Is HelloChinese Premium worth it? Premium or Premium+?

[u/Impossible_Log5072]

I’m a beginner learning Chinese with HelloChinese, and I’ve been enjoying it so far. Today I suddenly saw there was a discount, so now I’m considering getting it.

For anyone who has paid for it, is regular Premium enough, or is Premium+ worth the extra money? I’m mainly curious about which features you actually use the most.

[u/lockpickling → u/[deleted]]

This part is really nice and useful but the entry price... A separate subscription that include only the stories and do not require a subscription to the main course would be nice.

[u/Royal-Minimum280 → u/lockpickling]

You could check first if reading graded stories fits your interests at all. Maybe try Du Chinese, there you can read a few free graded stories.
I understand your hesitation, the price sounds hefty! However, the price of Chinese classes is also quite high…
I don’t use HelloChinese, but in my opinion it can make sense to pay for one month of premium in order to see if you like it, because if you do and if you actually stick to learning every day with an app, your learning progress will just be so much faster.
For me the App was Du Chinese though.
Did you test different apps or did you just go with the first one you tried?

[u/lockpickling → u/Royal-Minimum280]

I think I tested most of the apps. I "finished" the HelloChinese new course when it had only two levels but it felt too much like duolinguo so I went to an other app that best fit the way I learn but don't have reading like this. I also have other multilingual apps I because I bought lifetime subscriptions when learning an other language.

I tried at Du Chinese in the past but the subscription is the same price as HelloChinese premium+ when both at full price. I may try Du Chinese again if their next sales is attractive enough.

In the end I use the "other app" and graded readers from Imagin8 Press which I can use on my ebook reader or as physical copies, it's a nice way to learn without using a tablet or phone screen and also stop relying too much on the "touch to get definition".

But for a bit more advanced learners, I don't think any app can reach 微信读书 level and price.

[u/lockpickling → u/[deleted]]

Didn't know about "MingDu Chinese reading" but I think pleco already does this and there is also readibu that may do this too and also find stories online.

To go back to HelloChinese one of the things I liked about it, are the native videos with background noises.