Dear my fellow Traditional Chinese learners, which textbook series do you use? Mine is A Course in Contemporary Chinese當代中文課程
reddit.comu/nhatquangdinh — 13 hours ago
r/MandarinChinese
Can I learn and master Chinese online?
I am considering learning Mandarin. I will pay for stuff like YoYo Chinese and Zero to Hero Chinese. I will also use Anki.
I heard that it's impossible to learn tones/pronunciation correctly on your own. Is that true?
If I stick religiously to YoYo Chinese and finish it, and then move to Zero to Hero Chinese, and do it, and practice shadowing Chinese audio daily, will I eventually be able to become understand spoken and written Chinese as well as speak it clearly (as in, be understood, and not be misunderstood due to tonal inaccuracy).
Can I do it 100% without any human feedback?
Please bear with me and be patient because I haven't learned any tonal languages before.
u/No_String4525 — 23 hours ago
Chinese Pronunciation & Conversation | Hiking a Difficult Trail in Chinese
Chinese Pronunciation & Conversation | Hiking a Difficult Trail in Chinese
How do you talk about hiking a difficult trail in Chinese?
In this Pronunciation & Conversation lesson, practice useful Mandarin pronunciation and natural conversation through a real hiking situation.
Listen to each word and sentence, pay attention to the pronunciation and tones, and then see how the same Chinese can be used in a short conversation.
Key Chinese
难走 — nán zǒu — difficult to walk
小心 — xiǎoxīn — be careful
石头 — shítou — rock / stone
爬 — pá — to climb
累 — lèi — tired
休息 — xiūxi — to rest / take a break
前面 — qiánmiàn — ahead / in front
慢一点 — màn yìdiǎn — a little slower
Useful Sentences
这条路很难走。
Zhè tiáo lù hěn nán zǒu.
This trail is difficult to walk.
小心，这里有很多石头。
Xiǎoxīn, zhèlǐ yǒu hěn duō shítou.
Be careful. There are a lot of rocks here.
我们休息一下吧。
Wǒmen xiūxi yíxià ba.
Let’s take a short break.
前面的路更难走。
Qiánmiàn de lù gèng nán zǒu.
The trail ahead is even more difficult.
Practice listening, pronunciation, and conversation with Chinese you can actually use in real life.
#LearnChinese #ChinesePronunciation #ChineseConversation #RealLifeChinese #MandarinChinese #ChineseForBeginners #LearnMandarin #ChineseListening #ChineseSpeaking #HikingChinese
u/New-Necessary-4194 — 1 day ago
倾盆大雨 idiom
useful idiom i learn today while reading. seems 倾盆大雨 can be used literally or figuratively. maybe a Chinese native can offer some examples as i only find this one from sentences search.
u/Individual_Math_8254 — 2 days ago
What are some good Chinese learning communities to join?
I’m looking for a good community or group to join for learning Chinese.
I know this might look like a bit picky, but I’ve tried joining a few groups already, and honestly, some of them were pretty disrespectful and didn’t feel safe.
I’m mainly looking for a community that feels welcoming and is actually focused on learning. Like exchanging resources, asking questions, and meeting people who are genuinely interested in learning the language.
Could be Reddit, Discord, Facebook groups, language exchange communities, or anything else.
u/MatchParking3149 — 2 days ago
Learn Chinese
So, I decided I’m gonna start learning Chinese from scratch, I know nothing about the language. I need a book to have a context about how it works and to have an idea when I start lessons. Do you know about any book?
u/Inevitable_Pace_7615 — 2 days ago
Building a small Chinese learning platform
My partner and I have been building a small website for learning Chinese through graded reading for about a year now.
It has short stories with pinyin, native audio, and clickable words for definitions. We’ve been building it in our spare time and have had a few people using it already.
We would love feedback from other Chinese learners. What do you like, what don’t you like, and what would you want added?
If you’re interested leave a comment and I’ll send the link!
u/xiaotudouu — 3 days ago
200/200 in HSK1
Early this year, I did something at the age of 34 that I've never ever been able to do in my entire school life. I got a 200/200 in an exam. That too for a foreign language - Mandarin Chinese.
It all started 3 years back tbh when I started dealing with Taiwan resellers in my full-time job. Though I was able to generate $1mn in sales via them, I hated every bit of conversation with them (we had one to two almost every week).
Each meeting took 2X of the time it was supposed to - because in between - they used to keep talking in Mandarin and I used to keep sitting there like for them to wait to finish. This was before GPT had come out with its meeting recording functionality. So - I had this at the back of my mind - that some day - I'm going to start learning the allegedly most difficult language on the planet.
