Learn Chinese – Perapera

Yoyo Chinese Review

Michael — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 05:41:49 +0000

Editor’s Note: This Yoyo Chinese Review has been checked for accuracy and updated as of Aug 10th, 2022.

What’s the best way to learn Chinese? Over the past year, our editors have tested and compared the most popular Chinese language learning resources available. Read on to find out what we thought of Yoyo Chinese, one of the more popular language programs, in our Yoyo Chinese review!

Already made up your mind and looking to start your free trial?

Yoyo Chinese Review: Summary

Name: Yoyo Chinese

URL: www.yoyochinese.com

Operating System: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS

Currency: USD

Price: Subscription (to all courses) is $29/month, $149/6 months or $249/year. Lifetime access to everything is $399.

Application Category: Language Learning Software

Description: An online Chinese language learning company that focuses on quality video production to teach Chinese to students around the world.

In A Nutshell: As a program that began as the result of a Youtube video gone viral in 2007, founder Yangyang Chen has been passionately pursuing her goal of making the Chinese language accessible for people around the world. With over 8 million lessons delivered to over 120,000 students worldwide, the consensus is clear that Yoyo Chinese is making good on Chen’s goal to teach Chinese to the world in a structured and effective manner.

Quality:

Quantity:

Effectiveness:

Practicality:

Price:

 5/5

 4/5

 5/5

 4/5

 3/5

Overall Score: 4.2

 4.2/5

The Goods

High quality professional video lessons
Teaches Chinese Characters effectively
Very engaging and likable host
Brilliant grammar explanations
Courses are logical and structured very well
Integrated spaced-repetition flashcards, review quizzes and lesson tracking
The first 45 lessons are free!

The Bads

Uses more English instruction than competitor programs
Limited to beginner & advanced learners
Somewhat expensive
No mobile app for on-the-go lessons
The Chinese character courses only focus on simplified Chinese
Better programs exist for Chinese writing (like Scritter, for example)

Yoyo Chinese Review: Overview

Yoyo Chinese is always being updated and improved, and it’s gone through some pretty major changes since when we first wrote this review over a year ago, however the essence of the program is still the same – high quality video lessons delivered by the very likable host (and founder) Yangyang Cheng.

The program actually consists of 6 unique courses, focusing on both conversational Chinese and the Chinese writing system. These courses are:

Beginner Conversational (60 units, roughly equivalent to HSK L1-2)
Intermediate Conversational (60 units, roughly equivalent to HSK L3-4)
Upper Intermediate Conversational (48 units, roughly equivalent to HSK L4-5)
Chinese Characters (300 commonly-used characters spread over 24 units, roughly equivalent to HSK L2)
Chinese Characters 2 (300 commonly-used characters spread over 24 units, roughly equivalent to HSK L3)
Chinese Character Reader (6 books over 30 units, roughly equivalent to HSK L3)

Each unit contains between 2 and 5 lessons and focuses on a single topic or aspect of the Chinese language (for example, ‘Talking About Hobbies’ or ‘Measure Words’). Some units are also there to review what you’ve learnt so far in the course.

The Pros: Here’s What We Liked Most About Yoyo Chinese

Pro #1: Makes a ‘Difficult’ Language Easy

The Yoyo Chinese curriculum and language is broken down for complete beginners, using concepts that are easy for English speakers to understand. The lessons often utilize mnemonic devices, songs and even some rather comical raps to help you remember what you’ve learnt! Within a few lessons you’re already learning usable vocabulary and building basic sentences in Chinese.

Pro #2: Consistently Good Quality Lessons

One of the things we loved most about Yoyo Chinese was the fact that the program gives off the appearance that the founder, YangYang Cheng is our personal Chinese instructor. You’ll find that every lesson is delivered by her and she maintains the level of engagement and professionalism throughout the entire course (something that can’t be said for some more botched-up curriculums like ChineseClass101).

This sort of personal dedication to the quality of the content by the founder of the company is something that is almost devoid amongst competing Chinese language learning programs and was something we thought makes Yoyo Chinese really stand out amongst the competition.

Pro #3: It’s Very Motivating

Yangyang is very upbeat and positive, always saying ‘good job’ and praising you at the end of each lesson. Now that they’ve introduced the progress tracker into the platform, there’s an extra motivation to maintain your study streak and see your progress bars fill up. The study schedule is also a great help. Knowing exactly what to study on each day, right down to a checklist, really helps you to see the end goal and stay motivated.

Pro #4: Downloadable Resources

Yes, everything can be downloaded (apart from the videos). This allows you to study completely on your own time and fit your learning around your busy schedule. You can listen to the audios whilst driving to work, at the gym or on a lunch break. The Chinese books can be uploaded onto your kindle to read before bed, and you can browse through vocab lists when sitting on the toilet.

Pro #5: Active FAQs & Social Media Channels

In case you didn’t know already, Yoyo Chinese has a BIG YouTube presence – over 300,000 subscribers! They give a lot of their content away for free and are constantly uploading new videos. But it’s not just their social media that’s growing but the course itself. They are always coming out with new updates and adding more content to the blog.

Similarly, the FAQ section for each lesson is always brimming with comments from other students and is definitely worth browsing through. It’s encouraging to see that the support team responds to almost every message, clarifying any confusion and providing further explanations.

Pro #6: Focus on People and Culture

You’ll often get a lesson which is slightly different from the usual ‘stand in front of a digital whiteboard and talk’ kind of lesson and instead takes you out into the streets of China, into a restaurant, or supermarket. These interviews provide you with an insight into how the language is used in context and how people actually speak. Most of the time people don’t use complete sentences or correct grammar, so it’s really useful to get this kind of exposure to the language. It’s also a great way to test your listening skills.

The Cons: Yoyo Chinese Is Very Good, But Not Perfect

So what’s the catch? It’s true, Yoyo Chinese is a brilliant resource for learning Chinese but it’s not perfect. Here’s a few of the things we didn’t like as much.

Con #1: Simplified Chinese Only

Yoyo Chinese only teaches Simplified Chinese characters and completely ignores the traditional characters that are widely used in places like Hong Kong and Taiwan. So if you are looking to base your travels or the majority of your Chinese speaking in either of those places, then Yoyo Chinese might not be the language learning program for you.

Con #2: No Mobile Application

Yoyo Chinese is a great program on a desktop computer, and even works well on a mobile browser. but in the age of the mobile application, we see that as a significant downside, especially given the fact that the majority of Yoyo Chinese’s competitors offer great mobile apps that can be easily used on the go.

Note: They have promised that the new app will be coming out soon, but when exactly is anyone’s guess.

Con #3: Too Much English!

To learn a language you really need to get as much exposure as possible, seeing it being used in different contexts over and over again. Unfortunately, the video lessons contain more English explanations than spoken Chinese which can be quite limiting and even time consuming when you just want to hear the language being used. The street interviews are great, but there’s not many of them. So you may want to supplement the course with outside material if you want to progress faster.

Con #4: The Writing Lessons Could Be Better

There’s better options out there for learning how to write in Chinese, for example Scritter. Yoyo Chinese simply shows you the stroke order and lets you get on with it, but Scritter actually provides real-time grading and stroke-level feedback which is really important for any pictorial language, especially Chinese.

Con 5: Limited To Beginner/Intermediate Learners

While the quality of content contained within Yoyo Chinese is very high, there is a limited amount of content. Each module contains between 100-200 lessons and those lessons tend to be on the short side.

Learning Chinese is no casual affair, and while we believe Yoyo Chinese is great for beginner and intermediate learners of the language, the program does not contain materials that will help someone become completely fluent in the language. You’ll need to supplement the course with extra materials and look elsewhere for an advanced course.

The Main Dashboard & Course Layout

The new update brought about a new sleek facelift to the main dashboard and how everything is laid out. In the top left you have 3 options: Me, Learn, & Mastery.

‘Me’ is where you can see your own personal profile and your learning stats; your current learning streak, number of completed lessons etc. You can change your name and enter your details here, and your profile picture will get changed to your Zodiac animal – pretty cool!

Clicking on ‘Learn’ will take you straight to the meat of the course – the lessons. You can toggle between the 6 courses and move between all the levels. Completed lessons will be shown with a green ring around them.

Finally, the ‘Mastery’ option gives you access to further learning through additional learning resources, namely the integrated spaced-repetition flashcards, a pinyin chart, and access to the download center.

The interactive pinyin chart is super useful for drilling your pronunciation. It’s a chart showing all the possible sounds in the Chinese language, including the tones. Yangyang even has videos demonstrating how to create each sound correctly, and you can listen to each sound by hovering your mouse over it. It’s something that we found ourselves returning to time and time again.

The download center is an absolute treasure trove of content! Here you’ll find all the lesson notes (for every course), complete study schedules, vocab glossaries, all the audio files, quiz worksheets, ebooks, HSK word lists, Chinese resume templates, infographics… the list goes on.

So, what are the lessons like?

Every lesson follows the same basic format. First, you have the video, where Yangyang usually reviews what you’ve previously learnt and then builds upon it by introducing new vocabulary, explaining the grammar, and providing many examples. These videos are very engaging, and you can easily find yourself binge watching your way through them with all the interesting examples and cultural cues.

