注音符號 Song

Check out this YouTube video of the 注音符號 alphabet song.

YellowBridge Chinese/English Online Dictionary

YellowBridge- is a well organized, online dictionary that offers several nice features.  First off, the basic services are free.  This includes audio files that allow you to listen to the word's pronunciation, information on the character’s radical/etymology, and the stroke order for writing the character.  Each entry also has a short list of phrases/compound words that start or end with the target character, which is very nice if you can only remember part of a word or phrase.

Entries can be viewed in either their simplified or traditional forms.  There are several methods to looking up an entry:

• English input,
• Pinyin input,
• Type Chinese characters (simplified or traditional), and
• Draw Chinese characters using a Java program.  This function is not accessible via the web on your iPad.  However, you can get around this by activating the iPad keyboard named "Chinese-Traditional:  Handwriting" or "Chinese-Simplified:  Handwriting."  Check out this blog to find out how to do this in just a few easy steps.

There are also two alternative method for looking up entries, which are based on the root radical. 

• Select a radical (simplified or traditional) and also the number of additional strokes.  The dictionary will provide you with a list of characters (based on the 4,000 most common characters) that fit your criteria.
• The pool of entries that the dictionary pulls from (X number of common characters) can be increased by purchasing membership. 
• If you remember part of a character such as the character's structure and one of the component pieces, the dictionary will provide you with a list of characters (based on the 500 most common characters) that fit your criteria. 
• The pool of entries that the dictionary pulls from (X number of common characters) can be increased by purchasing membership.  

Input using 注音符號(ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) is not available, but YellowBridge offers you a great conversion chart.  

ㄅㄆㄇ學注音 iPad App

ㄅㄆㄇ學注音- I cannot say enough good things about this app and this company in general.  It was produced by QLL (Quick Language Learning Inc. Ltd.) for the purpose of teaching pre-elementary children about the 注音符號(ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) system.  The company also produced several other story-book apps in Chinese/English.  Some use the simplified characters with pinyin; others use traditional characters with 注音符號.  To find out more about the QLL story-books, check out this post.

The home page displays the ㄅㄆㄇㄈ alphabet and your child can select the sound s/he wishes to study.  Next s/he is shown the ㄅㄆㄇㄈ letter along with the stroke order used to write the letter.  Three words (characters plus ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) that contain the target sound are also displayed.  Your child can click on a link at the bottom of the page that will take him/her to a story sample.  The story sample contains an example of the target sound within a word and your child is asked to identify the word with the target sound.  This is not too difficult since all the stories produced by QLL for iPad include the注音符號(ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) next to the characters.  

ㄅㄆㄇ App by 5QChannel

ㄅㄆㄇ- This is a wonderful program written by "5QChannel."  Throughout the app, children's knowledge of the 注音符號(ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) sounds are reinforced by constant pairing of the sounds with the  ㄅㄆㄇㄈ letters.  From the home page, kids choose which ㄅㄆㄇㄈ sound they want to explore.

Each sound can be explored in several ways:  

• By clicking around an image-rich picture (like that shown here) to find words containing the target sound (i.e. Find a picture of a word that starts with the sound "ㄅ.");
• By reading the 注音符號(ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) of four different words, which promotes a lexicon of words associated with each sound; and
• By searching for the hidden 注音符號(ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) letter in a picture, which reinforces letter recognition.

快樂學注音 lite iPad App

快樂學注音 lite- a flashcard app that will reinforce the注音符號(ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) sounds.  You can purchase the extended version and get access to a practice section as well as a writing section.

HuaYu World

The Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission, R.O.C.(Taiwan) in conjunction with HanYu World has a TON of great resources.  The only problem is accessing them if you don't speak Chinese.  The home page (http://www.huayuworld.org/)  has a langauge button in the top right corner, but since most of what is posted is pictures, a lot of the content is not translated.  Here are the top links that I've found helpful.


The ㄅㄆㄇㄈ Alphabet- Check out this website that lists several 注音符號(ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) websites/games.  I recommend clicking on the link above and then scrolling down the page until you see this picture (the one shown to the right here).  By clicking on the picture in the HanYu World blog, you can download this game.  Inside the program, kids can choose which ㄅㄆㄇㄈ sound to investigate.  They will be given a picture of an object that contains the sound and will see how the object looks like the  ㄅㄆㄇㄈ letter.  See below for an example.

If the website above is not working, please try this one.

Also, check out this file, which provides a file with all the pictures from this game.  Post them on your wall for quick reference!

Leveled Reading- This site hosts free, online, leveled reading programs that give children the opportunity to practice their 注音符號(ㄅㄆㄇㄈ).  Check them out at:

• http://edu.ocac.gov.tw/lang/basic/ch_kindergarten_new/english/page/a.htm
• http://edu.ocac.gov.tw/lang/basic/ch_kindergarten_new/english/page/sa.htm

mdnkids.com

mdnkids.com- This is a very nice site published by "Mandarin Daily News" that allows your child explore the individual ㄅㄆㄇ sounds with a simple click.  The audio has excellent quality.