Quite a journey. Started with learning it myself first on Duolingo. I really thought at first that I was going somewhere with it - but it turned out after a couple of months - I'd learned nothing but a few basic vocabulary only. I couldn't speak or form a single sentence like Nǐ jiào shén me míng zi. Duolingo is amazing at engagement, but you don't learn the language imo.
Then, I joined one of the most popular online schools for mandarin first - Meiyu. In all honesty, I just lost track in the middle of the 8 week course. Maybe it was a bit too much for me. The teacher was good - but strict as well. I couldn't keep up and would take the blame on myself than the institution or teacher.
Gave a second attempt at it by trying to find an offline centre. Came across two in bangalore - Yellow River and The Mandarin Story. Yellow river teacher had gone for a vacation and hence I decided to join the mandarin story since the next batch was starting in couple of weeks and it had very good reviews on Google. Moreover - the teacher was Indian - and had her own style of teaching Mandarin relating it to hindi - drawing on the numerous similarities between Mandarin and Hindi.
In a couple of weeks, I started looking forward to the weekend classes and meeting up with my batch-mates in Indiranagar. I took 2 courses - Foundation Course where we practised tones, grammar, sentence structure, a bit of speaking. And then HSK 1, which was a bit more intense and focused more on sentence formations along with the normal course curriculum.
Post the 2 month course, I was quite confident that I can ace HSK 1 examination. Flew to bombay to give it and kept practising all chapters every now and then for a month's time. The results were delayed but finally came out and I got a 200/200. This is one of my proudest achievements of 2026 and just wanted to share it here with everyone.
Planning to give HSK 2 in October in Nepal now. Wish me luck :)
u/AnujNarang — 2 days ago
This Hiking Trail Is HARD! 🥾 | Real Life in Chinese | Learn Mandarin Naturally
This Hiking Trail Is HARD! 🥾 | Real Life in Chinese | Learn Mandarin Naturally
Can you understand Chinese in a real-life situation?
Today I'm hiking a difficult rocky trail where I sometimes have to use both my hands and feet to climb. Instead of textbook Chinese, listen to the Mandarin I naturally use while deciding where to go, climbing rocks, and trying to make it through the trail.
🥾 Useful Chinese Vocabulary
爬 pá — to climb
我要从这里爬上去。
Wǒ yào cóng zhèlǐ pá shàngqu.
I need to climb up from here.
难 nán — difficult
这条路真的很难。
Zhè tiáo lù zhēnde hěn nán.
This trail is really difficult.
容易 róngyì — easy
这边比较容易。
Zhèbiān bǐjiào róngyì.
This way is a little easier.
石头 shítou — rock / stone
这里有很多石头。
Zhèlǐ yǒu hěn duō shítou.
There are lots of rocks here.
上去 shàngqu — go up
我要从这里上去。
Wǒ yào cóng zhèlǐ shàngqu.
I'm going up from here.
下来 xiàlai — come down
从这里下来。
Cóng zhèlǐ xiàlai.
Come down from here.
小心 xiǎoxīn — be careful
小心一点！
Xiǎoxīn yìdiǎn!
Be careful!
累 lèi — tired
我有点累了。
Wǒ yǒudiǎn lèi le.
I'm getting a little tired.
终于 zhōngyú — finally
我终于上来了！
Wǒ zhōngyú shànglai le!
I finally made it up!
值得 zhíde — worth it
虽然很累，但是值得。
Suīrán hěn lèi, dànshì zhíde.
It's tiring, but it's worth it.
How much could you understand before looking at the vocabulary list?
Which expression would be most useful to you on a hike?
#LearnChinese #Mandarin #RealLifeChinese #ChineseListening #LearnMandarin #ChineseVocabulary #ComprehensibleInput #ChineseForBeginners #ChineseSpeaking #Hiking
u/New-Necessary-4194 — 3 days ago
help me learn chinese
hi. filipino here. graduating university soon.
i want to learn chinese but i also know that i don't have the motivation to study any language alone. i want to study with someone. i am a beginner. i do have a wechat if anyone's interested.
u/pinkndaisies — 3 days ago
How I practice and improved my listening 👂 on numbers
Listening in any language is hard, but recently I’ve been trying to do some interpreting work for a friend, and the one thing if you know about interpreting is not only understanding what people are saying but also memorising them, and for that part I found when numbers come to the picture, my immediate brain processing is not as responsive as I thought 😭 especially I still constantly think in English numbers first 🤦♂️ , so I just needed to try focus on improve that
Anyway if you have the same struggle like mine, a focused training is what you need, ignore conversations just numbers and my listening on numbers improved a lot since
So focus focus focus is the key 🔑
Long numbers like mobile numbers are still hard though, can’t imagine talking about math 🥹
What’s your method?
