2Kids 学拼音

2Kids 学拼音- Written by 2kids.cn, the same company who wrote 2kids学汉字, this app aims to help your child learn and practice the sounds that make up Chinese (also known as Hanyu Pinyin).  This app is written for children who already are familiar with the language and need to learn the writing system.  However, this app is a good way for non-native speakers to practice Hanyu Pinyin after an introduction from another source.

This app is engaging for kids ages 3-7.  It uses the same "Dora" type set-up that its counterpart uses.  Children complete mini-missions by using what they've learned about Hanyu Pinyin.

The first set of lessons are free as an introduction to the app.  There are two further in-app purchases that each cost about $3.  I would recommend these purchases only if the child has someone else to help them learn the sounds.  This app is inadequate by itself to teach Hanyu Pinyin.

Learning Mandarin for Beginners & Pinyin Pronunciation HD

These apps, developed by Kotech Services Co., are exactly what's needed for anyone learning pinyin.

The first app, Learning Mandarin for Beginners, is an excellent program for teaching how to pronounce the pinyin sounds.  The user can select either an initial (beginning) or final (end) sound.  Then the viewer is taken to a screen that displays an video of how to produce the sound.  The video is an animated cross-section of the articulators (palates, lips, teeth, and tongue) so it is easy to see what is happening inside the mouth to make these Chinese sounds.  This is particularly important because often foreign language learners cannot hear differences in foreign sounds.  This app provides a visual context that allows the user to see how the sounds are produced differently.  Once foreign language learners can produce the difference in the sounds, they can begin to hear the difference in other speakers, which in turn allows for better comprehension during conversation.


As you navigate this app, pay particular attention to the positioning of the tongue in each video.  The slight differences between placement of the tip of the tongue is important.  For example, note if the tongue is placed behind the upper front teeth (as in the sound "s") or behind the lower front teeth (as in the sound "x").  The difference in placement is difficult to see, but it is there.  It would be nice if the developers would provide a written description of how the sound is pronounced to go with the animated video.  Until then, you can look here for access to more information about pronunciation.

The second app, Pinyin Pronunciation HD, is the follow up guide to the first app.  In Pinyin Pronunciation HD, the user can quickly select a initial, final, & tone and then listen to the correct pronunciation.  Not only is the interface very easy to use (my 5 year old could do this), but this app only allows you to make legitimite initial-final-tone combinations.  This allows observant users to see the pattern of rules that create legal combinations of sounds.  For example, the user might observe that "q" can only be combined with finals that begin with the letters i or ü.

I recommend buying these apps together as they compliment each other very well.  I've looked for similar free resources online but have been disappointed with the interface as the resources online tend to be very clumsy.  These apps are definitely worth the 0.99¢ each app costs and will allow you to have access to them wherever you go as they don't require internet access to utilize the apps after downloading.

Travel Bingo

Here's a way to practice Chinese in the car- Travel Bingo!  Print of one of the sheets below and then have your child look for the various items on his/her sheet.  Reminder him/her to call out the items as he/she sees them so you can verify it's correct.  Then let your child cross it off her sheet.  Try to find three in a row (up and down, across, or diagonal) or try to find everything on the sheet.

Here's several options for checking off the items.

• Reusable:
• Place sheet on a small magnetic board and use large (kid-safe) magnets to check off various items.
• Place sheet inside a plastic coat and use a dry erase marker.
• Got an iPad?  Save your Bingo card as a pdf file and then open it on your iPad using the app "pdf-notes."  It's free!
• One-Time Use:
• Check it off with a marker directly onto the sheet.

Travel Bingo- Blank  Draw in your own items to be found around town.  Don't forget to include the Chinese characters at the bottom (This is good exposure even if your child isn't reading yet!) and the pronunciation guide if they have learned that.

