开启通知，第一时间获取最新消息: “Turn on notifications to get the latest news immediately.”
Every word is new to you, so each one is marked off with its pinyin and meaning.
Learn the Chinese you actually read.
A Mac app for learning to read Chinese from the screens you already use. Hold ⌥ and point at any word for its pinyin and meaning. The help fades as you learn each word, and the ones you keep looking up come back for review in the sentences you met them in.
It teaches you to read. It doesn’t translate.
Tanzi gives you the pinyin and meaning of each word you don’t know yet, from an open dictionary built into the app, and leaves the reading to you. It also tracks how well you remember each word, using FSRS, the memory model also built into Anki, and gives you less help as the word sticks.
Here is one word from a shopping app, 确认收货, the button that confirms your parcel arrived.
First time
Pinyin, meaning, each character, and the sentence you found it in.
确认收货
què rèn shōu huò
to confirm receipt (of goods)
- 确认
- què rèn
- to confirm
- 收货
- shōu huò
- to receive delivery
确认收货后，款项将支付给卖家
I know thisSave for reviewLearning
Pinyin, meaning, and how often you’ve seen it.
确认收货
què rèn shōu huò
to confirm receipt (of goods)
Seen 3 times. Next time, try reading it before you look.
I know thisSave for reviewKnown
One line.
确认收货
què rèn shōu huò · to confirm receipt (of goods)
If you haven’t seen a word in a while, the full card comes back. If you already know it, click I know this. Hints can be Generous, Normal or Sparing. The goal is that one day you read the line as it’s printed.
No cards to make. Your reading is the deck.
Tanzi builds your reviews from what you read. Every lookup keeps its sentence, and a word you look up on two separate occasions joins your reviews by itself. To add it sooner, clickSave for review.
Each word comes back in a sentence you actually read, ideally one where it’s the only word you don’t know.
- ⌘⇧1
- Open Review from any app. The menu bar shows how many words are waiting
- Space
- Show the answer
- 1–4
- Grade it: Forgot, Hard, Got it, Easy
- ⌘Z
- Take back the last grade
Up to 10 new words a day by default. You can change that, or set it to 0 and just read.
First, try to read it
确认收货后，款项将支付给卖家
Shopping app · Order details
Two words from this page, in the sentences they came from. Try reading each before you show the answer.
Wherever the Chinese is.
Tanzi reads Chinese in three ways: point at a word, select a passage, or draw a box around text you can’t select.
- Point
- Hold ⌥ over a word for its card. The speaker button reads it aloud.
- Select
- Select a passage and click the small 探 next to your pointer. It opens in a reader with pinyin and meanings over only the words you don’t know yet.
- Draw a box
- For Chinese you can’t select, like images, scanned PDFs or video, press ⌘⇧2 and drag around it. The text is recognised on your Mac.
- 购物车gòu wù chēshopping cart
- 关注guān zhùto follow
- 评论píng lùncomment
- 搜索sōu suǒto search
- 签收qiān shōuto sign for
- 退款tuì kuǎnrefund
- 更新gēng xīnto update
- 下载xià zàito download
- 撤回chè huíto retract
- 转发zhuǎn fāto forward
- 收藏shōu cángto bookmark
- 复制fù zhìto copy
- 删除shān chúto delete
- 取消qǔ xiāoto cancel
- 立即lì jíimmediately
- 附近fù jìnnearby
Start from what you already know.
Already studying? You don’t start from zero, and you don’t have to give up the tools you use.
Import your words
Paste a list, or open an export from Pleco, Anki, Hack Chinese, Skritter or an HSK list, and mark the words:
- Known
- Never reviewed, and one line when you meet it.
- Familiar
- Not treated as new when you look it up.
You see what will change before anything is saved, and you can undo any import.
Keep Anki
With the AnkiConnect add-on, link a deck and Tanzi learns from your review history. Then choose:
- Keep reviewing in Anki
- Tanzi leaves those words to Anki and brings in your new reviews.
