Python web app for studying combo-word Chinese vocabulary using Streamlit
May 09, 2025
The best way I remember new vocabulary in Chinese is by breaking up its characters into component words and semantically connecting their individual definitions. While I was subconsciously looking for an excuse to do some programming and data processing, I thought that despite hundreds of great resources for learning mandarin vocabulary, yet another one could be useful to directly target this way of memorizing new vocabulary. Some examples:
- 半 (half) + 岛 (island) = 半岛 (peninsula)
- 房子 (house) + 贷款 (loan) = 房贷 (mortgage)
- 黄 (yellow) + 油 (oil) = 黄油 (butter)
- 保安 (protect) + 危险 (danger) = 保险 (insurance)
I used Streamlit Cloud to host the game here, hope some of you enjoy it!
This vocabulary learning strategy was also mentioned in:
Screenshot of the "easy" mode of the game.