Arch Chinese Review 2024: Nice but Confusing Interface

感谢你们对我的帮助

This was the text I received from one of my students, whom I helped to learn Chinese. Of course, I knew it was something in Chinese. But as I am not that familiar with Chinese, I was confused about what it meant. Upon asking her, she told me that it meant “Thank you for helping me.” I was overwhelmed by it. However, during our conversation, she mentioned the Arch Chinese app. I had never heard of it before. She wanted to know if she should use it and asked for my help. So I started looking into it.

Want to know what was my experience with it? Let us see it in this detailed Arch Chinese Review. 

Quick Takeaways

• Arch chinese is the app build to teach Chinese to the students under k-12 grades.
• It has a boring interface to go through.
• There are different features on the platform to go through from writing skills to engaging games. 

What is Arch Chinese?

Arch Chinese is an app that is designed for English speakers not know Chinese. Chinese is a hard language for an English speaker, Thus, this platform is created to help K-12 kids to learn the language. I had never heard about it, but I got the suggestion of it from one of my students. She wanted to know about it and asked me to check it.

When I tried this platform, there were many feedbacks for it and every suggestion was part of the platform. Since the platform was created by teachers from various levels, it incorporates multiple ideas. According to the platform, the only aim is to help Chinese learners all around the world. This is what they say on the official website-

Our ultimate goal is to provide a unique, high-quality learning system to help Chinese language learners around the world study Mandarin Chinese in a practical, effective, and enjoyable manner.

Pricing of Arch Chinese

The platform offers free content to the learners but is very limited. Thus, there are paid subscription plans for it. Below is the table that shows different plans for using it-

Types of Plans	Pricing
6-Month Standard (For individuals)	$49.99
12-Month Standard (For individuals)	$79.99
12-Month (For teachers)	$99.98

Course Overview

The interface of the platform is very confusing. Nothing is properly. Thus, when I started using it, I got very much confused. But I would also not neglect the amazing features it had. Arch Chinese is a platform that has multiple tabs to build up the Chinese language in K-12 students. Below I will share these features in brief.

1. Dictionary

The first feature of this platform is the Versatile Vocab list on it. It allows me to generate easy Chinese vocabulary lists of any text or word with the help of a single click on it. It can be a perfect way to simplify time-consuming tasks where the vocabulary and the facilities are compiled together, making it the perfect choice for having the best learning experience. 

2. Worksheet Generator

It is another exciting feature that helps a lot in teaching Chinese to the students. This technique is another exciting technique used by Chinese teachers. The technique helps the teacher to craft customized worksheets for teaching Mandarin Chinese. This feature helps in a way that the students and the teacher feel they are in a real classroom. 

3. Character Flashcards

I have learned from my experience that the language-learning journey is incomplete without using Flashcards. I am also a big fan of it. The Character Flashcard feature is an excellent way to teach the students with the help of visuals. Every one of us has the capability of remembering visual things rather than textual content. Thus, this is the best choice for the kids to grasp the knowledge. The flashcards are created in a manner that it makes easy for the students to learn the Characters, Pinyin, Radicals, etc. 

4. Game Generator

This is another exciting and fun element of the platform. I have always learned the language by engaging in fun tasks. In fact, it is the most common technique teachers use to learn the language. The platform also offers this interesting technique. Tons of exercises are developed in a way to sharpen the memory in the form of playing a game.

Many activities are specially designed for people of each age group. Remember the most iconic game that we used to play in our childhood ‘ Snake and Ladder’? This platform also uses it as a way to teach Chinese. I must say what an interesting way of getting engaged with the kids. Some of the other common games that I saw on the platform are-

• Word Builder
• Chinese Character Sudoku
• Bubble Burst
• Pinyin Search

5. Handwriting practice

Handwriting practice is the basic thing when it comes to Chinese practice. In other languages, it is easy to learn the writing style. It is because the basic characters are similar to English. But for the Chinese, you have to start from the beginning. It’s like going back to Pre-K schools and learning the alphabet of the language.

Of course, no app can help us to practice on pen and paper, which we had to do by ourselves. But it can teach the writing style of the laptop and mobile itself. Just use the finger across the character on the screen itself. Not only that, there is an instant feedback on it. There are also a lot of instructions on the page that helped me to understand how to start with it.

