Web-Based Resources for Learning Chinese

Authors

Date of this Version

8-18-2008

Document Type

Article

Citation

August 18, 2008 in The China Beat http://www.thechinabeat.org/

Comments

Copyright August 18, 2008. Used by permission.

Abstract

Back in May, we posted a list of recommended language and literature sites for students of Chinese. We pointed out that these five sites were only the tip of the iceberg; there are literally hundreds of other sites offering live Chinese lessons, interactive exercises, flashcards, and other learning tools and tips. Here are five more of our top picks among sites with significant free offerings for language learners:

1. The rich collection of goodies on Eric Peterson’s Online Chinese Tools site includes Chinese dictionaries, file converters, a text annotator, a romanization converter, and a popular Chinese text reader program called DimSum.

2. The Chinese Language Center on the Yellowbridge website features what it calls the web’s most comprehensive Chinese-English dictionary, along with an etymology explorer, Chinese flaschcards, memory games, and a text-to-speech converter.

3. Looking for language learning tips, reading suggestions, grammar help, or just a bit of moral support in your struggles with the Chinese language? With its large active membership and extensive archives of past postings, Chinese Forums is the leading discussion board for students of Chinese at every level. Topic areas include “Reading and Writing,” “Grammar and Vocabulary,” “Chinese Computing and Technology,” “Studying in China,” and many others.

4. The most advanced and user-friendly suite of dictionary tools is probably the award-winning reference site Xuezhongwen.net. In addition to a very flexible bilingual dictionary, the site offers Chinese text annotation and translation, radical tables, character flaschcards, character encoding converters, and pinyin & hanzi text entry tools.

5. Did you ever wonder how many characters you know, or wish you could have a textbook-style vocabulary list for that Chinese news article you’re trying to read? The Clavis Sinica website, created by ChinaBeat contributor David Porter, offers a number of unique learning resources for students of Chinese. The site’s comprehensive Language Toolbox includes the popular Chinese Character Test and Vocabulary Extractor tools. The Text and Audio Library features pre-sorted flashcard lists and large collections of graded and annotated Chinese texts (over 100 of them with accompanying mp3 audio) for reading practice by students at all levels.