comfortable. You can easily turn the pinyin on and off and switch Chinese characters between Simplified and Traditional. It supports English translations for single words and sentences. All sentences have been carefully translated and they stay as true as possible to the original Mandarin.

The reading material topics are quite interesting, covering daily conversations, Chinese culture, current events，the latest trends, funny stories, and regular life in China. They are marked by difficulty, ranging from newbie to master. Each session is also labelled from HSK level 1 ~ 6+. It is easy to find material for your level.

Save 10% on your subscriptions to Du Chinese with the promo code “DIG10”.

Chinese Characters Apps

Skritter

Skritter does really well with teaching correct stroke order and focusing on the muscle memory that should be formed when learning new characters. The lists of vocabulary are expansive, and I can really appreciate that the vocabulary are taken straight from textbooks. This would be a useful resource for language learners who are using a particular textbook in their classes. They could look up if their textbook is in the database, and draw vocabulary right from there. It offers lists from 393 different books. The lists are organized by popularity, learner level, and alphabetically. You simply chose a list and start learning.

Another great feature Skritter offers is the ability to track your progress. They keep track of how many characters are introduced, how many are practiced, and how many are memorized. You can also study the words offline, and the progress will be synced when connected again. You can look up your progress by the day, week, month, and year.

Zizzle

If you have trouble memorizing Chinese characters, then Zizzle will definitely help you.

This app breaks down characters into their component parts. Then, they use images and a short story to help you remember these components. Most of the stories are ridiculous or funny enough to be memorable. Each tone is represented by a certain animal which helps you remember the character. It also teaches characters that build up from smaller to more complex characters in a logical way.

I am in love with this app, and its method taught me characters that I have tried and failed to learn in the classroom. It presents an effective, novel, and fun way to learn and memorize Chinese characters. If you are total beginner, I can safely say you will know hundreds of characters in few days and be able to read them confidently.

Use the promo code “DIGMANDARIN10” to save 10% on all three-month and annual subscriptions, as well as packs.

Chinese Dictionary Apps

Pleco

The dictionary app will probably be one of the most useful and frequently used ones for people learning Mandarin; Pleco may be the app most frequently recommended for this function. It allows you to quickly look up a Chinese word or character wherever you are.

Key features:

1. Chinese handwriting recognition: the option to hand write instead of typing in pinyin is very useful when searching for characters you don’t know.
2. OCR: it allows you to look up unknown Chinese words ‘live’ using your device’s camera, or tap-lookup words in a still image.
3. Stroke order guides: to help you find out how to write the Chinese characters in the proper order.
4. Flashcard system: insanely powerful / customizable system, making it extremely easy to add new flashcards from dictionary entries or to import pre-made vocabulary lists.

More translator apps review: the good, the bad, and the absolutely useless

Chinese Listening Apps

Chineseclass101

No doubt that Chineseclass101 is one of the most well-structured podcast Mandarin courses available today. With language instruction podcasts, you can improve your pronunciation and boost your listening comprehension skills.

ChineseClass101 has an extensive collection of audio materials covering all levels. By having access to different levels, you can choose the best one for you. Each lesson has notes that include the key grammar point broken down clearly along with Chinese cultural insights. The lesson dialogue will help you understand real life conversations in China and will definitely help you improve your listening skills. It also offers an interactive voice recorder tool, which lets you record your pronunciation and compare it to that of a native speaker.

Chinesepod

Chinesepod is another example of podcast Mandarin app. The quantity of lessons is pretty big. It even has more interactive exercises for learning new words and phrases. In ChinesePod, the amount of Mandarin speech in each lesson is increased step-by-step. Even lessons for Upper-Intermediate students have  English explanations which are quite helpful! Advanced students may enjoy the Mandarin-only podcast lessons.

Gamification Apps

Hello Chinese

Hello Chinese is a powerful learning tool that can help you overcome the fear of learning Chinese. This app focuses on daily life topics. It starts from basic pinyin, so that even if you are a total beginner or have absolutely no background in Chinese, you can still learn with it. What is special is that this app allows you to listen and record your own voice, and to help you check automatically if your pronunciation is correct. It`s a comparatively easy way to measure your pronunciation. The studying process is not boring. Learners are not overwhelmed with information. Lessons are taught in a very precise and careful manner. What`s more, there are many exercises and quizzes to help you consolidate all that you have learned.

