Pandanese -- web app for learning Chinese vocabulary

[Nikolay]

My name is Nikolay. I work at Pandanese and would like to introduce our application. Hope this post will be useful for you, and you'll like it.

 

So, Pandanese is a web application focused to teach the Simplified Chinese vocabulary.

 

It uses Space Repetition System (check out Anki) to learn and review in set intervals to match the mind's natural processing speed of building memories. 

We use spaced repetition with our first intervals at 4 hours after learning and 8 hours after your first correct review. All in all, it takes 9 reviews (SRS-levels) to memorize the item.

Pandanese teaches from the very basic -- from radicals through characters to vocabulary. It goes without saying

Our app uses mnemonic sentences to help memorize the meaning and pronunciation. It's proven to aid with memorization too. 

I know that some of you are still locked down, and perhaps it's is the perfect time to learn or review some Chinese characters and words.

For everybody who wants to try Pandanese , we'll make it absolutely free till June 1 so you can play with it without any fuss. Just ping on our website, tell your email and I'll set up a free account for you

Note that the Pandanese lessons start from the very basic -- the simplest radicals, characters and words. See Lesson 1 structure.

 

 

So if you are at the intermediate or advanced level, I would recommend to start from later lessons or choose higher learning speed.

 

We are a really small team who work part-time. So, I'm sure it's not perfect but we're doing our best, and your feedback will be really appreciated.

[Jan Finster]

OK, I take the bait...

 

Can you tell us in a few words in what way your app is better/different from Memrise, Zizzle, Hello Chinese and the like?

Also, why would someone pay money for a basic SRS system, if they can use Anki for free? 

Edited May 5, 2020 at 10:19 PM by Jan Finster
grammar

[Nikolay]

13 minutes ago, Jan Finster said:

Can you tell us in a few words in what way your app is better/different from Memrise, Zizzle, Hello Chinese and the like?

 

Honestly, I don't know. I haven't used them. I will try and compare. Thanks  

 

I assume you've already tried them. May I offer you a free one month trial so you can help me to compare apps? 

 

15 minutes ago, Jan Finster said:

Also, in why would someone pay money for a basic SRS system, if they can use Anki for free? 

Basically, Pandanese is not just a tool for creating flashcard apps as Anki (correct me if I'm wrong).

 

Pandanese is a software tailored for learning Simplified Chinese vocabulary. It includes 60 Lessons with over 6000 hanzi and vocabulary. Each character and word has mnemonics for meaning and reading and a sound file. It teaches really gently -- from radicals through characters to vocabulary. 

[mungouk]

5 hours ago, Nikolay said:

5 hours ago, Jan Finster said:

Can you tell us in a few words in what way your app is better/different from Memrise, Zizzle, Hello Chinese and the like?

 

Honestly, I don't know. I haven't used them. I will try and compare.

 

I don't see how anyone would fund, build and launch a paid product without doing basic competitor analysis.

 

What's your USP?  There is a very crowded market for this kind of app, and some of the options are free.

 

 

[Nikolay]

12 hours ago, mungouk said:

I don't see how anyone would fund, build and launch a paid product without doing basic competitor analysis.

 

Actually, Pandanese is not a new application. But due to some reasons it wasn't promoted properly. But you are right, we should analyse the competition. 

 

12 hours ago, mungouk said:

What's your USP?  There is a very crowded market for this kind of app, and some of the options are free.

 

USP -- Pandanese allows you to learn more than 6000 characters and vocabulary in a single year. 

[roddy]

11 minutes ago, Nikolay said:

Pandanese allows you to learn more than 6000 characters and vocabulary in a single year. 

How many of each, and what are they? 

[Nikolay]

7 minutes ago, roddy said:

How many of each, and what are they? 

254 radicals, 2838 characters and 3406 words

[Jan Finster]

9 minutes ago, Nikolay said:

17 minutes ago, roddy said:

How many of each, and what are they? 

254 radicals, 2838 characters and 3406 words

 

10 words per day is not that special. I would argue most dedicated learners can do this with Anki, TofuLearn or simply reading tons. 

This is not to sound dismissive, but since there are all sorts of new apps coming on the market all the time, I think it is really crucial to for you to do a competitor analysis. Otherwise you are just wasting your time creating something others have created before - and better. It would be a loss of your valuable time and your resources. 

[Balthazar]

13 minutes ago, Jan Finster said:

10 words per day is not that special. I would argue most dedicated learners can do this with Anki, TofuLearn or simply reading tons. 

 

Not that I disagree with the healthy skepticism towards the product, but consistently memorizing 10 new words per day (without forgetting previously learnt words) for a year or longer is rather special, IMO. How many learners do you know that knew 3650 words after one year,  7300 after two etc?

 

I'd be more interested in knowing how this is different from any of the similar products that already exist, but I see that's already been asked.

[Nikolay]

Hi @Balthazar

 

On 5/6/2020 at 12:30 PM, Balthazar said:

I'd be more interested in knowing how this is different from any of the similar products that already exist, but I see that's already been asked.

 

I started comparing the app and would like to share. So I tried Memrise first.

 

The main difference is that Pandanese is tailored for building Mandarin vocabulary and learning to read: 

- Systematically. From radicals through characters to words. 

- Efficiently. Interface is very simple and user-friendly. Since all you need to review a flashcard is letter keys and Enter, you can review very fast as 1-3 second per flashcard. Such a speed makes reviewing 200-500 flashcards a day absolutely doable. 

- Mnemonics. Mnemonics are fun and helpful. 

 

Memrise is more universal tool for learning Chinese. 

- More communication approach. There are phrases from the very beginning which is good for speaking. 

- There are several recordings for each character / word / phrase. good for listening skills. 

- Videos are just fun.

- No mnemonics but they can be added manually by the student. 

- Interface is more complicated since there are more functionalities. 

 

I'll be adding comparisons as soon as I'm ready with them but would really appreciate the feedback from the forum community too (I know it should be deserved).