Best app for learning mandarin?

[Hyperchaotic]

I was wondering if my iMac could give me a hand learning Mandarin. Google reveals some MacOS apps for this purpose but it is impossible for me to see what is good or not. Any recommendations will be very much appreciated

[superbovine]

Originally Posted by Hyperchaotic

I was wondering if my iMac could give me a hand learning Mandarin. Google reveals some MacOS apps for this purpose but it is impossible for me to see what is good or not. Any recommendations will be very much appreciated

get a real teacher.

[kant]

Originally Posted by superbovine

get a real teacher.

meh.

Get a "pillow dictionary". Guaranteed fastest way to learn another language.

[annk]

First, I have to say I agree with superbovine - you really need a teacher, and preferably a class.

That said, I´ve used both Wenlin (expensive) and Clavis Sinica (inexpensive) to complement my Chinese studies at a university here, and found both to be very good. Wenlin seems to operate much more smoothly, but Clavis is fine if you don´t have the bucks for Wenlin.

Both programs will help you through texts and give you pronunciation, but you´ll need - at the very least, and in addition to a teacher - GOOD grammar books (like Basic Chinese and Intermediate Chinese, Yip and Rimmington, published by Routledge). Those grammars are fantastic, I use them all the time as reference, but they´re very condensed - you really need quite a bit of vocabulary for the examples to make sense and be useful.

http://www.clavisinica.com/
http://wenlin.com/

[Hyperchaotic]

Hadn't quite expected those first answers, guess I shouldv'e been more specific.
My wife is chinese. I just wanted to play a bit with my Mac and see if I could supplement the learning a bit on my favourite toy.

Thanks for the tips, I'm heading there :-)

[annk]

Originally Posted by Hyperchaotic

Hadn't quite expected those first answers, guess I shouldv'e been more specific.
My wife is chinese. I just wanted to play a bit with my Mac and see if I could supplement the learning a bit on my favourite toy.

Thanks for the tips, I'm heading there :-)

Start with Clavis then, you might find it´s enough. With a Chinese spouse, you certainly don´t have to look far for a teacher, lucky you

[flyking09]

Hi all,

I am interested learning Chinese as well. As far as I know it is really difficult to learn a langugae like Chinese. I was teaching myself for a while, but I failed. Now I am looking for a Chinese language that could significantly help me make progress in Chinese learning.

Any of you happen to know any program that is both practical and could be flexible. Please let me know know.

Thank you..

[annk]

www.chinesepod.com is pretty good. Very flexible, with lots of tools. You can get the podcasts for free, but I really recommend buying one of the less expensive plans, so you get access to some of the tools.

[mathew21]

You can also visit http://www.mindsabroad.com/ for their Chinese study programs.

[flyking09]

Originally Posted by mathew21

You can also visit http://www.mindsabroad.com/ for their Chinese study programs.

Hey Mathew21 ,
Thank you, it seems Minds Abroad really has some good stuff..

[MAC-PRO-DEMON]

Rosetta Stone here... well at least that was what I used to learn Russian... but I cannot stress that going to night classes is the best thing to really learn a language...

[softwater]

Have a look at memrise and search in langauges for mandarin; there's quite a lot of stuff there and for various levels. Hsk1 and upwards.

I've been using it as a rank beginner and found it excellent, and most of it is free - needs a web browser though, don't think there's any downloadables.

http://www.memrise.com

[arieljad]

try this:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chin...504233411?mt=8

This app is a tool for toddlers and older children to learn vocabulary in Mandarin Chinese