Guides
The HSK, pinyin and tones, and how Chinese characters work.
Learning path · 7 lessons
Learn Chinese from Zero: Where to Start
The first things to learn, in order: the sounds of pinyin, the four tones and how they change in speech, typing pinyin, how characters are written, and what the HSK levels mean.
Pinyin & tones
- Pinyin Initials and Finals: How Each Sound Is Said, with AudioHow the 21 pinyin initials and the finals sound, which ones English speakers mix up, and the spelling rules for y, w and ü. Every example has female and male audio.
- Mandarin 4 Tones: How to Say Each Tone, with AudioMandarin has four tones plus a light neutral tone. How each one sounds, a pitch chart, common mistakes, tone marks, and 20 tone pairs to practise, with female and male audio for every example.
- Mandarin Tone Changes — Third Tone Sandhi, 一 and 不The tone change rules every learner needs — two third tones in a row, the tone of 一 (yī) and the tone of 不 (bù) — with examples.
- How to Type Pinyin with Tone Marks or Tone NumbersThree ways to write pinyin — tone marks (nǐ hǎo), tone numbers (ni3 hao3) and no tones (nihao) — how to type ü, and how to search ChineseDict with each.
Characters
- Chinese Stroke Order Rules — The 8 Basic Rules with ExamplesThe basic rules of Chinese stroke order — top to bottom, left to right, horizontal before vertical and more — with example characters you can watch animated.
- Simplified vs Traditional Chinese CharactersWhat simplified and traditional Chinese characters are, where each is used, how they differ, and which one to learn.
- The Eight Principles of Yong (永字八法) — Basic Brush Strokes of Chinese CalligraphyThe character 永 (yǒng, "forever") contains the eight basic strokes of Chinese calligraphy. What the eight principles are and how each stroke is written.
HSK
- What is the HSK? The Chinese Proficiency Test ExplainedThe HSK (Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Kǎoshì) is the official Chinese proficiency test for non-native speakers. Who runs it, what it tests, and why its word lists matter for learners.
- HSK 2.0 vs HSK 3.0 — What ChangedHSK 2.0 has 6 levels and 5,000 words; HSK 3.0 has 9 levels and about 11,000 words. How the two versions compare, and which word list to study.
- HSK Levels Explained — What Each Level MeansWhat you can do in Chinese at each HSK level, from HSK 1 to HSK 7–9, with the number of words and a link to the full word list for every level.