Yangyang giving a lesson on Chinese Characters.

A typical anime-style reading lesson.

Yangyang giving a pronunciation lesson.

Underneath the video there’ll automatically be a full list of all the vocabulary and phrases from the lesson. You can click on each one independently to listen to the audio again. You can also toggle on/off the English, Chinese characters or pinyin. Plus, you can select either a fast or slow pronunciation.

There are 3 ways to practice what you’ve learnt in the lesson. First, you can click ‘Practice’, which brings up the flashcards onto the screen for you to test yourself and record your own pronunciation. Second, you can listen to the audio which prompts you to repeat the words and phrases in the lesson.

And finally, there’s the FAQ section which is sometimes very useful since you’ll often find other students have exactly the same questions as you, and the support team are very quick to clarify them. Plus you can ask you’re own.

Once you feel you are ready, you can take the lesson quiz. You’ll be guided through 10 questions, asking you to translate specific phrases/words, write down what you hear, put the words into the correct order etc. It’s not necessary to get 10/10 to continue; however if you get anything below around 7 they’ll recommend you review the materials and try again.

The lesson quiz has a variety of diffent question styles.

Who Is Yoyo Chinese For?

Those who’ll benefit the most from Yoyo Chinese are those who:

are serious about learning Chinese and can dedicate time each day to completing the lessons
are independent learners who can study in their own time
plan to travel or work/study in China
are looking for an all-in-one structured beginners course for learning the Chinese language

Who Is Yoyo Chinese NOT For?

Those who might not find Yoyo Chinese as helpful and may want to look elsewhere are those who:

Yoyo Chinese Alternatives

Chinese is indeed a challenging language, and it’s not something you can pick up just by passively watching Chinese TV. It requires dedication, commitment, and a lot of memorization.

Thankfully, there are many different options out there. When compared to competitors such as Rocket Chinese and FluentU, we believe Yoyo Chinese stands as the strongest competitor for self-study of Chinese.

ChineseClass101 Is Our Favorite Alternative

The one program we’ve tried that really competes is ChineseClass101. That said, which one you choose will really depend on your learning style preferences, and which personality you want teaching you Chinese. We’d recommend reading our review of ChineseClass101 and signing up for both free trials to see which one you like more.

Free trial of ChineseClass101

Free trial of Yoyo Chinese

Yoyo Chinese Pricing

Yoyo Chinese used to be only available for a one time fee which restricted you to a specific course (unless you bought them all). However, you’ll be glad to know that they now offer a subscription plan so you don’t have to make that big commitment from the very start. There are 3 subscription options:

Monthly -> $19.99 (full access to all 6 courses, over 1000 video lessons and all the downloadable resources)
Every 6 months -> $89.94 (25% off)

Personally, we recommend the 6 month subscription since it’s unlikely you’ll still be at a beginner/intermediate level after a year of regular study. YoyoChinese do still offer the lifetime option, which gives you full lifetime access to everything and all their future additions/updates:

Lifetime access (pay once) -> $299

Click here to see the current discounts available for Yoyo Chinese.

You can use the Coupon Code PERAPERA10 to get 10% off now.

Yoyo Chinese Review: Conclusion

We loved reviewing this product and are more than confident that Yoyo Chinese will help make you a better Chinese speaker from day one. YangYang’s expertise being a Chinese language instructor for the past 15 years is well-reflected in this product. We believe that the combination of lessons focusing on both Chinese grammar and Simplified Chinese characters will make you a very capable and adept Chinese speaker in a short period of time!

Michael

Michael has lived in Japan on and off for almost 10 years. He loves studying Japanese, and is currently working on going from N2 to N1 on the JLPT.

The 5 Best Apps for Learning Chinese

Josiah — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 10:54:24 +0000

A fully comprehensive course with a well developed app. Lessons are taught by a range of engaging native speakers.

Olly’s course is based upon his unique ‘storylearning’ methodology. His method is fun and effective.

A well-structured course with a linear syllabus, perfect for beginners due to it’s thorough explanations and detailed notes.

Learning Chinese is no easy task, and with an endless choice of apps on the market it’s hard to know where to start. Luckily for you, we’ve compiled this list of our 5 best apps for learning Chinese, based on our experience personally using them and testing them all out.

Each app has its own unique style – some are best for just learning the Chinese characters whilst others are just great all-round courses. Whichever app you choose to go for, bear in mind that everyone has their own preferences and specific learning styles when learning a language, so what works for us might not be your best fit.

So without further ado, let’s jump right into it! Coming in at number one on our list is our personal favorite – ChineseClass101.

1. ChineseClass101

Best Overall

ChineseClass101 is technically an online course, but their mobile app has everything you need to access their comprehensive library of lessons, and more! The instructors at ChineseClass101 teach you Chinese through a series of professionally-made video and audio lessons. What’s unique about ChineseClass101 is the fact that you are not limited to a set syllabus but can actually pick and choose your lesson ‘pathways, as they call them, to fully customise your own syllabus based upon your goals and interests.

It comfortably hits the number 1 spot on our list for one main reason – it covers everything. For a beginner or intermediate in Chinese, we feel it is the best option to keep you engaged and learning, providing you with an enormous array of useful content – up to date cultural information, a focus on listening skills (in addition to reading, writing etc.), and the use of authentic dialogues and videos from real native speakers.

Click here to read our in-depth review of ChineseClass101.

Pros

Cons

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Effectiveness:

User Experience:

 4/5

2. Olly Richards’ Chinese Conversations (Intermediate)

Most Effective

This one’s really only useful if you’re already at an intermediate level of Chinese, so if you’re just starting out it’s best to skip this one for the time being (but keep it in mind for later). We kept this option on our list because we just love the teaching methodology, making it one of the most effective techniques for rapidly improving your Chinese language skills.

Olly Richards is a well-acclaimed polyglot, having taught himself over 8 languages and developed a massive range of language courses, each one modelled on his own method he developed for learning languages – through stories. His intermediate conversation courses are a little different, and instead focus on authentic dialogues covering loads of useful topics.

However, the central methodology is the same – to immerse you in as much new language as possible. Only after spending plenty of time with the audio does he then give a comprehensive, line-by-line breakdown of the entire audio clip. You are sure to learn loads from this course, plus everything can be accessed on mobile or downloaded offline.

Note: 'Chinese Uncovered' for beginners will be released this year (2021) and will follow the popular story format as all the other 'uncovered' language courses.

Pros

Cons

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Effectiveness:

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 3/5

 5/5

 4/5

3. Yoyo Chinese

Most Comprehensive

Coming in at number 3 is Yoyo Chinese, a comprehensive video course that takes complete beginners right through to an intermediate level using a very effective and highly engaging teaching style, delivered by the founder (and course designer), Yangyang Chen.

The course is broken down into multiple sub-courses that each focus on a different skill – reading, writing and conversational skills. It’s ideal for anyone who easily gets overwhelmed since everything is explained in very easy to understand terms, using clever analogies and memory techniques that are suited to the native English speaker. In the custom-built app you’ll find flashcards, downloadable lesson notes, review quizzes and more – and better still, the first 45 lessons are free!

Click here to read our in-depth review of Yoyo Chinese.

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Cons

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Effectiveness:

User Experience:

 3/5

 4/5

 5/5

4. Duolingo

Best Budget Option

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, it’s unlikely you haven’t heard of duolingo, everyone’s favorite go-to option for language learning. Despite having it’s flaws, it’s still a great entry-level option for anyone starting Chinese, especially if you’re on a budget. The course is logically structured and gets harder as you progress through all the levels, covering everything from family to eating out.

The main benefit with duolingo is its ability to keep you engaged and motivated – it’s highly gamified. You’ll earn ingots and be able to spend them on bonus levels and all sorts of goodies, and the friendly old owl will be your personal cheerleader throughout every lesson.

Click here to read our in-depth review of Duolingo Chinese.

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Cons

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Effectiveness:

User Experience:

 5/5

 3/5

 5/5

5. FluentU

Most Immersive

We LOVE FluentU, it just had to make it onto our top 5 list. Whilst it’s not strictly a language course, there’s a ton of value to be had from it as a supplementary learning tool. You can think of FLuentU as youtube for language learning. You can binge watch your way through thousands of level-appropriate video clips that are nicely categorised into such things as movie trailers, music videos, vloggers, instructional videos, interviews etc. The interactive platform then gives you an instant translation when you hover your mouse over a word in the subtitles, and even tests you on your newly learnt vocabulary.

As mentioned, it shouldn’t be used as a primary learning source, but rather an additional extra to improve your listening skills and to boost your vocabulary. We love how the app automatically logs all the words you know or don’t know, and then gives you a nice indicator for each video to tell you how many words you already know and how difficult it’s likely to be, before you even begin the video.

Click here to read our in-depth review of FluentU.

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Effectiveness:

User Experience:

 3/5

 4/5

 5/5

Runners-up for Best Chinese App:

Our list wouldn’t be complete without at least giving these runners up a mention, which are still 100% worth checking out.

