Learning Chinese on Android
sebire
April 11, 2010, 04:49 PM posted in General DiscussionI'm getting a new phone, and as it happens, it's an Android device (due to some unbelievably cheap deals around at the moment). It is also probably going to be my sole source of internet soon, so I was wondering if anyone had tips on using it to learn Chinese. Any good dictionaries? Flashcards? Handwriting practise? IMEs?
sebire
Cool, I didn't realise there were Anki apps for it. It is a shame that Pleco doesn't work on Android, I would have liked to have seen why everyone loves it so much.
sebire
I can't find the ChinesePod app. I tried searching ChinesePod, Chinese, Learn Chinese and it's not there.
bill_w
We're not sure why, but some users can't access the app from the Marketplace. You can though download the APK file directly from us:
http://download.praxislanguage.com/apk/chinesepod-apk/chinesepod.zip
Then you will need to unzip it and run the APK file on the phone. Astro File Manager should be able to handle all of these tasks!
sebire
Awesomeness, will try it out.
sebire
Does anyone know how the Google Pinyin IME works when you press that little keyboard button and you get a 3x3 grid of random strokes?
sebire
April 12, 2010, 10:38 PMCool, I didn't realise there were Anki apps for it. It is a shame that Pleco doesn't work on Android, I would have liked to have seen why everyone loves it so much.
sebire
April 15, 2010, 07:03 AMI can't find the ChinesePod app. I tried searching ChinesePod, Chinese, Learn Chinese and it's not there.
fercasa83
April 28, 2010, 08:54 AMHi Sebire, were you able to install the Android App?
I'm having some troubles with it working offline, could you tell me if you have the same problem as me? the description is on the following link:
http://chinesepod.com/community/conversations/post/8691
sebire
June 07, 2010, 11:38 AMHi all,
Is anyone having problems accessing the latest lessons on the app? I added a lesson set about 3 weeks ago, but I have only had one lesson in the past 3 weeks "tour of Xi'an", despite my dashboard having several.
This is a major problem for me, as my phone is now my main source of internet access.
tvan
I don't have any experience with the Android App, but I have also had problems getting new lessons via the iPhone/iTouch App.
daniel70
Hi Sebire,
I tried it out as follows: on my laptop, I visited a lesson (a lesson I was sure I did not have on my dashboard), clicked the "Bookmark this lesson link," checked that it showed up on the dashboard. Then I went to the phone, started the chinesepod app, clicked "Refresh" on the lesson list, and the new lesson showed up on my lesson list on the phone.
Then, on the phone, I went to chinesepod.com on the browser, visited another lesson that was not on my dashboard, clicked the "bookmark this lesson link". I confirmed, via the browser, that the new lesson was on my dashboard, switched to the chinesepod app, clicked the refresh button, and the new lesson did show up.
I know this doesn't help you much, but it is as much as I can do.
sebire
It's the stuff that should be added via the RSS that's not being added. I only have the one lesson since the 16/05, and the lesson set I added manually.
mark
June 07, 2010, 04:39 PMThe Cpod app doesn't seem to be an approved application from my carrier's point of view. [A misguided attempt to iPhone-ize Android in my opinion.] So, I have just been browsing to the home page on the dashboard. It is a few more clicks than ideal to get to the actual lesson content, but works ok.
Google has an IME for Android which is decent. I think if you search "marketplace" for "google pinyin", or some such, you can find it.
daniel70
Mark, Have you tried downloading the application directly to your android. There is a link at the bottom of this page.
mark
Daniel70, yes, I did try to download it directly, and I got an error message about the apps credentials.
matthiask
mark, try this: go to "settings" > "Applications" and set the checkmark at "Unknown sources".
sebire
June 07, 2010, 04:53 PMWhat is frustrating is the inability to manage lessons using the mobile site. The main site is a bit clumsy on Opera Mini, and whenever I navigate to the dashboard page, a popup always appears saying "welcome to the dashboard". It's doable, but really mobile site/app lesson management and an app that works reliably would be nice.
sebire
June 10, 2010, 09:26 PMDo you guys know where the mp3 files are downloaded to? I was hoping to transfer any files to my computer, but I couldn't find them on the SD card.
matthiask
April 12, 2010, 01:46 PMwell, there is (of course) the chinesepod app - all your lessons on hand. Then, the "google pinyin ime" - actually the sole keyboard I use. (john has a good blog post on it), anki works very well in version 0.4 and sync is upcoming.
i also have a link to m.chinesepod.com
And as dictionary, I suggest "hanping", as it is offline.
hope that helps for a start
I wouldn't recommend the only writing app I have found so far.