Mandarin Shadow Daily

Hear and say the four Mandarin tones on one syllable, using mum, hemp, horse and to scold, with listening drills to tell the tones apart.

Practise the pattern 因为……所以…… (because… so…) to give reasons and results while shopping at a busy market in Beijing, with a ladder for saying "I'm so happy" and the word of the day 相信. In this episode: Ladder Time: I'm so happy (HSK 1 to Native). Word of the Day: 相信.

Lin and Wei video call Grandma Chen, the old neighbour who may own the strange key. You will practise 正在 and 在 for actions in progress, plus words for video calls, a lake, a zoo and a camera. In this episode: Slang of the Week: 凡尔赛. Word of the Day: 大衣.

Chat with a native speaker about joining a music or painting club in Shanghai, and practise saying what you have done before with 过, plus useful club phrases. Also: a level ladder for "I miss you" and today's word of the day. In this episode: Ladder Time: I miss you (HSK 1 to Native). Word of the Day: 这边.

A listening quiz set in a Guangzhou bank, where you hear a sentence, choose its meaning from three options and learn 过 for things you have done before. Along the way you pick up words like 合适, 经常, 接受 and 感动.

Practise four simple phrases for telling a friend you've had a bad day: that you're tired, that you're not happy, that today just isn't your day, and that you don't want to talk. You'll also learn the A 是 B pattern and what a caring friend might say back.

Follow Chen Yu, a university student from Guangzhou studying in Beijing, as she argues with her father about studying film and TV. You'll practise the 把 construction, plus words like 不得不, 当中, 否定, 其次 and 美元.

Start Mandarin from zero. Learn what Mandarin is, how characters and the letter spelling system work, why tones matter, and say your first words: Chinese, Chinese characters, the spelling system, and hello.

A listening quiz that follows two friends from Guangzhou and Taiwan as they ride the bus and metro and head out for the evening. You'll practise the linking word for 'is', plus words for brother, outside, date, meeting place, daughter, going out, buns, foreign and TV set.

Shadow a short story about a young woman from Chengdu whose Sunday in Shanghai goes wrong, and practise simple A-is-B sentences, talking about feelings, prices and times at HSK 1.

Shadow a short story about six colleagues in Guangzhou dividing a dinner bill, and practise saying what you have done before with the experience particle, plus words for queuing, raising your hand and running into people.

Practise simple Mandarin about a marathon in Zhengzhou that mixed running with poetry, surnames, Henan Opera and kung fu. You will repeat short news sentences and learn key words step by step.

A listening quiz with twelve short Mandarin sentences and three English choices each. You will practise 比, 过, 因为所以, 从到, 正在, 得, 就 and 才 by ear.

Meet flatmates Lin and Wei in a short audio drama. You will practise 过 for experience, 比 comparisons, 因为……所以……, and 就 / 才 with everyday lines.

You will learn five phrases for taking a taxi in China, practise them in a role play with a driver, and learn the sentences a driver is likely to say to you.

Chat with a native speaker about weekend food and hotpot. You will practise talking about experience, comparing foods, and ordering with simple, natural phrases.

Today you will practise the Mandarin comparison pattern with bi, learning how to say that one thing is more something than another. You will finish by saying five sentences of your own out loud.

Follow a short story about riding the subway across town to see a friend. You will practise 从……到……, 才, 着 and 因为……所以……, plus useful travel phrases.

A listening quiz for HSK 1 learners. Hear a short Chinese sentence, pick its meaning from three choices, and then repeat the hardest sentences out loud.

You will practise saying you feel sick, naming a few symptoms and asking for medicine at a Chinese pharmacy. You will also learn what the pharmacist is likely to say back.

Follow Xiaohong as she buys a red umbrella in the rain. You will practise because and so, walking slowly with the de pattern, comparisons with bi, and the words jiu and cai.

Practise putting 了 right after a verb to say an action is finished, and drop it when you use 没. You will say fourteen model sentences and then answer five prompts yourself.

Today you will practise the particle le after a verb to say that something has been done. You will hear it taken apart, repeat many examples, and answer five prompts yourself.

Listen to and repeat a short story about a boy named Xiaoming and his Saturday at home and at the shop. You will practise simple sentences with 是, 有, 想, 要, 在 and 了.