20 Best Chinese Language Learning Apps _ Lingo Bus
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<strong>20</strong>19/2/21 <strong>20</strong> <strong>Best</strong> <strong>Chinese</strong> <strong>Language</strong> <strong>Learning</strong> <strong>Apps</strong> | <strong>Lingo</strong> <strong>Bus</strong><br />
<strong>20</strong> <strong>Best</strong> <strong>Chinese</strong> <strong>Language</strong> <strong>Learning</strong> <strong>Apps</strong><br />
Posted on 01/21/<strong>20</strong>19 by <strong>Lingo</strong> <strong>Bus</strong><br />
<strong>Chinese</strong> is a fascinating, extremely rich language, spoken by over 900 million users. As the<br />
world’s most spoken language it is becoming increasingly important thanks to China’s economic<br />
boom. Many now consider Mandarin <strong>Chinese</strong> the Lingua Franca in Asia!<br />
A lot of new language learners want to dedicate themselves to learn this language but may not<br />
have the time. That’s where <strong>Chinese</strong> language learning apps come in. They strive on<br />
convenience and ease learning. <strong>Language</strong> learning apps are usually created in a way that<br />
requires short attention span intervals. Type ‘<strong>Chinese</strong> language’ onto google and the keywords<br />
that come up will be ‘di cult’ and ‘hard’, maybe even ‘impossible’. This can be o putting as a<br />
new learner. However, these apps can make learning fun and less boring, avoiding the main<br />
culprits when it comes to giving up learning <strong>Chinese</strong>. So here the salient features of a productive<br />
and helpful app have been described.<br />
Plus, I don’t know about you but for me I can’t live without my phone. Especially now that I live in<br />
Beijing. Here your phone is your most useful tool, you can use it to access the subway, pay for<br />
anything, order food, etc. It’s like having an extra set of hands! Although our phones are always<br />
with us, they are often overlooked as a learning tool. Many think of them as a distraction or<br />
addiction. That’s why in today’s article I will introduce <strong>20</strong> best <strong>Chinese</strong> language learning apps!<br />
Classes<br />
<strong>Lingo</strong> <strong>Bus</strong><br />
If you have children aged 5 to 12 years’ old who are interested in learning Mandarin <strong>Chinese</strong><br />
language and culture, then go no further. <strong>Lingo</strong> <strong>Bus</strong> o ers online 25-minute classes based on<br />
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game learning, ensuring classes are fun for children. All of <strong>Lingo</strong> <strong>Bus</strong>’ teachers are native<br />
speakers. To ensure the quality of the classes they are recorded and there’s a stringent<br />
acceptance policy for new teachers. On top of the classes there are year round activities and<br />
new content updated regularly. Each class also comes with previews and after class exercises to<br />
support the child’s learning.<br />
Yoli<br />
This app is actually a part of wechat. They run an account feature for adult <strong>Chinese</strong> learners<br />
providing short audio wechat classes that you can t in even in a short car ride. After taking the<br />
class the teacher will create a pdf with vocabulary and grammar from the class. Although you<br />
are expected to study on your own the teacher is always available to answer questions. All their<br />
users are also put into a wechat class group and provided exercises daily to encourage<br />
continuous learning. The emphasis on learning with Yoli falls completely on the student. They<br />
will provide you with tools and opportunity its up to you how you use them. You can nd them by<br />
searching Yoli on wechat.<br />
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From China Channel<br />
Game-like<br />
Hello <strong>Chinese</strong><br />
Hello<strong>Chinese</strong> is my favorite of the learn mandarin apps that are available for free. I still regularly<br />
go back and retake classes just as a refresher. Plus, they are always adding and updating with<br />
new content. The lessons are organized into di erent sections and include all language skills<br />
(writing, speaking, etc). Every day a new game is unlocked that can help you to remember the<br />
words you have learnt.<br />
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From Hello <strong>Chinese</strong><br />
Ninchanese<br />
A game based app that can be used both on your phone or computer. The paid version focuses<br />
on HSK, it’s made up of di erent worlds that are a representation of the di erent HSK levels.<br />
Because it’s story based you get to know the characters. In the free version you can learn 10,000<br />
words!<br />
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From Ninchanese<br />
Duolingo<br />
With Duolingo you can explore and learn many di erent languages ranging from Spanish and<br />
French to Russian and <strong>Chinese</strong>. This app is similar to Hello<strong>Chinese</strong> in it’s structure. As a user you<br />
earn points for correct answers as you race against the clock to go up a level. The features are<br />
free as long as you have enough diamonds. If not, you may earn these or buy them to continue<br />
using the app without a waiting period.<br />
From The Verge<br />
Kids learn Mandarin<br />
In this app children can learn to speak, read and write <strong>20</strong>0 words through a series of lessons and<br />
games. Since it’s geared towards children there’s an emphasis on stickers and music videos to<br />
keep them interested. One lesson and a few games are available for free.<br />
Dictionary and Translators<br />
Pleco<br />
This was probably one of the rst apps I downloaded when I came to China years ago and still<br />
use it frequently. It’s an easy to use <strong>Chinese</strong>/English translator that shows you how to write<br />
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characters. It was also way ahead of google with it’s ‘scan’ feature, that saved me as I initially<br />
could not read the menus.<br />
From Google Play<br />
Google/ Baidu translate<br />
