iChineseReader Review 2024: Best App for K-12 Chinese Learning Kids

I have students from different ages. There was a K grade 8 student in my class who wanted to learn Chinese. Being a language learner, I knew the apps used by adults. But for a student like her, it was difficult to select an app. For students under K-12, it is important to have an engaging platform. On researching a lot, I got my hands on iChineseReader. It is specifically designed for understanding K-12 students who want to learn Chinese. If you also have a kid and want her/him to learn Chinese, read the iChineseReader review and give this platform a try.

Quick Takeaways

• iChinese reader is the platform that is specifically designed for k-12 students to teach Chinese.
• It helps in learning through 3000 interactive e-books at 20 different levels. 
• There are test preparations, courses, multiple assessments, etc for IB and AP chinese.
• The courses are created keeping following grading systems in mind-

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) 
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
History-Social Science Framework (HSSF)
Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi

What is iChineseReader?

As the name suggests, iChineseReader is the Chinese reading app. It is a platform designed to help K-12 students. According to their official page:

iChineseReader is a leveled online reading platform tailored to the varied reading needs of the K-12 Chinese program.

There are more than 3000 interactive e-books at 20 different levels. It covers the curriculum for Chinese reading. iChineseReader combines teaching with the curriculum of the subjects. Although it was created keeping US schools in mind, it can still be used worldwide.

Pricing of iChineseReader

There are three types of plans, two for individuals and one for schools. Below I have mentioned the table representing the prices for individual subscription plans-

Types of Plans	Pricing of it
Monthly	$7.99
Annually	$79.99

However, if you are using it as a school to teach the students, the cost will be customized depending upon various factors like several students and teachers.

Note: A 14-day free trial is available for tutors and individuals to check if it is a perfect choice for you.

Course Overview 

This website is a perfect way for improving the students learning keeping school and subject matter in mind. It offers various features to help the child. Excited to know about these features? Get ready to see how it is created.

1. Courses

Four programs depend upon the grade and needs of your child. I have mentioned them below-

1. Chinese Immersion (K-Grade 8)

This is the first program on the website. It basically gives a lot of immersion teaching experience. The tutors are really good and books and reading material are awesome. I think the best way to teach a subject is through immersing techniques. The subjects covered in it are Science, Social studies, and Maths. They not just teach, but take assessments for different subjects and students. Chinese used in it is based on ACTFL and HSK standards. The courses are made keeping three different bodies in mind-

• Common Core State Standards (CCSS) 
• Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
• History-Social Science Framework (HSSF)

a. Textbooks and Reading

The textbooks used in this program are chosen to keep the following things in mind-

• The content used in the books is based on the various regulatory bodies mentioned above.
• It has flexibility in choosing the topics to teach. 
• Written by experts and Chinese teachers according to the ACTL and HSK levels. 
• The content is based on appropriate difficulty levels. 
• Different niches are covered like Fictional text, information text, etc.
• Gives cross-cultural competence with the help of explicit and implicit teaching. 
• Content-based on the age of a person covering self-management and responsibility awareness. 
• At the end of the program page, there is also a quick view of the selected books.

b. Workbooks and assessments

There are a lot of practice exercises and workbooks. 

• Assessments are created keeping the course content for CCSS, NGSS, and HSSF. 
• The scoring is done by AI. Objective-based questions are directly scored making the job of teachers a little easier.
• They can be used as homework or in-class quizzes and practice sessions. 
• There are data reports also that help her parent to know how she is doing. It also helped to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the student. 

2. IB Chinese

iChineseReader is correlated to the six transdisciplinary themes for the International Baccalaureate curriculum. The readers can choose from more than a hundred titles covered in this program. They will not only improve the Chinese language of your kids but also make them a better person. The kids will understand and appreciate different cultural views. This program also uses AI to analyze the listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills of your kid. Some topics covered are-

• Personal attributes
• Time recognization 
• Expressing ourselves
• Climate
• Natural world
• Education and many more

There are three different learning exercises in it-

a. PVP

It motivated me to learn with K-6 effective learning. There are more than 12000 interactive books and 3000 ebooks, covering more than 60 topics. These topics are language arts, science, life skills, etc. Access it 24/7 anywhere, anytime. The technology used in it helps to unlock flexible learning. There are 20-level grading systems based on important grades like ACTFL and HSK. 

b. MP

It covers the aspects of living in the world. There are six different themes covered in it. Check them all and get a deep understanding of diverse cultures. The books offered in this program also have multiple quizzes. It helps to master 15 skills like the ACTFL standard. There is an interesting feature of this platform known as Challenge Yourself. When my student read and took part in the quizzes, she earned some points. These points helped her unlock new games, making her engaged with the lesson. iChineseReader helps to keep track of the progress of the student. This helps in knowing her learning level.

c. DP

It is the IB Diploma program covering content related to different subjects. The books match the level to the student’s learning level. I think as a student, it is important to know how the paper will come. This is also done here. There are the latest DP exams to help you practice them. You can listen, speak, and read like a language master.

