Absolute beginner → HSK 1 31 steps 10–12 weeks at 20–30 min/day

Chinese from Zero — 30 steps, in order

You have never studied Chinese. Start here and do these thirty things in this order.

What you can do at the end

Read pinyin out loud with correct tones, recognise around 150 characters, build simple sentences, and pass an HSK 1 mock test.

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9 of these steps have a short Check yourself — a few questions taken from that step's own page: its words, its sentences or its grammar drill. Passing one ticks the step; missing one tells you which page to reread. It is optional, and every step stays open either way.

Chinese from Zero — complete

Read pinyin out loud with correct tones, recognise around 150 characters, build simple sentences, and pass an HSK 1 mock test.

Pick your next path

Weeks 1–2 — the sounds

Before any characters: learn to hear and say Mandarin.

What pinyin actually is
Five minutes of context stops a month of confusion — pinyin is a pronunciation system, not an alphabet.
The interactive pinyin chart
Click every syllable and hear it. This is the full inventory of sounds in Mandarin — it is smaller than you think.
Pinyin pronunciation guide
The letters that do not say what an English speaker expects: q, x, zh, c, ü.
Tone Trainer
Four tones, over and over, until you can hear the difference. This is the single highest-value thing you will do.
Tone rules and sandhi
Why 你好 is said ní hǎo. Learn the three sandhi rules now and never be confused by them later.
Pinyin spelling rules
Why it is written jiu and not jiou. Ten minutes here saves endless spelling mistakes.
Similar Sounds Quiz
Test whether you can actually tell shi from si, and zhu from ju.
Tone Pairs Quiz
Single tones are easy; tone pairs are where real words live.

Weeks 3–5 — your first words

Vocabulary and the sentences you can build with it.

Say hello
Your first real Chinese. 你好, 您好, and what people actually say instead.
Numbers 1–100
Chinese numbers are the most regular system in any major language. One evening's work.
Survival Phrases Quiz
Thank you, sorry, excuse me, how much, I don't understand. Twelve phrases that cover most emergencies.
HSK 1 flashcards
The official 150-word list. Five new words a day, shuffled review every weekend.
Word order — Subject + Verb + Object
The one structural rule that makes Chinese sentences work. Time and place go before the verb.
是 sentences and 很 with adjectives
Why 我很好 has no 是 in it. Fix this now and you will sound native on day one.
吗 and 呢 questions
The easiest question formation in any language: add one character to the end.
不 vs 没
Chinese has two words for "not" and they are not interchangeable.
Number & Date Quiz
Prices, times, dates and phone numbers — the numbers you will actually be asked for.

Weeks 6–8 — characters and reading

From recognising sounds to recognising shapes.

How to write Chinese characters
Stroke order is not decoration — it is what makes handwriting legible and dictionaries usable.
The radicals hub
The 100 components every character is built from. 氵 is water, 讠 is speech. This is the shortcut.
Stroke Order Animator
Type any character and watch it written. Use it every time you meet a new one.
Printable 田字格 sheets
Handwriting builds recognition faster than reading does. Fifteen minutes, three times a week.
Your first story
Ten sentences you can read end to end. This is the moment Chinese starts feeling real.
Read three more HSK 1 stories
Volume beats difficulty. Pick any three and read each one twice.
Measure words
一个人, 两本书. A number never touches a noun directly in Chinese.
有 — have and there is
One verb covering both "I have" and "there is", with the place stated first.

Weeks 9–12 — put it together

Listening, speaking and the exam.

Listening Comprehension Quiz
Half of HSK 1 is listening. Do this every other day from here on.
Pinyin Listening Dictation
Hear a word, type its pinyin. The hardest and most useful drill on the site.
Speaking Practice
Say it out loud and let the browser tell you whether it understood. No account, no recording stored.
Sentence Builder
Rebuild scrambled sentences — the fastest way to internalise word order.
The full HSK 1 word list
Every word, searchable, with audio. Check nothing has slipped.
HSK 1 mock test
Twenty questions, ten minutes, instant weak-word report. Retake until you clear 80%.

Or take a different route

Some pinyin already → HSK 1 pass

Pass HSK 1

23 steps · 6–8 weeks at 30 min/day You can read pinyin and know a few words. This is what is left between you and the certificate.
HSK 1 → HSK 2 pass

Pass HSK 2

22 steps · 8–10 weeks at 30 min/day You have HSK 1. This is exactly what HSK 2 adds — and nothing that it doesn't.
Any level — reading and handwriting

Characters from Zero

23 steps · 8 weeks at 20 min/day Characters are not thousands of unrelated pictures. They are a few hundred parts, recombined.
No Chinese → able to get through a trip

Ready for a trip to China in 30 days

24 steps · 4 weeks at 15–20 min/day You have a departure date. This is what to do with the weeks before it — and what to skip.

Not sure this is the right path?

Take the 5-question placement quiz — it recommends a path and a starting HSK level in about a minute. Or browse everything at once in the Pinyin Learning Center.

Where to go next

How to Learn Chinese: Methods Compared Structured Learning Paths All HSK Vocabulary Lists Check Your Tones With Your Voice How Long It Takes to Learn Chinese Chinese Dictionary