Chinese Speaking Apps

Hello Talk

Have you been learning a new language for a while, and feel like it’s time to start practicing and using it? That’s where Hello Talk can help. It is a language exchange app that has over one million users. It’s easy to find natives from China willing to help you practice Chinese.

Key features:

• Voice and Text chat
• Moments, like the group chatroom
• Translation and Transliteration: Translation allows you to read in English what someone typed in Chinese in case you didn’t understand it. You can use the transliteration option when a native speaker writes Chinese to you, to instantly see the pinyin.
• Voice recognition system: You can simply speak and the system will attempt to convert that to text to send to your language partner.

These are my top Chinese language learning apps. I bet you also have your own picks. What would you recommend to fellow Chinese learners? What apps do you think are worth the time and the money? Just comment below and let us know your favorites. Maybe your picks will make this list one day!

The post The Best Chinese Language Learning Apps (2022) appeared first on .

There are some important differences between English and Chinese. It is important to be aware of these major differences between the two languages in order to reduce the number of mistakes you make in Chinese and to also make your Chinese better and more fluent. This article discusses 7 of the major differences between English and Chinese.

1. The Appearance – Written Words

The most apparent difference is, no surprise, the written appearance of the language. → Chinese uses characters, which cannot be sounded out, while English words use the alphabet, which allows the speaker to sound out the word because it is a phonetic language. Luckily, for language learners, Pinyin helps by providing a phonetic representation of Chinese characters. Pinyin uses romanized letters, but the sound associated with each is unique to Pinyin. While that may seem like a huge disadvantage, there is another aspect that must be considered. Chinese characters are, in some ways, like a picture. There are elements, called radicals, that hold meaning. So while you can’t sound the character out, you can pull meaning from the character.

If you know that 目(mù) means eye， 水(shuǐ) means water and that 氵is another form of 水 (shuǐ), then it’s easy to figure out that 泪(lèi) indicates the water of the eyes or tears.

Please note that some character components do have sound attached to them. After getting really comfortable with Chinese, you may be able to guess the sound of a character based on the components – but this isn’t a fool-proof way of reading Chinese.

2. Tones

You have probably seen Pinyin before and noticed some lines above a few of the letters. Those are the tones. There are 4 basic tones in Chinese.

Tones are a very unique concept for most of the English speakers. We need to pay attention to them when both listening and speaking!

If you pronounce the same syllable in different tones, the corresponding meanings vary vastly. In English, the intonation indicates emotion, but in Chinese, intonation indicates meaning. Here are some examples of tones and definitions.

/shui jiao/
睡觉 / shuì jiào/ sleep
水饺 / shuǐjiǎo/ dumplings

我可以问(wèn)你吗？vs 我可以吻(wěn)你吗？
May I ask you? vs May I kiss you?

3. Sentence Length

English emphasizes the structure of sentences, while Chinese focuses on the meaning.

In English, it is very common to see one long sentence with long modifiers including pronouns like “we”, “she”, “they” in addition to “that” and “which”, to avoid recurrences. The sentence may be long and complicated, but it is still clear enough to understand. In Chinese, the situation is very different, where a long sentence in Chinese would be very complicated and extremely difficult to understand. Therefore, in Chinese, we can only find short sentences or long sentences divided into short phrases separated by commas.

To conclude, we can say: English sentences are usually long, and Chinese sentences are usually short. When learning Chinese, you should “Get the meaning, forget the words”. Let’s look at some examples here:

The sights of Beijing are so numerous that you can spend several weeks here and leave without having seen all of the important ones.

1. 北京的名胜很多，一个人就是在这儿呆上几个星期，离开时也没能把主要的景点看完。
   (Běi jīng de míng shèng hěn duō ，yī gè rén jiù shì zài zhè ér dāi shàng jǐ gè xīng qī ，lí kāi shí yě méi néng bǎ zhǔ yào de jǐng diǎn kàn wán.)
2. The Great Wall traverses plains and mountains, being 1,300 meters above sea level at some points. The wall averages 7.8 meters in height and 5.8 meters in width at the top.
   长城跨越平原高山，在某些地方海拔1,300米，平均高7.8米，顶宽5.8米。
   (Cháng chéng kuà yuè píng yuán gāo shān，zài mǒu xiē dì fāng hǎi bá 1,300mǐ，píng jūn gāo 7.8mǐ，dǐng kuān 5.8mǐ.)
3. The computer program is completely in computing mode and will only do computing tasks.
   现在，程序的显示区完全处于这种工具的模态中。
   (xiàn zài，chéng xù de xiǎn shì qū wán quán chù yú zhè zhǒng gōng jù de mó tài zhōng.)