- Or move them to Tanzi
- They join your reviews here, with the history they already have.
Words you meet while reading can go to a Tanzi deck in Anki, each with its sentence. Your existing decks are never edited.
Runs on your Mac. Sends nothing.
- Offline
- Lookup, text recognition and review all work without a connection. Screen captures stay in memory and are never saved.
- What it keeps
- On your Mac: when you looked up each word, the sentence, and the app and window it was in, so the word can come back in context. Your imports and linked Anki history too.
- Anki
- Words you send to Anki go into your Anki collection, and Anki’s own sync applies from there.
- Permissions
- Accessibility, to read the text under your pointer and your selections. Screen Recording only if you use Read Screen Area.
Mac first.
- Mac
- First. In development.
- Later
- Android, iPhone and Windows.
- Price
- A one-time purchase, no subscription. We haven’t set a price.
- Launch
- No date yet, and we won’t make one up. The waitlist hears first.
Questions
How do I look up a Chinese word on a Mac?
With Tanzi, hold ⌥ (Option) and point at the word in any app that shares its text with macOS. A card shows its pinyin and dictionary meaning, from the 125,132 entries of the CC-CEDICT dictionary built into the app. For a whole passage, select it and click the small 探 button. For Chinese in an image, scanned PDF or video, press ⌘⇧2 and draw a box around it.
Is it a translator?
No, it’s a learning tool. It gives you dictionary meanings word by word, then brings back the words you keep meeting for review. It won’t translate a sentence or work out what a word means in context.
How is it different from Pleco, the Zhongwen extension or a translator?
Tanzi works over the Mac apps you read in, not in a window of its own or only in web pages, and it remembers every word you look up. Pleco is a dictionary you switch to. The Zhongwen extension shows pop-up definitions inside your browser. A translator turns whole sentences into English. Tanzi gives dictionary meanings word by word, fades the help as you learn each word, and brings back the ones you keep looking up for review.
Which apps does it work in?
It’s built for any app that shares its text with macOS, and for the rest you can draw a box. We’re testing Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Notes and WeChat now. Some apps may block it, and we’ll publish what works before you pay for anything.
Do I need Anki?
No. Tanzi makes its own reviews from what you read and schedules them itself. The Anki link is for people who already use Anki.
How does Tanzi decide what to review?
A word joins your reviews by itself when you look it up in two separate sessions, more than 30 minutes apart, or straight away when you click Save for review. Tanzi adds up to 10 new words a day by default; you can change that or set it to 0. FSRS, the memory model also built into Anki, schedules each review for when you're likely to start forgetting, and you grade yourself Forgot, Hard, Got it, Easy.
Can I use it alongside HSK study?
Yes. Import an HSK word list you already have, as a file or pasted text, and mark its words as Known or Familiar so Tanzi doesn't treat them as new. Tanzi doesn't come with HSK lists of its own.
Does it need the internet?
No. Lookup, text recognition and review all work offline, and the Anki link talks to Anki on the same Mac. You’d need a connection to download Tanzi and to get updates.
Which Macs?
Apple silicon, with macOS 15 or later.
What does it cost?
It will be a one-time purchase, with no subscription. We haven’t set a price.
Will it come to Android, iPhone or Windows?
Yes. The Mac comes first; Android, iPhone and Windows come later. On iPhone, Apple limits what one app can show over another, so it may work differently there. When you join, you can tell us where you’d use it, which helps us decide the order.
When will it launch?
We don’t have a date, and we won’t make one up. The waitlist will hear first.
What happens when I join the waitlist?
We store your email address and send you one link to confirm it. After that you’ll only hear from us about early access and launch news. Every email has a link to remove your address, and that deletes it.
第一时间, dì yī shí jiān: immediately
Try it when it’s ready.
Leave your email and you’ll hear first thing when Tanzi for Mac is ready to try: early access and launch news, nothing else. Every email has a link to take yourself off the list.