Wenlin Software for learning Chinese

Wenlin Software for Learning Chinese (zh-cp|c=文林|p=wénlín, literally "Literature forest") is a software application designed by Tom Bishop, based on his experience of the needs of learners of the Chinese language, predominantly Mandarin. It contains a dictionary function as well as a text reader/writer function for reading and creating Chinese text files. Flashcards of new characters can also be compiled to aid in learning. By pointing the cursor at a Chinese character the software looks up an English word, and vice versa, working like a dictionary. If a word is selected out of context this "could be extremely misleading for Chinese language students" [http://www.csulb.edu/~txie/learn_online/wenlin.htm] (note however that this review is rather dated and may not apply to the current version). The Wenlin software can recognize files in Unicode, GB 2312, Big5, and HZ format.

List Function

The software allows the user to display lists of Chinese characters ordered by pinyin, stroke count, frequency, components, or Unicode. It also displays lists of words by pinyin, frequency, and serial number. English words can be displayed alphabetically, as well as the 214 radicals of the Chinese language.

Dictionary Function

The dictionary function allows the user to input Chinese characters or pinyin (including the phonetic marking) to search. The user can also highlight words in a text and search for them in the dictionary. Wenlin has its own built-in dictionaries, but user-created dictionaries can be uploaded into the software.

Current Version and Compatibility

It is marketed by the Wenlin Institute, a commercial software company run by Tom Bishop. The current version (August 2007) is 3.4.1, and a free demonstration version (3.3.7 as of April 2006) is available for download. This version supports several functions such as stroke order, ordering characters by different criteria (stroke order, radical, number of strokes), audio files of characters being pronounced, and the identification of drawn characters.

The software runs on all versions of Microsoft Windows, as well as Mac OS X and Mac OS 9. As of August 2005, the company is working on a Java version.

External links

* [http://www.wenlin.com Wenlin Institute: Software for Learning Chinese] , official web site
* [http://www.csulb.edu/~txie/learn_online/wenlin.htm Wenlin 文林] , review of Wenlin 1.0 by Cecilia P. Y. Chu (UC Berkeley), note that this review is dated and may not apply to the current version
* [http://learning_chinese.blogspot.com/2003_08_03_learning_chinese_archive.html Running Wenlin on Linux] , Learning Chinese
* [http://www.csulb.edu/~txie/learn_online/issues.htm CALL for Chinese: Issues and Practice] , article (2002 "JCLTA" 37.2:1-58) by Zheng-sheng Zhang (San Diego State University), reviews and compares 10 programs including Wenlin 1.0
* [http://reganmian.net/blog/2006/05/02/screencast-wenlin-helps-you-read-chinese/ Screencast: Wenlin helps you read Chinese] , review of Wenlin 3.3.6 by Stian Håklev