Recommended software for 

reading and memorizing Chinese characters

We’d like to recommend an excellent software program: Clavis Sinica. This program was developed by Dr. David Porter, an English professor at University of Michigan, based on his own experience learning Chinese.

The term "Clavis Sinica" means "Key to the Chinese Language," and this innovative software is designed to be just that. Combining a versatile Chinese text reader with a comprehensive and richly cross-referenced Chinese dictionary, this powerful new program will enable you to overcome the biggest barriers to learning the world's most widely used language.

Because using a Chinese dictionary is so cumbersome, reading unfamiliar texts can be a frustrating experience for even experienced students of the written language. Now, with the help of Clavis Sinica, you can make your way through any digitized Chinese document—whether a simple story, a Tang dynasty poem, a textbook selection, or a news article on the Web—without the need for a dictionary. Just click on an unknown character to see its English definition, pinyin pronunciation, and the meaning of the compound in which it is used. Click again to access a wealth of lexical information about the word's underlying structure and its relationship to other words that share the same parts.

Whether you are a relative beginner or an advanced student of the language, you will find Clavis Sinica an indispensable learning tool that makes the study of Chinese a more productive, enjoyable, and intellectually rewarding experience. 

The retail price of the program is $55, but Clavis Sinica would like to make a special offer to UN students. If you contact Prof. Porter at dporter@clavisinica.com and mention that you are a student at the UN, you will receive a discount price of $25. For additional information about the program, please visit http://clavisinica.com/