Chinese Beginner Course HSK 1 Standard Mandarin Course

Learn basic Chinese pronunciation in lesson one, focusing on ni hao and ni men, tone rules, and guided reading of texts one to three for pronunciation practice.

Explore the basics of Pinyin, the romanization system that transcribes Chinese characters to help you read and write.

Learn basic initials and finals in lesson one, with pronunciation guidance. Practice initials like paw, la, kuh, g, chi, and she with English references and counterparts.

Explore basic pinyin finals and pronunciation strategies, including e, oo, ah, and complex combos like e+ou and ui, with tongue and lip movements to approximate challenging sounds.

Master Chinese tones and the neutral tone, including high and flat first tone, rising second tone, dipping third tone, and falling fourth tone, with music-inspired pitch cues.

Explore Chinese syllables built from an initial, a final, and a tone, with one character per syllable and finals as vowels; learn e and ou pinyin rules and practice words.

Learn Chinese tone sandhi rules for two consecutive third tones, where the first third tone changes to the second tone in sequences such as ni hao, with practice examples.

Learn Mandarin classroom expressions for starting and ending class, taking breaks, and looking at the blackboard; practice reading aloud with 'read after me' prompts.

Learn the basic strokes of Chinese characters, from horizontal to vertical, including left and right strokes, dots, and downward or falling strokes.

Explore single-component characters across lessons 01–10, using number-related examples such as one, two, three, ten, eight, and six. This content is part of the standard chinese beginner course hsk 1.

Learn essential Chinese phrases for polite responses and everyday greetings, including don't mention it, you're welcome, and see you again. Practice listening and speaking to understand and use these phrases.

Learn to pronounce Chinese initials with practical English cues, from g as in George to sh and z, using mouth position tips and familiar sound references.

Master basic Mandarin finals through practical pronunciation tips and rewrites, such as turning i into y and u into w, and recognizing finals like iu, an, yuan, and un.

Practice pinyin on page nine by reading monosyllabic and disyllabic words aloud, focusing on tone accuracy, including third tones and examples like Mao Zedong.

Learn the neutral tone in Chinese and read it short and light. Practice its placement on the last syllable with simple syllables and examples like ma.

master pinyin tone marking rules, including vowel-based tone marks, the tone priority sequence for multiple vowels, and abbreviation rules, with practical pronunciation tips like rewriting u as w.

Learn essential classroom expressions in basic Mandarin, including open your book, read aloud, read together, sing the song, repeat once, and ask questions.

Explore the strokes of Chinese characters, including horizontal turning, vertical turning, and vertical hook, in lesson 2-8 of the standard chinese beginner course.

Explore single-component Chinese characters such as coal, mouth, jin si, mountain, small, pool, and not, building foundational literacy for HSK 1 through simple, context-ready forms.

The warm-up guides learners to match pictures with basic Chinese words and phrases—China, Chinese person, American, teacher, and student—rehearsing core vocabulary from lesson 03-01.

Learn to introduce yourself in Chinese with 'wo jiao li yi' and ask 'ni jiao' with the same word order, including 'ma' yes-no questions and 'zhong guo ren' nationality.

Explore how the Chinese interrogative pronoun shenme is used in questions, with examples like ni jiao shima and what's this.

Master the shi sentence by applying to-be forms and negation to express identity, with examples like 'Liu is a teacher' and 'I am American'.

Learn how to form interrogative sentences with the particle ma to signal a question, understand 'ma or not,' and review examples such as ni ma ma and lao ma.

Practice speaking by answering situational questions, including name meaning questions and basic Chinese phrases like ni hao, zhong guo, and ma, to reinforce beginner Mandarin skills.

Practice describing people in Mandarin using nationality and occupation phrases through picture prompts, featuring Michael Jordan and Yao Ming, with sentences like I am from the United States.

Differentiate the initials j, q, x from z, c, s in standard Chinese pronunciation using English counterparts and practice tone changes when two third tones occur.

Learn the differentiation and pronunciation of the Mandarin finals e and u, with tips on tongue position, lip rounding, and approximating ou and you sounds.

Learn the bu tone sandhi: bu keeps its tone before 1st–3rd tones, shifts to 2nd before a 4th tone, and two 4th tones swap to 2nd, creating a wave.

Explore the pinyin rules for ü, including when to remove the two dots after j, q, x, and how lu and nu form with l or n initials, with examples.

Master basic Chinese strokes by practicing horizontal strokes, turning hooks, and lion hooks to build a foundation for Chinese character writing.

Explore single-component Chinese characters like moon, sing, heart, chong, middle, ren, and person to build foundational Mandarin recognition in this HSK 1 lesson.

Match pictures with the words or phrases to reinforce beginner Mandarin vocabulary in a classroom setting, distinguishing words like 'friend' and 'Chinese friend' (Han, Zhong Guo) and identifying the teacher.

Explore Chinese word order in questions and statements with examples such as she is my Chinese teacher and she is called Li Yu, showing that the question form mirrors statements.

