What a month!

On Monday July 27th, a little before 6 p.m, we reached our funding goal on Kickstarter and then went on to reach 140% in funding. Being funded and knowing we have your support and interest, is a wonderful feeling.  What an adventure and a roller coaster of emotions this Kickstarter month has been! Launching a crowdfunding campaign for Ninchanese was both a nerve-racking and thrilling experience, and we’re happy to have done it with you.

A funded Kickstarter means a lot of things for Ninchanese:  this funding is directly going towards improving and growing Ninchanese. We want you to have access to a truly fantastic gamified Chinese learning application! Speaking of which, now that this Kickstarter is funded, here’s our road map for the next few months in terms of features.

Roadmap #1: Go from the current beta to the full Ninchanese beta

Kickstarter was an incredible validation for us. We’re now ready to jump the gun and move towards the full Ninchanese beta!

In terms of the beta, our roadmap for the next few months is clear: go from the current beta to the full Ninchanese beta! In the next few months, we’ll be adding content to the Ninchanese beta so beginner, intermediate and advanced learners alike will find content that suits their Mandarin level on Ninchanese. We’ll be progressively opening access to the 5 other worlds, first to our Kickstarter backers, then to every other Chinese learner who’s interested. This will give you access to content in Chinese ranging from beginners to advanced learners.

Roadmap #2: New features

Our successful Kickstarter also means new features down the road. How exciting! Here’s what we have planned for the next few months:

• New listening stages

Listening and learning to understand native Chinese speakers is a big part of being able to speak Chinese. The listening stages will allow you to practice your comprehension skills in Chinese. You will practice listening to words in Chinese until Chinese sounds and tones sound perfectly normal to you. These stages will also teach you how to write what you hear in Chinese, which help you match writing and sounds.

• New speaking stages

The individual word pronunciation stages will fine-tune your Chinese pronunciation so you know how to say each word in Chinese, with the right tones. Pinyin will have no secrets for you. Then you’ll be able to comfortably move on to sentences and dialogues.

• A Chat System

Ninchanese will be offering a chat system, so learners can chat with other learners, especially when they are playing Ninchallenges.

•  Quests and missionsGo on quests and missions across Ninchana for Old Master Yocha and learn new things in Chinese along the way!

• Bosses — testing out!

Every good story has bosses to overcome, and Ninchanese will be no different! How do you know if you’re allowed to progress to the next world in Ninchana? By defeating that world’s boss of course!

The bosses will also allow you to test your Chinese level and let you skip ahead to your current level. See if you can defeat them and move on. Easy.

Roadmap #3: Traditional Chinese Support!

We also reached a stretch goal in the campaign: traditional Chinese support!

Adding support for Traditional Characters to Ninchanese was our first stretch goal in the campaign and we reached it! We’ll therefore be adding Traditional Chinese character support to Ninchanese, so you’ll able to choose whether you want to learn Chinese in simplified Chinese (used in Mainland China) or in traditional Chinese (used in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau)! Cool!

Roadmap #4: Surprise achievements

Last but not least, as our Kickstarter backers were outstanding, they unlocked a few additional features. These are the extras the Kickstarter community has unlocked!

• Keyboard shortcuts in the app

Ninchanese is a world full of cats, so we can’t have you using a mouse, amiright? We’ll be adding keyboard shortcuts in Ninchanese, freeing you from the reign of terror of the mouse. That way you’ll be able to smoothly use your paws to navigate in the web application with your keyboard and focus solely on having fun learning Chinese. Kinda like him (her?).

• Character composition game

This fun mini-game will be dedicated to learning to tell terribly similar-looking characters apart. The character comparison mini-game will help you learn to distinguish which character is which. Content will be taken from the words and characters YOU get confused on Ninchanese so each mini-game will be unique and tailored to you. How does that sound? Meowsome? Good!

• Bonuses in Ninchanese!

You know those moments where you want to go **Help me please!**? That’s what bonuses are for. They’ll help you in game if you’re stuck or to give you an extra edge! The More Bonuses, the better you’ll play!

