DDB Access vs Hanzi Pen

DDB (Digital Dictionary of Buddhism) and CJKV-E (Classical Chinese) are collaborative works edited by Charles Muller, University of Tokyo. DDB Access gives access to DDB and CJKV-E from iPhone and iPad. DDB Access is a free application. Any user may access the dictionary by entering "guest" as the username with no password. This will allow a total of 20 searches in each of the DDB and CJKV-E dictionaries in a 24-hour period. Contributors can get unlimited access by submitting a 350+ word entry as specified at http://www.buddhism-dict.net/contribute.html DDB and CJKV-E are primarily resources for scholars. Contributors are required to have completed a graduate degree to at least the equivalent of the M.A. level in graduate school program at a fully accredited university, where one has received direct formal training in the reading of classical East Asian Buddhist texts. DDB Access also contains a demo (WIP) of Séraphin Couvreur's "Dictionnaire classique de la langue chinoise" which supports most of its translations with example sentences and their sources. SEARCH Search dictionaries by Chinese, pinyin or translation. PARSE AND LOOKUP After copying a full text, SmartHanzi provides immediate access to unknown words. The app shows links to related words (also in, contained) and character details: character series (Kangxi, etymology). With this perspective beyond immediate usage, one gets naturally familiar with words and characters. It also recognizes multiple traditional variants. For instance, searching 真 (or finding 真 in a text) 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. Texts or individual words can be read aloud with Apple voices. ETYMOLOGY Along centuries, Chinese writing has developed a number of reference points, reasonable or simply traditional, well known by most Chinese: "Se non è vero, è ben trovato". Character series emphasize these reference points. All character series available for the current character are easily accessible. DICTIONARIES The application also includes general dictionaries for scholars working on Buddhist texts with literary or historical terminology, and a first demo of the "Couvreur" dictionary for Classical Chinese. USER INTERFACE User chooses to show pronunciations in Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Vietnamese. Lookup is easily customizable to just show preferred details and keep presentation clear. On iPad, landscape orientation, the app can show either in full screen (with both parse and lookup parts visible) or multiple applications: smartphone-like format side by side with the original text. MAC VERSION A dedicated Mac version is on Mac App Store.

Hanzi Pen turns the slow, deliberate work of learning Chinese characters into a guided practice loop. Every character you encounter becomes something you can read, recognise, and, most importantly, write from memory. WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT • Writing comes first. Trace each stroke on screen, get per-stroke feedback on length, position, and missing hooks, and graduate to writing from memory. The app coaches you toward the actual mechanics of each stroke type (横, 竖, 撇, 捺, hooks, turns). • Spaced repetition built in. Every character you practice joins your SRS deck with independent mastery for writing, reading, and translation — track each skill on its own, mark the ones you already know, and let cards resurface exactly when forgetting starts. • Etymology that actually helps. Each character's detail page shows its phono-semantic / pictogram / compound-ideogram structure, the meaning and sound role of each component, and a prose origin story sourced from Dong Chinese. • Across Asia. Chinese shares thousands of characters with Japanese, so a character's page can show the Japanese on'yomi and kun'yomi readings, and even which hiragana and katakana the character became (安 → あ / ア). A quiet bridge for anyone who already knows some Japanese or is curious how the writing systems connect. • Real example sentences. Over 64,000 Tatoeba sentences indexed by character with mixed-difficulty selection, so you see the word used in short, medium, and longer real-world contexts. • Measure-word coaching. Every noun's detail page shows which 量词 to pair it with (个, 位, 名, 只, 条, 部 …) and explains the nuance — polite vs. formal vs. casual. CORE FEATURES • HSK 1–6 vocabulary with official-list filtering • 3,000+ characters from HSK 3.0 with stroke-order graphics, etymology, and decomposition • 110,000-entry CC-CEDICT dictionary for words and compounds • 10,800 learner-friendly single-character definitions • Multi-character word breakdown — tap any word to drill into its sub-words and individual characters, with pinyin grouped word-by-word over example sentences • "Don't mix these up" guidance — side-by-side notes on easily-confused look-alikes (重 / 垂, 土 / 士, 未 / 末, 天 / 夭 …) • Tone sandhi (一 / 不) applied to example-sentence pinyin • Multi-pinyin readings shown for every character (得 → dé / děi / de) • Handwriting search — draw a character you saw somewhere with no stroke timeout and no auto-clear, then tap a candidate • Vocabulary lists with paste-import, shuffle, and per-list practice sessions • Quiz modes: writing, reading (pinyin), translation, and combined — each skill tracked independently, and settable by hand when you already know it • Component questions: "which is the meaning component? which is the sound?" • Per-stroke coaching after each writing attempt • Live canvas resize via pinch + drag handle • Practice history with one-tap undo for accidental "I know this" • Switchable Simplified / Traditional display • Dictionary searchable by hanzi, pinyin, or English • iCloud sync across iPhone and iPad • Profile customization (avatar glyph, name, and a selectable accent theme colour) WHO IT'S FOR • HSK 1 / HSKK beginners drilling the first 600 characters • Heritage learners filling in writing gaps • University and high-school Mandarin students preparing for proficiency exams • Anyone serious about character recall! Writing, not just recognition PRIVACY All learning data lives in your private iCloud space. No accounts, no ads, no analytics, no server-side tracking. Nothing leaves your device except the iCloud-synced records that only you can read. OPEN-DATA ATTRIBUTION Built on CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0), Tatoeba (CC-BY 2.0 FR), Make-Me-a-Hanzi (LGPL / Arphic Public License), chinese-lexicon (ISC), and Dong Chinese wiki etymology (CC BY-SA 4.0).