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SmartHanzi is a free yet professional grade application to help read real Chinese texts (web, PDF) even with a limited level in Chinese.
Available for Windows PC, Mac, tablet and smartphone: 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 shows the full text or lists of text words.
With full text, clicking on a character shows all possible words at that position, starting with longer ones. Idiomatic expressions (chengyu, very common in Chinese) will usually show first.
Lists show text words and/or characters.
Mac and PC versions add tabs for multiple texts, hover (fast) mode for the text view, and a view with separate lists for words and characters: either all characters or just those in a word.
Right side shows lookup details: traditional / simplified variants, stroke order, Kangxi keys, words containing (or contained in) the current word, character components. Users select helpful fields to keep presentation clear.
Smartphones use a compact presentation. The smartphone format is also available on tablets and Mac (soon to come on Windows), 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 shown as 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: with these components, Chinese culture has developed along centuries a number of memorizing ways (or tricks) well-known by most Chinese people.
Trying to learn Chinese writing 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 as a way to check one’s progress. 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.