Learn chinese software reviews

In the beginning phases of learning Mandarin the grammar is surprisingly similar to English. Basic Chinese phrases will share the same subect-verb-object SVO word order that is found in English. A closer look at some of the intricacies of Chinese grammar. However once you're past the basics, Chinese word start to look a lot different than English, making it difficult for native English speakers.

Chinese Mandarin also features some other foreign aspects of grammar like resultative verb compounds and polysemy , but we won't get into those here. The important thing to remember that a good Chinese course will make an effort to explain and breakdown the more difficult parts of grammar. Mandarin is a tonal language.

This means the same sound spoken in a different tone think voice inflection or pitch will completely change the meaning of a word. Thus tones are extremely important when learning Chinese. Some language courses overlook this and fail to break down the tonal system, and don't help learners learn correct Chinese pronunciation.

A good learning program will give adequate attention to this highly important topic. The Chinese writing system doesn't use an alphabet. Instead Chinese characters are logographic , meaning that they represent words or phrases and not sounds as in the English alphabet. This means that to read Chinese you have to memorize a large number of characters think 2,, just to read a newspaper. An excellent explanation of Chinese characters. Theoretically you don't need to know Chinese characters to speak the language, but if you're serious about being fluent you won't be able to avoid them forever.

When you're learning Mandarin it's best to start learning characters early on, so that you give yourself a solid foundation from the get go. Rocket Chinese is built around recorded audio in the form of dialogues. The dialogues have English explanations and usually teach the language in "chunks" or phrases versus individual words this is great for conversational Mandarin.

Also check out the list of the best books about China and learning Chinese here. Check out Zhongwen Chinese Popup Dictionary. Any Chinese character you come across you can just hover your mouse over it to see the meaning. This literally saves you so much time instead of constantly copying and pasting into Google translate! Aside from downloading apps, one of the best ways to learn Chinese is to enroll in an online Chinese Language course.

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China has undergone huge reform, both politically and socially, which has resulted in a dramatic increase in Chinese tourism.

The rise in the amount of Chinese tourists visiting the USA, UK, Australia and Europe has prompted foreign tour operators to step up their proficiency in the Chinese language.

This exponential growth means that learning to speak Chinese is not just an asset when visiting China, but also puts you at considerable advantage when applying for work with multinational companies.

Chinese is, without doubt, going to be one of the three dominant world languages in years to come. The advantage of learning Chinese using language software is that you can move at your own pace. Language school lessons tend to be rather regimented, and if you miss a class or two it's easy to fall behind the curriculum and become demotivated.

Moreover, the thought of having to sit in a classroom-like environment is a little daunting if you have long finished school like I have. Private lessons are a great option if you can afford them, but then you have the additional hassle of arranging lesson times and possibly having to travel to meet your tutor - it can also be a struggle to find a teacher you feel comfortable with.

Accompanying quizzes give users the chance to practice language used in videos. FluentU offers videos in nine different languages and is available for iOS, Android, and on the web. Most of its content is beyond the beginner level, but it has videos for learners at all levels.

Check our full review here! Visit FluentU. Learning a new language requires practicing a number of different skills, and most apps excel or try to excel at helping you improve one of them. Since they cover several aspects of Chinese, they can make better options for learners that are just starting out with the language. HelloChinese is my favorite of the free apps for learning Chinese.

The lessons are organized similarly to apps like ChineseSkill and LingoDeer, but they go into a bit more detail with everything. There are also lots of speaking exercises which I really like, as they force you to take an active role in your learning.

This one is really well put together and provides a ton of content. Visit HelloChinese. Ninchanese is a Chinese-teaching game that can be used as an app or online. There are different worlds that represent different Chinese levels and various challenges to complete. Visit Ninchanese. Its rating of 4. The app helps learners prepare for the tests through lots of example questions, mock tests, and even the chance to upload writing to have it graded.

It does a great job of balancing easy convenience and the thoroughness required for quality test prep. While there are some free features, most users would want to upgrade to the paid plan. Visit HSKOnline. Some of them could make good options for some learners. Like some other apps, Super Chinese offers gamified lessons available on your smartphone. Providing topical lessons and a light gamification element, Lingodeer is one of the better options in its class.

Another gamified app offering convenient practice, ChineseSkill is free and offers solid introductory material. Similar to Lingodeer, Duolingo uses short activities and gamification to make language learning incredibly accessible. The Fluenz course is pretty good for some languages, but it falls short with Chinese.

It completely ignores Chinese characters and has a price tag. Busuu is one of the more popular courses out there, but its Chinese course is riddled with errors and not very well done. This program has been around for a really long time and is very popular. It has users memorize words and phrases in isolation and has a weak teaching methodology. Both of these online platforms offer access to university courses for free. There are Chinese language courses and courses on other subjects taught in Chinese.

They offer certification upon completion for those that are willing to pay. Anyone can create a course and sell it on Udemy. This means there is a huge variety of courses, both for beginners and higher levels. Learn character stroke orders, see example sentences, use the handwriting recognition tool, and listen to audio recordings of over 34, words by two native Mandarin speakers. Visit Pleco.

Memrise is a resource with a massive amount of learning content. The app uses spaced repetition SRS flashcards, meaning super-efficient practice, and features tons of free user-created courses. The official Memrise courses have the added bonus of reliable quality audio, some videos, and pictures. Some user-created courses also have these features, but it can be hit or miss. As an additional bonus, the app is particularly well designed and fun to use.

The short activities also make it one of the more convenient practice options out there. Visit Memrise. Clozemaster is a popular app that is excellent for getting exposure to lots of different sentences and vocabulary. This app uses fill-in-the-blank exercises in which you can type in your answer or choose from multiple choices.