5/4/2015

Tools Roundup for Reading Chinese Online | Chinese Hacks

Join Facebook Today

Play Games, Chat Friends & Follow Interests. Create a Profile Now!

VOCAB

IDIOMS

RESOURCES

FUN

TOOLBOX

WORDCARDS

TYPOGRAPHY

STORE

ToolsRoundupforReadingChineseOnline
byDaveFlynn|29thNovember,2010|Software,Web|3Comments

ReadingChineseonlineisagreatwaytopractice
9
4
6
yourreadingandcomprehension,butnothingismore
Megusta
Tweet
dauntingthanarrivingatawebpageonlytobe
greetedbyawallofChinesecharacters.Hereisalistofsomebrowserextensionsand
onlinetoolsthatyoucanusetomakereadingChineseonlinealoteasier!
Someofthefollowingtoolsandutilitieswehavelookedatinthepast,butherewe
havegatheredthemtogetherintooneeasytoreferencepost(plustherearealsoafew
moretipsonhowtousetheservices):

ChinesePopUpTranslations
HavinganinstantnonintrusivemethodtotranslatewordsonaChinesewebpageis
essential,thelastthingyouwanttohavetodoisnavigateawayfromthepageyouare
reading,orhavetoopenanewtabtofindthewordinadictionary.Byusinga
browserpluginyoucangetanimmediatetranslationdirectlyonthewebpageyouare
reading,withoutleavingthepage,thisisbyfarthemosthelpfultypeoftoolfor
readingChineseonline.

Chinese Programmes
Day-time award bearing
Cantonese Putonghua/
Mandarin programs
@CUHK

Free English
Lessons
Speak Fluent
English. Be
Confident. Get
Our Free Email
Course. 7 Days.

http://chinesehacks.com/resources/software/tools-roundup-for-reading-chinese-online/

1/6

5/4/2015

Tools Roundup for Reading Chinese Online | Chinese Hacks

BscanosenFacebook

ChineseHacks
Megusta

A5744personaslesgustaChineseHacks.

PluginsocialdeFacebook

Youcanusepopuptranslationseitherforcheckingthemeaningsofwords,or,asthe
wordsarehighlightedasyouhoveroverthem,youcanusethisjustforseeingwhich
wordsgotogetherinasentence.
ProbablythebestpluginforachievingthisinFirefoxisPeraPeraKun,andinGoogle
ChromeyoucanuseZhongwen:AChineseEnglishPopupDictionary.
IfyouareinFirefoxusingPeraperaKunthenitsworthnotingthatafteryouinstall
thepluginyouwillneedtoinstalltheChinesedictionaryseparately.

ChineseTextandWebsiteAnnotation
Ifyoudratherhavethepronunciationappearnexttoeachword,ratherthanhaveto
hoveroverthewordsindividually,thentheMandarinSpotannotationtoolisforyou.
Thisisntabrowserplugin,soitdoesntmatterwhatbrowseryouareusingorwhat
OSyouarein.AllyouhavetodoispastesometextintotheMandarinSpot
annotationtool,choosethepronunciationsystemyoudlikeandthenpress
annotate.Youwillbeprovidedwithinlinepronunciation,popuptranslationswhen
youhoveroverthewords,aswellasanEnglishtranslationandifyouselectedthe
ForPrintingoptionyoucanalsochosetohaveallthevocabularyforHSKlevels
listedbelow.

http://chinesehacks.com/resources/software/tools-roundup-for-reading-chinese-online/

2/6

5/4/2015

Tools Roundup for Reading Chinese Online | Chinese Hacks

ConverttoTraditionalorSimplifiedChinese
IfyouareseriousaboutlearningChinesethenatsomepointorotheryouareboundto
comeacrossthatotherChinese,beitTraditionalifyoulearntSimplifiedorvice
versa.RegardlessofhoweasypeoplesayitistolearntheotherChinese,nothing
beatsbeingabletoimmediatelyconvertawholewebsiteintoeitherTraditionalor
Simplifieddependingonyourpreference.NewTongWenTangisagreattoolfor
this,andisavailableasabrowserpluginforFirefox,ChromeandSafari,inaddition
toaBookmarkletincaseyouareinIEorotherbrowser,simplydragtheand
buttonstoyourbookmarkbarandclicktoconverttothedesiredChinese.

