• Universitat de València

• María Fernández-López
• Bruno Debove

Chinese is a language learned every year by about 100 million school students in China and about 20 million people in other countries as a foreign language. The Chinese writing system does not use spaces between words, which makes it difficult to detect the boundaries of each word, especially for students in the early years of education, whether they are native speakers or those learning Chinese as a foreign language. Additionally, this reading difficulty increases when texts contain infrequent or technical terms. Recent studies have shown that both people learning Chinese and those reading advanced texts in Chinese (for example, technical texts or those with uncommon words) improve their reading speed when words are highlighted with alternating colours, as opposed to when they are presented in their standard uncoloured format.

These findings show that the application of alternate colours to highlight words in Chinese not only facilitates their identification, but also achieves this without the need to modify the spatial layout of the words in the text.

Researchers at the Universitat de València have developed HueScan, a computer program specifically designed to facilitate the reading of Chinese text. This practical tool automatically converts Chinese text into a version that is easier to read by applying alternating colours between words. HueScan proves to be an invaluable resource during the initial stages of learning Chinese, as well as in comprehending complex Chinese texts.

Some areas of interest could be:

• Educational sector, in the field of language learning. The programme can be used both by children learning to read Chinese and by adults learning Chinese as a foreign language. In addition, it can also be extremely useful for Chinese teachers as an educational tool.
• Work setting. For those who need to read complex Chinese texts, this tool speeds up the reading of texts containing infrequent or technical words.

This tool has the following advantages:

• Improves Reading Skills. HueScan converts Chinese text into a format that accelerates reading speed, facilitating quicker learning.
• Cost Efficiency. HueScan does not require native Chinese tutors to prepare texts manually, offering significant economic benefits.
•  Time Saving. HueScan enables Chinese language teachers to create teaching materials quickly and efficiently.
• User-Friendly Design. HueScan features an intuitive interface with straightforward instructions, making it easy to use, even for inexperienced users.

• Registered intellectual property