How to use the Chinese tools 使用指南
Five minutes now saves confusion later: the weekly ritual, which tool matches which homework task, and a daily routine that actually sticks.
The weekly ritual (one minute, once a week)
After class, open ＋ Import on any phone, tablet or laptop and drop in the worksheet — the PDF straight from the class group chat, or just a photo of the paper.
The page reads it on the device (nothing is uploaded) and shows what it found: the 生字 with their 组词 word families, the 成语, the poem, the 课文 reading, the writing frames — each with pinyin and meanings filled in.
Give the pinyin a ten-second glance (a rare character can take the wrong reading — tap ✏️ to fix, ✕ to drop a bad pick-up), then hit Save to my lessons. If it's the second worksheet of the same 课, it offers to merge them into one lesson.
That's it. Every practice tool now defaults to this week's lesson, and the lesson library grows week by week. Kids just open a tool and go.
Which tool for which homework task
| The worksheet says… | Use this tool | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 认字作业，认真指读 (read the character families) | 认字 Word Families | Tap-to-hear every word in each 生字's family; "Test me" runs smart cards that bring hard characters back sooner. |
| 根据汉字填写拼音 (write the pinyin) | 拼音 Quiz | Type the pinyin with number-tones (mi4 → mì). Near-misses on tone come back until they land. |
| 边读边写 / 田字格 grids | 写字 Writing | Watch → trace → write from memory (graded). Every character has stroke-order data. |
| 听写 (dictation) | 写字 → 听写 mode | Hears a word, writes each character from memory. |
| 造句练习 (make sentences) | 造句 Builder | Unscramble the lesson's sentences, learn its 成语, speak the writing frames aloud. |
| 熟读古诗并说说意思 (learn the poem) | 古诗 Poems | Read-along → fill-blanks → recite, with a record-yourself button and a plain-words meaning. |
| 朗读课文 (read the text aloud) | 朗读 Read-Aloud | The 课文 with per-line audio and a pinyin toggle; on Chrome the 🎤 marks words green as you read them. |
A routine that sticks: 15 minutes a day
Mon–Tue — 认字 Word Families (Explore, then Test me) + 拼音 Quiz. Wed–Thu — 写字 Writing (trace new characters, From-memory the old ones) + one 听写 word. Fri — 造句 + 古诗. Weekend — one full 朗读 of the 课文 out loud, and a peek at Progress to see the streak.
The tools share one memory: the Progress page shows exactly what's due today, so if time is short, just clear the "due" list.
Two kids, several devices
Lessons live in the browser they were imported on. To copy them to another device: Import page → ⬇ Export all → send the file (AirDrop, chat, USB) → ⬆ Import a lessons file on the other device. Each child should use their own device (or browser profile) so their progress stays separate.
Learning without a class
Everything works with no worksheet at all: the built-in lessons (寻觅篇, 合力篇, the 唐诗 pack, Basics Review) are pitched at about PRC grade 2–3 and grow over time. Pick one in any tool's lesson bar and follow the same routine. If you stop classes someday, nothing changes — the library you built stays, the graded lessons continue.
Troubleshooting
- The voice sounds robotic. Chrome has the best free Mandarin voice (pick a "Google" one under Voice on the tool pages). On iPhone/Mac: Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → Voices → Chinese → download an "Enhanced" voice.
- A character got the wrong pinyin. Fix it during import review (the pinyin box under each character), or delete the lesson and re-import. Polyphones (多音字) are the usual culprits.
- OCR misread a photo. Retake it flat, well-lit, straight-on; typed PDFs are always more accurate than photos.
- The 🎤 reading check doesn't appear. It needs Chrome or Edge (Safari and Firefox don't do Chinese speech recognition). It's a helper, not a grader.
- Cleared your browser data? That erases lessons and progress — export your lessons file once in a while as a backup.