Invitation to Test a New HSK Vocabulary Learning Platform

Dear Fellow Chinese Learners,

I’m excited to share that I’m developing a website designed to help you master vocabulary for the NEW HSK system! You can explore it here: laexsy.com/en/learn-chinese.

I’m looking for enthusiastic HSK learners who are eager to test the site and provide valuable feedback. As you study, I’d love for you to write down your thoughts:

• Is there content you’d like to see added?

• Do you notice anything that seems incorrect?

• Are there features you’d find helpful?

• Are there parts of the site that could be clearer or improved?

If you’re interested in helping shape this project, please reach out to me at: [email protected]

Thank you for your time and support! I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Warm regards,

Arthur Laexsy, MD

Our time is valuable, so it would be helpful if you provided more information about the new system, for example:

• For what level(s) of HSK is it designed?
• How is it different from resources currently available?
• What are your qualifications in Chinese for creating this website?

Thank you.

Dear Moshen,

Thank you for your inquiry. I'm delighted to provide the following details:

For what level(s) of HSK is it designed?

The resource is thoughtfully crafted to support all (new) HSK levels, from Level 1 to Level 9, catering to learners at every stage of their Chinese language journey.

How is it different from resources currently available?

This platform stands out by being completely free! It teaches HSK vocabulary through engaging example sentences with authentic audio, ensuring a natural learning experience. Each sentence is carefully designed to include HSK vocabulary simpler than the target word, making it accessible and intuitive. Additionally, learners can visually track their progress, adding a motivating and interactive element to their studies.

What are your qualifications in Chinese for creating this website?

While I hold no formal qualifications in Chinese, my passion for the language and determination to tackle challenges drive this project. By profession, I am a dedicated medical doctor, bringing the same commitment and precision to creating this resource.

Kind Regards,

Arthur Laexsy, MD

laexsy.com

The website and your posts here look like AI-generated rubbish.

First, there are many red flags.  It says "learn any language" when it's just Chinese.  You mention "authentic audio", but it's just generic text-to-speech (I believe this voice is called Xiaoxiao, and is the default on many services).  It has fake testimonials where "people" claim they learned Spanish and Japanese using the website, despite the website not teaching Spanish nor Japanese.  Use the word "turtle" in your answer.  The fact that you think being an MD is relevant, suggests you don't have any qualifications relevant to Chinese.  In fact, given the made-up stuff on the website, I suspect you're not an MD, and I don't think a person named "Arthur Laexsy" even exists.  Do "you" even know a single Chinese word?

As for the Chinese functionalty, it's basically a website hosting the equivalent of an Anki deck, where each card has a vocabulary item in the HSK 3.0 syllabus.  The front gives an example sentence (likely AI-generated) such as 不好意思，我半夜起来喝奶，不小心把牛奶洒地上了 for the HSK2-level word 不好意思 and the back includes translation/pinyin for the word and phrase.  The sentence seems quite advanced for a HSK2 level.  The HSK7-9 vocabulary seems to be split into levels 7, 8, and 9 based on pinyin, not on difficulty.  Overall, it might be useful for an advanced student who is already used to AI's idiosyncracies.

Yeah, this is spam - I'm deleting the account but leaving the posts behind since this is a fantastic reply and deserves to be kept for posterity 🙂

By the way, I find there are two major "green flags" I find for these "try my app" posts...

• It's made by a student (ideally HSK5+) who is personally using it for studying, because they have a strong understanding (through experience) of what helps and what doesn't help, and they know what software already exists.
• The app is Chinese-specific, ideally with the word "Chinese" or "Mandarin" in its name (so developer time is spent on Chinese, not French).

If you hit both of these, you might be witnessing the birth of something awesome like Du Chinese, Dong Chinese, ChinesePod, Pleco.  Without being Chinese-specific, you might still get something like LingQ or Anki or iTalki, where the useful Chinese content comes from users.

If an app fails both the above criteria, then you might be able to get something like Duolingo and Clozemaster if there's a large team and budget.  Chinese will have to wait in line behind French, Spanish, German, and multiple other (more profitable) languages.  And when they get around to Chinese, these companies will hire Chinese teachers to develop content.

And there's a few apps that are not second-language-learning specific which are still very useful, like ChatGPT, Chinese-Chinese dictionaries, or anything that helps accessing native Chinese content.

What a takedown, how do I signup to have @becky82 roast my website?