Terms of service

Service and operator

These terms describe use of the LittleHanzi website: illustrated stories, introductions to Chinese characters, pronunciation playback, recognition questions and a browser-based collection. They also explain the boundaries around content reuse and access to the restricted editing area.

The current service does not offer ordinary reader accounts, paid subscriptions, purchases, certified courses or an AI tutoring service. No payment or automatic renewal obligation is created by reading a story.

Read these terms alongside the privacy policy and editorial standards. Those pages explain information handling and editorial practice. They do not expand the permissions given here to copy or redistribute material.

Using LittleHanzi

You may visit publicly available pages, read stories, play provided audio, answer questions and use the My Hanzi controls, random discovery and review for your own learning. You do not need a reader account. Use should be consistent with these terms and the law that applies to you.

The service is designed for adults. If you are not old enough to enter an applicable agreement independently, use the site only with the involvement required by your local law. LittleHanzi does not provide a managed service for children, a school roster or a student assessment record.

You are responsible for the device, connection and browser settings you use. Audio and visual media may use network data. You can choose when pronunciation plays, pause an animated Banner, or use a device’s reduced-motion setting.

What the learning material can—and cannot—do

Stories introduce a small amount of language in a memorable setting. They are not a complete curriculum, a dictionary, a translation service or a certification of language ability. A correct answer to one recognition question is feedback on that question, not evidence of overall proficiency.

English meanings are short learning glosses. Chinese characters can have multiple readings and meanings; an example expression may not cover every grammatical use, region or context. Pinyin is a pronunciation aid and does not remove the need to listen, practice and seek further instruction where useful.

Alex, Lin and the events in the stories are original fiction. Dialogue and illustration are not documentary accounts or general statements about all people or cultures. Memory aids should not be treated as historical etymology unless explicitly supported by a reliable source.

We aim to present careful content and correct errors, but do not promise a particular learning result, exam score, reading speed or daily release schedule. “One character a day” is an invitation to a learning rhythm. A library may contain only a small number of reviewed stories.

A development preview may display unfinished material with a visible notice. It is available for evaluation and does not certify that pronunciation, illustration consistency or publication review is complete.

Your collection and reading records

Started stories, reading positions, independent favorites, completion times, recent quiz results and a bounded activity history are stored locally in your browser. A completed reading or correct answer is not a certification of mastery. They are not a cloud account, do not synchronize across devices and are not a guaranteed record of your learning.

Clearing browser data, using another profile, changing devices, storage restrictions or browser maintenance may remove these records. A story may also become unavailable if it is corrected or withdrawn. We cannot recover a collection that was stored only on your device.

Only use a shared browser profile if you are comfortable with other users seeing the collection. You can remove entries through the collection controls or clear this site’s data in your browser settings. The privacy policy explains the difference between local records and information sent in a request.

Acceptable use

Please use the site in a way that respects other people, the content and the service. You must not:

• Attempt to bypass authentication, access another person’s administrator session, or retrieve unpublished material through a vulnerability.
• Upload malicious code, executable content disguised as media, stolen credentials or content you lack permission to use.
• Interfere with availability through denial-of-service behavior, excessive automated requests, or attempts to defeat access restrictions.
• Use the site to impersonate LittleHanzi, falsely claim endorsement, or misrepresent edited or inaccurate copies as official learning material.
• Collect or disclose personal information about other people without a lawful basis or applicable permission.
• Remove source or rights notices in a way that misleads others about authorship, provenance or permission.

Ordinary search indexing, accessibility tools and reasonable personal browsing are different from abusive extraction. Any permission for automated access remains subject to technical limits, applicable law and the rights in the underlying material.

Content ownership and permitted reuse

Text, illustrations, recordings, design elements and software may be protected by copyright or other rights to the extent recognized by applicable law. Those rights belong to LittleHanzi or the relevant rights holders. Some production may be AI-assisted; that does not create a blanket license to redistribute the finished work or someone else’s source material.