ListentowebpageswithTextToSpeech(TTS)
Ifyouwanttopracticeyourlisteningabilityforshortparagraphsoftextwhenyour
http://chinesehacks.com/resources/software/tools-roundup-for-reading-chinese-online/

3/6

5/4/2015

Tools Roundup for Reading Chinese Online | Chinese Hacks

Chinesespeakingfriendsorteacherisntaroundtohelp,thenTextToSpeechisa
greatoption.IfyoureusingFirefoxthenyoucantakeadvantageofthefree
IMTranslatorplugin,allyouneedtodoishighlightsomeChinesetextandthenright
clickonthepageandchooseImTranslatorTools>ImTranslatorTTS.Thenwhenthe
newwindowopensselectChinesefromtheLanguagedropdownmenuandthen
presstheSayItbutton.

Thisisbynomeansmeanttobeanextensivelist,ratheraselectionofpluginsand
servicesthatareknowntobeveryusefulandeasytouse.Ifyouknowofanytools
thatwehavemissedthenpleasesharetheloveandletusknowbelow!

Sharethispost
6
Tweet

Megusta

DaveFlynn
Daveisadesignerofwebsites,learnerofChineseandloverof
http://chinesehacks.com/resources/software/tools-roundup-for-reading-chinese-online/

4/6

5/4/2015

Tools Roundup for Reading Chinese Online | Chinese Hacks

technology.OriginallyfromtheUK,he'sbeenlivinginTaiwan
andlearningMandarinChineseforthelasteightyears.He
foundedandrunsChineseHacks,ablogdedicatedtoeffectively
learningChinese.
ViewallpostsbyDaveFlynn

Tags:#Annotation#Bookmarklets#Chinese#Chrome#extensions#Firefox#Online
#Plugins#popup#Reading#Services#Simplified#TexttoSpeech#Tools
#Traditional#Translation#TTS#utilities
3Comments

1.

Dillon 4thOctober,2011at8:22am
Thanks,IveaddedTongWenTangtoFirefoxtogiveitaspin
AlwayslookingfornewChinesetools.

2.

Marvin_The_Depressed 3rdFebruary,2012at11:00pm
PeraPerakunworksnowinChrome,too!

DaveFlynn 6thFebruary,2012at5:05am
HiMarvin,
Yep,thatwasgreatnewsforChromeusers,wecoveredit
inapostheretoo:
http://chinesehacks.com/resources/software/perapera
finallyreleasedforgooglechrome/

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

TheresnoexcusefornotreadingmoreChinese!|ChineseHacks
RebootingAmericainChinese|ChineseHacks
GetChineseTextAnnotationinyourMacOSXStatusBar!|ChineseHacks
http://chinesehacks.com/resources/software/tools-roundup-for-reading-chinese-online/

5/6

5/4/2015

Tools Roundup for Reading Chinese Online | Chinese Hacks

ChangetheCharacterEncodingforaWebsite|ChineseHacks
ReadEnglishandChinesenewssidebyside|ChineseHacks
5UsefulTechniquesforProductiveMandarinSelfStudy|ChineseHacks
SoLongandThanksForAlltheChineseEnRouteToFluency
ChineseDictionaryforPeraPeraKunUpdated|ChineseHacks

FRIENDS

20142015ChineseHacks
TickilingyourChinesefancysince2010
ProudlypoweredbyWordpress.

loading

http://chinesehacks.com/resources/software/tools-roundup-for-reading-chinese-online/

6/6