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Mandarin Chinese

Scripts Mini-Review: Flashy and Fast-Paced

Scripts by Drops

Rating 3.0
★★★★★
Price:

Freemium, $9.99/mo, $69.99/year, $159.99/lifetime-access

Summary

Although it has a flashier interface, Scripts by Drops offers similar content to Write it! and Write Me. However, unlike these other apps, which sound out the name of each character, Scripts by Drops seems to focus on how the letter would sound if it were in a sentence. For example, instead of pronouncing the Hebrew character ב (vet or bet) you will hear /v/ or /b/. You can practice writing different characters with your fingers, and there are a variety of fast-paced activities to help you remember the different alphabets. Under the same membership as Scripts by Drops, you can also use the Drops app to learn and practice words that use your chosen alphabet. Similar to Write Me and Write It!, Scripts by Drops doesn’t seem to give much background about script. Also, some people may find the animation is too flashy and time-consuming; you can test Write it! (free), Write Me (paid lifetime access), and Scripts by Drops (monthly or lifetime access) to see which app best suits the language you are learning. For more comprehensive apps, check out Eggbun for Korean or Skritter for Chinese and Japanese.

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Write Alphabet Mini-Review: Try Our Other Recommendations Instead

Write Alphabet

Rating 1.5
★
★
★★★★
Price:

Free

Summary

Write Alphabet seems to be a less developed version of Write It! Its purpose is to help users learn to write in different languages, guiding you through the alphabet of several scripts and allowing you to practice by drawing the characters with your finger. Like Write It!, Write Alphabet is free, but it has a lot of advertisements without an option to buy them off. Additionally, the app does not recognize your attempt to replicate each language’s script unless you start and finish within the lines of the template. Instead of this app, you can test Write it! (free), Write Me (paid lifetime access), and Scripts by Drops (monthly or lifetime access) to see which one best suits the language you are learning. For more comprehensive apps, check out Eggbun for Korean or Skritter for Chinese and Japanese.

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Optilingo Mini-Review: Use if You Absolutely Love Slideshows

optilingo

Rating 1.5
★
★
★★★★
Price:

$11.99/mo, $23.97/quarter, $41.94/half-year, $71.88/year

Summary

Optilingo is essentially a phrase-bank in slideshow form. Each of the 20 languages available includes 100 lessons, none of which contain information about the topic or learning goals during the writing of this review. You can expect to listen to a series of phrases, and then review (what seems like) the last 45 phrases you have learned before moving onto the next lesson. The phrases are not in flashcard form — instead, they are in a slideshow with both the English and the target language displayed together. Optilingo advertises learning and practicing with over 29 hours worth of phrases, and while you can surely practice with their phrase-bank, actually learning to speak any of the languages offered using their platform is questionable. If you are keen on language learning, check out our bank of reviews for other resources.

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Mandarin Companion Mini-Review: Engaging for Beginners

Mandarin Companion

Rating 4.5
★★★★
★
★
Price:

$6.84 and up

Summary

Mandarin Companion was developed from one of the founder’s experiences in drastically improving his Chinese through extensive reading. Jared read 10 graded readers in 3 months and discovered that, after 2 years of trying to learn Chinese, he could finally hold a conversation with his colleagues. Like Jared, through Mandarin Companion’s graded readers, learners can start to understand grammar in context and enjoy the process of reading. The books are written using 98% of the words you probably know, with new words gradually introduced as the story progresses. You should only find about one new character or word for every 40-50 characters you have read, and new words will include a footnote with definitions. You will be sure to find engaging story plots with this series, as many of the books are based on the works of famous authors, such as Charles Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle. The readers come in three levels: The breakthrough level (150 unique characters), Level 1 (300 unique characters), and level 2 (450 unique characters). Those who want to go beyond the levels of these books can check out Pleco’s graded readers or The Chairman’s Bao for more extensive reading material.

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Anki Mini-Review: The Go-To SRS Flashcard App

Anki

Rating 4.1
★★★★
★
★
Price:

Free

Summary

It is the go-to app for free (except on iOS) Spaced Repetition System (SRS) flashcards. It has a simple user interface with various features that more hard-core users can dive into if they choose. Your flashcards will appear according to your natural forgetting curve; the app will test you in increasingly spaced out intervals, with more difficult cards appearing more than once in a session, while easier cards spacing out over weeks — or even months and years. An SRS system is the most effective way to drive information into your long-term memory. The cards can sync between the web, desktop app, and mobile versions to keep your flashcards updated and with you at all times. You can add images and audio clips to your cards and change the text formatting (if you use it on your computer). One feature unique to Anki, as opposed to other SRS flashcard apps, is the “Cloze deletion” function, which allows you to block out parts of your card and create a “fill-in-the-blanks” type card format. If you want a resource for how to make effective flashcards, check out the book, FluentForever. The author leaves a whole section dedicated to understanding how to use your Anki deck to advance your skills quickly.

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An Honest Review of Rocket Chinese With Image of The Great Wall of China

Rocket Chinese Review – Improved But Other Courses Are Better

Rocket Languages

Rating 2.8
★★
★
★★★

Summary

In the past, Rocket Chinese was among the worst online language courses I’d tried. Fortunately, they’ve made massive improvements to their course and have improved on a lot of their weaknesses. So, you can try it and see if you like it, but I think there are better online Chinese courses.