*Edit* to make it clear I made this tool myself, but there's tons of similar tools out there I believe
u/neekey2 — 4 days ago
Free Chinese reading app stories matched to the words you actually know
If you've done months of flashcards and still can't read anything,
this is the gap Hanzi Dojo tries to close.
You learn words with FSRS spaced repetition. Then the app hands you
stories built from the words you already know, each one labelled
with the % of its vocabulary you've learned before you open it. No
hunting for material at your level, no dictionary marathon, no wall
of text you're not ready for.
Tap any character to hear it, see it, and add it to your deck. Every
line has audio and a translation one tap away. 200+ graded stories,
illustrated comics, chat-format stories, multi-chapter serials that
follow the same characters as you level up. HSK 1–6, works offline.
No streaks, no leagues, no guilt counter. Miss a week and the
schedule just catches up.
Free, no ads, nothing to buy. Try it at hanzi-dojo.com.
I'm also putting it on Google Play and need ~15 Android testers for
Google's 14-day closed test, DM me your Gmail if you want in.
u/Classic-Aerie9907 — 3 days ago
Speaking only and Hanzi later😭
I’m getting overwhelmed trying to do tones, hanzi & vocab all at once and for something that started as a hobby😭😭
So I’m wondering what resources and methods would you recommend for learning speaking and listening first and then when I’m semi fluent I can pick up Hanzi again
I’m not in a hurry to master the language and want this to be enjoyable for me but doing all 3 at once has become stressful
If you have free resources even better!! I just want to be able to travel, watch shows and communicate when meeting my favorites so written Chinese isn’t a main priority like that
I have 3 years of experience with the language where we did HSK 1 in high-school but the structure of the learning wasn’t organized and after relearning myself using multiple resources years later… idk where I even stand anymore just that I have a few Hanzi mastered, random vocab over 150 or even 200 pinyin mastered and can form simple sentences
u/Automatic-Being-7516 — 4 days ago
Learn to Write Chinese Characters | Breakfast 早饭 | 早、饭、蛋、等、烫
Learn to Write Chinese Characters | Breakfast 早饭 | 早、饭、蛋、等、烫
Learn Chinese characters through a real-life breakfast! In this Writing Chinese lesson, we'll learn five useful characters from our Breakfast series:
✍️ Chinese Characters 汉字
早 zǎo — early / morning
我每天吃早饭。
Wǒ měitiān chī zǎofàn.
I eat breakfast every day.
饭 fàn — meal / cooked rice
早饭好了。
Zǎofàn hǎo le.
Breakfast is ready.
蛋 dàn — egg
冰箱里有鸡蛋。
Bīngxiāng lǐ yǒu jīdàn.
There are eggs in the refrigerator.
等 děng — wait
再等几分钟。
Zài děng jǐ fēnzhōng.
Wait a few more minutes.
烫 tàng — hot to the touch
小心，很烫！
Xiǎoxīn, hěn tàng!
Careful, it's very hot!
💡 Character Tip
Look at 烫 tàng. The bottom is 火 huǒ — fire. That makes it easier to remember that 烫 means something is hot to the touch.
And look at 饭 fàn. The left side is 饣, the food radical. You'll see it in many Chinese characters related to eating and food.
Want to continue practicing the Chinese from this Real Life in Chinese series?
Watch the real-life videos, review vocabulary and sentences, and practice speaking Chinese with interactive pronunciation exercises:
FunChinese321.com/review
#LearnChinese #ChineseCharacters #Hanzi #ChineseWriting #LearnMandarin #Mandarin #WriteChinese #ChineseVocabulary #ChineseForBeginners #RealLifeChinese
u/New-Necessary-4194 — 4 days ago
Learn Chinese Through a Real Breakfast | Vocabulary & Conversation in Chinese in conversation. 🥣
Learn Chinese Through a Real Breakfast | Vocabulary & Conversation in Chinese
Learn practical Mandarin through a simple breakfast conversation! In this lesson, we use everyday Chinese from my Real Life in Chinese breakfast video and turn it into vocabulary you can actually use in conversation.
🥣 Vocabulary 生词
早饭 zǎofàn — breakfast
我每天早上吃早饭。— I eat breakfast every morning.
燕麦 yànmài — oats / oatmeal
我今天早饭吃燕麦。— I'm having oatmeal for breakfast today.
分钟 fēnzhōng — minute
还要等几分钟。— We need to wait a few more minutes.
冰箱 bīngxiāng — refrigerator
鸡蛋在冰箱里。— The eggs are in the refrigerator.
好了 hǎo le — ready / done
早饭好了！— Breakfast is ready!
鸡蛋 jīdàn — egg
我早饭吃了两个鸡蛋。— I had two eggs for breakfast.
蒜 suàn — garlic
这里还有一点蒜。— There's also some garlic here.