Rocket Chinese

Rocket Chinese is a very comprehensive language course which covers everything from writing to speaking. They’ve incorporated a handy voice-recognition software into the lesson dialogues which is a nice touch since many language programs are lacking when it comes to speaking. The lessons are primarily audio-based but come with plenty of supplementary notes and loads of memory based games and quizzes.

Rocket Chinese is a very comprehensive language course which covers everything from writing to speaking. They’ve incorporated a voice-recognition software into the lesson dialogues which is a nice touch since many language programs are lacking when it comes to speaking. The lessons are primarily audio-based but come with plenty of supplementary notes and loads of memory based games and quizzes.

Click here to read our in-depth review of Rocket Chinese.

Pros

Cons

Price:

Effectiveness:

User Experience:

 3/5

Skritter

All the other apps we’ve mentioned so far use quite generic methods for learning the Chinese characters. They work, but it’s certainly not the best way to learn. Chinese has thousands of characters, and memorising them all can be quite a challenge. This is where Skritter comes in. It’s a brilliant tailor-made tool for learning Chinese characters that utilises research-based methods such as active recall and spaced repetition to create a very effective learning tool.

There’s no other app that has such a smooth on-screen handwriting tool, and the way it curates purpose-made example sentences for each character is a huge bonus – one that really enhances your ability to retain the new information. Skritter is for learning characters only and doesn’t provide anything on grammar, conversation or reading.

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Effectiveness:

User Experience:

 3/5

 5/5

Pimsleur Chinese

Pimsleur has been around for a long time, but it’s effectiveness still endures. It gets you using useful phrases from the very beginning through a structured syllabus of 30 minute audio lessons. It’s immersive so don’t expect to see any grammar explanations or much English being spoken. Instead, you are first introduced to a native speed conversation and then prompted to repeat each phrase, each sound being meticulously broken down to get you speaking with the right pronunciation. You can then participate in the dialogue when prompted.

Many students feel that their speaking and listening skills have massively improved since taking the Pimsleur Chinese course. It’s a great option for those looking to quickly get conversational before a trip to China, but not if you are looking to get a high level understanding of how the language actually works, or are looking to be able to read and write Chinese.

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Effectiveness:

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 2/5

 4/5

italki

Last on our list is italki, an app we always recommend to students who need extra speaking practice. It’s perfect for connecting you with an affordable native tutor who can work around your schedule and adapt to your needs. It’s the perfect complementary app to use alongside a structured course or textbook.

Pros

Cons

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Effectiveness:

User Experience:

 4/5

Conclusion: The 5 Best Apps For Learning Chinese

So, there you have it. Overall, it really depends on what you are looking to improve to be honest. For a complete beginner looking for an all-encompassing course that’ll keep you engaged and progressing, we recommend checking out ChineseClass101. Likewise, Yoyo Chinese will give you everything you need, but with a more structured approach.

For those already with an upper-beginner/intermediate level of Chinese, check out Olly’s conversational course, and for a quick and easy way to achieve a basic conversational level, we recommend Pimsleur. Unsure which to start with? Give Duolingo a try. Bonus points go to FluentU (awesome for vocab) and Skritter (for learning Characters).

We hope this list helps you decide which Chinese-learning apps are right for you, and we wish you the best of luck along your language learning journey! 再见! (zài jiàn)!

Josiah

Josiah is a digital nomad with a passion for language learning and adventure travel. He’s taught English as a foreign language for many years and is currently learning Georgian, French and Chinese.

Rocket Chinese Review

Editorial Team — Mon, 14 Dec 2020 09:38:07 +0000

Note: The Rocket Chinese program received some major updates in the fall of 2020 for the 2021 Version. We’ve updated our Rocket Chinese review below to reflect the changes.

With more people speaking Chinese more than any other language, brushing up on your Chinese language skills is a great way to get ahead in a fast-paced globalized world. Among the different Chinese varieties, which are mutually unintelligible to each variety’s speaker, are Mandarin, Wu, Min, Gan, Hakka, Xiang and Cantonese.

However, learning to speak Chinese can be a challenging undertaking for anyone to pursue. If you are considering trying to learn this language, you may be wondering what’s the best way to do so. Rocket Chinese is a great option to consider for your language studies – a comprehensive course with over 366 hours of structured lessons, teaching you everything from grammar to Hanzi, the Chinese writing system.

But is Rocket Chinese really worth your time and money? How does it compare to other Chinese language programs? Read on to find out in our honest Rocket Chinese Review.

Already made up your mind and looking to start your free trial account?

Rocket Chinese Review: Summary

Name: Rocket Chinese

URL: www.rocketlanguages.com/chinese/premium

Operating System: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS

Currency: USD

Price: One-time payment of $149.95 for Level 1 — Beginner to Intermediate; $299.90 for Levels 1 & 2 — Beginner to Advanced; $449.85 for Levels 1, 2 & 3 — Beginner to Advanced. However, you can get from $50 to $190 off these prices with special coupon codes. A payment plan is now available for the entire lesson series — Beginner to Advanced — for just $47 a month for six months.

Description: Rocket Chinese offers a comprehensive course to help you reach your language-learning goals, promising to cut your learning time in half by using their dedicated learning platform. It offers a well-balanced learning system which covers a variety of individual learning styles.

In a Nutshell: With lots of cool features like their game-like leaderboard system, points and study streak, it’s easy to stay motivated with Rocket Chinese. The updated version for 2021 takes into account customer feedback, and now includes lots of bonus features and new content that is both modern and relevant to daily life in China. Though costly, it’s now one of the better Chinese language programs on the market.

Quality:

Quantity:

Effectiveness:

Practicality:

Price:

 4/5

 5/5

 3.5/5

 4/5

 3.5/5

Overall Score: 4.0 / 5.0

 3.8/5

The Goods

Newest updates address customer concerns

Comprehensive - covers everything from writing to culture

Lots of prompting to practice what you learned

Interactive games and leaderboard helps keep you motivated

Course content is fully downloadable for offline learning

Free app with a membership

The Bads

Expensive

No activity in forums

Subject to some spam

Exercises can feel repetitive

Not enough focus on Chinese pronunciation

Voice recognition software is far from perfect

上 (Shàng) means 'up' in Chinese.

Rocket Chinese Review: Overview

If you’ve never heard of Rocket Languages, it’s an online-based language learning program that offers a true on-the-go learning experience for complete beginners.
The course is broken down into 3 main levels which can be bought individually, each one increasing in difficulty. Overall, there’s 23 modules (spread evenly amongst the levels) and a ‘survival kit’, containing many extra vocab lessons on useful topics ranging from catching a cab to socialising in China.

There are 3 main lesson types.

Unlike other programs, they don’t just focus on the pinyin (the romanization), but they actually introduce you to the Chinese characters from the very beginning. Rocket Chinese offers a number of ways to learn along with several learning tools and useful tips.

You can test yourself on the stroke order.

If you need a quick lesson for travel purposes, the syllabus is easy to navigate to find exactly what you’re looking for. Generally though, it’s recommended to go through the lessons in order since they build upon one another in a logical way.
A membership to Rocket Chinese comes with full access to:

audio lessons (containing authentic dialogues & downloadable MP3 file)

Language & culture lessons

Extensive memorization exercises including integrated flashcards

Your personal dashboard with tracked progress

leaderboard and points system

forums that allow you ask questions and connect with other students

There's loads of interesting cultural information.

The Pros: What We Like About Rocket Chinese

Pro #1: No Subscription - Flexible Payment Options

Unlike most language-learning programs, Rocket Chinese does not charge a monthly subscription fee. Instead, you pay a one-time fee for a lifetime account. This may sound quite committing, but it’s useful to know that they offer a very generous 60-day refund policy if you are not satisfied with the course.
Additionally, if you purchase all three levels, you can set up a monthly payment plan, so you don’t have to fork out the money all at once.

Pro #2: Comprehensive Lessons with Transcripts

Each audio lesson is taught by two instructors, and at least one is a native speaker. The dialogue is very engaging and useful to daily life, and is broken down line-by-line for you to practice. They encourage you to repeat what you hear and they even leave gaps in the audio for you to work on your pronunciation. Listening to the audio whilst reading along to the transcript is a brilliant way to improve your listening skills.

You can take on the role of Dave or Lin and actually participate in the dialogue.

Pro #3: Simple and Easy-To-Use Dashboard

The newly-revamped dashboard makes the program super-easy to use. Rocket Languages listened to customer complaints about being confused with the old dashboard and took it to heart. You now have a clean, updated dashboard to check your progress on the leaderboard, personal progress, change lessons, and access all learning tools.

Pro #4: Variety of Lesson Types

We like how they keep you engaged and interested by mixing up the lessons throughout the course. First, there’s the audio lessons, which get speaking straight away and up to speed on simple conversations. Next, the grammar is explained in depth in the language and culture lessons (as well as lots of fascinating cultural insights).

A typical grammar lesson.

Finally, you have the writing lessons which teach you the chinese characters through short videos and explanations. It seems that whenever you start to get bored in a lesson the next one focuses on a different skill or aspect of the language, keeping it all very fresh and engaging. You can also dip into the survival kit at any time to boost your Chinese vocabulary.

