Stuyvesant AP Mandarin Students Begin Using the Du Chinese App

Stuyvesant’s Advanced Placement Chinese Language & Culture (AP Mandarin) students received access to the “Du Chinese” app this November. The app provides extensive reading practice in Mandarin to prepare students for the AP Mandarin exam.

“Du Chinese” was introduced to Stuyvesant when AP Mandarin teacher Jia Zhou first discovered it. “I first started to hear about it from some [Professional Development] I went to [...] and then started to use it by myself. I found it really useful, so I started to apply for funds,” Jia Zhou said. “I started to receive funds [for the app] two years ago; now it’s basically regular funding, so hopefully we can always use it more.”

The “Du Chinese” app allows users to read a wide selection of texts in Chinese, ranging in difficulty from easier texts such as a diary to more advanced literature like Romance of the Three Kingdoms. When users first enter the app, it prompts them to choose a level. It then recommends texts accordingly while allowing users to move up levels with more practice. “Even if you’re already advanced, it’ll keep your reading in shape, so that’s good,” junior and AP Mandarin student Andy Zhou said.

The app mirrors the AP exam very well, giving students more opportunities to become familiar with the structure. “The readings remind me a lot of the readings we will get on the actual AP test, so it’s good practice,” junior and AP Mandarin student Jolie Yeung said.

The app also has many features to aid in the learning process, with one in particular helping to transform students’ abilities to digest texts. “The app has a dictionary and translator embedded into it so you can click on any terms you are unfamiliar with during your reading,” Yeung said. 

Teachers can choose from a wide variety of stories with many themes for their students. “I will go to it for some stories like holidays or history stories, because they have some simplified versions, not original ones which might be too difficult,” Jia Zhou said.

Beyond purely reading comprehension, the app also teaches students about Chinese culture, which is another component of the AP exam. “They have a lot of cultural history stories in this; it will help a lot because [the] AP is about language and culture. So I find it’s a really big advantage,” Jia Zhou said.

Despite the app’s potential utility for many students, some students do have disagreements over whether it is worth it to use. “It’s not not worth it, I guess, but it’s just an app, like a Duolingo that’s on your phone; that’s basically it,” Andy Zhou said. 

However, many students do appreciate the app as it does have the potential to help them a lot in class and on the AP exam. “I think it’s worth it; you don't need to pay to access the app/readings which is great and makes it a very low-risk download. The app reminds me a lot of Kindle but in Mandarin, so if you think you’ll find it useful, get it,” Yeung said. 

While the app is currently only used by AP students, it may be introduced to lower-level Mandarin classes in the future, but this isn’t set in stone. “I’m thinking about maybe trying it with my freshmen, but I’m not sure yet because there are other resources that I want to try,” Jia Zhou said. “I will also give other teachers access to use it. If they like it, then we will probably expand it, but other teachers might also have other apps they like, so I do not know for sure if we’re going to use it for the whole Mandarin program.”