Du Chinese
Reddit take
Not enough linked mention summaries yet; the source excerpts below are the evidence.
Pros
- Du Chinese is suitable for beginners! You'll find plenty of easy to read stories adapted for you. Additionally, there is an option to show pinyin pronunciation above characters, and there are really good grammar points provided for lots...
- It's one of the many amazing stories in DuChinese.
- the only thing I can afford is Du Chinese (I asked nicely and they gave a good discount on the annual subscription) because it's one of the few graded readers with traditional characters version and even zhuyin.
- In my experience, Skritter is best combined with something like Du Chinese so you get to see the characters in context and get used to their pronunciation.
- DuChinese has been a huge help in learning to read in Chinese for me. I'd definitely recommend it!
Cons
- Parent context: The text, in combination with the functionality of the app, is their primary product. The images aren't. There's no reason to think that the text is AI generated, just because the text is. But even if the text is genera...
- This is the biggest doubt I have regarding paying for DuChinese, if the text turns out to be made by AI, then why the hell would I pay for it?
- In the past I tried DuChinese, but I stopped. Maybe it was the wrong level for me at the time.
- Frankly, the easily identifiable use of AI images is enough of a failure of judgment that trust should be immediately revoked. Clearly editing is not a priority.
- The downside is if you go that route you need to keep paying à subscription to use the system. There is an export feature you can use to get everything into Anki, but you’d be resetting all the cards to new so it’s kind of a hassle.
Sentiment
214 positive (84%) · 32 mixed (13%) · 9 negative (4%)
Trust + time weighted score: +82% · raw score 80%
What redditors said (10 of 255)
Du Chinese is suitable for beginners! You'll find plenty of easy to read stories adapted for you. Additionally, there is an option to show pinyin pronunciation above characters, and there are really good grammar points provided for lots of basic characters.
Parent context: The text, in combination with the functionality of the app, is their primary product. The images aren't. There's no reason to think that the text is AI generated, just because the text is. But even if the text is generated, it's presumably reviewed by qualified native Chinese people, so I fail to see the issue. Reply: I would not presume this. Native? Perhaps. Qualified? There are a lot of factors that go into the pedagogical quality of a graded reader that neither natives or AI just magically know, and most apps are allergic to hiring qualified teachers precisely because they know customers can't tell the difference between good and bad educational content
It's one of the many amazing stories in DuChinese.
the only thing I can afford is Du Chinese (I asked nicely and they gave a good discount on the annual subscription) because it's one of the few graded readers with traditional characters version and even zhuyin.
In my experience, Skritter is best combined with something like Du Chinese so you get to see the characters in context and get used to their pronunciation.
This is the biggest doubt I have regarding paying for DuChinese, if the text turns out to be made by AI, then why the hell would I pay for it?
DuChinese has been a huge help in learning to read in Chinese for me. I'd definitely recommend it!
If you want something entirely made by people (both the art and the content) I'd check out Lingo Deer or Du Chinese. They both make their own art, have people write the material and record actual native speakers instead of using AI voices.
A lot of beginner reading resources (eg graded readers in Pleco, DuChinese…) have audio too so you can listen while you read and it helps you learn to process text in the "correct rhythm".
Du Chinese I’d have started earlier after maybe finishing a first textbook. So a handful of textbooks (esp. audio) and Du Chinese until ~HSK5/6
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