SpeeedyVocab is an intuitive Chinese language learning system that teaches Mandarin Chinese vocabulary without reinventing the wheel.  The course structure is based around HSK vocabulary (ranging from unleveled “Intro” through HSK level 5).  After finding your appropriate level via Speedy Vocab’s proficiency test, or simply choosing the level at which you would like to start learning, new words are introduced through digital flashcards and then reinforced through sentence building exercises and quizzes. The charm of Speedy Vocab is its simplicity and this becomes even more apparent as you visit the website.  The website is aesthetically pleasing, using soft colors and not overwhelming the user with clickable options.  This straight forward, almost compact feeling of the site (and the app) will persist throughout the entire user experience and really was very pleasant.  When starting a new Chinese regiment or even going on any website for the first time, I find it very easy to become overwhelmed and overlook part of the learning system.  This is not a risk for Speedy Vocab.

The content of Speedy Vocab is aimed at all levels of Chinese learner but can only be accessed in its full form through a membership.  While there is a free trial option, this only gives you access to 50 Chinese Characters and 50 Audio Playbacks.  To access the full extent of Speedy Vocab’s resources there are two options: the Monthly Plan and the Lifetime Plan.  The former costs $10 per month while the latter is a one time payment of $100.  Both options give you unlimited access to vocabulary words and audio files so it is up to the user to decide which plan is right for them.  I would highly recommend the Free Trial to all Chinese students as not only will this help you decide whether or not you would like to make that financial commitment, but also because it adds you to the Speedy Vocab email list. I have already receieved some useful tips about the site and it gives a nice sense of being a part of the Chinese language learning community.

The most notable part of Speedy Vocab is its interactive digital flashcard system.  When presented with a new set of vocabulary (ranging from 5 to 20 words at a time based on user preference), users are able to flip over cards and study them at their own pace, reshuffling and repeating until they feel comfortable with the words.  Audio clips of each word’s correct pronunciation is also included to enhance the process of vocabulary acquisition.

After the user feels comfortable with the vocabulary, they are able to test themselves via quizzes and sentence building exercises which are all based on the previously studied vocabulary.  The team at Speedy Vocab smartly attributes being able to put what you have learned into practice as the key to memorization, so they placed that as the final hurdle to prove a word has been “learnt.”  All sentences also come with audio guides to further improve listening and pronunciation skills.

Once you successfully complete a vocabulary set, the words are added to a “Total Words Learnt” total which when placed in comparison to the 3,196 words offered, allows you to keep track of your progress, as well as easily review.  There is also a timer available to track how long you have studied.

I would like to take this moment to reinterate that there is also a Speedy Vocab app available which gives you all of the same benefits as the website but from your phone or tablet.

This is where the simplicity of the website really shines.  The easy-to-use layout does not miss a step as a mobile app having no concessions in return for the conveninece.  Its cleanly designed interface was just as enjoyable to use on app as on the website.

The site was designed to serve as a “powerful addition” to your already existent language learning strategy or regiment.  The developers urge the users of Speedy Vocab to view the resource as supplementary rather than as a cure-all.  Overall, I think Speedy Vocab can offer some high-quality practice for not only general Chinese learning but also for focused HSK prep and the on-the-go option that the app gives makes it a force in the mobile language learning app market.

In closing, I was very pleased with the idea behind Speedy Vocab, not only in its modernizing of the flashcard system but in its HSK-based structure.  I feel that it allows Speedy Vocab to maximize both the practicality and the relevance of the vocabulary it introduces.  With cost as the only real drawback I would absolutely recommend the free trial as I thoroughly enjoyed all of my time with it.  In my opinion this is a great, albeit pricey, resource to your Mandarin studies but I leave it to you to assess its monetary value.

Note:

The app both on ios and android are officially launched now.  For those especially hesitant about the price, Speedy Vocab will be offering 50% off both monthly and lifetime subscriptions for the first two weeks post launch. Don`t miss the special offer!

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MandarinBean is a new English language website that attempts to “provide Mandarin Chinese learners with easy access to study materials that are high-quality, contextual …and definitely not boring!” At a glance the website is aesthetically pleasing, clearly labeling everything and sporting bright pictures on a clean white background.