Pro #5: Immersive

The course immerses you in the language from the get-go, and by level 3 almost everything is in Chinese, giving you constant practice and exposure to new material. The lessons often contain many bonus vocab lists and exercises which go beyond the scope of the lesson, allowing you to further expand your knowledge if you wish to do so.

The Cons: What We Don’t Like About Rocket Chinese

Con #1: The Lessons Skip Around

By this, we mean that lessons do not always feel very linear and can jump from subject to subject. Instructors sometimes input their own jokes or take on the lesson that aren’t necessarily relevant at that particular time, and it can take away from the instruction and overall flow of the lesson. We’d like to see some more common themes or topics that tie everything together, rather than disjointed topics that are seemingly random.

Con #2: Exercises can be Repetitive

We get it, repetition is a big part of learning another language, but many of these exercises are exactly the same as others with just a few words changed up. This kind of repetition can get boring really quickly and make you less interested in pursuing your course.

Con #3: Heavily Based on Memorisation

The exercises place a huge emphasis on memorisation, through the use of flashcards, testing games, quizzes etc. Whilst I agree that this can be useful in learning vocab, it’s certainly not the only way to learn and it doesn’t suit everybody. We’d like to see more variety in the exercises that focus more on real world applications and creative methods for testing what you’ve learnt.

Constant memorization gets boring & exhausting after a while.

Con #4: No Focus on Chinese Reading

It seems that Rocket Japanese has all bases covered however when it comes to reading the program is seriously lacking. Reading is an essential component to learning Chinese and unfortunately you’ll have to find your own resources outside of the course.

Con #5: Not the Best for Advanced Speakers

If you already have a good base in Chinese, you will probably need to look elsewhere for more in-depth and advanced teaching. We think Rocket Chinese can be valuable mostly for beginning to low-intermediate learners, but there is simply less content for advanced speakers.

What are the Lessons Like?

The program mainly centres around audio lessons with accompanying transcripts. The transcripts allow you to follow along with what you hear. Written lessons give quite a bit of detail about certain aspects of Chinese such as when and how to use certain words, and some useful mnemonic and memory tricks to help you remember what you’ve learnt.

All the lessons follow pretty much the same basic format.

As we’ve briefly mentioned already, there’s also a variety of activities that accompany the lessons including Sort It!, Write It!, Hear It!/Say It!, flashcards and quizzes. These can help to practice what you’ve learned and give you some experience writing, listening and speaking. You can also keep up with your progress with regular quizzes.
Additionally, most lessons include a brief culture lesson to give you more insight into Chinese.

Did you know that China has 56 recognized ethnic groups?

Who Is Rocket Chinese For?

We feel that Rocket Chinese would be a best fit with those who:

Are motivated and dedicated to their language studies

Have time to practice daily

Are looking for a comprehensive, one-size-fits-all language program to teach them spoken Chinese

Have plans to live, work or study in China

Are looking to learn some basic phrases for travel or for fun

Enjoy independent studying and learning at their own pace

Who Is Rocket Chinese NOT For?

However, the course is not for everyone. Those who might not benefit from the program are those who:

struggle with self-motivation and would be better suited with a dedicated language tutor

prefer to learn through conversation with native speakers

are looking for reading material to immerse themselves more in chinese

are visual learners (this course focuses mostly on listening)

cannot afford the hefty one-time payment and would prefer a monthly subscription plan

Rocket Chinese vs. Competition

Rocket Chinese vs. ChineseClass101

ChineseClass101 is a part of Innovative Language’s Pod101 courses. Like Rocket Chinese, it provides an in-depth learning of the Chinese language including grammar essentials, cultural norms and Chinese characters. It also builds upon each level to increase your overall understanding with a guided, academic learning pathway. ChineseClass101 has three monthly subscription levels to choose from ranging in price from $8 to $47.
Read our full review of ChineseClass101 here.

Rocket Chinese vs. Pimsleur Chinese

Pimsleur Chinese is a language-learning program based upon organic learning. It consists mostly of audio lessons, which can be a drawback for learning Chinese characters, writing and reading. However, Pimsleur’s method is based on the idea that you learn another language the same way you learned your native language—by listening and repeating what you hear. There is a monthly subscription fee of $19.95 for premium service.

Rocket Chinese vs. Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone is one of the classics in language learning for good reason. You can either purchase a lifetime membership or pay a monthly subscription fee. Like Rocket Chinese, it offers a structured course to learn to speak the language. We found that most of the practice exercises are multiple choice, and this doesn’t give students as much leeway to learn variations of the language.

Is Rocket Chinese a Good Investment?

In a word, yes. With the latest updates for 2021, we have to say that Rocket Chinese is right up there with some of the most comprehensive language-learning programs. The price point is on par with other programs, and it is much cheaper than taking a college course in Chinese.

Try Rocket Chinese For Free

Rocket Chinese Pricing

There are several different options when it comes to pricing. You can buy each level individually or go for all 3 levels at once (the best value option).
Hint: Use the discount code ‘EARLYBIRD’ to get a hefty discount on your order:

Level 2 and level 3 are also available to purchase individually. The one time payment plan gives you lifetime access to all the tools, content and future updates.
Prefer to pay in installments? You can get all 3 levels on a subscription plan by paying $44 every month for 6 months. You can cancel at any time.
And finally, they offer a 60-day returns policy if you are not satisfied with the course.

Rocket Chinese Review: Conclusion

We really like that Rocket Chinese listened to customer feedback to improve their platform. With that being said, it still has it’s issues and can feel old-fashioned in it’s teaching methodology. However, without a doubt, it’s still a very effective way to learn Chinese. The platform is easy-to-use and provides an in-depth way to learn to read, write and speak Mandarin Chinese.
The serious student should have no problem achieving a decent level of fluency by completing all three levels. Since there is no recurring monthly fee, students can take their time to complete the course and study on a flexible schedule.

Sign Up For A FREE Trial of Rocket Chinese

Editorial Team
Our Editorial Team is a group of language learning enthusiasts who are passionate about testing new apps and finding the best ways to learn a language.

Duolingo Chinese Review

Editorial Team — Thu, 17 Sep 2020 02:58:48 +0000

Editor’s note: This Duolingo Chinese Review is up to date as of June 13th, 2021.

If you’ve ever started studying a second language before then you’ve probably already heard of Duolingo. It’s currently one of the most popular language-learning apps on the market, offering dozens of different languages to learners all over the world. Therefore, it is of no surprise that they now offer the most widely-spoken language in the world – Chinese.

0

Chinese Speakers Worldwide (Approx.)

However, is Duolingo Chinese really the best way to learn Chinese? Check out our in-depth Duolingo Chinese Review to find out.

Duolingo Chinese is available both on desktop and smartphone app.

Duolingo Chinese Review: Summary

Name: Duolingo Chinese
URL: www.duolingo.com/course/zh/en/Learn-Chinese
Operating System: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS
Currency: USD

Price: Basic version is free. Duolingo Plus has a 14 day free trial and costs $6.99/month thereafter.
Description: Duolingo is a gamified language program featuring a slick and attractive user interface, with over 120 million users around the world. Alongside Mandarin Chinese, they also offer 19 other languages including German, French, Dutch and Japanese.

In a nutshell: You are guided along a linear syllabus that’s broken down into units and subsequent chapters. Each chapter focuses on a different topic such as ‘greetings’ or ‘family’. You complete each level by answering a series of quizzes, winning gems, unlocking new levels and by trying to avoid losing too many hearts.

Quality of Learning Materials:

Quantity of Lessons:
Effective and Efficient:
Teaches Useful Phrases:
Price:

 3/5

 4/5

 2/5

 3/5

 5/5

Overall Score: 3.4 / 5.0

 3.4/5

The Goods

Topics are useful, varied and relevant to daily life

The lessons follow a logical order and gradually become more difficult

The interface is very simple and easy to use

Chinese characters are taught from the very beginning

Big emphasis on maintaining a learning streak and staying motivated

The Bads

The lessons don’t focus enough on the meaning of the words/characters

The questions can become repetitive

The hearts feature discourages you from making mistakes and can stunt your learning

No focus on grammar, tones or pronunciation

Duolingo Chinese Review: Overview

Duolingo Chinese promises to get you speaking fluent Chinese — tones included — in no time at all. They proudly boast on their website that their learning methodology is the ‘best way to learn a language’. Some might argue otherwise.
The program has a game-like set up which makes you want to keep learning Chinese to unlock more levels and gain achievements/badges. You collect blue gems by completing each level that you can then spend in the Duolingo store on items like outfits and extra lives for your game.
The chapters teach you to match the pinyin to the Chinese characters while introducing new vocabulary. Unless you already have some Chinese background, knowing what the Chinese characters actually mean is pretty much a guessing game.

