DSZhongwen

DSZhongwen
General
Author	rrc2soft
Type	Education
Version	1.0c
License	Mixed
Last Updated	2007/08/15
Links
[1.0c and patch file for 1.0b Download]
Website
Source

DSZhongwen is a homebrew application for the Nintendo DS, aimed to help in learning the basics of Mandarin Chinese. It is not considered as a course by itself, but as a tool for aiding in strengthening knowledge of the chinese language.

Features

• Grammar, Listening, and writing lessons. It is also possible to create your own lessons.
• Special Lesson (Hanzi Attack!!!). Learn the 3752 hanzi included in DSZhongwen according to their popularity.
• Exams of every lesson: Quiz, Cards.
• Animated ideograms in the writing lessons.
• Pinyin phonetics: Ideograms will be read by the NDS.
• Dictionary/Pinyin reader (based on CEDICT). Animated ideograms of the words included in the dictionary.
• Configuration: Left-handed/Right-handed (for writing lessons), speed of the animated ideograms.
• Save and Load progress, with 4 persons able to use the same NDS (using DLDI).

Installation

Note: Use 1.0c for fresh install, use patch version if you are upgrading from 1.0b to 1.0c.

To install, copy the /data/DSZhongwen/ directory to the root of homebrew device.

DLDI patch .nds file and copy it to the root directory of the card.

User guide

Initial Screen

You can select the user that is going to use the application and check the Game Credits.

Main Menu

• Choose a lesson.
• Read/listen to the actual lesson (lesson button).
• Review the hanzi of this lesson (button ideograms).
• Do the exams of this lesson (exams button).
• Review scores in this lesson (grades button).

Pick Up a Lesson

It contains 3 types of lessons. The color of the buttons (grey, red, yellow, green) reflects your overall grades in that particular lesson.

• Ideograms - Read, Listen, and write the ideograms.
• Grammar - Learn a bit of the Chinese language grammar.
• Listening - Listen to a conversation in chinese.

Review Hanzi

Review the hanzi and the words you have seen in this lesson (3 types of exams and dictionary).

• Cards - Test memory with the ideograms, the pinyin, and the meaning.
• Test - Choose the right ideogram/pinyin between four options.
• Listen - Hear the pronunciation and guess the hanzi.
• Dictionary (ZH => ENG) - Located on the configuration menu (the I on the main screen), it can read any pinyin you output, and show the meaning of the words you input.

Screenshots

Changelog

1.0c 2007/08/15 Compatible with actual saved games

• New exam added: "Listen". Hear the pronunciation, and guess the correct ideograms.
• Saving bug (introduced on v1.0b) fixed.

1.0b 2007/08/04 Compatible with actual saved games

• New exam added: "Meaning". Check if you know the correct hanzi associated with a certain meaning.
• Minor bugs fixed.
• All ideograms from my elemental chinese class have been added.

1.0a 2007/04/29 Compatible with actual saved games

• Patch to avoid game corruption when loading and showing certain hanzi.
• New lesson type, "Hanzi Attack!!!!!". The 3752 hanzi stored inside DSZhongwen have been sorted according to their popularity (number of hits in Google), and you can learn them in just 251 lessons! ^_-.
• New option added to the dictionary: Check how to write a certain word.

1.0 2007/04/11

• First non-beta version of the engine.
• Basic engine capabilities: gammar, hanzi and listening lessons - exams - phonetics - dictionary.
• The dictionary only shows the ideograms from CNewsRead.

Credits

Vocal Lessons: Weichuan Chu Huang.

Hanzi: CNewsRead by drhu.

Animated hanzi: OCRAT.

Phonetics: OCRAT - Dr. John Jinghua Yin.

Translations: CEDICT (MDBG).

External links

• Author's website - http://www.rodrigoroman.com/rrc2soft/nds_dszhongwen.html