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If you do not have a Chinese capable browser, you will need to be able to read Chinese on the net. This site, built and maintained by Doctor Shunguo Liu, also has links to many Chinese magazines.
Stockflows is a Hong Kong book publisher, and at this site, you can listen to audio in RealAudio format, learn to read and write characters, or purchase books. Dr. T. K. Ann has taught Chinese for many years, and directs you to some resources to make learning characters a bit easier.
To use this site effectively, you should have a Guo Biao (Simplified Characters) or Big5 (Traditional Characters) browser so that you can input a character and receive the Pinyin equivalent back to you. Primarily this is a site for Chinese language learning applications, with a focus on Chinese learning for English speakers. There are links to Chinese newspapers, magazines, and other Chinese publications.
This is a nice Windows program with character, Pinyin, sound and sentence files. The program follows the Practical and Elementary Chinese Reader series of books, published by the Commercial Press in Beijing. I have a copy of version 4 of this program, and in my opinion, it is very good. The version 5 upgrade is now released, and it sounds like it will be even better. If you are using the PCR series of books to study Mandarin, you will love this program. Click here for a review of Chinese Character Tutor 4 by Cecilia P. Y. Chu (University of California at Berkeley).
My Favorite Multimedia Inside CHINESE Language Lab
This is a self paced, on-line teaching program (basic, one lesson) for those who would like to try a taste of Mandarin Chinese (Lesson 1 only at this time). This site is in Taiwan, so expect a bit of delay while loading. I am a bit biased, I like this lesson, even if it is a bit slow. You will need RealAudio player to hear sound, but if you don't have it , you can download it here.
This is a very nice program from SinoLogic Software that currently only runs on a Mac, but a Win95/MacOS version is likely to be released on CDROM by Christmas of 1997. The program has a multi-facetted approach to learning, with music and activities to keep you interested in learning. I have a copy of this program and like it very much, especially the unique packing material used.
Ian McLoughlin reviews various Mandarin Chinese learning materials, including the software from SinoLogic above.
This is a very comprehensive list of on line learning offerings from all over the world. Most of these require RealAudio to play sound. This list is offered by the University of California at Davis and also has many links to Chinese language learning materials. When you first enter the site, you are given the opportunity to download a shareware Chinese language viewer.
ChinaSoft is an Australian publisher of books, software, and audio cassettes used to learn Chinese and Japanese. You can download a demonstration software program for Windows or Macintosh from this site.