6. Pinyin and Tones

Different tools in this section helped me learn the basic characters of the language. Below I have mentioned different features under this tab-

a. Mandarin Chinese Pinyin Table

There is a complete table of the syllables of Pinyin which are used in the Standard Mandarin language. There is an empty cell in the table showing that there is no corresponding syllable in standard Mandarin. The different syllable tones are on the top of the table after clicking each of them. Just tap on it and listen to it. After listening to it, try to speak it by correcting the pronunciation. The main aim is to show the tone variation that exists in standard Mandarin.

b. Mandarin Chinese Tone Drill

It is a tool that is designed for testing and practicing Mandarin Pinyin and tones. Just tap on the play button to get the recording of the native speaker. The recording is Chinese or the word that is used commonly in the language. All I had to do was to match the tone with the character itself. It also allowed me to play the recording multiple times. There is also a hint option in the form of a bulb icon. Tap on it to view the Pinyin and then the play button. 

c. Chinese to Pinyin Converter

From the name itself, we can understand, what the tool will be about. It is the one that converts the Chinese Characters to Pinyin. Before converting the characters, it also allows me to change the setting accordingly. Many characters have multiple pronunciations. In such a scenario, the system will automatically choose the one based on the context of the content. You can also generate a PDF file or PPT presentation depending on what you want.

d. Pinyin Notation Converter

As an English speaker, we are likely to use Pinyins with the number notations. This tool will help convert the Pinyin with the tone number notation to the one with the tone marks. To do so, just enter the pinyin along with the tone number. Once you click on the Convert option, there will be a pinyin on the screen.

e. Radicals and Strokes

This tab covers everything related to the Radicals and Strokes of Chinese Language. These are two important things that are used while learning the language. If one of them is marked wrongly, the whole meaning can be changed. This tab includes tables for both of the languages separately. Along with that, there are additional features that helped me a lot in learning them in the right manner.

7. Activities

The platform has several activities on the platform. These activities helped me to learn the language in a fun manner. There are several interactive exercises, that I think are a perfect way to keep the students engaged with the content. It basically is a direct link to the games under the online gaming section.

8. Tools

There are a variety of tools that this platform offers. It covers different types of Chinese used around the world. Along with that, some tools help in discussing the Chinese language more. These tools are mentioned below-

• Fill in the blanks
• Character flashcards
• Match the following characters

Arch Chinese Review: Should you use it?

There are plenty of features that can help students to learn the language properly. But the interface is confusing. In fact, it took me 2 hours to understand how to start with it. This is so annoying. Unlike other platforms, it does not have any guidance on how to start with it. However, if one can understand it, no one can stop them from learning the language. It has everything, writing and listening practice, gamified factor, etc.

The only missing concept that I feel should be focused on is improving pronunciation. Thus, if you have already learned the language and want to improve the pronunciation, try some other platforms. Also, as mentioned above, the platform is very confusing when used. In such a scenario, try to use this platform with the help of tutors. 

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Arch Chinese?

Though I have discussed whether you should use it or not, it is important to understand what and what not you will get with it. Below is the table representing the pros and cons of Arch Chinese-

Pros	Cons
There are different templates to practice writing skills	The website is too complicated to be used.
Most of the exercises are created in the form of engaging and interactive games and worksheets	The design is so simple, that it looks boring to many people, many users stopped using it just because of it.
Every aspect of writing Chinese is covered. It teaches how to add the right stroke, radicals, etc.	The prices paid as one one-time payment, can be costly for many users.
It provides the tables or the content separately for both Pinyin and Radicals.

Arch Chinese Alternatives

Learning Chinese is not an easy task to learn. It takes months to get perfect in it. In such a case, it is always recommended to use multiple platforms together. Below are the platforms that I will recommend to learn Chinese from-

1. iChineseReader

This is another special platform for the students studying in k-12 class. This app helps the students to learn Chinese by reading different stories. It is a platform that is for improving the listening and reading skills. There are exciting stories that are specially designed to keep the students engaged in the lessons.

2. La La Learn – Mandarin Chinese 

It is the app that will surely keep the kids engaged with the content. It is not like the other learning platforms that only teach the language. It is the one that is more like singing a song. Kids really get engaged with music. This is what La La La Learn – Mandarin Chinese works. It teaches words, phrases, pronunciations, etc. Even, there are English translations that are taught in terms of singing a song. 

3. Duolingo

Duolingo has been always a special platform for me. It is the one that taught me Spanish, French, etc in the starting. The platform is free to use and very engaging. It’s like playing a game. I would suggest using this platform. It will test the knowledge in the form of games like exercises. There is also a special feature, Duolingo achievements. It is like the rewards you get for completing a specific task. This feature helped me a lot in completing my course faster.

Conclusion

Arch Chinese is another great platform for teaching Chinese to students in grades K-12. Despite having a confusing interface, there are many features to learn. All the features are interesting and engaging. There are worksheets, games, tables, etc., to boost language knowledge. However, the boring interface of the platform is why most people do not use it. Thus, try to use it along with a tutor to get a better understanding.