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SmartHanzi is a free yet professional grade tool to read real Chinese texts (web, PDF) even with a limited level in Chinese.
Available for Windows, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android.
SmartHanzi can run off-line. No server is required.
Parse and lookup: read and learn
On desktop or tablet, the left part of the window offers a global view(full text, word or character list), and the right part details about current word or character. The point is to take reading as an opportunity to look from various angles: stroke order, variants, Kangxi keys, frequent character components.
With text view, since words are not separated, clicking on a character shows all possible words, starting with longer ones. Hence idiomatic expressions (chengyu, very common) will usually show first.
Mac and PC versions add smooth hovering above texts, tabs for multiple texts, and simultaneous lists for words and characters: either all characters or just those in a word.
Smartphones use a compact presentation. On Mac or tablet (soon on Windows), one can also choose the smartphone format to get the SmartHanzi reader side by side with the original text.
Advanced: besides recognizing the traditional / simplified correspondence, SmartHanzi 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.
Etymology: character components
Components are described by Kangxi keys, Dr. Wieger's etymological lessons and phonetic series, and Lawrence Howell's EDHCC (former Kanji Network website).
Se non è vero, è ben trovato: Chinese culture has developed along centuries a number of well-known memorizing ways (or tricks). Trying to learn written Chinese 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.
Users select preferred dictionaries. Lists can show all entries found for a word, or just the first one.
Dictionaries can be searched by Chinese, meaning or pinyin.
Tests
Most versions include quizzes based on HSK levels. Progress is shown on 12 months (longer on recent versions). Tests are short and unknown words reviewed first.
Options: longer tests; review unsure words or check supposedly known words.
Download
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.