4. Passive & Active Voice

In English, the passive voice is very commonly used. Unlike English, Chinese usually uses the active voice.

There are ways to show the passive tense in Chinese, and there are more specific words you would use to show that. So let’s take a look at some examples of the active voice in Chinese that translates to the English passive voice:

1. Tea is drunk widely all over the world.
   世界各地人们都喝茶。
   (Shì jiè gè dì rén men dōu hē chá.)
2. But sometimes the tables were laid outside in the gardens of stately homes.
   但有时也把餐桌摆到豪门大宅的花园里。
   (Dàn yǒu shí yě bǎ cān zhuō bǎi dào háo mén dà zhái de huā yuán lǐ.)
3. Parties are held when the weather is nice.
   天公作美时可以看到寻常百姓家的野餐。
   (Tiān gōng zuó měi shí kě yǐ kàn dào xún cháng bǎi xìng jiā de yě cān.)
4. Bananas are widely believed to grow on trees.
   普遍认为香蕉是结在树上的果实。
   (Pǔ biàn rèn wéi xiāng jiāo shì jié zài shù shàng de guǒ shí.)
   • It must be pointed out that… 必须指出……（bì xū zhǐ chū）
   • It must be admitted that… 必须承认……（bì xū chéng rèn）
   • It is imagined that… 人们认为……（rén men rèn wéi）
   • It can not be denied that… 不可否认……（bú kě fǒu rèn）

5. The use of Idioms

In Chinese, idioms and short four-character expressions are very widely used to make the language more vivid, live and concise.

English is not so rich in this kind of short idioms and expressions. In English, idioms are used scarcely because it tends to be more specific and direct. Here are some to read and compare:

1. Sincere Buddhists take vows of celibacy and abstinence from meat and wine, wearing no fur or woollen garments and shave their heads.
   虔诚的僧人立誓禁欲，不沾酒肉，不着皮毛，削发修行。
   (Qián chéng de sēng rén lì shì jìn yù，bú zhān jiǔ ròu，bú zhuó pí máo，xuē fà xiū xíng.)
2. China is a vast country.
   中国地域辽阔。
   (Zhōng guó dì yù liáo kuò.)
3. He always looks very funny.
   他的样子总是滑稽可笑。
   (Tā de yàng zi zǒng shì huá jī kě xiào.)
4. In retrospect, the past 100 years of human existence have been extremely fantastic, and extremely frightening as well.
   回首过去一百年,人类世界可说精彩绝伦,但也惊心动魄。
   (huí shǒu guò qù yī bǎi nián ,rén lèi shì jiè kě shuō jīng cǎi jué lún ,dàn yě jīng xīn dòng pò.)

6. Abstract vs Concrete

English widely uses abstract nouns while Chinese usually uses concrete nouns.

This comes from the Chinese philosophy which interprets the human being and his life as a microcosm within the natural macrocosm. Therefore, many abstract terms are expressed in Chinese with concrete objects from the natural world. Here are numerous examples of how this looks and what the Chinese literally means in English:

• Disintegration 土崩瓦解 （tǔ bēng wǎ jiě）
Lit. Landslides and tiles disintegrate
• Total exhaustion 筋疲力尽 （jīn pí lì jìn）
Lit. The muscles are weary and the strength has been used up
• Careful consideration 深思熟虑（shēn sī shú lǜ）
Lit. Deep thinking and careful thought
• Perfect harmony 水乳交融（shuǐ rǔ jiāo róng）
Lit. Mix well like milk and water
• Feed on fancies 画饼充饥（huà bǐng chōng jī）
Lit. To allay one’s hunger using a picture of a cake
• With great eagerness 如饥似渴（rú jī sì kě）
Lit. Like hunger as thirst
• Lack of perseverance 三天打鱼，两天晒网（sān tiān dǎ yú ，liǎng tiān shài wǎng）
Lit. Spent three days fishing and two days drying nets
• Make a little contribution 添砖加瓦（tiān zhuān jiā wǎ）
Lit. Contribute bricks and tiles for a building
• On the verge of destruction 危在旦夕（wēi zài dàn xī）
Lit. The crisis is in the coming daybreak or in the coming dusk.

7. Emphasis

English puts more emphasis on the first part of the sentence while Chinese put the emphasis on the last part of the sentence.