Each lesson has a combination of guessing the missing word, matching words and characters, or matching sounds and characters. Eventually, you will move on to building your own sentences by listening to the audio and selecting the correct words in order. A few other features you will find with Duolingo Chinese include:

Compete against other learners with leaderboards (only available once you’ve completed 6 lessons)

Follow/be followed by friends and compare your progress alongside them

Daily progress goals & notifications

Discussion board with other Duolingo users (desktop version only)

Schedule of Chinese events

Online dictionary (desktop version only)

Duolingo Chinese: PROS

Whilst there is a lot to improve, there are some things that Duolingo does very well. Let’s dive into some of the things we really liked about the program.

Pro #1: Fun and Motivating

Duolingo Chinese really excels in terms of motivating learners to continue studying the language. As you complete each level you win gems that you can use in the store for extra lives, more points, and other game-related items. You are awarded for completed levels and for completing your daily set time limit. Overall, you feel lots of little motivated nudges, even the satisfying ‘ding’ of getting an answer correct is enough to get the dopamine flowing.

One thing we liked is that they really push the learning ‘streak’ by sending you notifications, allowing you to make wagers for additional gems or even being included in exclusive groups once you’ve achieved a specific streak duration. This way you can really make learning a habit and progress through the levels quickly.

Pro #2: Chinese Characters are Introduced Early

You will find yourself learning the Chinese characters early on, which is different from programs that begin solely with pinyin. It is helpful to learn characters early, so you are prepared when they are used in more advanced levels.

Pro #3: Extensive Vocabulary

Duolingo Chinese has you learning vocabulary from the very beginning. At times, you will probably be guessing at what some of the words mean until you memorize them. However, we think that the sheer amount of vocabulary taught is definitely a pro.

Pro #4: Relevant & Interesting Topics

The content is modern and relevant to daily life in China, teaching you phrases that you are very likely to actually use if you move to China for travel or work. It starts off with very simple topics like basic greetings, numbers, foods etc. and gradually increases in difficulty until you are learning about sports, weather, feelings and festivals. Grammar is dropped in here and there with some topics dedicated to only the future tense, for example, and there are also some lessons that focus more on business Chinese or even Chinese slang which is nice to see.

Pro #5: Focus On Weakest Words

The app tracks which questions you made mistakes and will then test you on those words/phrases again more frequently. A pretty smart feature – it allows you to practice those words you are weakest on and ensures you don’t spend too much time on the stuff you know already. Note, the paid version gives you the bonus option to take a lesson that’s personalised to your mistakes, so you can review all the times you got something wrong.

Duolingo Chinese: CONS

However, Duolingo Chinese is far from perfect. As much as we enjoyed playing with the app, we couldn’t help notice some pretty big flaws that really pull it down from being the complete Chinese learning app that it’s hyped up to be.

Con #1: Little-to-No Emphasis on Tone or Pronunciation

The two most important keys of learning to speak Chinese are the pronunciation and tones. Unfortunately, you will find little information on tones and even less on pronunciation, and the information on tones is foggy at best. Students may assume pinyin is pronounced the same as English, but this is not the case.
However, there is no way to know this if you’re brand new to Chinese. Dedicated lessons on Chinese tones is really a must for most learners who are starting out, especially for those with English as their first language. Otherwise you can expect to get very confused and struggle to distinguish between the different vocabulary.

Con #2: Lack of Flexibility in Giving Answers

When constructing your own sentences, Duolingo only offers one correct response. For example, you may translate a sentence to say ‘Please, speak slower’ and the correct answer for Duolingo is ‘Please, speak more slowly’. Though both are correct, your answer is still considered wrong and can prohibit your advancement.

Con #3: No Grammar Lessons

There is very little in the way of grammar. For the most part, you are filling in blanks, matching words to characters, and translating what you hear to English. Though this can provide you with some useful phrases, it will not help you to become fluent. To learn Chinese, you really need to get a good grasp of the grammar principles, so for this reason Duolingo alone will not help you (especially at the higher levels).
Though the desktop version does have some background information on grammar we still found it to be quite basic without any in-depth explanations. You are normally only provided with an example or two and expected to figure out the rules yourself. This can be very slow and frustrating when trying to learn a new language.

Con #4: Unhealthy Pressure NOT To Make A Mistake

Whilst I agree that the gamification of the app is a great benefit, helping you to stay engaged and motivated, we really didn’t like the way the hearts effectively discourage you from making a mistake. When learning a new language it is essential that you get comfortable with trying out new words and sentence structures, and making many mistakes – this is how you learn. However, during the Duolingo lessons you have only as many hearts to make mistakes. Once you’re out of hearts you have to wait a few hours to continue – a pointless and even harmful exercise in our opinion.

Con #5: Choppy Audio, Poor Translations

The app is clearly created for a mass audience and thus the questions are automatically generated with automatic translations. For this reason the audio is very choppy and inauthentic when listening to full phrases, and some of the translations are even just incorrect. It seems they haven’t been checked by native speakers and all sorts of inaccuracies have been allowed to creep in as a result of the way the app has been programmed.

Duolingo Chinese Features

Interface

The Duolingo Chinese interface is simple and easy to use. You can easily find your way around Duolingo and back to your lessons. We like that it has a colorful and fun background with the owl character, too. It is a far cry from other, drier language-learning platforms.

Chinese Events

Under the More tab you will find a variety of extra learning tools. We particularly like the section on Chinese events. This will give you a calendar of upcoming or recurring events where Chinese is spoken like with a news program. This offers additional ways to hear and practice speaking Chinese outside of Duolingo’s game.

Community Discussion

The discussion board on the desktop version is an excellent resource to connect with others learning to speak Chinese like you. Advanced learners can share information with those just starting out, or students can share information on upcoming events that would benefit learning Chinese.

Rewards System

As mentioned, Duolingo’s rewards are available once you’ve completed lessons, logged on for multiple days in a row or leveled up. Though these rewards can enhance the fun of learning to speak Chinese and encourage you to use the app more, we don’t find them to be an exceptional way to improve your language skills.

Who Would Benefit from Using Duolingo Chinese?

We feel that most people would enjoy using Duolingo Chinese as a game, but those who would most benefit from it include those who:

are supplementing another course with Duolingo

want to learn some quick vocabulary words or phrases for travel

enjoy the game aspect of Duolingo

are interested in only dipping their toes into the language

Who Would NOT Benefit from Using Duolingo Chinese?

Language-learning programs are definitely not one-size-fits-all, so those who may not benefit from Duolingo Chinese include those who:

want to become fluent in Chinese

have little extra time

prefer in-depth study into Chinese values and culture

Duolingo Chinese vs Competition

Duolingo Chinese vs. ChineseClass101

ChineseClass101 by Innovative Languages has a free lifetime subscription option that gives you the first three video or podcast lessons in each learning pathway. This equals well over 50 Chinese lessons. It offers four expertise levels from absolute beginner to advanced speaker.
You can upgrade to a monthly subscription plan from $4 to $43 a month. These plans offer additional features like access to the entire lesson library, one-on-one instruction, and personalized learning plans. You will find both grammatical and cultural lessons included with speaking and pronunciation.

Duolingo Chinese vs. italki

italki is a platform where you can choose who teaches you to speak Chinese. You simply look through teachers and their reviews and schedule an appointment for your video chat. You only pay for the lessons you take and you can schedule the lessons for a time that suits you.
This offers a unique way to have one-on-one instruction in Chinese. Your teacher can give you assignments like reading or translation practice and you get real-time corrections. You can also make connections in chat groups for further practice.

Duolingo Chinese vs Rocket Chinese

Rocket Chinese claims to offer the most extensive Chinese-learning program. You can try it out with some free lessons which will cover simple travel information, describing your clothes, and counting to 100. If you choose to stick with Rocket Chinese, you pay a one-time fee for one, two or all three lessons.
The first and second lessons are designed to take you from beginner to intermediate speaker, and the third lesson will take you all the way to advanced speaker. We like that this course offers a one-time fee and no monthly subscription prices to worry about.

Duolingo Chinese Cost

The best part about Duolingo Chinese is that it is free to use all of its features. Additionally, you can sign up for Duolingo Plus for $6.99 per month to eliminate advertisements, have a free “streak repair” each month, and to help support Duolingo’s mission of free education. They claim that users of Duolingo Plus are also four times more likely to complete the entire course.

Duolingo Chinese Review: Summary

Duolingo Chinese definitely has other language-learning programs cornered when it comes to the motivation factor. It offers a fun and simple way to get your learning in each and every day. Having said that, we do not feel like Duolingo Chinese is the best resource for those who are aiming to speak fluently. It is best used as an introductory resource at best, or as a supplemental resource paired with a more in-depth program covering Chinese grammar, culture and tones.
Overall, while it doesn’t do any harm to have a play around with Duolingo’s Chinese course, we’d recommend avoiding it to be completely honest. Yes it’s free, but you’re likely to leave more confused than when you first started with it’s unnatural voices and lack of logical explanations.
And since the layout of every lesson doesn’t change, we found ourselves getting very used to how to answer each question and get around it’s marking criteria, thus fulfilling the requirements for lengthening that learning streak, but leaving the lessons without actually remembering what we just learnt.
Whilst the paid version does alleviate some of it’s problems (like unlimited mistakes) we recommend investing your money into a much more comprehensive dedicated Chinese language program such as ChineseClass101.
Check out our ChineseClass101 review here.

