In China taking language classes and was getting tired of flipping through the dictionary. Searched for an on-device solution and first found software for about $50 then found an even better website called nciku.com. Despite the improbable name, it's a really useful site for those of us who are not fluent in both English and Chinese.
m.nciku.com is the quick and dirty mobile site and can translate either way. Gives English phonetic, Chinese Pinyin, and Chinese Simplified characters. There's also an option to show the words used properly in sentences.
nciku.com is the full site with a lot more features, here's a couple: 1) ability to write the Chinese character and have that translated, 2) free online lessons for two hours a week, and 3) online learning plans to follow.
I've found these sites to be extremely well done AND free. Can't beat that!
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A little fyi. The easest way to learn a language is through immersion. It a proven fact. Its how you learn your native language. I would highly not recommend to try and learn a language through translation.
I just started the rosetta stone product in japanese and I am learning so much faster than through transulation.
Does the free product teach you how to pronouce the words? Which could be the harest in the Chinese language
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A little fyi. The easest way to learn a language is through immersion. It a proven fact. Its how you learn your native language. I would highly not recommend to try and learn a language through translation.
I just started the rosetta stone product in japanese and I am learning so much faster than through transulation.
Does the free product teach you how to pronouce the words? Which could be the harest in the Chinese language
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Yeah, I think you might have missed the first sentence where I said that I'm "In China taking language classes..." I'd say six hours a day, one-on-one, five days a week and living with a Chinese family for eight weeks pretty much qualifies as an immersion. That's gotta be faster than Rosetta Stone.
Anyway, back to nciku.com. Did you notice the part where they give you two hours of FREE one-on-one lessons with a native speaker every week? I'd say that already is better than reciting canned words at your computer. There's also the Pinyin pronunciation for every word and sentence in the FREE dictionary that is more complete than any printed dictionary or Rosetta Stone program and continues to grow. What else do you want for FREE?
Sorry. I just went to the web-site that you recommended and I only notice the translation part. I guess I should of done more research on the site. This works for you and rosetta stone works for me. I just get what you mean by canned words on a computer?
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I also use Google Talk (or any IM program that works with that) to do on the fly translations. It's faster but ONLY gives the Chinese character and nothing else but often works in a pinch. Just add "[email protected]" as a contact and it will reply back with the translation. Individual words are best, sentences can get really butchered a la Google Translation.
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Japanese is a very difficult language, with speaking comparatively simpler than reading and writing.However,things will become easier by using Rosetta Stone Japanese......
