Comparing iPhone software to learn Chinese characters
dima
December 04, 2008 at 02:09 AM posted in General DiscussionHi guys,
I have by now purchased - and extensively used 3 iPhone apps:
1) Flashcards (by ChinesePod competitor - ChineseLearnOnline.com)
Nice and simple - flashcards and a count of how many you have learned. Good start - but I hope to see new versions wth more functionality (e.gg. characters by category)
2) MyWords-CN
Each day it gives you 10 new characters with pinyin and sound. I am disappointed with this. Slow, clunky interface, rudimentary capabilities
3) iChinese
I love this one. Basically you learn characters by writing them and this app checks them using recognition algorithm and takes you through multiple memorization stages. It uses characters and phrases from Practical Chinese Reader - but only first 12 lessons :-( (app comes with 4 lessons and you can buy 8 more separately). There is also a speech module.
What other iPhone apps have you used and can recommend?
triplelatte
January 14, 2009 at 10:49 PMI agree: The iChinese app rules. I just hope they add more lessons (only ~130 words right now with all 12 PCR lessons).
Interestingly, learning the characters by writing them large with your finger on the iTouch actually seems to translate into being able to write them with a pen on paper. I had hoped this would be the case, but was not at all certain it would be!