3. Chinese as a 2nd language

It follows a thematic approach using the Second language learning style. There are 200 books organized based on different themes, hobbies, sports, travel, etc. Under each theme, there are 5 books of various test types. Each book covers dialogues to develop conversational skills. It also includes books on different themes and scenarios. Some of the subjects covered are social studies and science.

4. Heritage

This program basically involves integrating cultural awareness and authentic language usage. It also gives personalized learning features making it a better choice. The way to improve the linguistic aspect of the Chinese language. There is a cultural comparison between the traditions of China and America. It covers Chinese history, geography, art, etc. It has authentic material to offer. There are tools like Dictionary to add the content for the learners.

2. Assessments 

There are three types of assessments on iChineseReader-

a. Evaluations 

There is a formative evaluation of linguistic level-based skills. The evaluation is based on HSK and ACTFL proficiency levels. There is a standardized Chinese test like HSK and YCT level. In total, there are 340 Evaluation Books and 24 level tests. In addition to that, there are more than 3000 grammar test questions and 12 subject tests. All the skills, listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills are tests. The reporting levels are done on LSRW skills. 

b. Running records

RR system is considered to be the best tool for the evaluation of the students. This platform is the first and only one to have a digital RR system for Chinese programs. It pinpoints the error types and identifies the error patterns. This system is also known for telling about a student’s reading deficiency. The only problem with it is that the RR system was mainly created for Western alphabetic languages. Thus, many times it does not understand the characters of the Chinese language. Also, they have to prepare and code it, making it time-consuming. 

c. Placement level

Every student has different learning levels. To help them there is a placement test. Taking this test is helpful to start the learning session. When my student was learning through it, the placement test helped her to check where to start. I think it’s a pretty cool feature. Having the right level helps in deciding where to start. When my student did this test, she answered the questions independently. Take it any time anywhere. The questions in the placement test are customized by the tutors themselves.

3. Test Prep

iChineseReader has a lot of exercises to prepare for two different level tests-

a. AP Chinese

There are six AP themes on the platform with a collection of 200 books for the students who want to prepare for it. All the books provide important reading material for preparation. Along with that, there are three more things that she gets here-

• AP Pathway: In it, she got sixty books that offer immersive listening, reading, writing, and speaking exercises. These books help her to prepare for the AP exam. 
• AP Question Bank: it’s like a where she got 700 exam questions. I think it is really a nice resource to help students develop all the important skills for language. 
• AP Simulated Tests: It consists of 10 sets in which the exams are developed by the experts of AP. These tests are offered in modes – testing and practice. Both of them prepare the students for the AP exam. 

IBDP Chinese 

In this test preparation series there are four things that you get-

• Comprehensive listening resources: There are over 75 texts that cover major themes. 
• Spoken language proficiency evaluation: This section covers examination papers for spoken language including dialogue and visual help. 
• Authoritative reading examination: this section covers the latest reading examination text. It basically involved variations and current topics around Chinese-speaking regions. 
• Writing assessments: in this section, different exercises help improve writing style. 

iChinsesReader Review: Is it worthy?

It was quite a new platform for me too. So I had no idea how it worked. The only reason I asked my student to use it was the free trial for it. But, fortunately, my decision worked well for her. Starting with there were books specially designed for kids. The books contain engaging content of fictional and nonfiction stories. The books are narrated by the native speakers with the help of beautiful animations. When she was in the lesson, she could record herself, do quizzes, and play games.

The quizzes are designed in a manner that meets ACTFL standards. Another engaging exercise on the platform is to find the hidden animations by clicking on them. I think it’s a perfect platform for your kids. Give it a try by taking advantage of the 14-day free trial period.

Alternatives to iChineseReader

I think iChineseReader is a perfect platform for learning the Chinese. But this does not mean that it’s the only platform. There are some other platforms to learn Chinese-

a. DuChinese

DuChinese is a platform specifically designed to learn Chinese through reading of it. There are a lot of Chinese reading stories making it more engaging and entertaining. 

b. Skritter – Practice writing

I asked my student to use Skritter also. It is a platform designed for teaching Chinese characters. Anyone having difficulty will get so much practice from it. The characters are taught along with the correct way of making the right strokes. It also improves pronunciation skills. 

Conclusion

iChineseReader is an app that focuses on kids of K-12. It is the website where kids can learn Chinese. I had no idea about it, but when one of my students wanted to learn it, I asked her to give it a try. There were books containing engaging content of fictional and nonfiction stories. They are narrated by native speakers with animations. There are a lot of quizzes, exercises, games, and activities. The quizzes are designed in a manner that meets ACTFL standards. It’s like a gem for any kid learning Chinese.