Discovering Chinese Pro 4+

Very user-friendly and comprehensive

I learned a little bit of Chinese before and I needed a software that would allow me to review what I learned. This software is very easy to use and it covers not only the semantic of Chinese language but also introduces the cultural points, which would be useful should one desires to visit China.

Some exercises are tailored to be practiced in group settings, so probably this app is more appropriate for a group of students (e.g. Those in college). The price could be cheaper though, in my opinion (esp. Because we have to pay every year) - and that's why I'm giving 4 stars instead of 5.

As of today, there are still some sections that need revisions (minor errors on materials), but I'm sure the program developer will fix it soon.

Overall, I would recommend this app.

Pretty good, but finals and unit tests are too hard

I have been using the app for two years and like it for day to day use. It is easy to do and submit homework, and it functions pretty well for this. My only complaint is that you cannot leave the app while working on a writing assignment then come back to it. Other than that, the daily function of the app is very good.

I have one major complaint about the discovering Chinese mandarin program. That is the final and unit test. These tests are nearly impossible to do well on. The speaking is way to fast and impossible to understand. The questions are based off of random details from the passage that you hope to randomly cath while listing to the rapid speaking. Also, the questions where you are asked to write in mandarin are very difficult, especially when you need to do that withing a very small timeframe before the next question. In order to be effective, the listing samples need to be slowed down. We should be tested on our understanding of the language, not picking random words out of an impossible to understand passage. The reading section is mostly fine, I just find it uncessacary to include vocabulary that we have not yet learned. This is testing us on things we aren't even expected to know, and seems totally pointless seeing that it has not been mentioned in the books. I wish the readings were closer based off of what we had learned most recently rather than a random chapter from some time in our years of mandarin learning, but this is a minor issue compared to the issue of the listening. Next, the writing is fine the way it is, but it can be difficult to study for as you do not know what it is about before the final. The only way to study for the final is reviewing everything that we have ever learned, which is not possible. I wish we were tested on the last few chapters we learned, rather than random things from our history of mandarin learning.

Developer Response ,

Thank you for your fondness for our product. The good news is that we now support "save" function where users don't need to finish the exercises in one sitting. In terms of your unit test concern, we are more than happy to discuss it with you and see how we can help. Free feel to leave us a message at usa@betterchinese.com.

Comprehensive and gets me to practice speaking

Discovering Chinese Pro is a great app for learning Chinese. It's very systematic and provides me multiple chances to practice reading, writing, speaking, and listening. It also teaches me pinyin which has enabled me to type my first email in Chinese!

The recording functionality is great in practicing your speaking skills. I still have to work on my pronunciation, but I'm learning so much. There's also an email function that let's me send my writing and speaking work to my Chinese friends to "correct." It's been a lot of fun. Hope I can get through all the lessons.