Chinese Toolbox FREE helps you learn Chinese while you read online or digitized Chinese texts that are interesting to you. Basically, you learn to read Chinese by reading what you want, whether it be sports, the arts, news, space exploration, etc.

Chinese Toolbox FREE is a fast, Windows-based, Chinese reading assistant for reading through simple copy and paste. You copy the text you want to read and paste it into the Chinese Toolbox FREE reader. Program features include: (1) a unique system of learning providing access to an integrated dictionary while promoting true reading by helping to reduce dictionary dependence; (2) a fully customizable, exportable & importable dictionary; (3) automatic look up of definitions and pronunciations showing both pinyin and zhuyin (Mandarin Phonetic Symbols, Bopomofo); (4) multi-field search; (5) a system of smart character review; (6) character time stamping; (7) setting of “understanding levels” for known characters.

As you read in Chinese, the system allows you to effortlessly mark characters you already know simply by pressing the spacebar. Those characters are then marked as “known”, and they appear in the reader as gray to distinguish them from characters you don’t know. In other words, they are marked for unassisted reading. The program doesn’t automatically show you the meanings of characters you mark as “known”. If you happen to forget the meaning or pronunciation of a known character, simply press the spacebar again to show the dictionary entry for that character.

After using the program for a few days, you should begin reviewing characters you previously marked for unassisted reading. In Chinese Toolbox FREE you can review characters either by “date” or by “levels”. The date system allows you to review characters according to date; in other words, you review characters you haven’t seen for the longest. The “level” system allows you to review characters according to your degree of understanding of characters.