carljohan Posted October 6, 2013 at 08:38 PM Report Share Posted October 6, 2013 at 08:38 PM Over the last year, I've been working on a website called Mandaread (www.mandaread.com) together with one of my friends. Mandaread is a website to make reading Chinese more fun and less painful. 1. It offers a variety of content, from Blog Articles, News, Fiction to Mandaread Originals, texts written specifically for Mandaread. 2. Texts are annotated with pinyin (using split pinyin, showing tone marks on top and the pronunciation on the bottom) and segmented into words. Some texts come with English translations. 3. You can add your own texts from a URL to major news sites (www.infzm.com, www.sina.com, www.ftchinese.com etc.) or using the built-in editor. These texts can then be shared with other users. We're working hard on adding more features, such as filtering of texts, a commentary system and suggestions on texts to read based on your level. The website is currently free to use, and we're looking for users to try it out. Good and bad feedback is equally useful to us as we're trying to make Mandaread as good a tool as it can possibly be. We think it can help you take your Chinese to the next level! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelley Posted October 7, 2013 at 04:21 PM Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 at 04:21 PM Looks great. I like the wide choice of subjects and the ability to tailor the help to your learning level. Well done. I have registered and am looking forward to many pain free articles and books to read. One question, is it available for tablets? I had a look on my android device and I could log on but found it didn't work very well. I could choose an article but no text appeared. if it was available on mobile devices this would increase its usability loads and would make it a superb and not just a great site. Keep up the good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msittig Posted October 7, 2013 at 04:39 PM Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 at 04:39 PM What is the advantage of sites like this over Firefox with Perapera installed? I imagine there is an advantage, I'm just not seeing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Posted October 7, 2013 at 06:54 PM Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 at 06:54 PM What is the advantage of sites like this over Firefox with Perapera installed? Word segmentation? (assuming it works well) I think the real added value comes with the features they work on. Didn't sign up and don't know how it really works (a trial without signing up might help convince people). But if good reading suggestions are provided based on your level/vocabulary and if possible subjects that would add value as searching for suitable and interesting reading material can be a pain. A commentary system, depending how it's implemented, may have value too. A teacher might point out grammar and vocabulary issue's with a reading assignment. A student might comment on the text or things he/she does not properly understand. Another added feature with value might be a tool to extract (selected) vocabulary for SRS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carljohan Posted October 7, 2013 at 07:06 PM Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 at 07:06 PM Shelley: It works quite well on my iPad. We haven't done any work to try to make it work on tablets, so my guess is that it has a lot to do with the browser that's install. We will definitely follow up on this, but I'm not sure how much time we'll have to work on a tablet version.msittig: Have you tried it out?One advantage which is there already is that there is a wide range of materials available, without having to search for it. If you've already made a habit of reading Chinese blogs or websites, this may not make much of a difference to you, but to me it makes a huge difference.Another big advantage that we are aiming at but not really reaching yet, is the ability to add translations (already available) and annotations. We're aiming for a comment function for text and paragraph level comments to be ready for the next minor version, in a month or so.This way, a teacher can download and save materials which is pre-annotated for the student, with only a fraction of the work for most content production sites now.Silent: Word segmentation is another advantage. Also, unlike other sites, we offer automatic word segmentation, but we also make it possible for the user (or ourselves/Chinese teachers) to adjust the segmentation in an editor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members spiralofhope Posted October 29, 2013 at 06:35 AM New Members Report Share Posted October 29, 2013 at 06:35 AM I took a quick glance, and I've bookmarked it for later. Great style. So far, I think I'd strongly prefer having pinyin with in-line accents than have the accents floating above the character and the roman characters underneath. It's confusing for me to need to move my eye through the character to get that information. As a beginner, it seems pretty overwhelming. A "crash-course" style of tutorial as opposed to one which introduces specific radicals or characters, their meanings, then talks about grammar etc. Maybe I just need to review it more thoroughly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted January 7, 2014 at 09:32 AM Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 at 09:32 AM How is Mandaread doing? Anyone using it regularly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carljohan Posted January 7, 2014 at 09:42 AM Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 at 09:42 AM It's doing pretty well - usage is increasing slowly but steadily. We're planning some pretty big updates in about 1 month to make Mandaread a more useful tool for Beginners, and I think it will have good chances to take off after that. Follow @mandareadcom, Mandaread on Facebook. or read our blog to get more information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ania Posted January 7, 2014 at 04:59 PM Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 at 04:59 PM Since I'm still at an elementary level, I welcome any website that offers reading material for less advanced learners. Looks like your website might become one of my favorites and I wish you all the best in the future!