Stuck for ideas?  Check out the examples below:
Travel Bingo-Sample with 注音符號
Travel Bingo- Sample with 漢語拼音 (Hànyǔ Pīnyīn)

2kids学汉字

2kids学汉字- This app is worthy of mention. The instructions are all in Chinese but I didn't let that stop me from downloading this app- don't let it stop you! I've only had this app for a few days, but my four-year old keeps coming back to it. It has been wonderful at helping us to review characters she's seen already since it covers many common characters.  This app is aimed at children who already speak Mandarin and so the primary objective of this app is to teach them character recognition and writing (stroke order).  However, I've found it useful as an immersion tool for teaching character recognition in my kids (who are learning Chinese as a foreign language).

*There is a companion app by the same company called 2Kids学拼音.


General Organization- Each Unit covers 6-8 characters and most Units are taught across 2 Lessons.  Only one Lesson can be completed each day.  This helps to ensure that a child is retaining character recognition over time.

Specific Organization- The first Unit covers 6 characters: 大，小，人，口，上，and 下. The kids are introduced to pictures that correlate to each of the characters in the lesson. Then they are shown how to write the character using the correct stroke order. Next, much like in the popular TV show Dora and Diego, they help four story characters solve problems  by correctly identifying the target character from several choices. The graphics and animation is high quality.  Kids are rewarded with short animation clips, with virtual stickers, and by watching the story characters progress through the story. The makers of this app had young children in mind!

Update 1- Just bought the first extension (Content Package 1).  The characters covered and the incentives (digital stickers and animation clips) have expanded.  It appears there will be 6 simplified characters per Unit.  I'm still recommending this app even if you are teaching your children traditional characters because most people who read Chinese will need to recognize the simplified forms (which Mainland China primarily uses). Don't let learning two forms of the same character intimidate you. Often the two forms are very similar. Consider English and all the fonts a proficient reader must be able to navigate: two forms of lowercase 'a,' uppercase versus lowercase, cursive versus print, etc. As native speakers, we pick up these variations and accept them on the path to English literacy. Use this same concept to help your child become proficient in reading Chinese; expose them to variations!

Below is an example of how similar the simplified and traditional forms can be:

妈 --> 媽 ("mother")

Of course, not all of the characters will have such obvious similarities between the two fonts,
but give your child some credit.  If they are a native speaker, they've probably already figured out
that "soda/pop," "T.V./television," and "picture/photo" refer to the same thing.
只--> 隻 (a common Measure Word for animals)

Keep in mind that many Chinese characters look exactly the same in their simplified and traditional forms.
大-->大 ("big")

Update 2-　The characters covered in each Content Package aren't revealed until the child has learned all of the previous Units.  So I can't post subsequent characters until my kids pass their lessons, but I'll try to post as I have access to them.  Future Units include the following simplified characters:

