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

0 of 14 complete
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 until it hears you try. 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.