"I'm hitting a wall with the Super Chinese learning app. Conversations with the handsome AI teacher aren't going smoothly."

As a result of immersing myself in Chinese dramas since the end of last year, my goal for the New Year in 2024 has become Chinese language proficiency.

I have only encountered Chinese through looking at menus at Chinese restaurants, and I have never properly studied it. I need to learn the basics of phonetics. Getting learning materials or Chinese language classes in rural America can be challenging. So, for now, mobile learning apps are my only choice for foundational study. After some research, I chose an app called Super Chinese.

As a native Japanese speaker, I find SuperChinese more valuable than HelloChinese. Japanese and Chinese languages share characters, so I quickly grasp ideas when I read in Japanese. SuperChinese allowed me to choose Japanese for narratives while HelloChinese defaulted to English. 

As I progressed to Level 2, each chapter became more comprehensive, with sections covering vocabulary, grammar, main text, and quizzes, as well as a segment called "AI Reinforcement Course". Throughout the chapters, I diligently checked my pronunciation accuracy by reading the text aloud and receiving a percentage score from the AI. With repeated listening and practice, I was able to achieve high accuracy. However, everything changed when AI Teacher Xiǎoxuān appeared in the AI Reinforcement Course.

AI Teacher Xiǎoxuān

Teacher Xiǎoxuān encourages creating sentences using the words learned in the lesson. If I'm having trouble forming a sentence, I can simply tap the 💡 icon, and the app will provide example sentences. While I can read those examples, the downside is that the app only supports voice input.

I need to accurately pronounce the Chinese characters

I struggle with voice input when trying to say "我不知道他在哪儿" (I don't know where he is) as it gets completely converted into different characters. Even when I shorten the sentence as much as possible and manage to respond, I only get a momentary "very good" praise before Xiǎoxuān quickly moves on to the next question. Due to the struggle with the voice input, it takes a long time to enter the Chinese phrase, I haven't been able to complete the AI Reinforcement Course section. I usually end up closing the app before I finish the exercises.

No matter how long it takes to respond, the AI teacher patiently waits.

In addition to the AI teacher, there is a feature called "AI Practice Partner" where you can practice conversation with AI in various situations. Here too, I encounter difficulties with voice input, but I am having a lot of fun.