Learn how to say you are which country person in Chinese, keep the statement word order for questions, and identify China person and American.

Learn the Chinese subject-first word order for asking who someone is, practice keeping full sentences for beginners, and use the ma question particle to confirm if someone is your classmate.

Learn how to use the Chinese interrogative pronouns shei and na to ask who and which, using na with a measure word or noun in questions.

Explore the structural particle de, which marks possession, and learn when it can be omitted in close relationships through examples like she is my teacher.

Learn to use the interrogative particle ne after nouns or pronouns to form questions about a mentioned situation, with what about you style exchanges.

Engage in speaking practice by answering questions according to the actual situation, exploring phrases like na na, ni jiao, shama means, and neither can you.

Describe the pictures using the newly learned language in exercise three, naming people like Steve Jobs, Lena from China, Mary and David, and expressing relationships such as friend or classmate.

Learn to differentiate and pronounce the Chinese initials zh, ch, sh, and r using mnemonic tricks and guided practice. Use caption-provided examples like xiang and zhang to reinforce accurate articulation.

Learn to differentiate and pronounce the alveolar nasal n and the velar nasal ng. Practice with simple syllable examples to reinforce distinct sounds.

Learn the tone sandhi of yi: a syllable becomes the fourth when followed by tones 1-3, becomes the second after a fourth, and remains unchanged when alone.

Master the pinyin rules for y and w, including using yi or wu after e, turning e into y and wu into w, and changing paired third tones to second.

Learn the basic strokes of Chinese characters, including vertical, curved, hook, hung, horizontal turning, and curved hook strokes.

Explore single-component characters and basic numeral concepts, practicing counting with seven, zero, and nine, and using how many in simple questions.

Match pictures to basic vocabulary in a warm-up for the Standard Chinese beginner course HSK 1, identifying family, home, girl, student, old woman, and classroom.

Explore Chinese measure words for people in the family, such as ko and g, with how many people questions and examples like my family has three people, and common omissions.

Learn to ask and answer how old you are in Chinese, using le as a sentence-ending particle and the 'until now' age counting, with a universal question form.

Learn how to address a Chinese teacher by surname plus 'teacher', follow the reverse word order, and ask or answer ages using 'this year' and relevant phrases.

Explore how to use the interrogative pronoun to ask how many for small numbers, with ji as the measure word for people, and questions like how old is your daughter.

Learn how numbers below 100 are formed by combining ten with one for 11–19, and by using two tens for 20, with examples like 21, 23, 56, 88, and 99.

Master the indicating change grammar in Chinese, clarifying when to translate as now or until now with age-change examples and practical usage from teacher Li.

Learn the interrogative phrase for asking ages in Mandarin, using how old are you, how old is your daughter, and how old is teacher Li as examples.

Engage in speaking practice for HSK 1 by answering situational prompts such as asking someone to run or talk, building practical basic Chinese conversation skills.

Describe pictures using the newly learned language points and words, practice ages, family size, and the measure word ge, with examples of a 10-year-old, a three-person family, and a teacher.

Learn how the retroflex final r combines with the preceding syllable to form a retroflex ending; examples like xiao and niao show the rolling, which you can omit.

Explore rules of pinyin syllable dividing mark to separate syllables, with examples like p r p r, and how two third tones may shift the first to the second tone.

Master the strokes of Chinese characters by focusing on horizontal to the left, left-falling strokes, and the dot stroke in lesson 5 of the standard Chinese beginner course HSK 1.

Learn single-component Chinese characters, including shui for water, the function word la, and phrases like new woman and too big, for beginners.

Practice a warm-up by matching pictures to basic Mandarin words and phrases—mama, ni hao, Chinese characters, and Chinese food—for HSK 1 beginners.

Learn how to say you can speak Mandarin Chinese using hui shuo, and explore the terms Hanyu and Zhongwen, plus the ma question particle and bu negation.

Learn how to ask if Chinese food is tasty using 'ma' and 'hen', and practice saying 'can you make Chinese food?' with 'ni hui zuo' and 'wo' for 'I can't'.

learn to write Chinese characters, read them aloud, and recognize that some can be read but not written, while exploring topic-first Chinese sentences with object as topic and subject omission.

Explore the modal verb hui, used before a verb to express ability or know-how in Chinese, with examples like writing Chinese characters and speaking Chinese.

Learn to form sentences with an adjectival predicate in Mandarin using subject plus adverb of degree plus adjective, with hen for very and bu for negation.

Learn the Chinese interrogative pronoun zenme and how to use 'how to' to read and write Chinese characters and your Chinese name with practical examples.

Practice speaking in real situations by answering questions using pronouns like me, you, we, and phrases about hands; this Mandarin HSK 1 exercise focuses on basic pronoun usage.

This exercise guides beginners to describe pictures using newly learned Chinese phrases, practice saying we can speak Chinese, describe cooking Chinese food, and recognize the basic level of description.

