Chineasy: Learn Chinese easily Reviews

by JuIieIsME

I learned Mandarin in college and wanted to see what Chineasy had to offer. I don’t think that this would be a very good way to learn Chinese if you want to do a good job. The illustrations look nice but don’t do much else. In terms of learning, this is all straight memorization. There’s no explanation or intro for pinyin. Learning the tones is very important but there’s no mention of that. You see the word, hear the pronunciation, and can see the pinyin. But they don’t explain what the marks mean on the letters. There are some questions where you listen to an audio clip where they say a word or phrase and they ask you which is the correct pinyin. Sometimes they have two options with the same spelling and the only difference is in the tones. But that was never taught. If you remembered what the mark looked like and which letter it was on, you would guess correctly, but that’s just memorization, not true understanding.

by Morgan9714

Chineasy is good for learning vocabulary, but requires much more self study when it comes to actually learning the language and how to speak. I purchased the annual subscription two months ago, and have since learned there is a lifetime package where you can pay up front. I was hoping to be able to upgrade to this with a credit for what I’ve already paid, but I was told this is not possible. I’m very disappointed as I can’t get through all the lessons in a year whilst also having to teach myself everything other than just vocabulary. I will not be renewing my subscription when it expires as it doesn’t seem worth it to pay for another year when the lifetime package was available, and I do not want to pay full price for the package when I already spent $40 on the annual subscription two months ago. Overall, decent app for vocabulary but disappointing experience!

by REV_FTW

I like some of the aspects of this new app, but question why it does not concentrate on either Traditional or Simplified characters.
As a fairly new student to Mandarin I find it confusing to switch between the two. I feel it is important to understand that I am learning one system or the other. There doesn’t appear to be any reason to switch between, maybe they did it because some look better visually. If so, this is a deceiving way to market an app that is geared toward education.
I have been looking forward to using the this app ideas in app form for my learning, but this release was quite disappointing and not worth my time or money to learn a mix-n-match of methods.

Update: I am not buying the developers response. They do not give a choice of which characters they make you learn, which switches between traditional and simplified. I will agree with the statement about teaching the cultural insights, but the fact remains that they are not giving choices and will end up confusing students when they realize they cannot use the characters interchangeably.

by Greetings, Mortals Of Earth

The first eight levels are very helpful. Unfortunately, the ninth and above require a premium plan (2 dollars a month or 20 a year). This isn’t overpriced or outrageous or anything, but it is very different from what I thought. Before downloading, I saw the In-App Purchase for premium and I thought that was for ad-free stuff or bonus content. Good news: there are no ads either way. Bad news: most levels are premium only. I understand the makers have to make money, but perhaps more open info (“get your first eight levels are free”) would be better. Another option is to have a small price for Chineasy it’s self (maybe five dollars or more; Chineasy is really useful)
TLDR, it’s a good app, I just wasn’t expecting the sudden Pay-To-Continue, though it is inexpensive.

by Mimi Empyr'eum

I find Chineasy very useful as a person who can speak some Chinese but not read or write it, however, I have some suggestions.
Maybe have a setting where you can choose whether the initial card is in the simplified or traditional word. I recently found out that the lessons switch between simplified and traditional, which can be confusing. I only found out that the default character was in traditional when I tapped the card and it said what the simplified character was.
Some people may only want to learn simplified Chinese only and with the two writing styles mixed together in the lessons, it may become confusing later on.
Maybe make a setting to choose to whether the user wants to see the simplified version or the traditional one?
Another suggestion is to “favorite” certain words and lessons? As there are so many cards, it may become difficult to review problem words without sorting through all of the other words.
Other than that, I think that this is an extremely beneficial app for learning new words in Chinese. If it wasn’t for the simplified/traditional Chinese issue, I would rate Chineasy 5 stars.

by Shodokar

There should be a reminder 4 using it so u can remember to use it because it is a great app. It’s very helpful especially since I have lived in China for a few years and may go back but I lost most of my Chinese tho i didn’t know much anyways. It is very easy to cheat so I haven’t learned anything yet but Chineasy is fun. The way u can cheat is when u get to the questions you can just go back and look at the answers, also the creators should make an update where they should set a time for studying and then lock when someone gets to the questions so they can’t look back. Thank you for reading my review if its either a person getting Chineasy or the creator if it’s the creator then I would love it if you could look into my ideas thank you, also, if you could add some more words thank you. You should get this game!!!!!!

by The Dark Vox

Just picked up Chineasy today, took some Chinese in school but haven’t used it for years. Chineasy is great to get back into it! I am considering subscribing, and I don’t do that for many apps.

