For a deeper dive, have a listen so you can make an informed approach. At this stage, you already have a solid foundation in Chinese, and so popup dictionaries become more of an aide rather than a crutch by helping you with paragraphs and sentences that you already largely understand.Īt Mandarin Companion, John and Jared devoted a whole episode on the You Can Learn Chinese podcast that picks apart this subject. Intermediate learners and above: popup dictionaries can make reading more accessible and lead to learning gains.Stick to texts at your level where you don’t need to constantly use the popup dictionary function. Yes, you can get through a Chinese text but you won’t learn much from it. Studies have found little learning benefit for lower level learners because at this stage, the overall grasp of the language is low – more time is spent understanding the looked-up words and phrases in English as opposed to understanding the text in Chinese. Elementary learners: use popup dictionaries sparingly.You can’t just “click your way to fluency”, so we offer these two general guidelines for using Chinese popup dictionaries. However, research shows that popup dictionaries have their time and place. This is when these pop-up dictionary apps come in most handy. Of course, sometimes there is just nothing at your level or, for whatever reason, you need to read something that may be challenging.
This is when learning is most efficient! If you’re reading at below 90% comprehension, or where 1 in 10 words are unknown, consider looking for something easier.Ī good place to start is with the Mandarin Companion Chinese graded readers, which are written specifically for Chinese learners like you. Most importantly, we should always strive towards reading comprehensible texts appropriate for our level.
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Chinese Popup Dictionaries – Good or Bad?īefore we start with the reviews, we want to make sure you know how to use these apps, *ahem*, responsibly. Thankfully, there are a growing number of Chinese reading apps available to help Chinese learners, like you and I, read in Chinese, even when it’s difficult! We’ve done an extensive review of these smartphone apps so you can decide which will work best for you. There is simply no way to sound it or to decode it you either know it or you don’t. However, reading in Chinese has its own unique challenges – the most common of which is encountering an unfamiliar character. But reading Chinese can be hard, leaving you looking for the best Chinese reading apps.įor us second language learners, research shows that reading at high levels of comprehension, ideally at an extensive reading level of 98%+ comprehension, will not only improve your reading skills, but also improve your writing, listening, and speaking skills. Mountains of research show the impact of reading on language development, especially in a foreign language. Reading is undeniably one of the most effective ways to improve your Chinese skills.
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