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carljohan Posted January 8, 2014 at 02:36 AM Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 at 02:36 AM Thanks, appreciate it! Keep spreading the word, and post any problems or suggestions by email or through the Feedback button on the website Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carljohan Posted April 13, 2014 at 03:46 AM Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 at 03:46 AM I'm working on a website called Mandaread (www.mandaread.com) for improving reading of Chinese. We're in the process of finishing our first App (iOS + Android), and we're looking for interested beta testers to give us feedback. Mandaread has a lot in common with plug-ins such as PeraPera and the Pleco Reader, that allow you to lookup words directly within the software. But, we instead import all articles into our platform, to make it easier for users to save articles they are interested in, and also to share with other users. We also offer a larger variety of viewing options, including split pinyin (tone on tope and pronunciation on bottom), selective pinyin (only include pinyin for words that contain less common characters) and a pinyin only mode. The idea is to make it easier for the user to read without resorting to the lookup options. Our App will give access to about 400 articles from Mandaread, with more being uploaded every week. You can also upload and read your own articles through the website, and share with other users. If you haven't done so already, try out the website first to see if this is something you would be interested in; I've also added some screenshots here to show you what the App looks like now (on my iPad). If you are interested in testing it, please send me an email at carl@mandaread.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsur Posted December 22, 2014 at 12:28 AM Report Share Posted December 22, 2014 at 12:28 AM hi, i've been trying to use the app mandaread but my phone seems to fail loading the stories. is mandaread still working? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted December 22, 2014 at 09:52 AM Report Share Posted December 22, 2014 at 09:52 AM Looks like the website is down too. Might just have forgotten to pay a hosting bill, or might have disappeared off the face of the earth. Any other users? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelley Posted December 22, 2014 at 09:28 PM Report Share Posted December 22, 2014 at 09:28 PM I can't access it either. I had registered and used it occasionally, it didn't work too well on my tablet either as an app or through a browser so I only used it on my desktop. Is a coincidence that mandaread is down and new reading website Chairman Bao has appeared? I am no good at finding out whois who on the internet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsur Posted December 24, 2014 at 01:05 PM Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 at 01:05 PM Hey Shelley, I can't seem to find this website you're talking about. when I google it I only get sites about Chinese food. Could you please send a link? And do the have an app aswell. I like to try and read small Chinese texts on my smartphone (beginner going on intermediate) to keep the learning process alive. Mandaread looked like a good way of doing that. Too bad I ever got it to work properly. thanx! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelley Posted December 25, 2014 at 04:58 PM Report Share Posted December 25, 2014 at 04:58 PM I am not sure why you asked me. if you read the entire thread you will see that it is not operating anymore, for reasons I don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsur Posted January 13, 2015 at 09:46 AM Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 at 09:46 AM Hey Shelley, My question wasn't about Mandaread, but about the new reading website Chairman Bao you were talking about in your previous post. Can you send a link? thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelley Posted January 13, 2015 at 11:01 AM Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 at 11:01 AM This is the link to the Chairman Bao topic http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/47247-the-chairmans-bao/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studychinese Posted April 13, 2015 at 12:15 PM Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 at 12:15 PM Just like the title says. Is Mandaread dead? The app hasn't worked for ages, the website appears to be down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelley Posted April 13, 2015 at 02:12 PM Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 at 02:12 PM I haven't been able to get it for ages either, the Facebook page and app in google play are still there. This is the post the developer posted originally, maybe someone can contact him. http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/42074-mandaread/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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