Your permission to use this website allows personal reading and the normal temporary copies your browser needs. Saving a story to your collection saves a reference to it; it does not transfer ownership or grant a license to the media file.

You may link to public pages and use quotations or other material where the law permits. Keep quotations accurate, identify the source where appropriate, and do not imply endorsement. These terms do not remove statutory exceptions, fair use, fair dealing or other rights you may have.

For republication of an entire story, commercial use of illustrations or audio, adaptations, translated editions, product branding, or redistribution as part of another learning service, seek permission through Contact before proceeding. Permission from LittleHanzi cannot grant rights that belong to an independent third party.

Dictionary references and linked resources may have their own licenses. A citation identifies evidence for a learning point; it is not a license to copy the entire referenced resource.

Media, links and submissions

Media is supplied for the corresponding learning experience. It may be revised or replaced to improve accuracy, quality, accessibility or consistency. A visual scene should not be used as independent evidence for a factual or cultural claim.

External links are provided for context or reference. Linked sites operate independently, may change their pages, and apply their own terms and privacy practices. A link does not mean LittleHanzi controls or endorses everything on that site.

The current site does not offer a public comment area or a reader upload service. If you contact the operator with a correction, send only information needed to understand the issue. Do not send passwords, identity documents, confidential material or recordings of other people without permission.

A correction message does not transfer ownership of your original material to LittleHanzi. It may be used to investigate and respond to the issue you report. Any proposal for broader reuse should be agreed separately.

Restricted administrator access

The content studio is for explicitly authorized editors. Authorization to read a public story is not authorization to edit, upload or publish content. Local development preview access is not an administrator account.

Editors must protect credentials, sign out on shared devices, and ensure they have appropriate rights to uploaded material. They must not treat a generated image or audio file as reviewed solely because it has been successfully uploaded.

Changes are versioned to support recovery and attribution. Editing access may be withdrawn when no longer needed or where misuse is suspected. Withdrawal of access does not necessarily remove historical revision attribution. Information about those records is described in the privacy policy.

Availability, corrections and service changes

We may correct a lesson, replace a file, withdraw a story, or interrupt access for maintenance, security or investigation. We aim to avoid unnecessary disruption, but cannot guarantee continuous access, compatibility with every device, or permanent availability of a particular story.

Do not rely on the browser collection as your only record of a formal course or qualification. LittleHanzi does not currently provide certified completion records.

If a future version introduces paid services, accounts or materially different features, their conditions and information practices should be presented before you use them. These terms do not pre-authorize a charge or an automatic paid conversion.

Responsibility and rights that remain yours

You should use the material as an introduction to learning and apply judgment when using a word or expression outside its illustrated context. Tell us if you find a mistake so it can be investigated.

We cannot control independent websites, your network connection or loss of a collection that exists only in your browser. Responsibility for a particular problem depends on its cause and the law that applies; these terms do not state that the operator is immune from every type of loss.

Nothing here excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including obligations imposed by applicable consumer or data protection law. If a provision is not enforceable, it should apply only to the extent permitted, without removing other rights that the law gives you.

Questions, concerns and disputes

For an inaccurate learning point, broken feature, accessibility problem or permission request, see Contact. Include the page address and a clear explanation so the issue can be identified. Do not send sensitive information merely to demonstrate a problem.

The operating name, location and contact method are set out above. These terms do not select an exclusive court, impose mandatory arbitration, or ask you to waive statutory consumer rights. Your mandatory rights under applicable law remain available. Any future governing-law or dispute clause must preserve rights that cannot be waived.

Changes to these terms

The date at the top identifies the current version. We may revise the terms to reflect changes to the service, content practices or legal obligations. Material changes should be made clear, with additional notice or agreement where the law requires it.

A new version does not retroactively authorize a different use of personal information, remove a permission already granted under a separate agreement, or override mandatory legal rights. Please review these terms when using a materially changed feature.

If you do not wish to use the service on these terms, you can stop visiting and clear this site’s local data. You do not need to cancel a subscription or close a reader account because neither is currently provided.