Mandarin resources (free) Beginner.
HSK 1 LIST
Simplified and Traditional (with pinyin), exercises and sentences examples Link
TONES
*Tone explanation (but with words with more than 1 syllable, which is great because the hard part is when a word has 2 o more syllables) Link
More tones! Link
*Youtube vid explaining tones and exceptions (like tone modification and the half 3 and 4 tones) Link Link2 (edit 1)
** Tone pairs youtube vid by Yoyo Chinese (Individual tones 0:00-8:30 // Tone pairs 8:30-27) Link (edit 10)
Tone pairs chart + Exercises from said chart (edit 9)
Tone pairs + audio for all the tone combinations Link (Edit 11)
*Exercises: (edit 7)
which tones do you hear (tone pairs)
another which tones do you hear (single syllab or tone pairs)
match pinyin + tone to the sound
match the sound to the pinyin + tone
differenciate between tones
tone speaking practice (listen and repeat recording yourself)
PINYIN
Pinyin introduction (follow the “Pronunciation Index”) Link (edit 10)
Pinyin chart from Yoyo chinese Link (edit 9)
*Pinyin and tones self quiz (i love this one) Link
*Course: Phonetics with Chinese Characteristics (edit 8)
Youtube (in english) Link
Youtube (in spanish) Link
Exercises: (edit 7)
Pinyin spelling
READING, TEXT + AUDIO
Text with characters, pinyin, english translations and audio Link
Characters with pinyin and audio. Traditional and simplified option. If you click on a word the meaning of it pops up, but not the whole sentence Link
Dialogues with characters, pinyin, translations (in Spanish) and audio Link
Spanish web with different topics and sentences. it has games to practice too Link (edit 4)
Youtube reading for kids. Link1 Link2 (edit 2) (If you cant find any audiobooks with text, there’s probably someone reading a book of it on youtube)
Du Chinese (App) Link
Beelingua (App)
SENTENCES
Chengyu list (edit 8)
125 lessons with different sentences. It has characters, audio, pinying and different exercises to test them in each lesson. Link
Diferent dialogues (directions, weather, introductions, shopping) with audio characters, pinyin and english Link (edit 1)
* Podcast: 2/3 sentences, broken down by topic and by words Link (edit 2) [I use this one when im in the street and i repeat what they say trying to memorise it]
WEB COURSE (edit 5)
From ”ChineseClass101″. Those have characters with the option simplified/traditional, pinyin and english translation. It also comes sometimes with a brief cultural insight and grammar lesson, all with audio and class trasncription. Really useful because besides the audio class, you have a vocab list with the audio option played 0.5x slower
Getting Started
Absolute Beginner Season 1
Level 1 Chinese
FLASHCARDS
Anki, HSK 1 vocab Link
Anki, HSK 1 grammar Link
*TOFU learn ( Web / App) this is like a flashcard app but with the option to quiz yourself (with 6 choices to answer instead of the usual 2) and the exciting part: it can quiz you on the writing too! It has many deck choices too. Big fav of mine (edit 12)
DICTIONARY (edit 6)
Character dictionaries:
Line dict = Pinyin, with audio, english definition, sample sentences and animated stroke order. Also a daily “Today’s expresion/quote” addittion which is cool.
Chinesepod = simplified and traditional, english translation, sample sentences
Sentence dictionaries:
Chinese yabla = breaks the sentence into words, each one with pinyin and english translation.
EXTENSIONS
*Language Learning with Youtube, Chrome extension. Allows 2 sets of subtitles (example: vid of Idol Producer) (edit 9)
*Zhongwen: Chinese-English Dictionary by: Christian Schiller, Chorme extension. Allows you to hoover over the hanzi in Chrome and shows the pinyin and meaning (edit 4)
BOOKS (edit 4)
(Not free, sadly) For grammar and some course book i would recomend
HSK 1
New Practical Chinese Reader 1 Textbook/Workbook
OTHER (random interesting stuff that I don’t know where to put them in this list)
Learn Chinese with Poems, free course (edit 9)
Learn Chinese with Songs, free course (edit 9)
**Frecuency list –> Most common characters and words in: books, movies, components and by HSK. Simplified and traditional options. (Sound, definition, animated stroke order, sentence examples w audio, and writting practice. Very interesting and complete.) (edit 9)
Media input (Videos and Audios with transcriptions and timestamps you can get back to. First click on the character shows pinyin, second click shows meaning.) (edit 9)
Youtube Channel: Learn Chinese with Movies, series and animation (edit 12)
What are your favourite songs and shows to inmerse yourself in mandarin? Please tell me!
My favourite links have a (*)
I might get back to this post and add more useful links when i find more (each time i edit this post i add a little “edit 1 / 2 / 3…”). [This post looks better on the original post/blog, since the linked webs are highlighted and easier to see, and also is more up to date]
Last edited: 13 / December / 2020 = Edit 12












