Pinyin Master provides many interactive features designed to help you learn the Pinyin writing system and accurate Mandarin pronunciation. Version 2.0 is Macintosh, Windows 95, and Windows 3.1 compatible. The latest program includes a creative "Help" option which actually shows how to use each section, and a new "Dictionary" feature which not only provides a glossary of common Chinese words and phrases, but allows you to add your own or download additional phrases from the Internet.

Other exciting and padogically-tested special features of the Pinyin Master are outlined below:

Introduction to Tones

This section explains in detail the Mandarin tonal system, including thousands of examples and animated descriptions.

Sounds & Tones

All initials and finals are introduced in this section, each initial on its own screen. Each screen contains the initial, a sentence describing how the initial is pronounced, and all the combinations that are used with this initial.

Sound Table

The "Sound Table" introduces all possible sound and tone combinations in Mandarin.

Tone Drills

The drills provide several screens each of short Chinese phrases to help you master Mandarin sounds and tones. Each phrase is written in Pinyin and Chinese characters.

Exercises

To follow up there are many creative exercises designed to test the understanding of the principles introduced on the CD-ROM. Each exercise incorporates artificial intelligence which automatically adjusts the difficulty to the varying needs of individual users.