Chinese for Beginners
Learn the foundations of Mandarin, including pronunciation, tones, pinyin, essential vocabulary and your first conversations.
- Pinyin
- Tones
- Basic grammar
- Everyday vocabulary
The first month decides whether Chinese feels possible or impossible. We spend it building pronunciation you can trust and sentences you can actually say out loud — not a pile of vocabulary you'll forget by Friday.
What the program covers
Sounds and tones
The full pinyin system, the four tones plus the neutral tone, and the sound pairs that trip everyone up: zh/ch/sh, j/q/x, and the -ü finals.
Your first 150 words
Chosen because you'll use them weekly: people, places, food, time, numbers, directions and the small connecting words that make sentences work.
Sentence patterns that carry you far
是 / 有 / 在, question particles, measure words, and 了. Six or seven patterns cover an enormous amount of everyday Chinese.
Characters, gently
Stroke order, radicals and the logic behind hanzi — enough to read a menu and a street sign, without drowning in memorisation.
First conversations
Greeting someone, introducing yourself, ordering, asking prices, and getting help when you don't understand.
Phrases from this program
我叫…
Wǒ jiào…
My name is…
我是墨西哥人
Wǒ shì Mòxīgē rén
I'm Mexican
我听不懂
Wǒ tīng bù dǒng
I don't understand
The single most useful sentence for a beginner.
请再说一次
Qǐng zài shuō yí cì
Please say it again
Hear these — and say them back — in the free mini lesson.