However, It would be nice if we could swipe with our finger to practice writing the character over a template. Maybe being able to write it on a blank background to test our writing. It does not need to use OCR if that is too much of a challenge, as long as the symbol is shown after we try to confirm ourselves if we are right.

Also agree with the other reviewer about switching between traditional and simplified. The simplified forms are usually in the small text box but there should be an option to switch as the main character. Many places use simplified over traditional in practice.

by Moonart145

I like this new way of learning Chinese, and the illustrations helped me. But I’m a nine year old Chinese girl who already learned a lot since 5, and these words are too simple. It costs money but I dont mind, I’ll just ask my mom. Anyways, I love Chineasy and it’s amazing, and I’ll wait for new levels. Thank you, ShaoLan for releasing Chineasy! Edit: woops I accidentally pressed one star. Anyway, I agree with other reviewers and there should be like a pronunciation thing so I don’t get it wrong. My grandma had to correct me a few times, so that’s one suggestion. I think I’ll use my savings to pay for the this app fee, but I still think that 4.99 is a little too much, so maybe I’ll go for the annual one. I’m still deciding and I have to ask my parents first

by Teague Rodriquez

I am 13 years old and I am learning mandarin and I love it! this app has to be the most educational and fun way to learn Chinese characters! The illustrations really help you to visualize the meaning and it makes the characters seem more familiar than foreign! It’s incredibly addicting and I always look forward to using it! There were a couple of things I think could be better but overall it is a great app! First off, it switches between traditional and simplified and it’s very confusing to read something in Chinese and to only understand some because it’s either in simplified or traditional. Also I think the quizzes at the end of a level should be harder as I can easily pass through it without trouble but I can’t remember the characters an hour later. And finally there should be a review quiz that you can take when you want and it gives an overview of all the characters you’ve learned and it tells you what levels you need work in. Overall, Chineasy is brilliant and the most fun way to learn Chinese!

-Teague Rodriquez

by 8lue83

This has helped me learn a lot faster. Now I can recognize words, which is one step closer to reading sentences. I would like the option of reviewing cards and writing the words. I would also like to be able to make collections of cards that I find difficult, either because of how they look, or because their pronunciations are similar. For example, right now I am able to read, but if I am having trouble with a word that I remember the meaning of but not the pronunciation, I can’t write it to ask. This is a huge problem.

by Chad Weth

This is the best learning tool/game in the world, but there is something about this game that I am not so happy about. The one thing is that you have to pay $2 a month, which is pretty good, right? But then like after you complete all the levels that have been added to that update, you just have just spent $2, and you have nothing to do after that. Overall this is the best learning tool in the world, and I will never stop using is ever in my whole entire life!! 😀👍👍😀. And I am learning so much Chinese with this learning tool/game. Good work, and never stop making updates with more levels to make people happy. 👍 Keep going!!

by Valentina4206

Honestly I think this is such a great way of learning, I’ve been trying Chineasy for just a few days and my experience is so awesome. If you are looking an app to teach you in a fun way this is it. All the drawings are so helpful when it comes to learning.
Chineasy makes sure that you understand what you are learning, if not you can repeat the lesson. Something that I relish about Chineasy is that they teach you and then ask you questions. I feel like in some other apps they expect you to know what it is, yes yes they give pictures but still, they don’t take the time to explain what it is.
I also like how they dig deeper into the meaning of the word, talking about its past and stuff, I’m learning about ancient China in school and it is kind of fun knowing why they used this symbol and stuff like that.
I think Chineasy should teach by units. Every 10 lessons do a review and teach you what you don’t understand, and if you’re good to go just move on into the next unit.
I highly recommend Chineasy and should totally give it a try.

by Whatevvvvvvva

Chineasy is great and I downloaded it not knowing a single chinese word or character and now I know quite a few. One thing I would really love to have on Chineasy though is a review quiz or something of that sort, so I could test over every character and word I’ve learned. I mean, if I’m being honest.. I’m going to forget the first ones I learned before long because I don’t have a way to review without it giving the answers to me. I think a review test every 10 lessons or so would improve Chineasy a ton. But like I said, overall Chineasy is 6 out of 5, amazing. I LOVE IT and I’m excited to see what’s ahead in the future improvements to Chineasy !!!

by 4CFit

I enjoy the lessons very much. They are the perfect length for me to follow along little by little. I only would hope in the future they allow an option to also add our own custom notes for each word or character because sometimes i get other ideas in that moment of how to remember a character or word and i’d like to be able to archive them directly in Chineasy . Kinda like the feature that kindle uses when reading books. But not a big deal as i’m improving every time more and more as I go through the lessons now that i’ve actually been more consistent than before.

