Learn Chinese online for Free - Study Blog (Online educational platform)

Learn Chinese Free Online for a quick overview of the best materials. They are perfect for you if you have just started learning or are about to do so.

First, ask yourself just one single question. Why, in fact, do you want to learn Chinese? What are your intermediate and final goals in this process?

Trust me, if you have a clear goal formulated, it will be easier and faster for you to achieve it. And in that case, this review “How to Learn Chinese for Free?” will help you. Remember that each person can have their own motivation, their own goal and, accordingly, the toolkit will also be different.

How to Learn Chinese for Free? Chinese Learning Goals

The following are approximate goals:

Do you want to watch Jackie Chan movies without translation?
Or enjoy Chinese dramas?
Going on a trip in China and so you need a basic level to communicate with the locals?
Are you going on a business trip or an international exhibition in China?
Are you looking for business partners from this country?
Or just want to master calligraphy, qigong, taiji, wushu?
Are you looking for a job in China?
Or are you thinking about entering a Chinese university and studying for a master’s degree? For example, in Beijing,
Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou or other cities?

In each case, the goal can be completely different. In any case, you are now at the very beginning of the journey of learning this language. And to facilitate this process, I have collected for you free and shareware resources here.

For example, you want to talk about simple everyday topics, understand adapted texts. To do this, it is enough to master about 2,000 of the most common words and about 1,000 hieroglyphs.

How to Learn Chinese for Free: Top Free Resources for Learning Chinese (Basic)

In the article “How to Learn Chinese for Free?” some popular resources are listed, which for your convenience are divided into the following groups:

Online courses from top universities in China
English-language online courses and Internet resources;
YouTube channels, entry level;
Mobile applications for learning Chinese;
Textbooks for learning Chinese, beginner level.

Enjoy, as they say! So let’s go! Let’s start with online courses.

Learn Chinese for Free: Online Courses from Universities

Online Chinese courses from top universities in China:

studypage.org is our platform where you can find a variety of courses from different schools and teachers.
www.coursera.org – Beginner’s course from Peking University.
The next resource on the same platform is a course from Shanghai University.
www.coursera.org – National Taiwan University course.
www.edx.org – Course from Tsinghua University.

online courses and internet resources:

my-chinese.com – Information site for learning Chinese for free.
my-hsk.com – Portal for preparing for HSK.
yoyochinese.com – High quality sounded Chinese language table. Plus, 600 video tutorials.
www.echineselearning.com is an online service. Individual lessons with a teacher.
www.chinesepod.com is another useful online service.
abcsofchinese.com is a resource for beginners to learn Chinese. Cards are used to study hieroglyphs. On one side is a hieroglyph, on the other side of the card is the meaning of this hieroglyph.
chineseboost.com – A resource that explains Chinese grammar for basic, intermediate, and advanced levels.
interpals.net is a platform for communication with native speakers.
memrise.com is an online service to expand your Chinese vocabulary.
ankiweb.net is a resource for learning new words.
Nciku is a desktop version of an online dictionary that allows you to study different uses of a particular hieroglyph.
www.busuu.com is a platform for learning Chinese.

YouTube channels dedicated to learning Chinese. First level:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgCrOLcWvSFl5K2ld0nKS7w – ChineseFor.Us – Learn Mandarin Chinese Online

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYqtl651AtrH3Ys5OK-DbbA –Learn Chinese Online

Mobile apps for learning Chinese:

hanpingchinese.com – English Chinese dictionary, mobile application. Designed for Android system.
grapp.com –Free Pinyin Chart, Lessons and Quizzes is a mobile app with a pronunciation trainer.
Pleco is a free electronic dictionary. Suitable for all operating systems. For each individual hieroglyph, a drawing scheme is shown. This allows you to quickly understand the order of writing the strokes of each character.

Learn Chinese for Free: Textbooks

Textbooks for learning Chinese. First level:

Developing Chinese: General course for beginners. In 2 parts (English). This is a very useful tutorial prepared by Chinese experts. The textbook is recommended by the Chinese Ministry of Education. The textbook summarizes the theory, followed by many practical exercises. The main direction is the development of colloquial speech in Chinese.
Contemporary Chinese: Textbook (English). The advantage of the textbook is that after each lesson there are interesting regional geographic notes, including about the language itself.
Experiencing Chinese: A Tutorial. A basic level of. In 2 parts (English).
Road to Success: An Introductory Course Guide. The textbook is very easy for those who are just starting to learn Chinese. There are no hieroglyphs in the texts and exercises, only pinyin. The teaching of hieroglyphs is given in an entertaining way. This tutorial contains only 50 hieroglyphs and can be learned without much difficulty. Dialogues are also recorded in pinyin.
Intensive Elementary Chinese Course: general course. In 4 parts. Nice textbook that contains detailed explanations of Chinese phonetics and hieroglyphics. In addition, this tutorial has lengthy grammar comments. This allows you to delve into the nuances of grammar.
Basic Chinese course. Part 1. T.P. Zadoenko, Huang Shuying.
New Practical Chinese Course, by Liu Xun.
HSK Standard Course by Wang Fan.
Business Chinese Conversation by Huang Weizhi.