Literate Chinese: Reading

Little Blue Engine LLC

In-app purchases

About this app

Learn Chinese by actually reading it. Literate Chinese pairs serious spaced-repetition flashcards (SRS) with a library of graded Chinese stories, so every word you learn shows up in real sentences and sticks — from your first character to HSK 9 and TOCFL Band C.

READ CHINESE FROM DAY ONE
• Graded stories, dialogs, and articles matched to your personal vocabulary — the app tracks which Chinese characters you know and shows how much of each story you can already read
• Tap any word for instant pinyin or zhuyin, definition, and native-quality audio
• Turn any text into a tap-to-read Chinese reading practice exercise
• Video lessons with synced, tappable subtitles
• Get story recommendations matched to the words you just studied — finish a flashcard session and go straight into Chinese reading practice

CHINESE FLASHCARDS THAT EARN THE NAME
• True spaced repetition built on your personal vocabulary bank — not just static card decks
• Complete HSK 2.0 and HSK 3.0 word lists, TOCFL lists, AP Chinese, and themed vocabulary
• Capture new words from photos or audio and turn them into flashcards in seconds
• Drill any list on demand, practice writing Chinese characters, and get example sentences with audio on every card
• AI word helper explains usage and nuance with extra example sentences

BUILT FOR TAIWAN LEARNERS TOO
• Full Traditional Chinese characters and zhuyin (bopomofo) support throughout
• Taiwan Mandarin audio with authentic Taiwan pronunciations
• Taiwan-specific vocabulary lists — everyday terms, slang, and words that differ from Mainland Mandarin
• Stories automatically adapt their vocabulary to Taiwan or Mainland Chinese based on your settings

EVERYTHING ELSE YOU'D EXPECT
• Simplified and Traditional Chinese — switch anytime
• Pinyin and zhuyin toggle, with the option to hide pinyin on words you know
• Detailed progress stats, streaks, and a reading level that grows with you
• Dark mode, offline review, no ads

Whether you're looking for Chinese flashcards, Chinese reading practice, HSK vocabulary, zhuyin flashcards, or Taiwan Mandarin — Literate Chinese puts it all in one clean app. Start free with the core study tools and a generous set of stories, and upgrade to Premium when you're ready for the full library.

Download Literate Chinese and start reading Chinese with confidence.

Ratings and reviews

The flashcards on the app don't display their English translations correctly if you are using the 'bold text' option in the 'Display Size and Text' settings menu. If you have bad eyesight, you may need to disable the bold text option in the settings menu in order to use this app. Other than this small bug, the app is working great!

Excellent New App with High Potential This is an excellent app that with a little work could become one of my favorites. Pros: - ability to add your own texts and apply in-app features - displays pinyin/zhuyin for only unknown characters - easily adding known characters to your "known" database - easily adjusting speed of read back (but the default is way too fast even for me) The app is suitable for simplified and traditional Chinese learning. Cons: the app can run a little slow

Lots of great options which are flexible for the level I am at. Especially like the flexibility around the flashcards and stories by level. Still a bit glitchy on the touch icons. Half of the time I try to click on an icon and it doesn't work.

What’s new

Learn Chinese with games in arcade mode based on your personal vocab bank
Improved onboarding