This characteristic is especially apparent in sentences which include logic with drawing conclusions or expression of results. In English, the conclusion is described first, and the facts are described at the end of the sentence. In Chinese, it is the opposite. First, the facts will be described and then the results, conclusions, etc. For example:

1. I was most delighted when it proved possible to reinstate the visit so quickly as a result of the initiative of your Government.
   由于贵国政府的提议，才得以这样快地重新实现访问。这使我感到特别高兴。
   (Yóu yú guì guó zhèng fǔ de tí yì ，cái dé yǐ zhè yàng kuài de chóng xīn shí xiàn fǎng wèn. zhè shǐ wǒ gǎn dào tè bié gāo xìng.)
2. His assertion that “it was difficult, if not impossible, for a people to enjoy its basic rights unless it was able to determine freely its political status and to ensure freely its economic, social and cultural development” was now scarcely contested.
   如果一个民族不能自由地决定其政治地位，不能自由地保证其经济、社会和文化的发展，要享受其基本权利，即使不是不可能，也是不容易的。这一论断几乎是无可置辩的了。
   (Rú guǒ yī gè mín zú bù néng zì yóu de jué dìng qí zhèng zhì dì wèi ，bù néng zì yóu de bǎo zhèng qí jīng jì 、shè huì hé wén huà de fā zhǎn ，yào xiǎng shòu qí jī běn quán lì ，jí shǐ bú shì bù kě néng ，yě shì bù róng yì de. zhè yī lùn duàn jī hū shì wú kě zhì biàn de le.)

Conclusion

From the above points, we can clearly see an interesting point that Chinese emphasizes short and clear expressions so that the listener (or reader) will easily get the accurate meaning of the idea expressed. For this aim, Chinese “gives up” long and complicated sentences which are based on grammar and prefer to use simple and short sentences. English sentences tend to be longer because they need to be specific. In addition, Chinese also doesn’t omit repeated words in order to make sure that the listener or reader will not misunderstand the meaning of the sentence.

In my eyes, this is an example of how culture and philosophy may influence a language since the Chinese philosophy and thinking is very pragmatic. English, on the other hand, has a variety of cultures and philosophies where it becomes necessary to elongate the way things are expressed. The other method the Chinese language uses to make expressions the most accurate is using idioms. Idioms are an integral part of Chinese culture and wisdom since almost each of them is a conclusion of a traditional Chinese legend and expresses a sort of insight. I hope you learned a lot about the differences between the two languages and understand how to start comprehending the Chinese language.

The post 7 Major Differences between English and Chinese appeared first on .

‘好(hǎo)’ in its original definition means ‘good’, and when it’s used as a response or reply, it automatically transforms to mean ‘fine’, ‘sure’ or ‘ok’. Yet, with various words and interjections following ‘好hǎo’, it changes to show different emotions or tones. In this article, let’s have a closer look at the use of ‘好的(hǎo de)’, ‘好啊(hǎo a)’, ‘好吧(hǎo ba)’, ‘好嘛(hǎo ma)’, ‘好啦(hǎo la)’.

好的(hǎo de)

• ‘的(de)’, when placed at the end of sentences, it suggests a confirming sound, therefore ‘好的’ equals to ‘sure’ or ‘ok’, with a sense of confirmation.
• ‘好的’ is often used when you agree to a request or suggestion without hesitation, while showing your understanding of it at the same time.

Example

经理：你明天9点前到公司吧！(Jīnglǐ: nǐ míngtiān 9 diǎn qián dào gōngsī ba!)
Manager: Arrive at the company at 9 tomorrow.

小刚：好的。(Xiǎogāng: hǎo de.)
Xiaogang: Sure.

妈妈：你能帮我买点儿鸡蛋吗？(Māma: nǐ néng bāng wǒ mǎi diǎnr jīdàn ma?)
Mum: Can you help me buy some eggs?

儿子：好的，没问题。(érzi: hǎo de, méi wèntí.)
Son: Sure, no problem.

好啊 (hǎo a)

• ‘啊a’, when placed at the end of sentences, it shows exclamation and enthusiasm, therefore ‘好啊’ means ‘sure’ or ‘ok’ in a keen expression.

Example

A：你想去那家饭馆吗？ (Nǐ xiǎng qù nà jiā fànguǎn ma?)
Do you want to go to that restaurant?

B：好啊！(Hǎo a!) 
Sure!

