Comments on: Chinese Flashcards iPhone / iPod Touch Application

by: Adam

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:41:42 +0000

Hi Patrick,

Since this one is based on single characters, rather than words, it follows a different list than the HSK, although there should be considerable overlap, since it is also ordered from most commonly used to least commonly used (which is what HSK does for words).

by: Patrick

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 08:16:39 +0000

Does this vocabulary set also follow the HSK lists like your other app?

by: Adam

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:41:25 +0000

Hi Riaz,

If you answer Yes to a character the first time it is shown, the app assumes this character is already memorized and will never show it to you again. If you are even the slightest bit hesitant, then I recommend clicking on No the first time around. If you answer No, then the app assumes you need to go through the process of memorizing it. It will show it to you again after about 25 characters. If you then click Yes, it will show it to you after 50 characters, then 75 then 100. If you answer 4 yeses in a row, the character is considered memorized, added to your score and won’t be shown again. Anytime you answer No, then the process starts again.

by: Riaz

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:43:57 +0000

Could you please elaborate on the spaced repetition system used in this program? Is it similar to the algorithm in Mental Case? How many times do you have to get a character correct before it is considered “memorised”? If you get a character right every time, what is the total study time you need to get it to the “memorised stage”? I would appreciate some advice. All in all though, a great program and I plan to learn to read 繁体字 after I have fully learned 简体字 so it will be very convenient to have the most common 2700 right there on my phone.

by: Adam

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 03:54:26 +0000

Hi DJ,

Thanks - I’m working on a new version that will let users import their own vocabulary lists and only test those. There will also be more testing options, so this should better meet your needs.

It’s still a few months away though, so please keep sending me your feature requests.

by: D.J.

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 02:16:23 +0000

I would like an app that I can type in the pin yin, have a choice of characters to chooe from, choose the ones in my current lesson and work through memorizing them. It would be useful for it to archive all the characters you have entered so you are able to review all of them. It would also be nice to have several different options to choose from for how well you know each character, the ones you don’t know at all would come up more frequently while the ones you know well come up less frequently.
THis would better simulate how I use actual flashcards.

by: 19thstep.com » Blog Archive » 400 Characters a Day

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 08:19:45 +0000

[…] I’ll try 400 characters a day for a few weeks and see how it works out for me. I’m continuing to use nciku.com and a few ipod touch study aids as well, of these I highly recommend this flashcard application. Thoughts […]

by: Chris

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:03:10 +0000

As a 3+ year student of Chinese I too second the idea for adding your own characters. One idea you might consider is linking with one of the publicly available DBs and having a drag and drop feature. This way you do not have to worry about one user typing in the wrong format or such. Additionally, you could keep stats on what are the most requested words by your community.

by: Adam

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 04:13:58 +0000

Thanks Jean-Seb,

We are working on creating a website admin panel for some of our apps. This would allow greater customization and allow the use of features like the one you mentioned. This way a person could customize the app (such as adding new words) on the website, then sync this new version to their iPhone / iPod Touch. It’s still in theory at the moment, so let’s see if we can get it to work.

Please continue sending in any other ideas you may have.

by: Jean-Seb

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:19:30 +0000

Hi,

It would be very useful to be able to add our own words all the more so as the iPhone allows to type in Chinese in a very simple way… Could you provide this feature?

Thank you