Smart Word Aplication Design for Learning Mandarin-Indonesia Vocabulary

Abstract

The need for human resources who have Mandarin skills in Indonesia has increased along with the growth of Chinese investors in Indonesia. For this reason, the growth of Chinese language learners, especially in universities, also increases from time to time. Given that Chinese is a language that is difficult to learn, it is not enough to only face-to-face lessons in class, so that a tool is needed that can help students learn independently in a comfortable place and time. This research begins with a survey of what students need to face obstacles in learning Mandarin vocabulary and the applications needed to support their learning. From the results of the survey on 37 students who studied Mandarin for 4 months, the researchers designed learning applications based on the needs of students. The material from the application is taken from the subject matter in the textbook. Listening lessons are considered difficult by 83.49% of students because of vocabulary. As many as 73.38% of students consider the need for an application that helps vocabulary learning and as many as 83.78% of students need an application on a smartphone that can be used offline. From the student input, an application called "Smart Word" was designed. For the next research, the researcher suggestion is that the "Smart Word" application can be used to measure the results of student studies.