The most blistering cyberspace dictionary is immediately taking the world – Nciku.com. In major cities of China like Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, Nciku is fast becoming a household name among students, travelers, and just about anyone else who has an interest in learning Chinese. But now it is all over the world. Although Nciku is an online dictionary, it looks like anything, but a typical learning website. It has a neat looking interface and an innovative interface that boasts features like Nciku for mobile devices, an ezine, handwriting recognition tool. They have a blog that has a loyal following, it´s winning over younger audiences outside of China.

The main appeals of Nciku is its extensive vocabulary lists in both Chinese and English, which even includes popular slang. Something of the other online dictionaries don’t feature thjis. It also offers conversation scenarios supporting topics. It ranges from how to order Chinese food to opening a bank account, there´s a scenario to fit everyone´s needs. Users simply look up the conversation and read or listen to it.

Nciku.com is an excellent word source for both English and the Pinyin system; it is also rich with Chinese characters. You can read and write Chinese characters is often the biggest hurdle for those who are studying Chinese. Nciku´s latest online feature is an innovative character recognition tool that allows you to write strokes with your mouse. It instantly brings up similar or related characters along with the Pinyin and meaning of each. Nciku is an entirely free service and open to all public users, and even on mobile devices.