🇨🇳 Learn Chinese (中文)
Learn Mandarin Chinese vocabulary with spaced repetition, character-level dictation and an AI conversation partner. Plain-English meanings and examples, with levels shown as HSK.
How hard is Chinese?
Mandarin Chinese is one of the hardest languages for English speakers. The US Foreign Service Institute estimates about 2,200 class hours for professional working proficiency, mainly because of the writing system and the tones. Grammar, on the other hand, is comparatively simple: no verb conjugation, no grammatical gender and no plurals.
Every syllable carries a tone, so a word like “mā” can mean mother or horse depending on pitch. Pinyin, the romanisation, helps you pronounce words while you learn characters, and listening to native-speed audio is essential for the tones.
Tips for learning Chinese
- Learn each new word with its pinyin and tone from the first day, not after.
- Practise dictation: KaigoAI checks Chinese character by character, so a single wrong character is visible immediately.
- Learn characters in context, inside short words and sentences, rather than as isolated shapes.
Levels
Chinese proficiency is usually measured with HSK. KaigoAI shows Chinese levels as HSK: A1 as HSK 1–2, A2 as HSK 3, B1 as HSK 4, B2 as HSK 5, C1 as HSK 6 and C2 as HSK 7–9. The mapping to CEFR is approximate.
20 essential Chinese words
| Chinese | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 你好 | nǐ hǎo | hello |
| 谢谢 | xièxie | thank you |
| 请 | qǐng | please |
| 是 | shì | yes; to be |
| 不 | bù | no; not |
| 水 | shuǐ | water |
| 面包 | miànbāo | bread |
| 家 | jiā | home; family |
| 朋友 | péngyou | friend |
| 时间 | shíjiān | time |
| 天 | tiān | day; sky |
| 晚上 | wǎnshang | evening; night |
| 好 | hǎo | good |
| 漂亮 | piàoliang | pretty |
| 大 | dà | big |
| 小 | xiǎo | small |
| 学习 | xuéxí | to study; to learn |
| 说 | shuō | to speak |
| 懂 | dǒng | to understand |
| 对不起 | duìbuqǐ | sorry |
Questions about learning Chinese
How long does it take to learn Chinese?
The US Foreign Service Institute estimates about 2,200 class hours for an English speaker to reach professional working proficiency in Mandarin, making it one of the longest. Basic conversation comes far sooner, and steady daily practice is what gets you there.
Is Chinese hard for English speakers?
Yes, mainly because of tones and the character writing system. Grammar is relatively simple, with no conjugation or gender, so many learners find the structure easier than the sound and writing.
How does KaigoAI help me learn Chinese?
Add the Chinese words you meet, and KaigoAI writes a plain-English meaning and an example sentence for each, then schedules them with spaced repetition. You can also practise Chinese with dictation paragraphs at your level and talk with an AI partner that replies in Chinese.
What are HSK levels?
HSK is the standard Chinese proficiency test. KaigoAI shows Chinese levels on the HSK scale — HSK 1–2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7–9 — and maps them roughly to the CEFR levels A1 to C2 used for the other languages.
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