Reader pens and tools are all the rage these days. It is not difficult to see why. We tried the Youdao Pen 2.0 and found how effective it can be for both child and adult learners. Rather than a “pen”, I thought it was more like a magic wand. Its magic is in instantly translating words scanned and reading them aloud is an interpreter’s dream.
Let’s find out more about this magical reading pen.
What is the Youdao Pen 2.0?
Youdao reader pen is a pen for learning Chinese. It offers quick translation between Chinese and English and supports various forms of media including paper, digital screens, labels and wooden surfaces. It reads words, sentences and paragraphs.
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When you scan a word, it displays the character, hanyu pinyin, meaning in English, structure of words, vocabulary beginning with the character. When you scan sentences, it shows the English or Chinese translation.
How We Used Youdao Pen 2.0
As my children are in Primary One and Four respectively, the Youdao Pen 2 was a fantastic aid to their learning needs. They primarily used the pen to find out how to read the Chinese word scanned, learn about its meaning and also read out stories in sentences. It also translated phrases and sentences from Chinese to English.
This meant that they were more willing to read their Chinese books, and not beckon me to run to their rescue every time they need help in their Chinese revision or assessment books. Youdao Pen 2.0 was their trusty companion in those moments.
We also could “communicate” with it by asking it questions, like how to write certain words and the meaning of phrases or idioms or even the climate of a certain country.
There is also a “favourite”option to use when bookmarking new words, vocabulary learnt. This can be a useful repository especially when it comes to revision.
Parent Review for Youdao Pen 2.0
As mentioned, Youdao Pen 2.0 works magically and really quickly. Once you scan the text, it reads and shows the English translation on the screen. There is hardly any need to wait for it to process the information and definitely beats the hard copy dictionary or the e-dictionary.
However, because of the English translation flashed instantly on the screen. My children whose preference is English tended to rely on the translations instead of following the text read aloud in Chinese. I have had to remind them to not rely on the English text but to learn the Chinese words and phrases.
One downside is that the scanning width of the pen is limited, this means that when certain words are too large or too small in size, the pen’s accuracy is affected as it either doesn’t capture the right word or is unable to read the entire character.
We also appreciated how Youdao Pen reads sentences and paragraphs fluently, while instantly translating them. Instead of a robotic and monotonous reading, I was impressed by how the AI reads sentences with intonations as if it is telling a story. For reading of translations in English, it was very clear with right pronunciations given as well.
The Youdao Pen 2.0 update also includes a Webster dictionary. We haven’t used it much for English material but will definitely explore it more especially with new words, phrases and idioms.
Once in a while you do get odd translations that we laugh about. We can flag for it to be noticed and improved.
The ergonomically designed pen is something both adult and child can use quite easily. It comes with a silicone protective casing and is a handy, durable device that can be used quite intuitively.
Age Recommendations
It is definitely a trusty tool suitable for children ages 6 and above, teens and adults. My younger son who’s a leftie had a few problems trying to scan the text at first so that took some getting used to. For younger children, I would advise adult supervision.
Where to Purchase Youdao Pen 2.0
To find out more about Youdao Pen 2.0, check out Elite Linguistic Network’s site.
To purchase the Youdao Pen 2.0, head to ELN and Youdao’s website, or its Shopee and Lazada pages.
On the ELN and Youdao’s website, use coupon code YDPLDO5 to enjoy a 5% discount on purchases of the Youdao Pen 2 / Pen 3.
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