A new mobile app is now available to supplement the Wayne State University Confucius Institute's wildly popular "Learn a Chinese Phrase" videos. The videos — which have garnered more than 56,000 views on YouTube — were created to introduce Chinese-language learners to fun idioms that can be used in daily life. The immersive app allows users to break down Chinese phrases into easily digestible components. Much like its video counterpart, the application uses humor and games to help the lessons stick. 

Interactive features like word scrambles, flash cards and character practice bolster important syntax lessons and make learning the challenging language fun. 

“This app provides a fun and pedagogically sound resource for any learner beyond the first semester level,” says John Brender, director of the Wayne State Confucius Institute. “We ultimately hope that it will serve as a supplementary part of intermediate and advanced Chinese courses in middle schools, high schools and universities.”

Wayne State’s is the only Confucius Institute to create a mobile app to provide supplementary lessons for teachers teaching beyond the first semesters. 

The free “Learn a Chinese Phrase” app is available for download in both iTunes and the Google Play store for Android devices.

About the Confucius Institute:

The Confucius Institute is a center within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Wayne State University whose mission is to promote Chinese language and culture to K-12 schools, the university community, and professional communities throughout Southeast Michigan and beyond. Established in January 2008, the Confucius Institute — with the support of Hanban: Chinese Language Council International and Wayne State's partnering Chinese institution, Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan — provides a multitude of programs and resources that assist individuals and organizations in their pursuit of learning the Mandarin Chinese language and about Chinese culture.