• Content Package 1 (Lessons 1-5) 
• Unit 1- 大, 小, 人, 口, 上, 下
• Unit 2- 爸, 妈, 天, 太, 一, 二
• Unit 3- 中, 月, 哭, 笑, 阳, 水
• Unit 4- 三, 亮, 星, 火, 云, 地
• Content Package 2 (Lessons 6-15)
• Unit 5- 个, 和, 四, 我, 心, 有
• Unit 6- 明, 木, 山, 石, 头, 土
• Unit 7- 耳, 好, 花, 牛, 田, 五 and a Short Story (see Update 3 below)
• Unit 8- 聪, 眉, 目, 手, 树, 羊 
• Unit 9- 鼻, 风, 日, 六, 叶, 的 
• Content Package 3 (Lessons 16-25)
• Unit 10- 草, 多, 少, 雨, 孩, 七 & 2 Short Stories (see Update 3 below)
• Unit 11- 红, 黃, 白, 家, 是, 吃 and a Short Story (see Update 3 below)
• Unit 12- 愛, 不, 唱, 奶, 爷, 子
• Unit 13- 朋, 歌, 八, 在, 学, 书 and a Short Story (see Update 3 below)
• Content Package 4 (Lessons 26- 35)
• Unit 14- 宝, 生, 贝, 儿, 九, 友
• Unit 15- 看, 里(里面), 气, 十, 这, 字 & 2 Short Stories (see Update 3 below)
• Unit 16- 来, 你, 听, 只, 做, 会, 女, 去
• Unit 17- 见, 今, 男, 鸟, 说, 坐, 期, 走
• Content Package 5 (Lessons 36-45) 
• Unit 18- 鱼, 早, 车, 飞, 鸡, 绿, 青, 雪 and a Short Story (see Update 3 below)
• Note to 2Kids Publishers:  The last two characters in this list cannot be seen when you first go to the "stories" icon at the bottom of the page and then to the "flashcard" icon at the top of the page.
• Unit 19- 他, 夏, 秋, 春, 冬, 跑, 要, 们
• Unit 20- 李, 狗, 也, 真, 开, 蓝, 猫, 都
• Unit 21- 黑, 关, 哥, 马, 米, 姐, 面, 出 and a Short Story (see Update 3 below)
• Unit 22- 跳, 着(睡着), 了, 又, 弟, 妹, 东, 就(就是他的)
• Content Package 6 (Lessons 46-60)
• Unit 23- 快, 还, 得(得到), 西, 乐, 到, 起,玩 and a Short Story (see Update 3 below)
• Unit 24- 捉, 迷, 球, 很, 高, 鸭, 方, 兴 (高兴), 
• Unit 25- 向, 对, 能, 叫, 晚, 问, 电, 门
• Unit 26- 只(一只), 打, 冷, 热, 新, 再, 回, 急
• Unit 27- 请, 过, 吗, 左, 右, 前, 外, 里(里面) and a Short Story (see Update 3 below)

Update 3- I'm becoming more and more impressed with this program. Starting in Lesson 5, children are occasionally given a short story to read. My daughter was giddy with delight to realize she can now read a short story in Chinese.  Here is the "story."  The characters that aren't covered by the iPad app lessons have a speaker icon above them.  The kids can tap on those characters and the word is read for them.

 

Update 4- This app is going on my top recommendation list!  Starting in Lesson 6, the user is asked to retain in memory a short sentence that uses the characters taught in this app.  The user is then suppose to arrange the characters in the same order as the sentence.  What a great way to practice listening skills!

Comments-  My son has now completed all six of the currently available Content Packages.  So I've decided to make some comments about my observations.

• The purpose of this app is to teach character recognition and that is why I decided it was still a good buy for my son who is learning the characters introduced here as a second language.  However, I've noticed one issue that parents of non-native Chinese-speaking children should be aware of- Sometimes a character is introduced with one meaning within the flashcards, but then is reused as a word with the same character BUT A DIFFERENT MEANING later in the Unit.  For example, 得 is introduced in the flashcards as being related to the phrase "得到".  However, later it is used as part of the phrase "我们玩得很高兴。"  In these two instances the "得" has a different meaning, a different grammatical function, and a different pronunciation!  Native speakers would probably assimilate this just fine; however, it can be a bit of a hang-up to non-native speakers.  Where this has occurred within this app, I've tried to make note of it below:
• 得 introduced as "得到" and later seen in phrases such as "我们玩得很高兴。"
• There are a couple of places where the same character (same pronunciation and same meaning) is repeated:
• Unit 15 and Unit 27- 里

Art of Glow

Art of Glow- is a free iPad and iPhone app that allows you to make mini art movies.  I've used this app to make movies of common characters being slowly written.  When my kids view the movie, they see the character being written slowly (using the correct stroke order*).  I ask them to guess what character is being written and to shout it out when they think they know.  You could also use this app to practice recognizing ㄅㄆㄇㄈ or pinyin ("Shout it out when you think you know what sound it is!").

You can make and save several movies on this app.  When making the movie, be sure that you change the settings so that each stroke remains visible (I max-out the Life Time, minimize the Speed and Blink settings, Size should be in the middle of the range, and Amount somewhere between the middle and the maximum).  If your kids don't read the Mainland Chinese pinyin system, you can save the file using this naming system and then they can randomly pick a movie and play the game by themselves. 

