Learn Mandarin Chinese

What you'll learn in the first 30 days

The Mandarin course has 10 units from A1 to A2. You start with 你好, 我是 and 我叫, say what you like with 喜欢, count with 个 and give your age with 岁, order with 我要 and 多少钱, and in unit 5 tell what you did yesterday: 昨天我去了 (zuótiān wǒ qù le, yesterday I went). A2 adds 的, daily routines, 了 and 没, experiences with 过, and plans.

Each unit has four lessons of 3 to 5 minutes, so one lesson a day takes you through the first five A1 units in about a month. The table below lists them exactly as they appear in the course, with the grammar tip card each unit teaches and one of its lesson titles.

How a lesson works

Every unit opens with a tip card: one grammar point in plain English, plus one memorable trick for remembering it. In unit 5, for example, the tip card shows that Mandarin verbs never change form: you add 了 (le) after the verb to show the action is done, so 我吃了 (wǒ chī le) means "I ate." Build-the-sentence exercises use word tiles because Chinese is written without spaces.

Then you practice with eight exercise types, mixed so you read, listen, write and speak in every lesson:

• Tap the pairs: match words to their meaning.
• Build the sentence: put word tiles in order.
• Listen and pick: hear a sentence and choose what it means.
• Listen and type: write what you hear.
• Say it: read a sentence out loud with the microphone.
• Fill the blank: complete a sentence with the missing word.
• Fix the mistake: spot and correct a typical learner error.
• Translate: turn an English sentence into Mandarin.

Practice chat at the end of each lesson

Each lesson ends with a short practice chat with the AI tutor, built around what you just learned. You answer by typing or speaking, and when you make a mistake you see a correction card with the right sentence and a one-line reason in your own language.

There are no hearts or lives. Mistakes never block you; they come back later and are saved to Review, where saved words also become flashcards. Path lessons are free and unlimited on every plan.

Speak from day one

Tones get easier when you hear and say them every day, not just read about them. In Talk you chat with the tutor by text, microphone or a live voice call. You can pick a scenario like ordering at a restaurant, checking into a hotel or asking directions, or just have a free conversation. Beginners get tap-to-answer reply ideas and slow audio.

Walk & Talk works in Mandarin too: a hands-free spoken lesson of 10 to 60 minutes with headphones, with warm-up, grammar, drills, a short story and a role play. Voice commands like "slower", "repeat that", "pause" and "how do you say..." keep it going without touching your phone.

Listen to graded Mandarin stories

Listening every day is the fastest way to tell the four tones apart. Listen has podcast-style story episodes graded by level, with a read-along transcript in Mandarin, English or both, and speeds from 0.6x to 1.25x. Beginner episodes include English support that fades as your level goes up.

Track your level

Not sure where to start? Take the free placement test (about 8 minutes). It gives an estimated level from A1 to C2 and drops you at the right place in the course. It is an estimate, not an official certificate. You can also simply pick your level and start.

6 Mandarin starter phrases

Pinyin marks show the tone: ā high and flat, á rising, ǎ dipping, à falling, and no mark for a light neutral tone. In 你好, two third tones in a row change: nǐ is said with a rising tone, so it sounds like "ní hǎo". 一 (yī) changes to yì before bēi.

Free vs Pro

The free plan includes every Path lesson, unlimited, plus 15 tutor messages and 3 minutes of live voice a day, one 10-minute Walk & Talk session a day, Listen, Review and the placement test. You do not need a credit card to sign up and there are no ads.

Pro adds unlimited text conversation with the tutor, 30 minutes of live voice a day and Walk & Talk sessions up to 60 minutes. See pricing.

Want a full plan? Read learn chinese (mandarin) app, see best language learning apps compared, or start with how to learn a new language.

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