An app for Chinese flash cards — cards, a game, then a test that listens
An app for Chinese flash cards that goes further than cards: it turns your child’s own character or vocabulary list into cards, a game, and a test that listens to them say each word.
Paper flashcards need someone who can read the back of them. That is the reason this exists: the app knows the answer, so you don’t have to.
From the school’s list to cards, in a minute
Scan the character or sight-word list, or type it. Zen Reader adds the pinyin and the English for each word itself, so the cards are complete without you looking anything up. Lists live in the family library alongside the books, so both parents and every child have them.
Cards, a game, then a test
- Flash cards with pinyin and English, and a pinyin setting that fades the crutch away as your child learns the word — so they end up reading the character rather than the pinyin above it.
- A card game with a family leaderboard, which is what turns revision into something the children ask for rather than something you nag about.
- A test that listens. It shows a word, your child says it, and the app scores each one — tones included. The result goes to the report with the words they missed.
Mother tongue flash cards, language flash cards — same app
People search for an app for mother tongue flash cards or an app for language flash cards as often as they search for Chinese ones. Zen Reader makes cards from a list in Chinese or English, with the listening and scoring working in both. Malay and Tamil are not supported yet — see mother tongue homework help.
Why not just use a generic flashcard app?
- It hears them. A generic card app can only ask your child whether they got it right; this one listens and decides.
- It knows the words. Pinyin and English are filled in for you, from the list your school actually set.
- It reports. Every test lands in the same report as the reading and spelling, per child, in English.
- It shares. One family library across Windows, Android, iPhone, iPad and Mac, so the cards are on whatever device is to hand.
The rest of the homework, too
Zen Reader is one app. Whichever part of the week brought you here, the others are in the same place, on the same family library.
- Reading aloud, checkedAn app that listens to your child read and marks every character.
- HomeworkWorksheets, reading and lists — guided, marked and reported in English.
- Spelling and 听写The week’s list practised, tested, and their handwriting marked.
- Mother tongue and language helpHow all of it works for mother tongue homework, and which languages it covers.
Questions about flash cards
Where do the cards come from?
Your child’s own list. Scan the character or sight-word sheet from school, or type the words; Zen Reader fills in the pinyin and the English for each one.
Does the test really listen to my child?
Yes. It shows a word, your child says it, and the app scores each one with the tones taken into account. The words they missed go into the report.
Can I stop it showing pinyin once they know a word?
That is the default setting: pinyin fades as your child learns the word, so they end up reading the character rather than the pinyin above it.
What is the card game?
A short matching game built from the same list, with a family leaderboard — the part that makes revision something the children start on their own.
Do flash cards work for other mother tongue languages?
Cards, the game and the listening test work in Chinese and English today. Malay and Tamil are not supported yet.
Is it separate from the reading and spelling?
No — it is the same app and the same family library, and every card test lands in the same per-child report as the readings and the spelling marks.
Make cards from this week’s list
Windows, Android, iPhone, iPad and Mac — one family library, synced. Every plan starts with a free 14-day trial.