Words you add to the pond stay in this browser only. Nothing is uploaded and there's no account. Switching devices or clearing site data loses them — the "Clear my data" link in the footer removes everything.
Each cast shows one Chinese character with its pinyin — but a piece of the pinyin is missing, and the empty slot blinks with a question mark. Decide which part is gone first. The short, quiet part at the front is the initial (blue cards); the longer, louder part after it is the final (orange cards).
Every fish in the pond holds a pinyin card. Click the one that fits the empty slot exactly. A correct catch fills the slot and the next cast starts right away; a wrong catch costs nothing — the fish swims off and you get a pointer on where to look.
Ten casts make a round. Consecutive correct catches build a combo bonus, and at the end the round gets a star rating — five levels, from "Koi Watcher" up to "Pond Master".
m and then āo out loud. Which one can you hold a note on? Which one is over in a blink?māo. If the first slot is empty, is the missing part an initial or a final?m possibly be right?Initials are short and quiet; finals carry the voice. m is a quick lip press, āo can be sung out loud. So the front slot is the initial and everything after it is the final. If the card type doesn't match the slot, no amount of accuracy will fill it.
Most Mandarin syllables are two pieces: an initial up front, like the wind-up, and a final behind it, like the throw. Said together in one breath they make a character sound — m+āo=māo, sh+ān=shān.
The test is position plus loudness: front and quiet means initial; back and drawable means final. And zh, ch, sh are single initials even though they're written with two letters — never split them.
"Front sound light and short, back sound loud and long — the two snap together in one breath." Front = initial, back = final. When you see an empty slot, ask which half is gone, then find that card in the pond.
Does a wrong catch cost a cast?No. The fish swims away, the cast count stays, and you get direction first. Miss the same cast twice and the lesson lights up the right fish for you.
Is zh one initial or two?One. When shān is missing its initial, you're fishing for the whole sh — not s, not h.
Do my words get uploaded?No. Custom words stay in this browser only, and the footer link clears them in one click. Scoring and judging run locally; comments use the site's system comments and appear after review.