Days 1 to 8
Sound before script
The four tones, the pinyin traps, greetings, names, numbers, measure words, prices, directions and questions. You leave this stage able to be understood in a shop and able to read any pinyin correctly on sight.
The course
One course, 90 days, ten minutes each. It is written to be done in order, because every day carries four lines forward from earlier ones. 30 days are published so far.
Available now
Mandarin in ten minutes a day
Tones and pinyin first, characters from day one, and a culture note in every lesson.
Not started on this device.
How it is laid out
Days 9 to 15
Time, people and word order
The clock, the calendar, family, the little word 的, where you are from, and the one word order that most Chinese sentences follow. Sentences start going somewhere instead of stopping after three words.
Days 16 to 23
Wanting, being able, doing
Opinions, the three words for can, the three for want, 了 and what it really marks, what is happening right now, a whole meal out, haggling and getting across a city.
Days 24 to 30
Describing and comparing
Weather, asking for help when something goes wrong, comparisons, how well something is done, staying in touch, and what you have done before. Day 30 is one full conversation using nothing new.
Days 31 to 60
Longer sentences
Linking clauses, reasons and results, the patterns that look hard and are not, and steady character work alongside the speaking.
Days 61 to 90
Reading and being understood
Signs, menus and short texts, listening at closer to full speed, and enough character coverage to guess at a word you have not met.
What it is not
Not an HSK course
It will take you across most of HSK 1 ground, but it is built around what you will say, not what a test paper asks. More on HSK levels.
Not a video course
It is written, on purpose. Text is faster to scan, easier to come back to and does not need headphones. Audio is there on every line for the sound.
Not Cantonese
This is standard Mandarin, 普通话, in simplified characters. Cantonese is a different language with different tones and its own grammar.
What you need
Ten minutes and a browser. No account for days 1 to 30, nothing to install, and no app that wants a notification permission. Progress is stored in your own browser.
In development
Coming later
HSK 1 and 2 exam prep
Once the main course is finished, and once the rollout from six levels to nine has settled. Where that stands today.
Coming later
Characters in 30 days
A separate track for the writing system, built on the same stroke order tool as the writing practice page.