*To see the correct stroke order for a character visit YellowBridge.com, locate the character in the dictionary and then choose the "Stroke Order" tab.

How to write in Chinese on your iPad/iPhone

This post will teach you how to input Chinese on you iPad/iPhone.

You have several keyboard choices.  To allow this function on your iPad/iPhone you need to do the following:

Go to you iPad/iPhone's "Settings."

Make sure you are in the "General" tab.

Next, click on "International Keyboards."

Then choose "Add New Keyboard."

Scroll down until you see the keyboard you want to have available on your iPad/iPhone.
You could select/add all of them.
The Chinese keyboards I have found most helpful are discussed below.*

Chinese-Traditional Handwriting- This program allows you to HAND-WRITE CHINESE CHARACTERS on your iPad/iPhone. I immediately fell in love with this program, because it allows my children to practice their knowledge of Chinese characters in a practical way. The program allows the use of a finger to "write" the characters on the screen, thus reinforcing character memorization.

Chinese- Simplified Handwriting- Same as above with the exception that it uses simplified characters instead of traditional. 

Chinese-Traditional Pinyin- This keyboard allows Chinese character input via Mainland China's pinyin system. If you use this keyboard, after installation you should check its settings (General, Keyboard, International Keyboard, Chinese- Traditional Pinyin).  Take note about whether the "fuzzy pinyin" option is on. Fuzzy pinyin typically allows some errors when pulling up possible characters. You may want this option off if you are using this program to teach your child.

Chinese- Simplified Pinyin- Same as above with the exception that it uses simplified characters instead of traditional.  Just as above, check to see if the "fuzzy pinyin" option is on.

Chinese-Traditional Zhuyin- This one allows you to input the Zhuyin Fuhao (AKA Bo, Po, Mo, Fo) and then pulls up possible character matches. This is nice for children learning this system of sounding out the characters.


*Each keyboards option is a wonderful teaching opportunity waiting to be used.  For example, my four-year old can "write" the Chinese character for "water" in the Google search page and see what images are brought up. However, parents should try this out with each character before setting their children to this task in order to be sure that the pictures Google returns are age appropriate! (You can adjust Google's search engine filter by taking the following steps: Go to "Google.com," Click on the gear/setting icon in the upper-right corner (you may need to sign in first), Select "Search Settings," Slide the Lock SafeSearch bar to its highest setting- "Strict.")

Chinese Writer

DON'T IGNORE THIS APP! 

Chinese Writer is a wonderful app which integrates game and flashcard options to help young students remember stroke order, pronunciation, and meanings of characters. There are now over 5,000 (an update in Spring 2012 increased the available characters from 3,500) simplified/traditional Chinese characters from which you can make your own list to practice. An initial set of 43 simplified/traditional characters are free and then you have the option of purchasing further sets.

What drew me to this Chinese Writer (by trainchinese) is that it contains the radicals (the building blocks of Chinese characters). From this app, I created a list of specific characters/radicals that I wanted my children to focus on. They can practice the correct stroke order (the app lets them know if they write a stroke in the wrong order or in the wrong direction), listen to the correct Chinese pronunciation (or not if I turn the iPad to mute), and tell me the meaning (which scrolls across the top of the page).

The game is like Tetris in that Chinese characters "fall" down the page. The learner taps the character and then "traces" the correct stroke order over the outline of the character. He/she must complete the character before it reaches the bottom or it fills in one of the five boxes at the bottom of the app. When all five boxes are filled, the game is over. As the learner continues playing the speed of the character's fall increases (The user can control the initial speed on the settings page.). Randomly throughout the game, rockets appear that can be tapped for extra points. This really helps my 5-year old keep his attention on the game. He also likes trying to beat his best score.

For more advanced students, there is a "writing" mode within the game. If you select this game option, you won't see a character once you've taped the character.  You must pen it without help or the character will fill in one of the five boxes.

