We are proud to have released our first external application, Chinese Flashcards for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Use this application to test your recognition of 2700 of the most frequently used characters in simplified or traditional character formats. Begin by choosing which character set (simplified or traditional) you would like to focus your learning on.
Characters are displayed on screen one at a time. Decide how well you recognize the character, then click on the "Show Answer" window at the bottom of the screen.
The pinyin pronunciation and English definition are then revealed to you. If you feel confident in your recognition of this character answer Yes, otherwise answer No to have it shown to you again later. If you prefer to remove this character altogether from your learning list, choose Skip.
At the end of each session, you will be shown how many characters you memorized in that session, plus how many characters you have memorized overall. A rating is given to you based on the number of characters you have memorized overall.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What do I need to run this application?
Why did you choose to create this application?
Who is this application design for?
Does this application teach Chinese?
Does this application follow the CLO course structure?
How do I use this application?
What does the skip feature do?
What order are the characters displayed in?
Why are some common characters not showing up until later?
Why do some traditional characters seem to be missing?
Why do some definitions seem to be incomplete?
I answered Yes by mistake to a character, when I wanted to select No. Is there a way to change my answer?
I have suggestions for improvements, or new ideas for new apps. How do I reach you?
What do I need to run this application?
You need an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch with version 2.0 or higher of the OS installed.
Why did you choose to create this application?
This application was created to take advantage of the iPhone's extensive mobile features to continue CLO's goal of providing the best combination of resources to allow users to learn Chinese.
Who is this application design for?
This application is designed for users who already have a background in Chinese, and who would now like to practice their character recognition skills to help in reading.
Does this application teach Chinese?
No, for that we recommend you stick to the existing CLO course.
Does this application follow the CLO course structure?
No, in order to broaden the appeal for this application, it has been designed to be used independently from the CLO course. However, it can also be used very effectively in combination with CLO course.
How do I use this application?
There are multiple ways to use this application. One is to try and learn all 2700 characters by following the procedure outlined above. You could also use it to count how many characters you do know, by marking the ones you already know as memorized, while skipping the ones that you don't.
What does the skip feature do?
Skipped characters will not be tested again, but will not be counted as memorized. This feature allows you to focus your learning on characters you are familiar with already, by skipping characters you have never heard of before. You can also use it count how many characters you recognize, by skipping characters you don't know and selecting Yes for characters you do know.
What order are the characters displayed in?
The characters are displayed in order of most common usage in the Chinese language. Bear in mind, this usage varies greatly from situation to situation. Literature tends to feature a lot of different characters that are not used in everyday conversation and vice versa.
Why are some common characters not showing up until later?
As mentioned in the last point, characters that are used often in daily speech, may not necessarily be used as often in written materials. Similarly, there are a lot of characters used in written material that aren't used as often in daily speech. Depending on where your strengths are, you may find new characters appearing early on, that you aren't familiar with, while characters that you are familiar with appear later on.
Why do some traditional characters seem to be missing?
In daily life, there is a lot of overlapping that takes place between simplified and traditional characters. There are some simplified characters that are often used in place of traditional characters, and there are also cases of traditional characters sometimes being used in areas that normally use simplified characters. Since both lists are offered in this application, you may find some characters appearing in one list and not the other. Standard numerals are included in the simplified list, whereas the formal versions (used by banks) is included in the traditional list. You can use the skip function if you come across characters that you choose not to study.
Why do some definitions seem to be incomplete?
Since this application is not meant to teach you Chinese, the definitions are included only as a guidance, and in some cases further meanings are left out. It is recommended that you use this application in conjunction with a standard course like CLO to help you determine which words the characters found in this application are used in, and what their meaning is in context.
I answered Yes by mistake to a character, when I wanted to select No. Is there a way to change my answer?
Yes. After each session, you can choose to restart the session if you want to change any of your answers. You can also restart a session by first clicking on the Menu option at the bottom of the screen during a test. This is also useful if you changed your mind about skipping a character.
I have suggestions for improvements, or new ideas for new apps. How do I reach you?
You may either contact us directly or leave a comment below.
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