by Georgie Etta

So FUN easy, colorful, and a logical progression of learning in such a fun enjoyable format for all ages. I use lots of different apps including other language apps, and this is the first review I've ever written. this app makes it so fun and easy to learn. The fun colorful pictographs make it so easy to remember characters. I love Chineasy and hope they develop a Chinese character writing app too that incorporates the pictographs. Gamification of language learning like this keeps me on track by making it fun to practice everyday. I can just play throughout the day and advance to the next step without it feeling like practice. I look forward to opening Chineasy everyday to see the pictographs and improve my skills while learning and having fun! HIGHLY recommend ❤️🙂

by Loveiphoneipad

This is by far the best app I’ve tried for learning Chinese- and believe me, I’ve tried many. (Duolingo, Drops, Memrise, HelloChinese, ChineseSkill, I’ve tried them all). This is the only app that is actually making learning Chinese fun and keeping me engaged. Not only that, it actually works. I’ve only had Chineasy for a few days and I’ve already been making progress. The concept is unique and effective, and Bao is just adorable and great at keeping me motivated. There’s no ads and it doesn’t glitch, either. The only thing I’d suggest to make it even better would be to add an option to learn only Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese. Right now, it’s kinda mixed. I want to focus on Simplified Chinese but for some words the Traditional version is being taught, and it’s kind of annoying. That’s it, though.

TL;DR: Great app that is both fun and effective. Be warned, it combines Simplified and Traditional Chinese.

by Charlottecasazz_

So I met this girl over the summer who had just moved here from China, and she barely spoke a word of English. We tried communicating using a translator, but things would get lost in translation, and not to mention the fact that it took so much time to type out what you wanted to say. I discovered this app and was thrilled at how quickly I picked up those first few words. I loved Chineasy execution and being a strong visual learner, Chineasy taught me stuff way faster than Duolingo. But then I realized that I had to pay to continue using it, and my heart was broken. I’ve been using my allowance to pay for it since March, and I am learning Chinese quickly. However, I would love for the weekly fee to be just a tiny bit cheaper, like by a dollar, just so that I can use my allowance for other things. I just have a few suggestions:

- upgrades! If we could buy cute outfits for our little character and set the theme, that would make it so much more enjoyable to play.
- voice recognition! Sometimes I don’t know if I’m pronouncing something correctly or not, so maybe in the next update you could add a feature where you have to speak to the phone to pass the level.
- playlists! I would love to be able to categorize my words so I could review them all at a time, or have it quiz me.

That’s all for my suggestions, and thanks to you guys my friend and I can communicate easily now! ♥️♥️♥️

by Jdavidtx

I saw ShaoLan on a TED talk giving a speech about learning and teaching Chinese. I’ve often thought that learning Chinese Mandarin would be extremely difficult as an English speaker. Never in my mind would I have thought about learning a language the way she did. I was blown away by just how easy the language is to learn. Within days I was picking up words and understanding Chinese symbols. It really is just that easy and in a fun way too!

In my mind, the most difficult language on the planet is now the easiest. The way you learn through playing it like a game with pictures, characters, spoken words, and puzzles is fun, entertaining, and absolutely brilliant! If you are thinking about learning Chinese this is Chineasy for you. After the free trial you’ll most definitely buy Chineasy to learn more! At 50 years old I never would have thought I’d be learning Chinese and having fun doing it too!

by Gurjot Kaur

I just started using Chineasy and I’ve already learned so much! I’m a thirteen year old who wanted to learn Chinese and Chineasy makes it really easy and simple for me to understand. I would 100% recommend Chineasy to anyone who wants to learn Chinese and a small period of time. I also enjoy that if you forget something, you can just go back and learn that lesson. It’s also fun learning with pictures because it makes it easier to remember Chinese characters. It’s a really enjoyable app! I thought Chinese would be really hard and boring to learn, but Chineasy makes it really easy and interesting. I’ve had Chineasy for not too long and I already am in love with it! It has the easiest ways possible to learn Chinese character! I really love it and recommend to anyone who wants to learn Chinese easily! Wow, it’s amazing. It’s my first time writing a review! I only did it because I actually really like it and think it’s a great and outstanding app! 🤩🤩🤩

by Trumpet + Language Lover

I love Chinese, but it needs some improvements. First of all this app needs a way for you to write down Chinese characters and see if you got the writing correct. Also this app needs a way for you to speak Chinese characters and receive feedback. I would also like it if there was a feature that would allow you to translate the sentences you have learned to reinforce the language. Lastly this app needs a way to review the characters that you have learned every 10 lessons or what is appropriate for the situation. Overall I am very pleased with Chineasy and it will get better throughout time and I’m excited to continue my learning through this app. If you want to learn Chinese use this app!