In flashcard mode, learners can practice the stroke order without being timed, hear the correct Chinese pronunciation, and read the corresponding English meaning. This is the part of the app that I use for my 3-year old since her fingers cannot move fast enough (yet!) to play the timed game.

Chinese for Kids

Chinese for Kids- Created by 321Speak, this program has the same layout as Rosetta Stone, but with vocabulary aimed at kids. The app utilizes simplified characters with pinyin.  I've enjoyed this app and so have my children (ages 3 and 5). Currently there are 11 categories: body parts, people, animals, colors, numbers (Arabic numbers to Chinese pronunciation), food, school, getting places, home, opposites, and more food.

My only complaint is that the pictures are sometimes confusing.  For example, the pictures used to drill numbers are difficult to see (too busy).  Also, the pictures for up/down (上\下) are misleading.  To illustrate, the picture for "down" showed a cat that was under a sofa but was placed in the upper portion of the picture. The picture for "up" showed a cat that was on a table but placed in the lower half of the picture. When these pictures are compared side-by-side, there is an opportunity for confusion. It helps when an adult can direct the child's attention to the relative position within each picture.  The pictures illustrating other concepts are fine.  However, because of these issues, I'm recomending parents to use this app not to teach the vocabulary, but to reinforce the vocabulary.

Side Note- There is another Chinese program written by the same company called Chinese (Mandarin) Course- Speak and Learn Pro.  Written for adults, Chinese (Mandarin) Course also uses simplified characters and pinyin.  It contains over 50+ Lessons on various topics including:

• Airport Travel
• Travel Vocab
• Places
• Directions
• Money and Shopping
• Eating/Dining
• Colors/Numbers
• Hotel
• Family and Friends
• Plus many more 'most used' words and phrases

LinguPingu Chinese/English Picture Dictionary

      LinguPingu- This picture dictionary is a favorite of my kids.  Their favorite feature of the app is that they can easily switch between Chinese and English and hear the item being labeled in each language.  I like this concept because it seems to emphasis that both languages are important, which is important if you want to encourage bilingualism rather than stressing one language over another.

The lite version (free) has two pages:  animals and transportation.  You can upgrade to include seven other pages:  food, body parts, farm, toys, nature, clothes, and apartment. 

KittyWords Chinese Picture Dictionary

·         KittyWords- is a free picture dictionary.  It has seven different scenes:  jungle, seaside, pond/field, farm, ocean, African savanna, and forest.  Kids can tap on the screen to discover the Chinese word for the things pictured.  As a bonus, the simplified character for the word is presented as it is read.  There is also a quiz setting that allows kids to test their skills with new words.

Apple Tree Chinese Story App

AppleTreeBooks produces story apps in Chinese/English for both iPad and iPhone.  The iPad apps provide an option for Traditional or Simplified Characters, but do not provide either the 注音符號(ㄅㄆㄇㄈ) or the pinyin to help the children read along.  However the illustrations are awesome!  The easiest way to find these stories is to visit their website (http://www.appletreebook.com/EN/).

QLL Chinese Story Apps

      Wow!  I recommend any of the story apps by QLL (Quick Language Learning Inc. Ltd.).  The easiest way to find these apps is to visit the company's website (qll.co/pct) and then choose the type of app you need to download (iPad, iPhone, Android, etc).  There are usually some free stories and several that you can purchase.  Check back often as new stories become available!

Some of the apps use traditional characters along with 注音符號(ㄅㄆㄇㄈ); some of the stories use simplified characters.  So be sure to look at the description or the screenshots of the app in order to verify what is included.  In general, I have found that the iPad apps use traditional characters along with the ㄅㄆㄇㄈ; the iPhone apps use the simplified characters.  I presume this is due to the screen size and therefore is an attempt at making the characters easier to read on the smaller screens.  The company also produces apps for Androids, but I can't attest to those app functions.

