Playground · 乐园
The Mandarin Playground
Short, honest practice activities built for learners. They run in your browser and remember nothing about you.
Hanzi Studio汉字工作室
Pick a character, watch its stroke order, then write it yourself with your finger, mouse or stylus.
Choose a character
亻 is the “person” radical — 你 is the person you’re talking to.
Example words
- 你好nǐ hǎo · hello
- 你们nǐmen · you (plural)
Stroke order
Trace mode checks each stroke’s shape and direction against reference stroke-order data. It is guided tracing, not full handwriting recognition.
Understand the Scene看懂这一幕
Original mini-dramas written for learners. Watch and listen, then guess what’s happening.
Listen for
What’s happening?
What does Xiǎo Lín order?
Full dialogue
Key words:
Lantern Quest灯笼之旅
A tiny fictional adventure across Jade Peak. Choose the right Mandarin to help your team light the summit lantern.
灯笼之旅
Lantern Quest
A tiny fictional adventure across Jade Peak. Choose the right Mandarin to help your team light the summit lantern.
🏮 灯笼之旅
The summit lantern is lit!
You earned the title 灯笼守护者 (dēnglong shǒuhùzhě) — Lantern Keeper.
Phrases you used
Jade Peak is an original, fictional world created for this website.
Tone Trainer声调
Mandarin has four main tones — the same syllable can mean different things. Listen, then pick the tone.
Your browser doesn’t offer a Chinese voice, so audio practice isn’t available here. You can still study the tone shapes.
Common beginner pronunciation challenges
- Tones
Practise them in pairs — 妈妈 māma, 马上 mǎshàng — so your ear learns the contrast.
- x, q, j vs sh, ch, zh
For x, q and j the tongue lies flat behind the lower teeth; for sh, ch and zh it curls back.
- The ü sound
Say “ee” while rounding your lips for “oo”: 绿 lǜ, 女 nǚ. After j, q and x the dots disappear: 去 qù.
- Two third tones
When two third tones meet, the first one rises: 你好 nǐ hǎo is said like “ní hǎo”.
- 1st tone — high and level
- 2nd tone — rising
- 3rd tone — low and dipping
- 4th tone — sharp and falling
Sentence Builder造句
Tap the words in the right order to build a sentence.
Sentence 1 of 4
I want to learn Chinese.
Your sentence
Available words
Flashcards
Sixteen phrases to start speaking
Flip, swipe and listen. These are phrases learners use from day one.
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