Mandarin Tone Trainer

Learning and science

language learning

SHOW HN2019

237points
183comments
#147of 2,195 in 2019
Top 7%of 2019 by points

How HN took it

RoastedHalf or more of the comments are critical

5 positive, 8 neutral or asking, 6 mixed, 20 critical, out of 39 comments about the project. Thread score -0.36.

Performance: 1 for, 9 againstExecution: 0 for, 8 againstDesign: 2 for, 2 againstIdea: 2 for, 0 against

The thread, comment by comment

Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.

positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker

What HN said

What people liked

  • Visualisations of pitch contour are useful

    From 2 comments
    • It's great to have a tool like this be available without any software installation. I remember when I first started having Chinese lessons, my teacher used some Windows-based…
      rahimnathwani on HN
    • This is GREAT. I have always had an issue with tone 2 and 3 but it turns out I have this tiny dip before the rise in my tone 2. It took a while looking at the tone patterns…
      drenvuk on HN
  • Useful tool with no installation needed

    From 1 comment
    • It's great to have a tool like this be available without any software installation. I remember when I first started having Chinese lessons, my teacher used some Windows-based…
      rahimnathwani on HN

Objections

  • Tone classifier often misidentifies tones, especially third tone

    From 5 comments
    • It's not really working for me or my girlfriend (native speaker). We can't get past 喝(hē) (tone 1). It keeps thinking it's a third tone.
      yellow_lead on HN
    • This is a nice idea, but I think it needs work. It classified almost every tone that I spoke as 3rd tone. Granted, I'm not native, but I speak well enough that my 4th tone…
      DiogenesKynikos on HN
    • This is a really cool idea, but it doesn't seem to work. I enunciated each of the tones, and the only one it recognized correctly was third tone.
      andrezsanchez on HN
    • Doesn't work... it doesn't work It only seems to check the frequency. The shape doesn't seem to matter, and i the shape would be correct, it classifies as incorrect
      jbverschoor on HN
    • It's a good idea but (a) it doesn't actually work (tones get miscategorized as attested by the number of native speakers in comments who are having trouble) and (b) practicing…
      ridaj on HN
  • Blocks page until microphone access is granted

    From 2 comments
    • Please do not block "using the website" until someone gives you access to the microphone. Simply make the parts of the page that rely on the microphone not work, and make it…
      TheRealPomax on HN
    • I instinctively blocked access before reading the page because there was no way for me to read what the page was about before granting access -- and there still isn't, because it…
      solidsnack9000 on HN
  • Does not work in Safari or Firefox

    From 3 comments
    • Doesn't work on Safari or Vivaldi on Mac OS. After working on tones, I proudly showed them off to a Chinese friend. "Are you saying it or singing it?" he asked. It was then I…
      pseingatl on HN
    • Wish I could use this but doesn't work with Firefox or Safari :c
      f00_ on HN
    • I can't play the teacher's vocal pitch. It errors out in both Chrome and Safari. Love the idea, though.
      devin on HN

Requests

  • Sentence-level feedback rather than single words

    From 2 comments
    • It's a good idea but (a) it doesn't actually work (tones get miscategorized as attested by the number of native speakers in comments who are having trouble) and (b) practicing…
      ridaj on HN
    • This tool is exactly what I wanted whenever I was first learning pronunciation. I've found myself using siri to check my general pronunciation in longer sentences. This tool with…
      pascoej on HN
  • Real-time pitch feedback

    From 1 comment
    • This is fantastic, but would really love if I got realtime feedback on my main pitch as I am making it, instead of the full spectrogram 1-5 seconds later. Like a little line chart.
      rckoepke on HN
  • Support for other languages

    From 1 comment
    • I haven't managed to get this working yet on my phone but: would it be possible for the same code to be used for the tones of other languages?
      baot on HN

Questions

  • Is it connected to speakgoodchinese?

    From 1 comment
    • does it have some connections (in term of inspiration/algorithm etc.) with speakgoodchinese ? (an opensource project to help practice tone) http://www.speakgoodchinese.org/…
      allan_s on HN
  • What is microphone access needed for?

    From 1 comment
    • Didn't get past the microphone permission request. What is it needed for? It could be a good idea to first warn the user that it will be requested and how it will be used. Also,…
      d33 on HN

Alternatives named

  • Glossika

    From 1 comment
    • If someone wants to learn how to speak chinese, the best way IMO is to repeat and mimic the sound of a native speaker over and over again. I used Glossika (glossika.com) 3 or 4…
      claylimo on HN
  • Pimsleur

    From 1 comment
    • The Pimsleur Method inverts those phases and focuses on speaking and listening first. I've found it to be quite effective.
      faitswulff on HN
  • Duolingo

    From 1 comment
    • Very interesting. Just because of the visualization I learned that my voice tends to have too much "tremolo" in the first tone and that I may be starting the third tone too low.…
      bayesian_horse on HN
  • speakgoodchinese

    From 1 comment
    • does it have some connections (in term of inspiration/algorithm etc.) with speakgoodchinese ? (an opensource project to help practice tone) http://www.speakgoodchinese.org/…
      allan_s on HN

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