韩国 Hánguó — Korea / Korean
这是韩国的。— This is Korean.
辣白菜 là báicài — kimchi
冰箱里有辣白菜。— There's kimchi in the refrigerator.
已经 yǐjīng — already
早饭已经好了。— Breakfast is already ready.
等 děng — wait
等一下！— Wait a moment!
很烫 hěn tàng — very hot
小心，很烫！— Careful, it's very hot!
💬 Mini Conversation
A：早饭好了吗？
B：还没有，再等几分钟。
A：现在呢？
B：已经好了。
A：我可以吃了吗？
B：等一下！很烫！
How much of the conversation can you understand without looking at the English?
#LearnChinese #Mandarin #ChineseVocabulary #ChineseConversation #LearnMandarin #ChineseListening #ChineseSpeaking #RealLifeChinese #ComprehensibleInput
u/New-Necessary-4194 — 5 days ago
Real Life in Chinese | Making Breakfast & Oatmeal 🥣
Real Life in Chinese | Making Breakfast & Oatmeal 🥣
What does a real Chinese breakfast sound like? Today I'm making oatmeal and checking the fridge while I wait. Learn Chinese naturally through a simple everyday moment — no textbook dialogue, just real-life Chinese.
早饭 zǎofàn — breakfast
我在做早饭。Wǒ zài zuò zǎofàn. — I'm making breakfast.
燕麦 yànmài — oats / oatmeal
我今天早饭吃燕麦。Wǒ jīntiān zǎofàn chī yànmài. — I'm having oatmeal for breakfast.
分钟 fēnzhōng — minute
还要几分钟。Hái yào jǐ fēnzhōng. — A few more minutes.
冰箱 bīngxiāng — refrigerator
我看看冰箱里有什么。Wǒ kànkan bīngxiāng lǐ yǒu shénme. — Let me see what's in the fridge.
好了 hǎo le — ready / done
好了，可以吃了。Hǎo le, kěyǐ chī le. — It's ready!
鸡蛋 jīdàn — egg
蒜 suàn — garlic
韩国 Hánguó — Korea / Korean
辣白菜 là báicài — kimchi
已经 yǐjīng — already
等 děng — wait
很烫 hěn tàng — very hot
How much of the Chinese could you understand before reading the vocabulary?
#LearnChinese #Chinese #Mandarin #ChineseVocabulary #ChineseListening #RealLifeChinese #ComprehensibleInput
u/New-Necessary-4194 — 6 days ago
How to learn and improve Chinese
Hi everyone, I juste want to know if you got tips for learn Chinese and improve. I really want to learn this handsome language. And do you know if you can travel in china for a low cost.
Thank you for your answers !
u/Famous_Sun_4543 — 6 days ago
Real Life in Chinese | Hiking Adventure 🥾 Learn Chinese from Real Life
Learn Chinese through a real hiking adventure! In this 60-second lesson, hear useful Chinese words in a natural situation, including how to talk about today, tomorrow, rain, danger, and what happens when a tree falls on the trail.
今天 jīntiān — today
例句：今天我们去爬山。
Today we’re going hiking.
明天 míngtiān — tomorrow
例句：明天可能会下雨。
It may rain tomorrow.
后天 hòutiān — the day after tomorrow
例句：后天我们再来吧。
Let’s come back the day after tomorrow.
大树 dàshù — big tree
例句：前面有一棵大树。
There is a big tree ahead.
倒下来 dǎo xiàlái — fall down
例句：大树倒下来了！
The big tree fell down!
小心 xiǎoxīn — be careful
例句：小心！前面的路不好走。
Be careful! The trail ahead is difficult.
危险 wēixiǎn — dangerous
例句：这里很危险。
It’s dangerous here.
下雨 xiàyǔ — to rain
例句：今天下雨，所以我们不去爬山了。
It’s raining today, so we’re not hiking.
可是 kěshì — but / however
例句：我想继续走，可是前面很危险。
I want to keep going, but it’s dangerous ahead.
但是 dànshì — but / however
例句：今天下雨，但是风景还是很漂亮。
It’s raining today, but the scenery is still beautiful.
#LearnChinese #ChineseLearning #RealLifeChinese #MandarinChinese #LearnMandarin #ChineseVocabulary #ChineseForBeginners #SpokenChinese #ChineseConversation #Hiking #学中文 #中文学习
u/New-Necessary-4194 — 7 days ago
French person learning Chinese
Hello, I'm 19 years old and French. I've always tried to learn Chinese since middle school, but I've always had a mental block about the language, so I gave up every time, whether it was writing or pronunciation. But recently I've tried to start learning again because I'd like to work and live in China. So I'd like some advice on how to learn it.
u/Calm-Opportunity-986 — 7 days ago