Free Chinese lessons
84 lessons · 14 scenes
Learn Chinese
Mandarin Chinese, one conversation at a time
Mandarin Chinese is the most-spoken first language in the world. It has no verb conjugations, no plurals, no gendered nouns — but it does have four tones and around 3,000 commonly-used characters. These free lessons show simplified characters with pinyin (romanisation) and native audio, so you can build a feel for the tones while you learn vocabulary. You'll meet measure words (一个人, 一张桌子), the negative 不/没, and real Mandarin from cafés to family homes.
Simplified characters + pinyin + audio together
Tones modeled by native speakers
Measure words (个, 张, 本, 只) in context
Both 不 and 没 negation explained
Chinese food, family, and city life vocabulary
All Chinese lessons 84 lessons across 14 scenes
Bakery
3 lessonsBeach
3 lessonsCafe
8 lessons
Daily routine
Memorize the expression 几点 to ask about time
Where do you live?
Use verb 住 + the preposition 在 to give information about the place in which you live
Preposition + verb structure
Remember that in Chinese you don't say "I work in a school", but "I stay in a school work"
At the cafe
Learn how to start a conversation with the waiter at a cafe
General enquiries about food
Before ordering, you want to make sure you are in the right cafe: vegetarian, BBQ?
Place you order
The character 来 means "come/ get to this place" in many cases, but not when ordering food
Steamed or fried
Learn some food name and the way they are cooked
Can we have the check?
Study this phrase to ask for the bill
Clothes
9 lessons
From...to...
Learn this structure to say from (time/place) to (time/ place)
Let's go!
Use 吧 to say "let's ..."
What about doing...?
Put 怎么样 at the end of the sentence to suggest activities
Help?
帮 literally means "to help" but it can also be used to say "I do something for you"
Polite requests
Use 麻烦 to ask favours
Areas of a shop
Learn words like fitting room and register to find your way around the shop
The best fit
Study the word 适合 to say appropriate, fit. You can use it in many different contexts.
Change size
Sometimes clothes can be either too tight or too loose.
Can I change it?
Learn how to return a product and swap it with a similar one
Farm
8 lessons
Do you like ... or not?
use 喜不喜欢 to ask about someone's interests
It is boring
Learn the phrase 有意思 to say "interesting" and 没有意思 to say "boring"
What's around here?
Memorize the patter "place A + 有+ place be" to describe an area
You didn't... did you?
Use 是不是 to communicate a sentence like "Isn't it that you, by any chance...?"
Symptoms
Describe some common symptoms like headache and stomachache
A medical check
Learn the verb 看病 meaning "to have a medical check"
Superlatives (the best/ the most)
Use 最 to convey the meaning of "the most/ the best..."
Defective goods
Learn how to return faulty merchandise
Hospital
5 lessons
Not too much
Memorize the structure "不太+adjective" meaning "not too much"
Where is the shop?
Use "place +在 +哪里" to translate "where is + place?"
How long have you...?
Study the structure "situation + 什么时候 + 开始的?" to ask about duration of a certain situation
Symptoms advanced verbs
Learn these more advanced verbs to talk about your symptoms
The preposizion 给
This character can either be a verb (meaning "give") or a preposition (meaning "to/ towards")
House
13 lessons
Introducing your family
Learn "这是 + person's name" to introduce friends and family members
Nice to meet you
Try to memorize the phrase "nice to meet you"
Number of family members
Use the counter "口" to count your family members
Job names
Remember these job names
Negative with 没
You can't use the adverb 不 to make a negative sentence for the verb 有
Being in a place
The character 在 is both a verb (menaning "to be in a place") and a preposition (meaning "in/ at/ by a place")
Yes, but ...
Try to memorize the word 但是 (but, yet). It will help you make longer sentences
Comparisons
Use "比" to make comparisons
Routine greeting
Learn this colloquial greeting used when getting in a friend's house
A or B?
Use 还是 to provide two options
Compliments
Study some adjectives used to praise other people and their possessions
Such a ...
Use "这么+adjective" to convey the meaning of "such a beautiful/ nice/ ..."
Time to go home!
Learn the modal verb "该" to talk about actions your should do
Office
6 lessons
Say your name
Learn these the verbs 叫 and 姓 to talk about your name
How do you ...?
Use 怎么 to translate "how do you...?"
Be able
"Can" in English means both "being able" and "being allowed". The character 会 translate the former meaning.
Star and finish
Learn the words "start" and "finish"
Asking for permission
You can use 可以 to ask a favour
Different types of meeting
We are now used to meet people both physically and virtually.
School
3 lessons
Simple questions
By putting the character 吗 at the end of a sentence, you can make it a question.
Kind of people
The character 人 can be put after a county name, to transform it into a nationality adjective (Britain --> British), or…
Already done
Learn the structure "已经 + verb + 了" to translate sentences like "I have already done it"
Sports
3 lessonsStreet
3 lessons
Separable verbs
Verbs like 拍 (take) 照片 (picture) require you to put information about the object between the two halves. So it is not "…
English words in Chinese
There are some English words used in Chinese like 趴体. They are usually written in characters and pronounced a bit diffe…
Next to ...
When giving information about the position of a place in an area, use the structure "Place A + 在 + place B + near/ next…
Supermarket
10 lessons
Questions 2
Other than putting 吗 at the end of a sentence, you can also use the structure "positive verb + negative verb" to ask qu…
Dates
Learn counting words for days and months
No past tense
Remember that the is no past tense in Chinese (do --> did)
Bargaining
Will you be charismatic enough to convince them to give you a discount?
Performances at work
Learn to report sales
Planning holidays
Memorize the word 计划 to talk about future plans
I don't want to be a bother
Use this phrase to sound extra polite
The right clothes
Assess the right clothesto wear based on the weather
Listing activities
List separable verbs to make lists of activities to do with your friends
How do I get there?
Learn about means of transportation
Townhall
4 lessonsZoo
6 lessons
Positive imperative
Like in English, just say the verb to give a command ("I look there" VS "Hey, look!")
What's the difference?
Memorize the phrase 哪里不一样 to say "What's the difference?"
Biology
Learn some words to describe animals
Again
Study the use of 再 to say "again"
I am doing it right now
Use 正在 + verb to communicate that you are doing something in this very moment
Opinions
try to memorize the verb 觉得 (= I guess, I think)
Common questions about learning Chinese
Quick answers for new Chinese learners.
How important are tones in Mandarin?
Very. Mā (mother), má (hemp), mǎ (horse), mà (scold) are different words spelled the same in pinyin. Native speakers will guess from context if you get a tone wrong, but the closer you get, the more naturally you'll be understood.
Do I need to learn characters?
For reading, yes — eventually. For speaking and listening, pinyin is enough. We recommend starting with pinyin + a few characters per week. After a few hundred characters you start recognising patterns.
Mandarin vs Cantonese — which should I learn?
Mandarin (普通话) is the standard, taught in schools, used in mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore. Cantonese (粤语) is spoken in Hong Kong, Macau, and Guangdong. For broadest use, Mandarin.
What are measure words?
Words you put between a number and a noun: 一个人 (yī gè rén, one person), 三本书 (sān běn shū, three books). Different categories use different measure words. 个 (gè) is the universal default if you're stuck.