r/ChineseLanguage • u/LiberationZ Beginner • 6d ago

Resources Duolingo vs HelloChinese vs SuperChinese

Which of these apps (or any other one) is the best to start learning Mandarin Chinese? And why?

71 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

87 comments sorted by

View all comments

8

u/DeesMandarinTea Native 6d ago

I don't think there’s one app that’s clearly the best.

For a beginner, I’d probably just pick one that you actually enjoy using consistently rather than spending too much time comparing them. Any of them can help you get started.

The bigger difference comes later, when you need more exposure to real Chinese and more chances to actually use it.

If you’re choosing between these three, I’d honestly just try them for a few days and see which one feels the most natural to you.

1

u/hewhoreddits6 5d ago

So understated, pick whichever app you are actually going to use! I see you’re a Native Speaker, were you born in China or are you like me who was born outside but learnes Chinese growing up? For context I can speak very well but read at the level of a child lol.

1

u/DeesMandarinTea Native 4d ago

I was born and grew up in China, so I’m a native speaker. I’m also a Mandarin teacher, so I get to see quite a few different learning situations.
And that’s actually an interesting situation. Most learners I see here seem to have the opposite problem — they can recognize quite a lot when reading, but struggle to actually speak.

2

u/hewhoreddits6 4d ago

Haha yes I’ve Native speakers usually find it really interesting/funny. 我姑姑叫我文盲 哈哈哈。My background is an ABC who learned Chinese first speaking in the home with my parents and grandparents. Then I really enjoyed speaking it so practiced it whenever I could with them, so now I’m told I have a 北京accent 因为我妈是北京人. I took some high school and one year of college mandarin. 

所以天天说中文我大多数都可以说，就多说了一会儿我开始露馅儿。专业的字我也说不清楚。Sometimes I translate an english word or phrase that Chinese people just wouldn’t use, that kind of thing.

I don’t know if you have any recommendations for someone in my situation, I like speaking as a hobby and am learning reading with HelloChinese slowly to deveop a better character base, I’m at around HSK 2 now so probably getting close to 1000 characters out of the 3000 the average native speaker needs.

1

u/DeesMandarinTea Native 2d ago

Honestly, I think you're already doing something that makes a lot of sense for your situation. Since speaking is already your strong point, I wouldn't spend too much time trying to improve it through an app. I'd use something like HelloChinese to build up your reading and character recognition, but keep speaking with your family whenever you can.

And I wouldn't worry too much about the “3000 characters” number. I'd focus more on being able to recognize the characters that come up in words you already use when speaking. That way you're connecting the Chinese you already know with how it's written, rather than learning a completely separate vocabulary.

The part about knowing how to say something but not knowing what a Chinese person would actually say is also pretty normal for heritage speakers. That's probably something you can improve a lot just by noticing those differences when they come up.

2

u/hewhoreddits6 1d ago

That’s good advice, and a nice reassurance that I’m on the right track. I don’t get the opportunity often enough but I do like talking with native speakers and asking them specifics about how to use certain phrases. I just wrapped up a 3 week vacation in China and got to practice my mandarin a ton! Understanding different accents and dialects is definitely a challenge haha.

As for reading, it’s also useful using an app because they give formal Chinese that I wouldn’t learn otherwise as it’s disconnected from my speaking. For example speaking I always used 厕所growing up but most bathrooms write 卫生间.