RESOURCES FOR LEARNING CHINESE

Here are the resources I consider essential to learn how to speak Mandarin Chinese.

NATIVE
SPEAKERS:
920,000,000

OFFICIAL
LANGUAGE IN:
3 COUNTRIES

Full disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.



FAVORITE COURSES AND APPS TO IMPROVE YOUR CHINESE

ChineseClass101 - Offers an innovative, fun, and easy to use language learning system that is designed to get you speaking from the very first lesson. Learn at your own convenience and pace with our short, effective, and fun audio podcast lessons, a comprehensive, state-of-the-art Learning Center, and a vibrant user community.

Glossika Chinese (Mandarin) - Sentences and repetition are used to teach. Glossika teaches you Mandarin Chinese in context by combining the "mass sentence approach" with an innovative spaced repetition system. This course is ideal for upper-beginner to advanced students.

Assimil Chinese - The Assimil method for teaching foreign languages is through the listening of audio cd's and the reading of an accompanying book, one side native language, one side foreign language. This method is focused on learning whole sentences, for an organic learning of the grammar. It begins with a long passive phase of only reading and listening, and eventually adds active exercises.

Ling - Learn and play with Master Ling, an interactive platform filled with language courses, quizzes, and fun mini-games! Lessons are taught through engaging games, such as picture matching, flashcards, and sentence arrangement to keep you up and going. Plus, it’s got an engaging chatbot you can practice with!

Mondly - Is a great starting point for beginners, but it’s also full of lessons for intermediate and advanced students! Improve your Chinese pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary with this handy app, as it arranges its lessons into short, digestible units. Complete with games and an achievement leaderboard, it’s the perfect platform to study and practice with! On top of that, you can use Mondly’s hands-free format to record and practice your speech.

Mango Languages - Mango utilizes its proprietary methodology, engaging interface, and easy, intuitive interactive tools to deliver practical conversational skills and valuable cultural insight for new languages. Lessons include strategically placed memory-building exercises to help users remember what they are learning in addition to critical thinking exercises, which help them to intuitively understand the language and adapt it to similar conversations.

Bluebird Languages - Bluebird uses the proven “spaced repetition” learning method to optimize both acquisition and retention. This, combined with instruction in 97% of the world’s most-spoken languages and our special building-block approach, will have you speaking and understanding the language of your choice in record time.

Mimic Method Mandarin - Helps you understand Mandarin’s "sound system," so you can enhance your pronunciation and sound more like a native speaker. We all learn our first language by hearing it, so why not learn Mandarin Chinese by hearing it as well?

SPEAKING CHINESE - BEGINNER AND INTERMEDIATE CHINESE PROGRAMS

Master Mandarin - John Fotheringham's Mandarin Learner's Guide is great and it cuts through the sea of Chinese-learning resources on the Internet and teaches you exactly what you need to know and how to utilize it. This is the place to go if you want all the greatest information about learning Chinese Mandarin in one spot.

Yoyo Chinese - Is all about learning Chinese the way it's spoken in the real world, not the way it's taught in a textbook. Yoyo Chinese is ideal for people who prefer to learn at their own speed. It covers a lot of ground, and you’ll really like how the information is organized.

CHINESE PRONUNCIATION

Forvo - Find out how to pronounce any Chinese word. Simply put the word you're looking for into the search bar in Chinese!

CHINESE TUTORS: PRACTICE WITH NATIVE SPEAKERS

My method to learning a new language is to speak it from the beginning. I recommend the following tool for this:

Italki - On Skype, it links you with native Chinese speakers for spoken practice. You may pay for (affordable) one-on-one video sessions with Chinese teachers or discover a free language exchange partner! This link will take you directly to the site's Chinese instructors.

CHINESE GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY

Line Dictionary - Is, without a doubt, the best Chinese dictionary for sample phrases.

Pleco - Is a must-have dictionary for mobile devices. It reads and translates any Chinese text you scan with your phone using optical character recognition (OCR). If you're travelling or residing in China, this is a must-have.

LEARN HOW TO READ AND WRITE IN CHINESE

Colloquial Mandarin Chinese - The Complete Course for Beginners has been carefully developed by an experienced teacher to provide a step-by-step course to Chinese as it is written and spoken today. Combining a clear, practical and accessible style with a methodical and thorough treatment of the language, it equips learners with the essential skills needed to communicate confidently and effectively in Chinese in a broad range of situations. No prior knowledge of the language is required.

Teach Yourself: Complete Mandarin Chinese Beginner to Intermediate Course - Teach Yourself Guide provides you with a clear and comprehensive approach to Mandarin Chinese, so you can progress quickly from the basics to understanding, speaking, and writing Mandarin Chinese with confidence.

Learn Chinese The Fast And Fun Way - Barron's popular Fast and Fun Way foreign language learning programs are designed primarily for travelers to foreign countries but are also suitable for instruction in classrooms and language labs. Learn Chinese the Fast and Fun Way is filled with cheerful illustrations, word lists, pull-out vocabulary flash cards, and language-learning exercises that take the form of games and puzzles. The book teaches appropriate words and phrases for greetings and introductions, finding one's way in cities, dining, shopping, getting hotel accommodations, telephoning, seeking medical help, reading road signs, and more.

Skritter - Is a Chinese character writing software that teaches you how to write Chinese characters. It has a beautiful UI that you may use to enhance your traditional or simplified Chinese. A spaced repetition method is used to show all of the characters.

Living Language - Mandarin Chinese, Complete Edition is a unique multimedia course in Mandarin Chinese that takes you from a beginner to an advanced level in one convenient package.

RESOURCES FOR INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED CHINESE LEARNERS

LingQ - 1000s of hours of Chinese podcasts, audiobooks, interviews, courses, and more immerses you in a world of engaging Chinese material. Then, whenever you come across a word you don't recognize, you may use LingQ's SRS learning features to store it for later review.

Clozemaster - Answers the question: after Duolingo, what's next? Clozemaster aids in the quick expansion of your vocabulary by allowing you to learn Chinese in context. You'll utilize the Cloze technique to fill in the blanks in thousands of Chinese phrases. The sentences you'll learn are far more practical than the ones you'll learn on Duolingo.

The Chairman's Bao - For Chinese learners, this is the most comprehensive online Chinese news service. Every news item on the site is rated according to difficulty, and over 1,600 new lessons are posted each year.

START SPEAKING MANDARIN CHINESE RIGHT NOW

Pimsleur – The Pimsleur method is perfect for you if you want to start speaking right away. Learn anywhere, anytime in just 30 minutes a day. Learn a language while cooking, commuting, exercising and more! Have the flexibility to practice when it’s convenient for you.