Overall Description:

This software is designed to coordinate with the "biao zhun zhong wen" textbook. The first CD of the software is divided into 30 chapters, identical to the first book. The opening screen allows the student to select a chapter. Within each chapter, the student may hear the dialogue from that chapter read (which matches the book), "learn to write" featured characters by watching an animation of the strokes of a character (instructions are given in English), or attempt up to five "exercises," or practice activities. Practice activities are similar to those in the textbook, and include:

- clicking on matching sounds and characters
- picking strokes in the correct order (by image or by name of stroke)
- finding hidden strokes and dragging them to the correct character
- counting strokes in a character
- matching characters to situations (e.g. da and xiao, shang and xia)
- filling in the blanks in a written segment with the featured characters of the lesson

The student can also choose to hear a short lesson in Chinese folklore, and play a couple of games. Additional utilities include a character reference and a stroke name reference, both of which pronounce for the student.

Strengths:

The graphics are attractive and professional looking, similar to those in the textbook. The sound quality is reasonably clear. Each chapter provides a different variety of practice activities, and the practice activities are well-designed for the goal of learning to read and write Chinese characters. The folklore segment is different every lesson, and can be viewed in English text, though only Mandarin audio is available. Most menus are labeled in Chinese and English. The overall structure of the software coordinates very well with the textbook.

Weaknesses:

As with the text, there is no instruction in basic Chinese, either grammar or vocabulary. Dialogues are given in characters and pinyin, but no English translation is provided. It is assumed that the children using this software are already familiar with spoken Mandarin, and need only to learn to read and write, so the entire emphasis is on reading and writing. There are practice exercises with feedback, similar to those in the text, but scores are not saved, and no mechanism is provided for allowing the parent or teacher to check to see if the activities were done. The games offered (three on the first CD) do not provide much educational content: a "shoot the character" game (the sound doesn't work well enough to be instructionally useful), a sliding puzzle, and tic-tac-toe. The navigational interface is confusing and difficult to use. Many options are hidden behind unlabeled pictures on the screen, and not obvious unless you roll the mouse over them and notice the faint lettering that appears to tell you what the "button" does. Many activities depend on being able to read the instructions in English, so younger students will need adult assistance. There is no "help" feature. No documentation was provided with the review copy.

Note: The installation utility seems to assume you have a Chinese OS installed. The software title displayed during installation looks like random characters on a US-configured Windows 98 system. However, the software does not seem to depend on any Chinese OS.

Recommendation: A good companion for the text if the objective is to teach a child who already speaks Mandarin how to read and write. Provides attractive and engaging "homework" activities for each lesson of the text. Provides correct pronunciation for each chapter dialogue, for review between classes. Parents or teachers will need to monitor review sessions to make sure children are completing practice activities. Depends heavily on strength of classroom instruction. Not suitable to teach spoken Mandarin, or as a sole source of instruction in reading or writing.