Mandarin Drive
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Audio-first speaking practice

Mandarin for the road

Choose a short lesson, start it while parked, then learn by listening and answering aloud.

Course variety Taiwan Mandarin · Traditional Chinese characters

Four progressive stages · fourteen sessions

Choose a lesson

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Mandarin speed

Set up the lesson before driving. Keep your attention on the road and use the large controls only when safe.

The lesson waits for a recognized answer. Your microphone audio is not stored on this site.

Three-minute primer

How Pinyin works

Pinyin spells Mandarin pronunciation with Latin letters. Read one syllable at a time: the letters give the sound and the mark over a vowel gives its tone.

1

Build a syllable

Most syllables have an opening sound and an ending sound. The tone belongs to the whole syllable.

n + i + third tone = nǐ 你 · you h + ao + third tone = hǎo 好 · good

2

Follow the tone mark

A different tone can make a different word. Tap each example to hear it.

In normal speech, the third tone is often simply low rather than a full dip.

3

Do not read every letter as English

yī and bù change tone in some phrases. The lessons show the sound you will normally hear, such as yí biàn and bú shì.