These big names are worth a mention but you probably have them on your phone already.<br />
Translators don’t just help you get out of tough situations they can be a useful learning tool. You<br />
can use these apps to translate a phrase to get the overall sense of what it should look like.<br />
However, be careful of inaccuracies! There’s lots of hilarious pictures online of bad translations,<br />
and you don’t want to add to that. If you have wechat, ‘scan’ translation is now also a feature.<br />
Characters and grammar<br />
Chairman’s Bao<br />
I can’t help but mention them again. I’ve used this service from when they rst started just as a<br />
Facebook page with articles. The app is a fantastic resource especially for beginners. It’s a HSK<br />
level based newspaper article app. It has thousands of articles so you can nd a topic you are<br />
interested in. An inbuilt interactive dictionary and ashcard system so you can save words to<br />
practice. Unlike other apps you can choose between traditional and simpli ed <strong>Chinese</strong>.<br />
<strong>Chinese</strong> Skill<br />
Game-based as it’s with kids in mind. It is one of the most comprehensive apps for kids packed<br />
with information. It provides words and phrases, but unlike other kids free apps it also focuses on<br />
grammar and sentence patterns.<br />
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From <strong>Chinese</strong> Skill<br />
Chineasy Cards<br />
Based on the bestselling <strong>Chinese</strong> language book. This free app follows the same structure<br />
where the characters are animated and turned into a picture. You can save your favourites for<br />
later use. There’s plenty of levels and it keeps a word count of words learnt. I like this app<br />
because it makes learning characters’ fun and interactive. Each level builds up on the characters<br />
and provides a quiz. Repetition on other levels ensures you remember the characters.<br />
Quizlet<br />
Quizlet as the name suggests is a quiz based app not just for lanague learning but anything you<br />
can think o . You can nd free vocabulary packs created by others to explore or you can create<br />
your own. You can also take classes. Each set is made up a learn, write, match, tests, and<br />
ashcard features.<br />
Skritter<br />
I’ve mentioned this before in another language app article, but I have to mention it again! If you<br />
are serious about your writing this is the app for you. It may seem like an annoying feature but<br />
the program will force you to write each character from scratch each time to reinforce it. This is<br />
the best kind of practice although not as fun as some of the other apps mentioned.<br />
Zizzle<br />
When I rst downloaded this I was a bit unsure how useful it was. It’s similar to Chineasy in that it<br />
uses pictures and stories to help you remember the characters. It was really useful for me as the<br />
stories made learning the characters fun.<br />
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From Zizzle<br />
HSK locker<br />
A very simple app but it does what it’s designed to do. It o ers a quick review of the HSK writing<br />
exam. Like the exam it’s based on test-type questions from o cial HSK vocabulary lists.<br />
Speaking and Listening<br />
FluentU<br />
FluentU has a huge collection of real-world <strong>Chinese</strong> videos, like music videos, commercials,<br />
news, talks, etc. It’s up to users to nd a video they are interested in, although it’s a good tool for<br />
listening it can also help to practice other skills. Each video has transcripts with Characters and<br />
pinyin.<br />
From FluentU<br />
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Standard Mandarin<br />
This app is all about pronunciation! Unlike other apps it just focuses on tones. My favorite feature<br />
is that it will remind you what facial muscles you should be using to achieve that tone. As<br />
someone who has learnt a few languages I can not over emphasize how important this is. Since<br />
<strong>Chinese</strong> is a tonal language ensure you have at least one app that simply focuses on tones.<br />
<strong>Chinese</strong>pod<br />
A podcast based platform focused on just <strong>Chinese</strong>. These high quality podcasts also include<br />
videos. Out of all the podcast and video based apps this is my favorite because of how organized<br />
it is. All the podcasts are rated by level and as long as you download them ahead of time you<br />
don’t need an internet connection.<br />
From <strong>Chinese</strong> <strong>Language</strong> Institute<br />
HelloTalk<br />
An app dedicated to connecting language learners worldwide. You can publish comments and<br />
native speakers will correct them helping you to improve your <strong>Chinese</strong>. You can make a new<br />
online language partner. This app can be hit or miss as some of the native speakers you connect<br />
with who want to learn English may not be as dedicated in their studies as you.<br />
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From HelloTalk<br />
Wechat<br />
Wechat in itself is not a <strong>Chinese</strong> language app but it has many useful features. A built in<br />
translator and lots of accounts and mini programs you can follow that specialize on <strong>Chinese</strong><br />
language. The feature to nd others around you could also be used to nd a pen pal.<br />
I hope this list of <strong>Chinese</strong> learning apps will be useful. Just don’t go crazy downloading them all,<br />
instead nd an app that is speci c to your needs. Otherwise you will invest a lot of time only to<br />
have to start again. Many of the free versions of the apps do not let you skip the levels so it gets<br />
boring to have to study the same words over and over.<br />
Sign Up for the Fun of <strong>Learning</strong> <strong>Chinese</strong><br />
Copyright Notice: Everyone is welcome to forward the articles in this blog as long as the links to<br />
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https://blog.lingobus.com/chinese-learning-resources/chinese-language-learning-apps/ 10/11
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