The content, all of which is accessible for free, is grouped into three levels: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. The website conveniently labels each entry with a corresponding HSK level. Beginner is made up of content from HSK Levels 1 and 2, Intermediate from HSK Levels 3 and 4 content, and Advanced from HSK Levels 5 and 6 content. As expected, each higher level brings with it more advanced vocabulary, typically longer entries, and more complex subject matters.

In addition to categorizing by HSK level, MandarinBean also employs a tag system to further group the entries. The tags used include Business & Economics, Culture, Fun, History, Lifestyle, News, Story, and Travel. These tags allow you to sort by entry topic and help you to easily find and learn about the content you’re most interested in.

With a free membership, all entries can be viewed in either simplified or traditional characters (a single click allows you to easily switch between the two). A membership also provides you access to the site’s notes, translations, and Download Center which makes all entries downloadable as PDFs in both simplified and traditional characters. The notes typically come in the form of important vocabulary from the entry and also include a link to Quizlet, allowing you to practice these new words with digital flashcards.

An additional perk from a current membership is the ability to bookmark your favorite entries, making them easily accessible from your free profile.

To this point, this website probably sounds pretty standard but there is one characteristic that makes it stand out.

Every entry includes pinyin which can be hidden from view, an audiotrack recorded by a native speaker, and a popup dictionary for each word’s english meaning. The popup dictionary is reminiscent of Perapera and really serves to expedite the learning process. It is here where MandarinBean sets itself apart from many other similar sites. The convenience and thoroughness really impressed me and definitely warrants further use.

The site still appears to be in the preliminary stage of development so between the lack of options and the clear “free” label next to my profile, I would imagine there is more to come and the creators will eventually introduce buyable add-ons.

It is here where my largest critique of the site arises: it’s just too new. With it only being a few months old, there is not a huge amount of entries in total. The amount is impressive given the brevity of MandarinBean’s existence but I was able to read through all of the Advanced content (22 entries at the time of writing) in a few hours. Especially with the assistance of the popup dictionary making up for any of my vocabulary limitations.

While not a lot in aggregate, I was very pleased with the quality of the content – some of the more advanced entries being made up by news articles, blurbs, or even accounts originally in English translated into Chinese (one example being Elon Musk’s “Five Secrets of Success for the Young.”) Overall I quite enjoyed my time using MandarinBean and look forward to them amassing more content. In my opinion this is a great supplementary source to your Mandarin learning endeavors. With practical content, a simple layout, and thorough entries, this site is an abundance of convenient that, at least for the time being, is accessible in its entirety for free.

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When you first begin studying Chinese, if you are anything like me, it is easy to fall into the trap of viewing it as just another scholastic subject. You learn at what feels like an incredible pace in the beginning as you have no sense of scale for the language, progress through the textbook at a speed reminiscent of any other introductory course, and feel the instant gratification of learning some of your favorite phrases in a language that to you, still sounds like an assortment of random sounds and inflections. Even as someone who, prior to studying Chinese, was only familiar with Romance languages, I found learning the tonal system of pinyin and memorizing new vocabulary to be no more difficult than memorizing a mathematical formula or important economic principle; with a little bit of studying I could very easily ace a test or complete a homework assignment. Unfortunately for me, just as I did for those mathematical formulas or economic principles, I committed them only to short term memory and as soon as I no longer needed them, I discarded them completely.

To add to the circumstantial misfortune of my casual Chinese learning endeavors, I live in America. So, as you can imagine, my Chinese very rarely permeated into my everyday life. This meant that after evert semester of Chinese I “learned,” I had an astoundingly low retention rate. Every new semester meant relearning the same things I had not committed to long-term memory. I had trapped myself in a cycle of learning inefficiency perpetuated by my own inability to address my poor habits. With the lack of continuity to keep me honest, my corner-cutting went undiagnosed. Most people reading this would probably assume that I should have been able to quickly address and correct this issue, but unluckily for me I was academically thriving, even if inefficiently. High test scores gave me a false sense of comfort. How could I be testing so well if I didn’t know the material? If I kept getting A’s, how could my system be broken? It did not take until I went to China for me to realize not only how poorly I had spent my time studying Chinese in America, but also how ineffective collegiate testing was at judging my mastery, or lack thereof, over the language.

