Mandarin is a great avenue to explore in programming, and despite the number of speakers, there is no simple application or go-to site for getting started or figuring out what/where to learn next.
As a programmer, I and a few others have started to recently work on a web application (and eventually mobile applications) whose goal is to create a free (with ads, eventually), accessible, and useful experience for learning Mandarin.
We’re planning on integrating a community-driven resource list with resources for Mandarin custom tailored to each user, exercises to strengthen vocabulary, and a Khan Academy-esque roadmap to Mandarin mastery. This is going to be especially useful with the advent of HSK 3.0, and we already have the 11000+ strong wordlist for this next iteration of HSK.
However, this project is still in its infancy, and while we have a plan, mockups, and a repository framework, it’s not too late to join, and our group is **looking for a frontend JS dev to join us and other frontends and backends in building this Mandarin learning app** – backends are welcome as well, although we already have three : ).
If this sounds like a fun project you’d like to contribute to or draws your interest, please DM me or comment below. I’m truly hoping that this will turn out to be a useful resource, and in order to make it the best that it can be, we’ll need to have a frontend-backend balance.
**(Edit) – Details about the project**
People have been asking me for some more specific details, and I’ll list them below.
*Languages & Technologies Used:* Python (Flask/Flask RESTful for REST api and MongoDB) + JS (React).
*Project Type:* Closed-source (having it be open-sourced by with decisions and management resting only on the team could cause problems; although we may considering open-sourcing later).
*Project Goals:* Create a roadmap to Mandarin mastery; create a community-driven resource library with well-supported search parameters/functionality; implement simple exercises (e.g. fill-in-the-blanks); support user profiling to generate resource recommendations and visual overviews for resources (we have lots of mockups, if interested DM).
*No. hours:* This is a personal project for each member in the team, so hours are flexible and you just contribute when you can. However, we’re looking to have active developers, so please make sure you’re willing/able to work on this at least a few hours a week.
*Other tools used:* GitHub private repo, Discord server, Google Drive, Trello.
**Edit 2:**
I have had a lot of applications, many of people with a lot of experience, and we want to keep the team small. Unless you feel you’d be a *really* good fit, please don’t contact me as I would most likely be unable to accommodate you.
