Search results
- Best Overall: Pleco. Available on: Android | iOS. Pleco is one of the most popular Chinese dictionaries thanks to its user-friendly and straightforward format.
- Best Multimedia-Based: FluentU. Available on: Android | iOS | Web. FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
- Best for Extensive Texts: Wenlin (文林) Available on: Web / Desktop. Wenlin is a go-to for every (aspiring) sinologist. You’ll want to use it during class or while translating extensive texts, rather than when walking around Beijing or ordering in a Chinese restaurant.
- Best for Speaking: LINE Dictionary / Nciku. Available on: Android | iOS | Web. LINE Dictionary, formerly Nciku, is a Chinese dictionary that’ll help you get through your first months of learning.
People also ask
Are there free Chinese dictionaries?
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What are the Best Mobile Chinese dictionaries?
- Why Should You Use A Chinese dictionary?
- Online vs. Traditional Dictionaries
- Top Dictionary Apps For Your Smartphone
- Top Web Dictionaries
- Improve Your Life with Pop-Up Dictionaries
- Keep Growing Your Vocabulary!
Picture this: you’re watching TV with your Chinese friend and her family after a nice dinner at their house, but when everyone bursts out laughing at the MC’s funny quip, you just don’t get the joke. Or, imagine that you’re reading a Chinese news article on your computer or phone and are cruising right along when you suddenly stumble upon a confusi...
As is the case with most media in the 21st century, Chinese dictionaries come in two formats: physical and digital. While both versions have their benefits, online dictionaries are generally quicker and more convenient when it comes to helping you gain the Mandarin knowledge you need, exactly when you need it.
Now that you’ve pinned down your word search strategy, read on to discover our recommendations for the best Chinese dictionary apps.
It’s often more convenient to look up new words using websites rather than smartphone apps, for example, when you’re reading an article on your computer or typing an email in Chinese. Fortunately, there are many top-notch online dictionary websites available to aid this process.
No article on online Chinese dictionaries would be complete without mentioning pop-up dictionaries, which will make your life as a Chinese language student significantly easier, especially if you often read long texts made up of Chinese characters on your screen. Pop-up dictionaries are installed as Internet browser extensions so that when you hove...
We hope this article helped you determine which Chinese online dictionary is best suited to upgrading your Chinese study process. If you plan to travel or study in China, a trusted dictionary is an absolute necessity for your packing list. To keep improving, be sure to pair your self-study regimen with plenty of interaction with native speakers. Wi...
Sep 19, 2023 · What is the best Chinese dictionary for beginners? The best dictionary to help you memorize Chinese characters is Pandanese’s Chinese dictionary. Another great option is the Mandarin Chinese-English Bilingual Visual Dictionary, which will give you an image of your learning.
- Pleco. Pleco is a smartphone app that translates from Mandarin to English and vice versa. Chinese is priority, which means your options with the Chinese language are more diverse.
- Naver Dictionary (LINE) LINE Dictionary, formerly Nciku and currently under NAVER Corp., is a nice, simple dictionary translating from English to Mandarin and vice versa, while also offering additional features for free.
- Hanping Chinese Dictionary Lite. The free version of this dictionary for your smartphone is similar to the free version of Pleco. If you want a more advanced version of the app, Hanping has paid options, too.
- MDBG. This is another simple Chinese dictionary. You’ll love MDBG if you like straightforward, neat and easy-to-navigate dictionaries. MDBG lets you create your vocabulary list, look up translations either from Chinese to English or vice versa by using characters, pinyin and English words.
- nciku is probably the best Chinese dictionary. In my view, nciku is the best online Mandarin dictionary. It offers pretty much every feature that other dictionaries do, plus some extras.
- MDBG is also very good. MDBG isn’t very beautiful, but it’s a great dictionary. It’s by far the fastest of the sites listed here, and gets some good features into a simple interface.
- YellowBridge is a third option for online Mandarin dictionaries. The YellowBridge website may be a bit of an antique, but the content is excellent. The features are as numerous as nciku’s, with a few differences.
- Oxford Chinese Dictionary is an excellent paper dictionary. Finally, a paper dictionary! I like this one because it’s big enough to be comprehensive but not so big that it’s too heavy to lug to lectures.
Mar 5, 2013 · There are many online resources for looking up Chinese characters and words, so many that it might be very hard for new learners to find what they need. This article introduces 21 dictionaries and corpora for Chinese learners, including what they should be used for in addition to some pros and cons.
May 26, 2016 · We’ve selected our favorite free Chinese dictionaries to help you improve in Mandarin, from online dictionaries to applications. We tested three categories of Chinese dictionaries: online Chinese dictionaries, pop-up dictionaries, and offline mobile dictionary applications.