Here's some more information about the iPad apps- What is great about these apps is that they were designed for kids learning 注音符號(ㄅㄆㄇㄈ).  In addition, you can control the language settings to control both the written text and the audio output.  Do you want English or Chinese text?  Do you want the story read to you in Chinese, English, or both?  Or would you rather there be no audio so that you can practice reading the characters yourself?  Yea!  Practical application of reading skills!  There are currently more than 30 stories produced by this company including:  Snow White, The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Frog Prince, and The Three Little Pigs).

***************************
Update!  I've taken screen shots of "The Three Little Pigs" and printed them on paper so my kids now have a book they can color.  I'm also using a white-out pen to cover up the ㄅㄆㄇㄈ of the characters my kids are learning to read by sight.

     I choose  "The Three Little Pigs" as my test run for several reasons:

• My kids are already very familiar with the story.
• There is lots of repetition of the vocabulary.
• The vocabulary is fairly simple and my kids are familiar with it (if not the character themselves); the grammar is also simple.
• The kids have memorized several of the characters in this story and can recognize them without the ㄅㄆㄇㄈ (For example, 三，小，有，他，的, 一, 了, 子, 二, 心, 大, 聽, 好, 喜歡, 吃, 口, 是, 家, 門, 不, 我, 你, 叫, 說, 給, 裡, 去, 兩, 生, 力, 想, 也, 笑, 下, 個, 來, 明, 快, 水, and 樂.)

If you would like to make your own hard copy of the book, you can do that easily on an iPad by creating your own screenshots.  Simply go to the page you want to take a picture of, then press the "Home Button" and the "On/Off Button" simultaneously; this will create a picture and store it in your photo library.  Then email the picture to yourself (I use the Facebook app to accomplish this) and paste the picture into a document you can print (like Microsoft Word).

loveChinese iPad App

loveChinese 小宝宝学中文- This is a quiz-type program.  The primary purpose of the app is to reinforce already studied basic vocabulary, not to teach the vocabulary- so you'll need to introduce the vocabulary to your kids before they use the app.    The lite version (free) will quiz your child on numbers (Chinese characters 1-9), shapes, and colors.  There are nine additional packs (fruits & vegetables, transportation, animals, daily necessities, occupation, insects & birds, numbers (Arabic), basic words (1), and basic words (2)) that you can purchase.

Kids earn e-stickers as rewards, and parents can determine how often those rewards are earned on the Settings page.  The nice thing about this app is that you can set it to display注音符號(ㄅㄆㄇㄈ), or Mainland Chinese pinyin.  You also control whether simplified or traditional characters are displayed. 

ABCs and Me

ABCs and Me- This is a free flashcard app that teaches numbers (0-100), shapes, colors, transportation, and food in Chinese using both simplified characters and pinyin (adjust the language under settings).  The nice thing about this app is that the parent can control which flashcards a child sees.  For example, if you only want the child to study numbers 1-5, you can set that.  

To control the "favorite" flashcards that your child sees, do the following two steps.  First, touch the star outline in the top, right-hand corner of the flashcards you want your child to study so that the star turns yellow (like in the picture seen here).  Next, go to the home page and touch the gear in the upper, right-hand corner (this opens the settings).  In the settings page, find "Favorites Only" and slide the bar so that it displays "On."  Voila, personalized flashcards!

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.

Counting 101 iPad App

Counting101- A very basic app that teaches numbers (1-9) and counting.  However, I think this app could be more flexible- right now you hear the Chinese, but only the Arabic numbers are shown.

Chinese Number Trainer iPad App

Chinese Number Trainer- This is a fun, free app for adults learning Chinese as a second language.  This app is nice because it provides a guide, which gives an excellent overview of how to count in Chinese and includes a brief discussion of how to read a phone number.  The guide provides the pronunciation using pinyin.  

The app is designed like a game in which the learner is asked to find a particular number from a multiple choice set (you can change the setting so that you control the number range you are quizzed on (0-100, 0-1,000, 1,000-10,000, or 10,000-1,000,000).  There is a time limit, and you try to beat your best score.  The app is free, but will only allow you to play the game 5 times a day for free.  To play more often you must purchase the full version.