Step-by-step—How to use Readibu

What is Readibu?

Readibu is a highly recommended free mobile app for Chinese learners. However, it wasn’t intuitive, so I ignored it for a long time. It was only until recently that I realized its potential. Readibu is a reader that can convert online text into a readable format with a pop-up dictionary.

This app is particularly useful because it tells you which characters are paired together to form a word. As I mentioned in my post about reading, Chinese is not a scriptio continua language.

Leveraging online resources makes learning easier, especially on-the-go. Finding the time to study Chinese is not just about building habits, it’s about building efficiencies to make learning accessible.

As a caution, I don’t recommend reading novels until you’re past HSK 4. If you’re below HSK 4, start with graded reading material like Mandarin Bean.

A friend recommended the Chinese version of The Little Prince, 小王子 as a starter novel. As a Chinese heritage language learner, this will be my first Chinese novel. It’s at once an intimidating and exciting quest. I’ll show you how I use Readibu to read this novel.

Getting started with Readibu

Note: I am using iPhone. Android may differ.

First, download Readibu on your phone. Once you’re set up, navigate to the ‘Bookmarks’ page. Next, pick a story you want to read online. You can find a list of web novels on Heavenly Path, a Notion page compiling learning resources by other Chinese learners.

1. On Readibu, navigate to ‘Bookmarks’. Tap on the ‘+’ at the top.

   

   
   

2. Copy the URL of the web novel, then paste it. Tap ‘Allow paste’.

   

   
   

3. Paste the URL by tapping the link.

   

   
   

4. Once saved, open the bookmark.

   

   
   

5. Tap on ‘Read’.

   

   
   

6. Tap on the book icon to open the reader.

   

   
   

7. My pinyin is turned on. To toggle it off, tap ‘Settings’.

   

   
   

8. Deselect ‘show pinyin over characters’

   

   
   

9. The reader will look like this. Don’t worry. It just needs to reset. Tap ‘back’ at the bottom and re-open the reader.

   

   
   

10. A fun feature is the ‘Stats’ page. You can see the comprehension level and HSK levels of content.

    

    
    

11. Tap on ‘Style’ to customize the appearance of the reader such as screen background colour, font size and spacing.

    

    
    

12. To view the pop-up dictionary, tap on underlined words.

    

    
    

And that’s it! There are some kinks to using this app. Some of the novels I’ve found online asks you to verify if you’re human, like 99csw.com. Avoid these links if you can because it may not load properly into Readibu.

Reading in Chinese is hard—don’t give up I read two chapters in about 20 minutes with the pinyin turned on. And honestly, it was painful. Many Chinese learners say reading the first chapter is the hardest, but it gets easier as you continue reading.

My pop-up dictionary was heavily used as I encountered unfamiliar terms. Despite my friend marking 小王子 as a beginner novel that many Chinese children read, it was difficult for me to read, even though I am at HSK 5.

This month, I’m committed to reading the entire novel, which only has eight chapters. With the help of Readibu, it will be possible to complete the novel. If I was to read this without any aid, I would give up.

So don’t be discouraged if you’re struggling with novels. Start slow and small. Let me know in the comments what you’ve been reading.

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