Editorial Team
Our Editorial Team is a group of language learning enthusiasts who are passionate about testing new apps and finding the best ways to learn a language.

Yoyo Chinese Discount Code

Michael — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 05:07:33 +0000

So you’ve decided to learn Chinese with Yoyo Chinese — good choice. It’s the language of roughly one fifth the world’s population, so it should come in handy! Here is our Discount Code to get you an extra 15% off Yoyo Chinese!

Haven’t decided yet? Read our review of Yoyo Chinese here.

Yoyo Chinese Discount: 10% Off Coupon Code

How to get 10% off the Yoyo Chinese:

1. Click the button below. It will open the Yoyo Chinese sales page in a new window:

10% Off Yoyo Chinese (Verified)

2. Choose which courses you want. (Check out our review of Yoyo Chinese to help you decide)

3. Then, at checkout, enter this code in the box that says “Coupon Code”:

perapera10

After that, the discount will be automatically added to your purchase.

Thanks for using our discount code and good luck with learning Chinese!

Michael

Michael has lived in Japan on and off for almost 10 years. He loves studying Japanese, and is currently working on going from N2 to N1 on the JLPT.

ChineseClass101 Coupon Code

Editorial Team — Fri, 01 May 2020 07:14:32 +0000

NOTE: These ChineseClass101 Coupon Codes have been verified to work as of February 17th, 2022.

Chinese is often considered one of the most difficult languages to learn. But that doesn’t mean you should give up!

Whether you are in the midst of learning to speak Chinese or just starting out, ChineseClass101 can help you reach your goals in no time. If you’re not familiar with the program, check out our review of ChineseClass101 by Innovative Languages here.

Otherwise, read on for the promo codes.

77% Off Chinese Class 101 Lifetime Promotion!

We’ve found a huge 60-77% Off Promotion for ChineseClass101. This is not advertised, but we discovered the 77% off lifetime membership page. Click the button to see the details:

77% Off ChineseClass101Lifetime Membership Promo

ChineseClass101 Coupon Code 2022

Activate your ChineseClass101 lifetime account with this discount code now to save up to $165 off a two-year subscription plan. The discount will automatically be applied, and you can immediately start learning from one of the top language programs out there.

Use this link to sign up with the discount added automatically:

30% Off Any Regular MembershipChinese Class 101 Lifetime 30% Off

Current ChineseClass101 students can take advantage of this offer, too. Read on to learn how to activate this discount within your account.

How to Use the ChineseClass101 Coupon Code

New ChineseClass101 Users

Getting hooked up with your discount for ChineseClass101 has never been easier. Follow these simple steps to start your journey.

1. Click Here for your ChineseClass101 Discount Code.

You will immediately be directed to the ChineseClass101 site to choose your plan. Please note that the 30% discount has already been applied to the listed prices.

2. Choose your Plan

Determine which subscription plan will best suit your needs between Basic, Premium or Premium PLUS. Each plan will be discussed in detail later in this article.

3. Enter Payment Information

Next, enter your billing address and payment information. For your convenience, accepted forms of payment include Visa, MasterCard, American Express and PayPal.

4. Choose your Subscription Length

Choose the term of your subscription from the drop-down menu. You can choose from as little as one month to 24 months. Keep in mind that the monthly rate drops significantly the longer your subscription term. In addition to your 30% discount, this can save extra money over the long term when you opt for a lengthier subscription.

5. Verify your Account

Finally, you will be asked to enter your email address and verify your account. After doing so in your email, you can begin your comprehensive learning program from ChineseClass101.

Existing ChineseClass101 Users

If you’ve already begun your studies of the Chinese language and culture, you can take advantage of this deal, too. Follow the steps below in order to activate your 30% discount.

1. Log into your ChineseClass101 account.

2. After logging in, return to this page and click on our discount code link.

ChineseClass101 Discount CodeGet Up To $165 Off

3. At this point, you will be asked to choose a subscription plan. If you have been interested in upgrading to the Premium or Premium PLUS subscriptions, now is an excellent time to take advantage of the extra features available.

4. Update or verify your billing address and payment information and choose your subscription length. Please note that the longer your subscription term, the greater the overall discount.

5. Click “complete” at the bottom of your screen and continue enjoying ChineseClass101 as you were or with your newly upgraded features.

Does the ChineseClass101 Discount Code Work Everywhere

Yes. The 30% discount code is available anywhere you can access the internet. One of the top language learning programs, ChineseClass101 is available in most areas around the world — so long as you have wifi! Learning-on-the-go has never been more accurate or simple.

Should you Choose Basic, Premium or Premium PLUS?

Basic

The Basic subscription offers complete access to video and podcast lessons over laptop, desktop, iPhone, Android and tablets. You can even download PDFs to print and review at a later time. New lessons are added weekly.

Opt for the Basic subscription if you:

are on a tight budget

want to learn important phrases and words for upcoming travel

want to give the Chinese language a “try” before diving deeper

Premium

The Premium subscription includes everything the Basic offers plus daily lessons, thousands of word and phrase lists, HD video, voice-recording, flashcards and quizzes.

Opt for the Premium plan if you:

would like to have more learning tools at your fingertips

plan to become fluent in Chinese

want to be regularly quizzed on your knowledge

want to talk with Chinese friends or family

want to understand Chinese movies, music and culture

Premium PLUS

The Premium PLUS subscription unlocks all ChineseClass101 has to offer and is the best way to immerse yourself into learning. It offers everything the Premium plan offers plus one-on-one instruction, ongoing assessments and personal learning plans.

Opt for Premium PLUS if you:

prefer one-on-one instruction with a dedicated language tutor

want a personalized learning plan to suit your needs

would like to know where you stand with regular assessments & quizzes

Tips to Get the Most out of your Subscription

We are so glad you chose ChineseClass101, and we’re certain you will find learning to speak Chinese very rewarding. Whether you are a newbie or a current subscriber, the following tips can help you make the most out of your subscription.

1. Set aside time every day to study (at least 30 mins each day).
2. Opt-in for the ‘Word of the Day’ emails and Daily lessons.
3. Use downtime in waiting rooms or sitting in traffic to listen to the podcast lessons.
4. Print out lesson notes to read when you cannot access the internet.
5. Use all the different learning tools to mix things up a little.
6. Use your dashboard to keep track of your progress.
7. Seek out other students who are learning to speak Chinese.
8. Ask your teacher lots of questions — for Premium PLUS members only.
9. Share this discount code with friends, so you can learn together:

ChineseClass101 CouponGet Up To $165 Off

Editorial Team

Our Editorial Team is a group of language learning enthusiasts who are passionate about testing new apps and finding the best ways to learn a language.

ChineseClass101 Lifetime Premium Account

Editorial Team — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 04:53:55 +0000

If you have been considering learning to speak Chinese using ChineseClass101, now is a great time to start. This little-advertised Premium Lifetime Membership is now available to everyone and has the potential to save you up to 60% or even more over the duration of your subscription.
How to get a ChineseClass101 Lifetime Premium Account
Getting started on your lifetime Premium account is as easy as clicking the link below. As soon as you sign up, you will have immediate access to all of the ChineseClass101 Premium subscription features, including daily lessons, thousands of key words and phrases, and access on desktop, iOS and Android devices.

ChineseClass101 Lifetime Account

Cost of a ChineseClass101 Lifetime Premium Account
The cost for a ChineseClass101 Lifetime Premium account is $599. This one-time payment can save serious Chinese learners hundreds of dollars over the course of their studies. It also allows you to complete the courses at your own pace without feeling like you are wasting money if there are days or even months in which you cannot study.
Get a Lifetime Account for 1, 3 or the complete set of ALL 34 Languages
If you are undecided about which language is right for you or you plan to learn multiple languages over the coming years, you can take advantage of the three language lifetime Premium account option for $999. Or, maybe you could benefit from learning a little about multiple languages for business or travel reasons. There is also a $1,499 one-time payment for a lifetime subscription to all 34 languages offered by Innovative Languages. Some of the languages offered include Urdu, Indonesian, Thai, French and Dutch. These memberships give you the freedom of learning what you need or want to learn when you want to learn it.

ChineseClass101 Lifetime Account

ChineseClass101 Lifetime Premium Account Discount
Unfortunately, you will not find additional discounts for ChineseClass101’s Lifetime Premium memberships. However, some simple calculations can show you just how much money you will save by opting for a lifetime membership over monthly subscriptions. For example, should you choose to learn three different languages with the Premium monthly subscription at $25 per month, one year’s subscription at the regular price would cost you $900. For under $100 more, you can have those three language subscriptions for life.
Conclusion
ChineseClass101 is one of the most comprehensive programs available for learning to speak Chinese. For those who are seriously committed to learning and becoming fluent in this language, a lifetime Premium account could be the best way to save money long-term, while learning at your own pace.
If you’re not yet convinced to sign up for a lifetime Premium account, we recommend you try out our $1 month-long ChineseClass101 Premium trial. This will give you one month to utilize all the features available in the lifetime membership at a very minimal cost to you.