We want your ideas, too!

These are the “big” features we have planned to add to our gamified Chinese learning app. We know there are still a number of improvements we need to bring to the Ninchanese beta as well, so rest assured we’ll be improving the current beta and adding new features at the same time! Share your thoughts on elements that can be improved in the beta and/or ideas of features and things to add! We want to build Ninchanese with you!

The Nincha Team

Ninchanese combines addictive game mechanics, cute cats and efficient Chinese learning techniques to make learning Chinese a lot of fun! The app is now in beta so sign up now for early access! Check out our trailer and stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google + and Pinterest.

The post A Roadmap for Ninchanese: our Post-Kickstarter Plan appeared first on Ninchanese.

Welcome to Ninchana

Disaster has struck the normally peaceful village of the Ninchas! Their precious pearl of knowledge has been stolen! Master Yocha, head of the village, sends Nincha, the lucky cat, and his new friend, a young Dragon named Lupishu, off on a journey through the Ninchana world to find their pearl.

In Ninchanese, you are the one who needs to save the Ninchas and become the dragon yourself! You play a baby dragon who needs to learn Chinese to save the Ninchas. The story in Ninchanese is an integral part of Ninchanese and every part as important as the tools implemented in the application to learn Chinese effectively.

On your journey searching for the pearl of knowledge with Nincha and Lupishu, you’ll discover a new way of learning Chinese, which is full of cats and fun. You’ll also have to face bosses. Never be afraid of them, because during the six worlds of adventure that await you, you’ll level up your Chinese by memorizing vocabulary, speaking dialogues, and understanding Chinese grammar.

How it works

Like we said in our Kickstarter campaign, “We envision the story as a tale of coming of age, full of Chinese culture and legends that rewards curiosity, thirst of knowledge, the desire to learn and to have fun.”

The story, which we want to be engaging, helps the learners discover Chinese culture and lets them feel closer to the characters . The storyline also gives the learners the chance to identify themselves as Lupishu, and see themselves grow as an adorable dragon, as they improve their Chinese and become increasingly better at Chinese.

The benefits of storytelling

The story parts are crucial for the learners: they help give them purpose. The story shows the learners (whatever their age) the path to learn Chinese and gives them a clear goal, like Lupishu: learn Chinese and recover the pearl of Chinese knowledge.

The narratives put the learners in a situation where they feel confident, gives their brains a break so they are in the right mindset and more inclined to learn something new. The storyline emotionally engages them and gives them positive emotional experiences, which contributes to increased retention. The story is also a great way to express positive feedback and celebrate progress, two crucial elements to help the learners progress and stay motivated.

For the learners, it means something to progress from one stage to another, and then to beat a Boss, guardian of the next world. It is a real indicator of progress. It drives them to achieve, so they can feel proud of themselves and confident in their ability to speak Chinese. And if their motivation to learn Chinese were to waver — they’ll want to keep going because they want to know what happens next to Lupishu and what boss they’ll be meeting next.

Here’s a teaser of the Ninchanese story:

Isn’t it amazing to find the dragon in you and level up your Chinese? Don’t hesitate then, time for you guys to save the Ninchas’ world and be a real hero in studying Chinese with Ninchanese!

If you are interested in learning more about gamification and the use of storytelling in learning, this recent article by Alice Keeler is very interesting.

Ninchanese combines addictive game mechanics, cute cats and efficient Chinese learning techniques to make learning Chinese a lot of fun! Now live on Kickstarter! The app is now in beta so sign up now for early access to the beta! Check out our trailer and stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, Google + and Pinterest.

The post The science of storytelling: Why it powers your Chinese learning appeared first on Ninchanese.

Miaow! The Ninchanese trailer is here!

Calling all Chinese learners! Are you ready to save the Ninchas, get the pearl back and have a blast learning Chinese? ^_^

Check out the trailer and let us know what you think!

And make sure to sign up on www.ninchanese.com to be part of the upcoming beta!

We heart you!

The Nincha Team

The post The Ninchanese trailer is here! appeared first on Ninchanese.