Last updated 2007-06-17.

This page was put together in order to help other people interested in learning Chinese with the aid of the Internet and the various software available.
If you want to suggest changes, drop me a note.

The page legend is as follows:

• [国] Traditional Chinese, as used in Taiwan (国语).
• [普] Mainland Chinese (普通话).
• [东] Cantonese (广东话)
  
• [拼] Pinyin (拼音)
• [听] Audio (音像).
• [好] Unicode.
  

• Learn Chinese Online
  This is a large directory of courses available online.
  

• Zhongwen / 中文字典 [国] [普] [拼]
  This site features character etymology, which is very interesting for students of Chinese.  Though the interface uses traditional characters, it provides simplified equivalents in character definitions.
  
  
• Chinese Character Dictionary [国] [普] [东] [拼] [听] [好]
  This site is the only one I have found that allows you to paste in a Unicode character and retrieve a definition.  Supporting both traditional and simplified characters, it is exceptionally useful.  
  

• Babelfish [普] [好]
  This site, part of Altavista, will translate web pages or short pieces of text to and from many languages.  As far as I know, it only supports simplified Chinese.
  
  
• Google Translate
  Google's translation service. Use it directly, or via some little Firefox plugins that translate selected text or whole web pages at once.

• Kingsoft / 金山软件有限公司 [国] [普] [拼] [听] [好]
  Started in 1998, Kingsoft is a mainland company that produces a range of Chinese office software. One application, Kingsoft Xdict, is a valuable tool for those learning Chinese. It's very widely used by mainland Chinese, and is great for Chinese learners. It allows you to move your mouse over any Chinese or English text on-screen and receive an immediate popup translation, complete with computer-generated pronunciation and a link to a dictionary definition. The software recognises common multi-character phrases as well as individual characters.  You can download the trial version online (afterwards, get the update).  If you find the program useful, please register.  If you register via iciba.com, the price is USD$39 for the Powerword suite, which includes Xdict.  I think you can register at a much cheaper 'peoples price' via joyo.com, too.
  
  
  
  Sample Kingsoft Xdict popup translation for the traditional character 'guo'.
  
  
• Windows Update [国] [普] [拼] [好]
  For all modern windows releases, Chinese can be enabled by clicking in to your language control panel and enabling east-asian languages.
  
  For Windows 98, if you go to windowsupdate.microsoft.com you should be able to be able to download two Chinese IME (input method) packages. One is simplified (supporting the changjie and pinyin input methods), and one is traditional (supporting the bopomofo input method).  These work really nicely once installed - you just press control-shift to flick between input methods.
  
  
  A sample IME (input method) popup menu, from my old Windows 98 system.  I deleted the Changjie IME, so only English, the standard Simplified Chinese input method (pinyin) and the Traditional Chinese input method (bopomofo) are displayed.
  
  With newer versions of the Simplified Chinese IME (comes with Windows 2000, I'm unsure about ME, XP, etc.), you can input Traditional Chinese using pinyin!  I have version 2.0, which works as follows. Left-click the second taskbar icon (the one that's a pen or a pen and a pad, not the IME indicator icon) after switching to 'Simplified Chinese IME' (icon should be shown as above). After clicking, make sure the 'Show IME Status' option is checked.
  
  
  
  On the status bar that appears, the fourth icon from the right (the one after the keyboard) is a simplified/traditional toggle for the IME. If you're anything like me, you'll find it extremely handy to be able to input traditional characters with pinyin.
  
  
  Version 2.0 Simplified Chinese IME in the IME popup menu, Windows 2000.
  
  
• NJStarCommunicator  [国] [普] [拼]
  This software is useful because it allows you to read obsolete character encodings (GB, BIG5) in places your system isn't looking for them.  It also allows input in an impressive range of methods, for Chinese, Japanese and Korean.  Useful, but hopefully unnecessary soon!
  

• Zhongwen.com's Pinyin Chat [拼]
  This forum is interesting in that it links the pinyin words in a dialogue to the zhongwen.com dictionary, which helps when people type characters that you don't understand. It is always busy, and I recommend it as a place to while away a few hours increasing your vocabulary.  I only wish they would do a unicode version supporting characters!
  
  
• Chat Dot 163 Dot Com [国] [普] [拼] [好]
  Another Unicode chatroom with a GB interface.
  
  
• Skype, ICQ [国] [普] [拼] [好]
  All modern instant messaging applications provide full unicode support, which means that you can chat online with people in any lange you please! It's very easy to find Chinese people with whom you can practice typing and reading Chinese.
  

• An Introduction to Literary Chinese, Michael A. Fuller (Harvard East Asian Monographs 176).
  This is a heavy intermediate/advanced text, which assumes a fairly strong basic grounding in Chinese history and (traditional) characters.  Various grammatical concepts from literary Chinese are presented with the aide of real extracts from significant historical literature, such as Sima Qian and Confucius'.  I haven't worked very far through this one yet, but I'd recommend it as a clear and logical introductory text for intermediate/advanced students with an interest in reading dated texts.
  
  
• Standard Chinese Course, Peking University Press
  Recent series from Beijing, the largest weakness of which is the terrible structure of book one (very little context, and a lot of memorisation).  Other than book one, it is by and large similar to Integrated Chinese, below, with the only serious deficiency being the continual use of pinyin in written dialogues.  Audio tapes and CD courses are available for use with this series, however the CD isn't anything to write home about.
  
  
• Practical Chinese Reader, The Commercial Press
  A thick and badly printed series, straight out of Beijing.  It's cheap and it works, though it's perhaps not as fun to work with as larger, better-presented texts.  There are character workbooks that you can get as well, though due to the tiny format they are annoying to write in.
  

• Integrated Chinese, Chen & Tsui Company
  Available in simplified and traditional, there are multiple books.  Level 1 Part 1, Level 1 Part 2, etc.  The first level has character workbooks for each part, as well as a textbook.  I can recommend this series, as the best graded I have seen.
  

• Basic Chinese Grammar and Sentence Patterns, Wild Peony
  Great book in traditional characters that includes basic grammar and a goodly quantity of characters.  Best used in conjunction with another text.
  

• A Concise Chinese Grammar, Sinolingua
  Formal linguistic text, probably not what you want.  Quite approachable if you are looking for a grammar, however.
  

• A Reference Grammar of Chinese Sentences, University of Arizona Press
  This is an even more formal Chinese grammar.

• Unicode 
  This is the future character encoding for all of the world's languages.  It is definitely the only way to go these days.  Use it today, and help bury the lingering horrors that are GB and BIG5!
  
  
• Taiwanese Insults [国]
  This is a list of insults from Taiwan, in both traditional Chinese and English.
  
  
• Computing Terms
  A short list of Chinese computing terms that I have started to compile.
  
  
• You might be in China if...
  Somewhat amusing text compiled from a thread at the ESLCafe forums, April 2003.