Editorial Team
Our Editorial Team is a group of language learning enthusiasts who are passionate about testing new apps and finding the best ways to learn a language.

ChineseClass101 Review

Editorial Team — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 15:05:22 +0000

Editor’s Note: This ChineseClass101 Review is up to date as of Feb 15th, 2022. Note that there are affiliate links in this post, but we ONLY recommend products that we have used and genuinely like!

With over 1.1 Billion fluent speakers, Mandarin Chinese is a no-brainer to learn for anybody with any sort of business and/or personal ties to Asia. The Chinese economy is also the second largest economy in the world behind the United States and is a manufacturing giant. There is a good chance that the phone you are reading this on and the clothes you are sitting in right now were made in China by Chinese workers speaking Chinese. It is for these reasons and many more that Chinese language skills are tantamount to success in all aspects of life, now and in the future.

Already made up your mind and looking for our unique discount code?

Click Here To Get 30% Off

jiāyóu! You can do it!

ChineseClass101 Review: Summary

Name: ChineseClass101
URL: www.chineseclass101.com
Operating System: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS
Currency: USD

Price: Varies based which monthly subscription you choose (Basic, Premium or Premium PLUS).
Operating System: Web Browser and Mobile App for Android and iOS Application Category: Language Learning Software Description: ChineseClass101 is a language learning program that teaches Mandarin Chinese Language through dynamic video and audio instruction.

In a nutshell: This is quite possibly the most comprehensive Chinese language learning program available today. With the exception of classroom instruction, this program provides beginner and intermediate students with all the tools they will need to effectively learn both spoken and written Chinese. We highly recommend this product and encourage you to check out our full review below.

Quality of Learning Materials:

Quantity of Lessons:

Effective and Efficient:

Teaches Useful Chinese:

Price:

 4/5

 5/5

 4/5

 4/5

 4/5

Overall Score: 4.2

 4.2/5

The Goods

The quality of lessons continues to improve with each new batch of releases

Easily accessible on any device

Loads of interactive tools and extra learning features

Topics are incredibly diverse and interesting, relevant to todays culture.

The Bads

Lessons are long and can be tedious at times

The platform can feel discorganised and the lesson structure a bit random

Does not provide effective instruction on Chinese Characters

You can filter through an extensive library of lessons, selecting & customizing your own syllabus.

ChineseClass101 Review Overview

ChineseClass101 (formerly ChinesePod101) is a well-designed and comprehensive language learning program. The creators have rooted their learning philosophy in a dynamic fusion of auditory and visual lessons, a learning style that works for many. With thousands of lessons to choose from amongst five skill levels, ChineseClass101 could keep you busy for years. Each lesson includes detailed supplementary information that can be downloaded as a PDF and studied at your leisure. New content is constantly being added in new formats that reflect current user study trends.

You add a lesson pathway to your dashboard simply by clicking 'Add To Dashboard'.

The Pros: What We Liked About ChineseClass101

When we tested the ChineseClass101 program, we were blown away by the presentation, the detail, and the effect it had on improving our Chinese quickly. Our team was already accustomed to the quality of language programs created by the Innovative Language team, and the Chinese edition exceeded our high expectations.

Pro #1: A LOT of Lessons Available

The ChineseClass101 philosophy of learning through immersion and context proves to be useful to many aspiring Chinese language learners. The lessons are intuitive, well thought out, and there are a ton of them. They currently offer an incredible 2425 lessons broken up over five study levels. Because the course is so comprehensive and includes hundreds of hours of content like this, you likely won’t need to buy any additional programs.

The level 1 official pathway alone has over 15 hours of content!

Pro #2: Focus on Real World Understanding

ChineseClass101 seeks to teach the language through real world scenarios that also includes information its application, the vocabulary and grammar. Each lesson provides thoughtful context to help the learner understand, as well as information regarding China’s cultural norms. We found the anecdotes and topics covered in the lesson conversations to be really interesting, which really helps keep you motivated and engaged in the learning process.

Ooo, yummy!

Pro #3: Extremely Thorough Lesson Plans

Each module of the ChineseClass101 program is based on a different theme, for example:
Chinese Holiday Words (10 lessons)
Perfect Conversation Guide for Chinese Life (25 lessons)
Top 25 Chinese Questions You Need to Know (25 lessons)
From the beginning to the bonus materials, lessons have been thoughtfully planned out by a multinational team of language experts, and it really shows. Audio and video lessons are thorough, easy to understand, and come with useful supplementary information that teach the dialogue in Simplified & Traditional Chinese, English, & Pinyin.
You’ll first be prompted to listen to the dialogue or watch the video, then read through the line-by-line transcript, listening again to the audio for each line as needed. You are then given a full list of all the new vocabulary along with audio clips and a record yourself feature (to compare yourself alongside the native speaker).
Finally, everything is summarised rather succinctly into downloadable lesson notes, covering all the grammar, explanations and cultural insgihts.

There's specific lessons to practice each language skill (e.g. listening).

The range of topics is really something unique. It doesn’t take much browsing to come across lessons that catch your interest. Ranging from daily routines to must-know slang phrases, there’s enough material to satisfy your appetite, allowing you to focus on the topics that really interest you.
Like it’s more popular sister site JapanesePod101, ChinesePod101 is based on the central concept of podcasts and video content. This makes it an exceptional tool for practicing your listening skills, which is so key to studying Chinese. By following the audio transcript line-by-line and utilising all the comprehensive study tools on offer, ChinesePod101 makes a very effective and invaluable learning tool to help you master this difficult language.

Pro #4: Brilliant for Building Your Chinese Vocabulary

One of the shortcomings of most traditional methods of learning chinese is that the methods rely too heavily on memorisation. Whilst this method may work for some, memorizing large sets of vocabulary out of context is a surefire way to leave you feeling demotivated and exhausted.
Unlike other learning platforms such as Duolingo, ChineseClass101 tackles this problem effectively by filtering in new vocabulary gradually into the video & audio lessons. This way you start to build up a clearer picture of how and when to use specific words in the correct context.

Listen, record yourself and compare alongside a native speaker.

Our brains are wired to remember stories and situations, and this is what makes this method of learning so effective since every new set of vocabulary comes with an accompanying story and memorable narrative. The speed function can then be adjusted for you to slow down and really nail the pronunciation of those new words. You can even record yourself and play it back if you’re brave enough! It really helps to dial in the tones and the specific sounds that don’t correspond to English.

The Cons: What We Didn't Like About ChineseClass101

Full disclosure: We loved this program, and we think it’s a fun and effective way to learn Chinese. But there’s two aspects of the language course that we unfortunately can’t quite advocate for – the teaching of the writing system & the seemingly messy structure to the whole program.

Con #1: Lack of high quality lessons on the Chinese Writing System

The audio and video lesson format can only go so far in teaching Simplified and Traditional Chinese. While the romanization is helpful to learn what Chinese words and phrases sound like and how they are spelled out, there is a lack of lessons teaching each component of the writing system.
To be fair, teaching the Chinese writing system is an incredibly difficult task. Most modern dictionaries contain over 20,000 individual characters and the language constitutes the oldest writing system on the planet. Chinese characters have served as the inspiration for the Japanese, Korean, & Vietnamese languages, and Chinese is quite commonly referred to as the world’s most difficult language to read and write. Overall, we’d like to see a bigger focus on the Chinese writing.

Con #2: Lack of Logical Teaching Structure

A common problem we’ve noticed across all the Pod101 products is a lack of structure to effectively guide you through the language in a logical and strategic manner.
The program’s greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. Whilst the customizable lessons do allow you to stay engaged by picking and choosing lessons based on your interests, you sacrifice a methodical roadmap that most traditional textbooks and learning resources rely upon heavily. Therefore, for serious learners it’s almost essential to purchase the PremiumPLUS package at a higher cost to avoid getting lost in a sea of lessons.
If you do go for this option, however, then you’ll have nothing to worry about since their personalized learning program is one of the best out there, tailored specifically to your specific goals, strengths and weaknesses.

What Are The Lessons Like?

As mentioned above, the lessons span between 5 different modules that represent different Chinese difficulty levels. The lessons tend to vary depending on the module, but they all share commonalities. First, the lessons are all structured similarly. They start with a video or audio component and include a lesson transcript below.
Each lesson has a vocabulary section that highlights new words. In the browser version, there are sections for you to take your own notes, create flash cards, and ask questions to the staff.

You can toggle on/off the pinyin, simplified or traditional characters.

One function that we really liked is that all of their lessons have a comment section and instructors will almost always reply to questions! This type of feedback is absent in nearly all of their competitors and is another reason why we like their products so much.
Another powerful learning tool is the ability to download the entire lesson plan as a PDF. This feature gives the user the ability to learn in their own style and pace.
To check out the lessons for free, you can either go here or listen to the ChineseClass101 podcast. Either will give you a good idea of the quality, and whether it fits your learning style.

Additional Features

The audio and video lessons are really the bread and butter of the platform. However, there’s some more really cool bonus features to really top it off.

