Learn Simplified Chinese (Mandarin) with flashcards that actually stick

Audio-first vocabulary training with spaced repetition. Learn pinyin + tones, recognise 简体字 (Simplified characters), and practise both understanding and speaking – in your browser.

Start free. No credit card required. (Free period is about a month; up to ~200 cards.)

3 quick things you get

Tones you can actually hear: audio + real examples (no guessing). Characters in context: learn words as usable chunks, not isolated symbols. Two-way practice: recognise first → then recall (so it comes out when you speak).
Highlights

Built for Mandarin that sticks

Hear tones properly

Audio comes first, so tones, pinyin, and similar-sounding words stay distinct instead of blurring together.

See characters in use

Repeated exposure to common characters and word chunks makes recognition faster than memorising isolated shapes.

Recall on demand

Recognition first, then reverse cards for speaking – so the right phrase shows up when you need it.

Why Simplified Chinese feels hard (and what we train)

Mandarin isn’t “hard” in one big way. It’s hard in several small ways at once:

The course focuses on the small bottlenecks that make daily Mandarin tricky, then trains them with short, repeatable reps.

Tones + lots of similar-sounding words

If you learn only meaning and skip sound, everything blurs together. Tones get trained from day one in short daily sessions.

Characters don’t behave like an alphabet

You don’t sound it out letter-by-letter. You need fast recognition of common characters and word chunks.

Measure words and fixed patterns

You don’t just learn “three coffee”. You learn 三杯咖啡 (three cups of coffee) – the measure word is part of the phrase.

Real speech uses predictable “glue”

Connectors like 可以吗, 一下, 有点, 太…了 show up constantly. They stick best through repetition in context.

What you get in My Lingua Cards

Audio, spaced repetition, and two-way practice

Audio-first cards

Each card gives you audio, translation, and examples, so you connect Mandarin as it’s actually spoken.

Spaced repetition

You get a daily queue. The system brings back what you’re about to forget – no planning, no spreadsheets.

Two-way practice

Start with recognition (Chinese → your language). Then switch to recall (your language → Chinese) so vocabulary becomes usable.

Choose your goal

Train for travel, exams, work, or reading

Chinese for travel and everyday life

Order food, ask for directions, pay, solve small problems – fast.

多少钱? – How much is it? / 我想要这个。 – I’d like this. / 可以吗? – Is that OK?

HSK vocabulary without cramming-then-forgetting

Build high-frequency words, collocations, and exam-ready paraphrases – then make them active via recall.

Chinese for work and business basics

Common workplace phrases, polite requests, and meeting language (useful, not fancy).

Chinese for reading and messaging

Get comfortable with the vocabulary you see in apps, menus, signs, and day-to-day chats.

What’s inside one card

A card is a mini-dictionary for one word or phrase

  • • Simplified characters (e.g., 学习)
  • • Pinyin (xuéxí)
  • • Audio
  • • Translation + short explanation
  • • Example sentence(s) with audio
  • • Sometimes: usage tips, common pairings, or a memory hook
A simple 30-day plan
  1. • Days 1–7: pinyin + tones + survival phrases (sound + meaning first).
  2. • Days 8–14: characters in common words; start two-way recall.
  3. • Days 15–30: expand into patterns – measure words, polite requests, everyday connectors.

No heroics. Just daily reps.

Faq

FAQ

Mandarin (Putonghua), with Simplified characters.
Yes. If you skip tones, you’ll “know” a word but won’t recognise it in real speech (or be understood reliably).
It’s not a handwriting course. It’s a vocabulary trainer: recognition, listening, recall, and usable phrases.
Yes. Start with sound + basic phrases; characters become much easier once common words repeat on schedule.
Not yet – only words from the app dictionary. But you can build your own study sets from the words inside the app.
This page is for Simplified Chinese. If you need Traditional, treat it as a separate learning track.

Ready to learn Simplified Chinese the sensible way?

Start small, practise daily, and let spaced repetition do the heavy lifting. Start free.