Using zhongwen.com to learn chinese

gregcd · 07-21-2009, 10:52 PM

Hi all, this is an excellent site to learn chinese, as it describes the meanings of the shapes of the characters.

It's pretty compatible with the sony also - I batch downloaded the GIFs to memory stick, then set "Slideshow" to 7 seconds.
Some of the GIFs are too tall for the 505's screen - the zoom option comes in handy here.

http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/ can batch download from most sites. Just put the url of the folder the images are in (eg http://www.zhongwen.com/d/168/ in the "Site Explorer" option.

LDBoblo · 07-21-2009, 11:30 PM

Yeah it's an alright site...I used it frequently as a simple dictionary when I started studying Chinese. The genealogies and explanations aren't particularly accurate, but they're a nice easy way to learn various radicals for many of the more basic characters.

However, for language learning, I think ebook readers are a bit too limited to be highly valuable tools, unless you're gonna use them for random flashcard-style learning (something I never really took to, though I know many students do). I bought the printed version of the 中文字譜 (zhongwen.com's content) which I felt was more useful overall than the site. A netbook or tablet with stardict or wenlin would be decent, though there are portable electronic dictionaries which are more ideal for language study and practice (if one wants to rely on technology, which I think is pretty silly).

Passive word memorization tactics like flash cards and vocabulary books requently lead students down a path of frustration when it comes to developing language function.

Without any kind of active sorting or navigation or user interaction, I [as a language teacher and linguist] question the usefulness of just downloading the images and slideshowing them. A good dictionary is superior in practically every way, and ebook readers are pretty awful at comprehensive dictionary functions thus far. Like using MS Paint and a mouse to learn calligraphy.

gregcd · 07-22-2009, 12:05 AM

A proper ebook version of the site would be awesome.
I have made a PDF version of CEDICT formatted for the 505 which you can download here!
Feedback is welcome.

07-21-2009, 10:52 PM	#1
gregcd Connoisseur Posts: 90 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: New Zealand Device: prs-t1, prs-650 to sell	Using zhongwen.com to learn chinese Hi all, this is an excellent site to learn chinese, as it describes the meanings of the shapes of the characters. It's pretty compatible with the sony also - I batch downloaded the GIFs to memory stick, then set "Slideshow" to 7 seconds. Some of the GIFs are too tall for the 505's screen - the zoom option comes in handy here. http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/ can batch download from most sites. Just put the url of the folder the images are in (eg http://www.zhongwen.com/d/168/ in the "Site Explorer" option.

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07-21-2009, 11:30 PM	#2
LDBoblo Wizard Posts: 1,385 Karma: 16056 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Asia Device: Kindle 3 WiFi, Sony PRS-505	Yeah it's an alright site...I used it frequently as a simple dictionary when I started studying Chinese. The genealogies and explanations aren't particularly accurate, but they're a nice easy way to learn various radicals for many of the more basic characters. However, for language learning, I think ebook readers are a bit too limited to be highly valuable tools, unless you're gonna use them for random flashcard-style learning (something I never really took to, though I know many students do). I bought the printed version of the 中文字譜 (zhongwen.com's content) which I felt was more useful overall than the site. A netbook or tablet with stardict or wenlin would be decent, though there are portable electronic dictionaries which are more ideal for language study and practice (if one wants to rely on technology, which I think is pretty silly). Passive word memorization tactics like flash cards and vocabulary books requently lead students down a path of frustration when it comes to developing language function. Without any kind of active sorting or navigation or user interaction, I [as a language teacher and linguist] question the usefulness of just downloading the images and slideshowing them. A good dictionary is superior in practically every way, and ebook readers are pretty awful at comprehensive dictionary functions thus far. Like using MS Paint and a mouse to learn calligraphy.

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