2000 Most Common Words

First, there’s the 2000 most common words. I personally love this section. There’s actually 2540 words, to be exact, and you can narrow it down to the top 100, 200 etc. if you want to. What I love about this section is that you can filter the words by category. Are you currently learning about clothing? Just click on the drop-down tab, select ‘clothing’, and voila – you have the most commonly spoken words relating to clothing. Each word has an audio and pronunciation guide for you to mimic and get the pronunciation spot on.

The 2000 most commonly used words in Chinese.

For each vocabulary item, there’s also a corresponding image and one or two example sentences (to learn the words in context). Simply click the plus icon to add a word to your word bank or to one of your flashcard decks. To help you learn the Chinese characters, there’s a built feature which zooms in on the characters when you hover the mouse over them. The whole interface is very user friendly and quite fun to browse around whenever you have a bit of free time.

Chinese Key Phrases

The next feature worth mentioning is the key phrases section. This is pretty much what it says on the tin but one thing that sets it apart is that again we have several specific examples for each phrase, so you can get a good idea of what context the phrase is used in. I also like that you can toggle on or off the pinyin or chinese characters. For me, I’m still relying upon the pinyin but for more advanced learners this is a great way of testing yourself and getting used to recognising the chinese characters.
There’s also the option of traditional or simplified characters if you’re into that kind of thing… One more thing to note is that this section is very limited in content, though they claim to be always adding to it so you can expect more and more useful phrases to appear over time.

Chinese Dictionary

This is, well, a dictionary. But you can search in both English and Chinese, and each word has an accompanying audio sample at both full and half speed, which is very useful.

A very handy built-in tool.

Trackable Learning Progress

I use the term ‘trackable’ in a rather loose way because it really depends on which membership you go for. With the Premium membership you’ll get access to quizzes after every lesson and regular progress reviews.
However, with the basic membership you won’t have this ability, but what you can do is mark every lesson as complete once you’ve finished it and you’ll see how many you’ve completed at the top of your dashboard. Personally, this serves as a really good motivator for me, since I always want to complete an extra lesson to boost my score.

Lesson Notes

If you’re someone who likes to make notes to organise your thoughts, you can do so during the lesson. These will be saved for you to review whenever you want.

Flash Cards

For flashcards I usually use Anki or Pleco, however I can see how their integrated flashcard system can be really handy. What I really like is that there’s a whole load of pre-set flashcard decks on a whole range of interesting topics, from star wars day to bugs and insects.
Unlike other flashcard programs, the images are already pre-assigned, along with sample sentences and pronunciation guides. If you learn best with flashcards, then every functionality is in place for your personal flashcard paradise!

100s of pre-made vocab lists to explore.

ChineseClass101 vs. Competitors

As mentioned in our Japanese Pod 101 review, we believe Innovative Languages make some of the best language programs our there. That said, they are not the only good option out there.
We believe that an effective Chinese language instruction program should address three critical components of the Mandarin Chinese dialect. Those are:
Chinese Grammar
While some basic Chinese grammar mimics that of the english language (SVO, or Subject + Verb + Object), Chinese sentence structure tends to deviate significantly from other languages. It’s important that a language program highlights these considerable differences.
Chinese Tones
Tones and voice inflections have a huge impact on the meaning of words and even entire sentences. An effective language program needs to address the tonal/pronunciation aspect of Chinese speech correctly and effectively.
Chinese Characters
When your language requires between 2,000 – 3,000 individual characters just to read a newspaper, you know the the writing system is important. Chinese characters are difficult to learn, however any effective language program should address teaching them.
With these requirements, we can confidently recommend Yoyo Chinese, Rocket Chinese and FluentU: Chinese as paid competitors, and Duolingo as a totally free alternative.

A level 5 culture lesson taught at native speed in Chinese.

How Much Does It Cost? And Is It Worth The Money?

From my personal experience using ChineseClass101, it’s very apparent just how much thought the creators have put behind the whole platform. I was pleasantly surprised with the user interface and the whole layout of everything. It’s a breeze to navigate and hours can fly by as you jump around the different lessons and soak up all the new content.
Even offline you can download the lesson notes and word bank, and all the audio files are downloadable as MP3’s for you to listen to on the go (which is really awesome, given the sheer amount of diverse audio content being regularly added).
Despite there being many very worthy competitors to rival ChineseClass101, for the price it’s definitely a very valuable learning tool to boost your learning, specifically when it comes to improving your listening skills. It’s the perfect resource to use alongside a more structured textbook or teaching curriculum. For busy people, I can see how it’d be perfect to squeeze in some language learning on-the-go, on a lunch break, during a work commute, or simply to unwind after a long day.
ChineseClass101 has three tiers of membership; Basic, Premium & PremiumPLUS. Anybody considering paying for the paid tiers should first consider their level of commitment to learning Chinese.
Casual learners may consider the Basic plan, while those who want to learn Chinese quickly should consider Premium. The top tier (PremiumPLUS) is recommended for those who are able to make a serious time commitment in order to take advantage of the 1-on-1 instruction.

ChineseClass101 Discount Code

Since we like and use this program ourselves, we reached out to the course creators for a discount for our readers. They’re currently offering Perapera.org readers an incredible 30% off any purchase of ChineseClass101 Basic or Premium. That works out to only $2.80 per month for Basic and $7.00 for Premium; less than a trip to Starbucks. This is a great deal if you’re serious about learning Chinese and want to take your learning to the next level.
Here’s your 30% discount code for ChineseClass101.

ChineseClass101 Review Conclusion: Recommended, But You’ll Still Need A Chinese Textbook

Chinese is a very difficult language to learn, and no language learning program will be perfect. However, ChineseClass101 does a great job at providing a structured curriculum, while still offering flexibility to choose the way you study.
The 1-on-1 lessons in the PremiumPlus tier offer excellent value, and we believe would be a significant boost in learning Chinese. That said, we still recommend you supplement the course with a dedicated Chinese textbook to really learn the writing system.
All in all, we recommend ChineseClass101 for students of Chinese who are auditory/visual learners, from absolute beginner to intermediate.
Sign up for a free trial here, or use our code to get 30% off Basic or Premium.
Or, find the latest coupon code for ChineseClass101 here.

Click Here To Get 30% Off

Editorial Team
Our Editorial Team is a group of language learning enthusiasts who are passionate about testing new apps and finding the best ways to learn a language.

Learn in Your Car series currently available for free on Audible

Rohan — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 19:50:08 +0000

Learn in Your Car is a cool series that I’ve been meaning to do a review of for a while. There’s no time for that tonight (I just finished work and it’s almost 3am). However, the other day I noticed that the complete Learn in Your Car audio courses for both Chinese and Japanese are currently available for free with a 30 day Audible trial.

Over 10 hours of quality audio for nothing. That’s a pretty good deal if I ever saw one.

You can download the Learn in Your Car programs from below:

Learn in Your Car Japanese
Learn in Your Car Chinese

And yes, we are still working on the next plugin updates…watch this space!

Rohan

Rohan has spent years studying Japanese, Chinese and Korean, and currently lives in Japan. He created the perapera pop-up dictionary plugins to help other learners of Chinese and Japanese.

How to Buy Chinese eBooks for Kindle

Rohan — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 06:07:33 +0000

Updated June, 2019

Reading lots of of authentic content is a vital step on your way to fluency in Chinese. Luckily for us, it’s now possible to buy foreign language titles from the Kindle Store, including Chinese, making language acquisition much more convenient than ever before. In today’s post we will give you a short overview of how to go about downloading electronic books (ebooks) in Chinese language from your the Kindle Store.

What do I need?

All you need is a Kindle (any model since 2010) or another device that supports the Kindle Store such as an iPad, smartphone or an Android tablet. That together with an Amazon account is all that’s required.

How can I download Kindle books in Chinese?

Getting Chinese ebooks actually works in the same way as downloading Kindle books in English. You don’t need to live in China or Taiwan. Just access the Kindle store and find something you like! You can browse Chinese e-book titles here:

Click here to browse Chinese Kindle Books on Amazon.

Great Selection in 2019

When this article was originally written in 2015, there were only a little over 1,000 Chinese titles to choose from in the Kindle store. Currently (June 2019), there are more than 50,000 titles you can buy for your kindle. That is a massive increase of Chinese books available on Kindle. Another win for Chinese language learners!

Simplified or traditional?

Most of the books we looked at on the Kindle store were in simplified Chinese, with traditional Chinese occasionally available too. Frustratingly, Amazon don’t currently have an official way of distinguishing between the two typesets so you have to check the book description to be sure.

What genres are available?

You can find Chinese ebooks for a number of different genres, including fiction staples such as horror and romance, as well as self-development and business. There is even a selection of comics available in Chinese. As a caveat, I’m not a big manga fan so we have no idea if the comics are good or not.

With each passing year, technology is transforming the nature of language learning as we know it. We certainly live in exciting times. So what are you waiting for? Check out the Chinese section of the Kindle Store now!

Looking for more audio material in Chinese? Read our review of Chinese Class 101.

Do you have any ebook recommendations? Feel free to write them in the comments below!

Rohan

Rohan has spent years studying Japanese, Chinese and Korean, and currently lives in Japan. He created the perapera pop-up dictionary plugins to help other learners of Chinese and Japanese.