Outlier Essentials Review

Ledu

举人
I don't really know how much value it is to post this review as I have done so on the other forum. But I will try to summarize briefly.

Outlier Essentials should cover 3000 characters which is enough to technically pass HSK6 which requires 2500 characters. The "Expert" version may be helpful to you but for me the "Essentials" is all I need at this time.

1. It is not a reacurring subscription.
2. Not too costly in my opinion.
3. Helps to make associations to parts/components of characters easily.
4. The "Form" part is nice. The description there alone can create an association to help you understand and memorize a character quickly.
5. It breaks down the type of component.
6. Simple meaning
7. Stroke order with all steps displayed at once using one image.
8. Obviously the portability and speed in comparison with using a physical dictionary.
9. Description is in English which helps me quickly process the information.
10. I don't have to go to a website, it's on my device and can work offline.
11. You are able to contact one of the creators if needed, that's nice.

I find it useful already in understanding features of troublesome words. I can make associations from the descriptions and even short mnemonics to remember words. I personally don't think of of it as a dictionary but rather as an enchancement. There are many ways to attack troublesome words but I feel this Outlier add-on can really help with that. It can be part of your arsenal.

Cons:
1) You may not be able to access the main website of Outlier Lingusitics. I can't but most likely you can. This is not a big deal for me though. Apparently there are courses available there too.

2) As with all add-ons it can be a shot in the dark. Sometimes the descriptions don't easily display how you can use them in your language learning. Learners at different levels are studying differently.
 
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