Below, I would like to offer some tips to help other serious Chinese scholars avoid falling into these traps. I urge anyone reading through these suggestions to take them as that—only suggestions—rather than as a recipe or to-do list. Everyone learns differently, and you must find what works for you. Who knows, though? Maybe you’ll find your own way to improve your progress, which will then help you pass your current plateau.

1. Chinese does not begin and end in the classroom.

Studying Chinese in a classroom for only a few hours a week will never get you to a point of comfortability with the language, let alone mastery. You must be active with your learning, and it must be an academic priority for you. Although it would be nice, you can’t accidentally learn Chinese, and passive learning will take considerably longer. Some things that I have found helpful to learn outside the classroom:

• Finding a language partner
• Making Chinese friends
• Joining Chinese organizations at your University
• Watching TV shows and movies in Chinese with English subtitles
• Watching TV shows geared toward children in Chinese without English subtitles
• Visiting China

2. Take textbook learning with a grain of salt.

Having used several different textbook series in my time studying Chinese, I can certainly not undersell the value of a good textbook. That being said, learning strictly from a textbook will leave you limited to the vocabulary and subjects covered in that textbook. Chinese is a very colloquial language, so textbooks are best supplemented with other resources: news articles, conversations with a Chinese native, films, etc. It wasn’t until I arrived in Shanghai that I realized the difference between classroom Chinese and practical Chinese. If I may give a short anecdote, one day in Shanghai I went to a restaurant with a friend. Our table had a shortage of napkins so I figured I would ask for more. Signaling to the waiter, it only took until the last syllable of 服务员(fúwùyuán) for me to realize I actually didn’t know the word for napkin. I could explain to the waiter the cultural significance of Chinese forbearance (“忍字头上一把刀”), but I had not learned the simple word for “napkin.” This is my long-winded way of saying, you don’t know what you don’t know until you come across one of the holes in your knowledge. Practicing in real scenarios is the best way to find these holes and plugging them. You’ll end up casting a wide net and accumulating as much vocabulary as possible, which is the best way to fill these holes.

3. If you are truly serious about Chinese, go to China.

This is easier said than done, but if you have the opportunity to study or even just visit China, then I highly recommend it. This most recent semester has completely changed the way I view the language, the culture, and my approach to learning. As I mentioned, in my own experience, the discontinuity in my learning Chinese coupled with the seeming irrelevance of the language in my everyday life made Chinese feel like any other subject. Retaining what I learned became difficult, and without a superior work-ethic (which many reading this may very well have), I completely lacked efficiency. In China, you become reliant on your language skills. The level of freedom you enjoy in the country (ability to get around, ask for things, etc.) is directly linked to your language skills. You have to use your Chinese every day and you will be amazed how quickly you pick up more practical Chinese. A close friend of mine has been studying Chinese for three fewer semesters than I have, but two of his three semesters were spent in China and I can confidently say that his Chinese is far superior to my own.

4. Don’t rely on tests and grades when you’re measuring linguistic proficiency.

That A in a 300-level language class isn’t worth too much if you can’t exchange basic thoughts with a native Chinese speaker, is it? You are only as good as you are capable of using the language in real life. Real world application of language is far more important than academic success if you want to obtain mastery. If you only do as well as your class requires you then you are setting a ceiling for yourself before you start. You should always strive for beyond that. Never stop learning.

5. Set your own goals.

This point can apply to any of the previous points, but it is so important I wanted to give it its own aside. Don’t feel as if you need to slow yourself to move at someone else’s pace. I got comfortable unconsciously doing the minimum amount of work needed to keep up with my class rather than taking advantage of my time and resources. Setting goals will not only give you a higher standard for yourself but also help you more easily identify your linguistic shortcomings. Be ambitious with your goals, and you’ll surely learn much faster.

I hope some of these tips were helpful! To reiterate my disclaimer in the beginning, these are my experiences alone. It is important to find what works for you, so trial and error is a natural part of the process. If even just one person can either relate to my experiences or avoid some of the same pitfalls I have encountered, then I am happy to have shared this article with others. Good luck and happy learning! 加油！

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