 A：我们一起踢足球，怎么样？(Wǒmen yìqǐ tī zúqiú, zěnmeyàng?)
Let’s play football together, how about it?

B：当然 ， 好啊！(Dāngrán， hǎo a!)
Of course， great!

好吧 (hǎo ba)

• ‘好吧’ often used when you agree to a request or suggestion, yet with an indifferent or relatively less passionate tone.
• It’s similar to the way English uses ‘ok…’, ‘fine’, and ‘all right then.’

Example

妈妈：你先把作业写好才可以出去玩。(Mama: nǐ xiān bǎ zuòyè xiě hǎo cái kěyǐ chūqù wán.
Mum: You can then go out to play only after you finish your homework first.

儿子：好吧！(ér zǐ: hǎo ba!)
Son: Ok, fine.

老师：下个星期我们有考试，大家请记得。(Lǎoshī : xià ge xīngqī wǒmen yǒu kǎoshì, dàjiā qǐng jìdé.)
Teacher: There’s an exam next week, everyone please remember it.

学生：好吧！(Xuéshēng: hǎo ba!)
Students: Fine.

好嘛 (hǎo ma)

• One function of ‘嘛ma’ is to make the tone sound more ‘cute’ when specifying your expectation, therefore ‘好嘛’ is often used when you’re seeking help from others, and hope they would say ‘yes’, ‘sure’, or ’ok’.
• It’s similar to the meaning ‘please’, or ‘say yes, please’

Example

儿子：我真的很喜欢这个电脑游戏，你买给我吧！(érzi: wǒ zhēnde hěn xǐhuān zhè ge diànnǎo yóuxì, nǐ mǎi gěi wǒ ba!)
Son: I really like this computer game, buy it for me!

妈妈：走吧，别看了。(Māma: zǒu ba, bié kàn le.)
Mum: Let’s go, stop looking.

儿子：妈，好嘛！就买给我嘛！(érzi: mā, hǎo ma! jiù mǎi gěi wǒ ma!)
Son: Mum, yes please! Just buy me for me.

妈妈：不行。(Māma: bù xíng.)
Mum: No.

同学：小丽，借我看一下你的作业，行吗？(Tóng xué: Xiǎolì, jiè wǒ kàn yíxià nǐ de zuòyè, xíng ma?)
Classmate: Xiaoli, lend me your homework for a look, is it ok?

小丽：这个啊，让我想想。(Xiǎolì: zhè ge a, ràng wǒ xiǎng xiǎng.)
Xiaoli: For this …let me think.

同学：好嘛！(Tóngxué: hǎo ma!)
Classmate: Yes, please!

小丽：那好吧！看完了马上还我。(Xiǎolì: nà hǎo ba! kàn wán le mǎshang huán wǒ.)
Xiaoli: Fine, then! Return it to me once you’ve finished looking.

好啦 (hǎo la)

• ‘好啦’ is often used when you agree to a request, yet with a relatively less passionate tone, showing unwillingness.
• It’s similar to the way English uses ‘fine’, ‘ok…’and ‘alright then’, but with greater unwillingness.
• The application is similar to ‘好吧’, but the ‘reluctant’ emotion is often perceived to be stronger.

Example

朋友：好啦，别哭了，我们出去散散步吧！(Péngyǒu: hǎo la, bié kū le, wǒmen chūqù sàn sàn bù ba!)
Friend: Fine, don’t cry anymore, let’s go out for a walk!

小红：好吧！(Xiǎohóng: hǎo ba!)
Xiaohong: Ok.

女儿：爸，可以带我去逛商场吗？(Nǚér: bà, kěyǐ dài wǒ qù guàng shāngchǎng ma?)
Daughter: Dad, can you bring me to the mall to go shopping?

爸爸：好啦，好啦！(Bàba: hǎo la, hǎo la!)
Dad: Ok, fine, fine!

As you can see, the word ‘好(hǎo)’, when combined with another character after it, can then alter the meaning of “OK”, “Fine,” or “All right” in different ways. If you can master these different words, you will be able to not only express yourself more clearly when you say “OK” in Chinese, you will also be able to tell what native Chinese speakers really mean whenever they say “OK” to you. Learning this can definitely make you a better speaker and listener of Chinese.

The post Responding with ‘好的’(hǎo de), ‘好啊’(hǎo a), ‘好吧’(hǎo ba), ‘好嘛’(hǎo ma), ‘好啦’(hǎo la) appeared first on .