Master the essential strokes of Chinese characters, including left, turning, slanting, hook, and rising strokes in this lesson.

Learn single-component characters in the standard Chinese beginner course HSK 1, lesson06-11. Explore how these characters form the building blocks of Mandarin literacy.

Practice a warm-up that matches pictures to words and phrases, practicing basic Chinese vocabulary such as book, Chinese food, school, dates, and the 25th.

Learn to ask what date is today in Chinese and say it, and understand days of the week, noting that the third day is Wednesday.

Learn to read and express dates in Mandarin, including month and day numbers and days of the week, with practical examples of yesterday and tomorrow.

Learn to answer yes-no questions in Chinese by quoting the verb to affirm or negate, preserving word order. Apply this to questions about going to school and reading books.

Practice saying dates in Chinese by placing the month first, then the date, and finally the day of the week, using 'how' in speech and 'for' in writing.

Learn how Chinese omits 'to be' in nominal predicate sentences, expressing age, days, and dates. See examples like my teacher is 33 years old and tomorrow is Wednesday.

Explore the serial verb construction 'go to a place to do something,' with examples: go to China to learn Chinese, go to a Chinese restaurant to eat Chinese food.

Guide pronunciation through reading aloud words and phrases, such as you, see you, zero, sun, shine, and wu xing, and contrast written versus spoken Chinese using xing qi tian.

Practice speaking by answering questions according to real-life situations, following exercise three. Develop practical Mandarin speaking skills through vocal responses and simulated prompts.

Describe a picture using newly learned Mandarin, and practice identifying calendar dates and days, including January, May dates, Wednesday and Thursday, and school reading activities.

Discover single-component characters in beginner Chinese through examples with four or five strokes, illustrated with a book to reinforce recognition and writing.

Discover how water related concepts connect to Chinese radicals and relate to language and speech in the standard Chinese beginner course HSK 1.

Practice a warm-up by matching pictures with Mandarin words and phrases, including washing her car, tea, money, cooked rice, cup, Chinese food, and Chinese characters.

Learn Chinese sentence structure by comparing English and Chinese word order and replacing the question word with new information to form questions, such as what would you like to drink.

Place the time at the beginning of a Chinese sentence, use xian to express would like to, and practice replacing question words with new information using ge for countable nouns.

Learn to ask and answer price questions in Chinese using RMB, kuai, and the coin unit quite, and discover when to simply say 18 RMB.

Learn the modal verb xiang, meaning want or would like, used before a verb to express hope or plan; see examples showing learning Chinese and making future plans.

master the interrogative pronoun duoshao to ask how many or how much, including numbers larger than ten, with the measure word often omitted, and use it to ask about prices.

Learn to use Chinese measure words ge and kou to count people and family members, with examples like six people in Teacher Lee's family.

Learn the distinction between yuan as the unit in written Chinese and kuai used in spoken Chinese, with examples of RMB notation in both forms.

Engage in a speaking practice exercise by answering questions based on real situations, using phrases like 'show me' and 'not show my face'.

Practice describing pictures using newly learned Mandarin phrases, including buying cups tomorrow afternoon, eating Chinese food, going to a library to read, and asking how much this cup costs.

Discover how a single-component Chinese character originally meaning one individual person has evolved into a measure word.

Explore Chinese radicals by linking common symbols to metal and to the mouth, using examples from the standard Chinese beginner course hsk 1.

Practice matching pictures to basic Mandarin words in a warm-up, including doctor (sheng), hospital (yuan), chair, cat (mao), and dog (go).

Learn basic Chinese location phrases, using na and nali to ask where something is. Notice tone differences and practice the sentence structure for objects like the puppy under the chair.

Learn to form Chinese sentences using the subject plus ci plus a place plus verb, and see how questions become answers with English word order differences.

Explore how Chinese omits the subject when understood, and how yes-no and wh questions keep order using negation or quotation, such as 'at home' and fillers like 'na' and 'nuh'.

Learn that zai is the verb to be at used with a locality word to indicate location as the sentence predicate, with examples like at school or at home.

Learn how to use the interrogative pronoun na to ask about the location of somebody or something, with examples like where is my cup and where is the kitten at.

Learn the Chinese preposition zai, meaning at, used before a locality to show where an action occurs. See examples: at a friend's house, at school, and at a hospital.

Learn how the interrogative particle ne(2) is used at the end of a sentence to ask about location, with examples, and how the softener na makes questions friendlier.

Practice in the standard Chinese beginner course by answering questions based on the dialogues, focusing on saying words like na, baba, and nana.

Practice describing pictures in Mandarin, using correct word order and location phrases like on the chair and under the chair, with simple roles such as doctor and student.

Explore single-component characters in lesson 09-11 of the Standard Chinese beginner course HSK 1, highlighting school, baby, and work or job.

Explore Chinese radicals and how they connect to everyday ideas, noting that Japan is linked to walking and man to a room or a door.