VerticalChinese vs HanSounds

Vertical Chinese is a calm, beautiful place to read classical Chinese (文言) — and a built-in dictionary that helps you understand every character. Read the Daodejing, the Analects, Mencius, Zhuangzi, Tang poetry, Records of the Grand Historian, and more — 250+ foundational texts, laid out vertically and character by character, the way they were written. READ • Vertical, character-by-character layout with a steady pinyin gutter • Toggle Traditional 繁 / Simplified 简, pinyin 拼, and English 英 • 聽書 read-aloud (audiobook) mode, plus per-word pronunciation • Warm rice-paper design, with light & dark themes UNDERSTAND — a dictionary built in • Tap any character for pinyin, meaning, and animated stroke order • Full CC-CEDICT word lookup — search by character, pinyin, or English • Radical index to find characters you can't type • Example sentences with pinyin and English REMEMBER • Save any character or word with a tap • Spaced-repetition flashcards (練習) to review what you save • Track your progress from carp to dragon — 鯉躍龍門

知音 (Zhīyīn) means "a person who truly understands you" — and that's exactly what this app is designed to be for Mandarin learners. Whether you've always been curious about China, planning a trip, or simply love languages, 知音 gives you the most solid foundation possible for learning Mandarin Chinese — just like Chinese children learn it in school. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN Stage 1 — Initials & Finals (声母韵母) Master the building blocks of all Mandarin sounds. Each sound comes with an English approximation, IPA notation, articulation guide, and an animated mouth diagram showing exactly how to position your lips and tongue. Stage 2 — Tones & Pinyin (声调) Mandarin has 4 tones — the same syllable means completely different things depending on your pitch. We explain each tone with animated pitch contour visualizations and memory tricks that actually stick. Stage 3 — Chinese Characters (汉字) Study and quiz yourself on the 1,000 most frequently used Chinese characters, each with Pinyin, tone, English meaning, and example words. WHY 知音 - Built for English speakers — all explanations are in English - Animated mouth diagrams — see exactly how each sound is made - Pitch contour animations — visualize tones the way linguists do - Progress tracking — track your mastered sounds and characters - Clean, distraction-free design — focus on learning, nothing else - No ads, no gimmicks Start with "māo" (猫, cat) and work your way to fluency. 加油！