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Popular Chinese-English dictionary nciku has outdone itself again, this time with a visual makeover of its website and big improvements on its widely-used learning features.

Known for its refreshingly modern interface, nciku has revamped the website to look even sleeker and more user-friendly. Instead of having to search for links to different features, they are now all prominently displayed on the home page in clearly designated sections so users can search and find exactly what they’re looking for. Read more…

Chinese-English learning resource Nciku has expanded their hugely popular Video Notes feature to the ubiquitous YouTube.

Launched just last December, Video Notes has already gained huge popularity on www.nciku.com. With Nciku’s Video Notes feature, users are shown a short animation in English that puts context surrounding a Chinese word in order to better understand how to use the word. The motivation was to try and reveal the exact meaning or situation of a word in order to avoid potentially awkward situations.

Taking advantage of the popularity of the feature and to increase its reach, Nciku has begun adding the animations to YouTube. Users can now find Video Notes on YouTube by simply typing in keywords such as “nciku” or “video notes,” or by visiting the following links:

Nciku plans on gradually adding more Video Notes to YouTube in tune with the ones currently on their website. By using progressive websites such as Youtube, Nciku is staying in line with its forward thinking vision to provide modern resources for today’s learners.

Currently, Nciku is known for being more than a dictionary with other features such as iPhone flashcards, Sentence Mode, Handwriting Recognition Tool, and Nciku Mini for mobile devices. Nciku was founded in April, 2007. Currently, Nciku is available in English, Mandarin and Taiwanese, but development is in process to add more languages in the future. The official website is www.nciku.com. For inquiries, please contact marketing@nciku.com.

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Nciku is a free online dictionary platform with many unique search options and various features, available in several different languages such as Mandarin. Nciku was founded in April, 2007. The official website is www.nciku.com. For inquiries, please contact marketing@nciku.com.

The momentum for revolutionary online education is still in full force as Chinese-English learning resource www.nciku.com adds yet another innovative tool to their host of other revolutionary features.

Called “Sentence Mode,” this freshly launched feature intuitively provides a series of useful results when a user searches for a Chinese word or sentence that doesn’t exist. Because Chinese characters are so complex, formulating words and sentences can be easily mis-matched and taken out of context for many learners. With Sentence Mode, the entered search term is automatically split up into its component words, with its corresponding pinyin displayed below each character. It essentially works as a smart spell-check and suggestion system for Chinese characters.

Furthermore, clicking on a character within the word will take you to an nciku search for that character, and hovering your mouse over the word will also give you a brief definition. And to take the feature one step further, if a definition for that character doesn’t exist, clicking on it will segment that character into its component characters. And as is the typical nciku format, there is also an audio icon provided at the end of the sentence or word that will play the entire phrase using the text-to-speech function.

Sentence Mode is just the latest in innovative features by nciku. Previously creating buzz was the handwriting recognition tool, which allows users to write strokes with a mouse and instantly bring up similar or related characters, along with the pinyin and definition of each character or word. Not just for those who are at the advanced level, the handwriting tool is ideal for even the most beginner level users struggling to learn characters.

Technologically, nciku has proven to be very savvy, as their website’s interface and functionality clearly show. Their nciku mini for mobile devices has also won over those who want to study Chinese on the go, and their flashcards for iPhones already have a steady user base. Even with all of these advanced features, nciku still remains completely free and open to all users with an internet connection.

Perhaps this is why nciku is fast becoming the place to go to for learning Chinese for a growing audience from all over the world.

Nciku was founded in April, 2007. Currently, Nciku is available in English, Mandarin and Taiwanese, but development is in process to add more languages in the future. The official website is www.nciku.com. For inquiries, please contact marketing@nciku.com.

In major cities of China like Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, Nciku is fast becoming a household name among students, travelers, expats and just about anyone else who has an interest in learning Chinese. But now the word’s out, and sinophiles all over the world have also caught on to Nciku.

Though Nciku is an online dictionary, it looks like anything but a typical learning website. With a savvy looking interface and an innovative interface that boasts features like Nciku for mobile devices, an e-zine, handwriting recognition tool and a blog that has a loyal following, it’s winning over younger audiences outside of China.

One of the main appeals of Nciku is its extensive vocabulary lists in both Chinese and English, which even includes popular slang, something that many other online dictionaries don’t feature. It also offers conversation scenarios based on topic or location. Ranging from how to order Chinese food to opening a bank account, there’s a scenario to fit everyone’s needs. Users simply look up the conversation and read or listen to it.

Not only is Nciku an excellent word source for both English and the Pinyin system, it is also rich with Chinese characters. Reading and writing Chinese characters is often the biggest hurdle for those who are studying Chinese. Nciku’s latest online feature is an innovative character recognition tool that allows you to write strokes with your mouse and instantly bring up similar or related characters, along with the Pinyin and meaning of each. Read more…