SmartHanzi

SmartHanzi is a free yet professional grade tool for students and anyone wishing to read real Chinese texts (web, PDF) even with a limited level in Chinese.

● Parse and lookup: read and learn

On tablet (landscape) or desktop, the left part of the window shows the full text or lists of text words.

Full text: clicking on a character shows a subview with all possible words at that position, starting with longer ones. Idiomatic expressions (chengyu, very common in Chinese) will usually show first.

Lists: words and/or characters.

Right side shows lookup details: traditional / simplified variants, stroke order, Kangxi keys, words containing (or contained in) the current word, character components. Users select helpful fields to keep presentation clear.

On smartphone: compact presentation. The smartphone format can also be used on tablets in multi-application, side by side with the original text.

Easy access to details helps learning while reading. With this perspective beyond immediate usage, one gets progressively more familiar with words and characters.

Advanced: besides the traditional / simplified correspondence, SmartHanzi also recognizes multiple traditional variants. For instance, looking for 真 will show both 真 and 眞, according to what is present in selected dictionaries. Or it will recognize equally well 為 / 爲 or 眾 / 衆.

● Etymology: character components

Components are shown as described by Kangxi keys, Dr. Wieger's etymological lessons and phonetic series, and Lawrence Howell's EDHCC (former Kanji Networks website).

“Se non è vero, è ben trovato”: with these components, Chinese culture has developed along centuries a number of memorizing ways (or tricks) well-known by most Chinese people.

Trying to learn Chinese writing and ignore this invaluable assistance would be an unreasonable challenge.

● Dictionaries

Contemporary Chinese: English, German, French.

DDB, CJKV-E: short definitions (see below)

Séraphin Couvreur's "Dictionnaire classique de la langue chinoise" (Chinese-French, demo): multiple example sentences and their source, showing the evolution of character usage over centuries.

● Tests

Quizzes based on HSK levels as a way to check one's progress. Progress shown on 12 months. Short tests, with errors reviewed first.

Options: longer tests; review unsure words or check supposedly known ones.

● DDB, CJKV-E

DDB (Digital Dictionary of Buddhism) and CJKV-E (Dictionary of Confucian, Daoist, and Intellectual Historical Terms) are two collaborative projects lead by Charles Muller.

DDB Access is a separate application derived from SmartHanzi, dedicated to DDB and CJKV-E. Entries are much more detailed. DDB Access is also on Google Play Store.