Quality 3.0
★★★★★

Pretty detailed lessons with lots of practice opportunities.

Thoroughness 3.0
★★★★★

Covers most parts of the language, but some of it isn’t done particularly well.

Value 2.5
★★
★
★★★

Your money wold be better spent elsewhere in my opinion.

I Like
  • The audio lessons balance language explanations with activities that require engagement.
  • There are lots of opportunities to practice what you’ve learned.
I Don’t Like
  • The exercises get extremely repetitive and don’t always focus on the most important information.
  • Other courses do a better job of teaching Chinese.
  • Sometimes the lessons don’t seem to be very well planned out.
Price

Rocket Chinese costs $99.95 for level 1, $249.90 for levels 2 and 3, $259.90 for levels 1, 2, and 3.

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When I first tried Rocket Chinese, it was easily one of the worst courses I had ever come across. I gave it less than 1 out of 5 stars, one of the lowest scores this site has ever seen.

…

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Mandarin Corner Mini-Review: Well Organized, Engaging Content

Mandarin Corner

Rating 4.5
★★★★
★
★
Price:

Free, $10 for premium benefits

Summary

Eileen, the founder of Mandarin Corner, provides a variety of content for beginner and intermediate learners to train their listening comprehension, improve their grammar, expand their vocabulary, and help them understand Chinese culture. She sometimes dedicates episodes to specific grammar points or interviews locals about different topics. Because she speaks with so many different people, you will be able to train your ear to understand different accents. Eileen will help you understand the nuances of the language, must-know sentence structures, and even spend an hour helping you understand the many different measure words. You can watch videos that focus on conversation, HSK content, slow intermediate Chinese with literal translations, stories, and reading practice. On the website you can also listen to audio episodes with a PDF transcript, use flashcards, download the Youtube videos, or watch videos without English translations. Some of this content is only available with a one-time $10 donation, but after the donation you will have access to the content forever. Overall, Mandarin Corner is an excellent resource with a variety of high-quality and engaging material.

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Learning Chinese Through Stories Mini-Review: Fun Immersion

Learning Chinese Through Stories

Rating 4.8
★★★★
★
★
Price:

Free, Premium subscriptions start at $5/mo

Summary

Learning Chinese Through Stories is an excellent podcast for immersive Chinese study. In each of every one of their 9 levels, from Low Novice to High Advanced, the two narrators speak only in Chinese. You will learn to understand new concepts in stories, songs, or grammar explanations through context rather than translations. Listening to the podcast is like being welcomed into a conversation between friends — the narrators have great chemistry and truly seem to enjoy what they are doing. They speak at a relatively natural speed, but articulate clearly and provide numerous examples that will give you the confidence to apply each new concept to different situations. Several episodes are available directly on their website with accompanying transcripts of the story or song being studied — but, by supporting them on Patreon you can receive full transcripts of every episode with vocabulary annotations and more. You can also listen on Spotify or Stitcher, but check out their website to understand more about the levels and how to use the podcast first.

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Encore!!! Language Learning Mini-Review: Basically a Phrasebook

Encore!!! Language Learning

Rating 1.5
★
★
★★★★
Price:

Free

Summary

Encore!!! Language Learning allows you to listen to playlists of common phrases, vocabulary, conjugations, and dialogues. It varies in terms of whether it uses native speakers or automated text-to-voice. The app is basically a phrasebook that allows you to practice translating sentences to and from your native language, or simply repeat after an audio in your target language. You can listen to a pre-made playlist, mute or unmute certain phrases within a playlist, adjust the number of repetitions of each phrase, or create your own playlist. You can also test your memory with the Test tool by reading prompts in your native language and translating into your target language. The app seems to focus more on understanding grammar structures than other phrasebook sites like Optilingo or Lingohut. Technically you could learn something by repeating the phrases aloud, but there are many other free apps that provide a clearer learning path and have a more intuitive interface than Encore!!! Language Learning.

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CaptionPop Mini-Review: Use The Free Version

Caption Pop

Rating 4.0
★★★★★
Price:

Free, Premium subscriptions start at $10/mo

Summary

With CaptionPop you can use YouTube videos to pursue your language learning endeavours using subtitles in both your target language and native language. Tap a single key to repeat the last caption, slow down the playback speed, and bookmark subtitles to study with SRS interactive flashcards. The flashcards will not just have you memorize words, but practice dictations with immediate feedback on your accuracy. Unfortunately there are currently some bugs in the programming, and you may only hear part of the caption you are being asked to transcribe. You can search for Youtube videos in your target language within the CaptionPop platform, but only those videos with subtitles in both your target language and your native language are available. This means that you will rely on captions translated and transcribed by the video’s creators, which improves your language learning experience but restricts the amount of available Youtube content. Nevertheless, there is a good amount of content from popular channels in more common languages. The free version of the platform combined with self-made Anki cards may be a better option than subscribing to the premium version, as the bugs in CaptionPop’s programming may not be worth the monthly payment.

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