Marco Polo Project

Improve your Chinese reading and aural comprehension skills with authentic blog entries from today's China. The app provides guided reading and vocabulary practice for the intermediate and advanced learner using a selection of five specially curated texts about current social issues.

App features include:

* Phrase-by-phrase audio playback in a natural Chinese voice: Listen to a single phrase as many times as necessary to master its meaning and inflection patterns.

* Instant look-up of unfamiliar vocabulary: Touch on any unfamiliar character to display pronunciation and meaning of the character and the compound word in which it is used.

* Analytic dictionary functions: Display an expanded dictionary entry for any character showing the analysis of the character into its component parts and listing other related characters using those parts, as well as other compound words using the same character.

* Automated flashcards: Every unfamiliar character you look up is automatically added to your personal flashcards list so you can drill yourself on the new vocabulary you've learned.

* Text details: Information provided about each text selection includes English language title and synopsis, author, and length, along with a link to an English-language translation of the full text.

The app is intended to complement the resources available on the Marco Polo Project website (http://marcopoloproject.org/), which describes the project as follows:

"The Marco Polo Project is a not-for-profit organization that uses the possibilities of online collaboration to improve cultural and linguistic understanding between China and the West.

Our website presents a diverse selection of new writing from China – non-fiction and social commentary from leading intellectuals and independent bloggers - formatted for non-Mandarin natives, with bilingual titles, tags, and author biographies. Our selection reflects the diversity of Chinese writing today, and does not follow any political or ideological agenda.

This website is also a collaborative translation platform, where you can practice your translation skills on authentic material and receive feedback on your translation from other, more advanced users."