Learn Mandarin Online
Hi! My name is David! Here you can learn Mandarin Chinese online by watching over 30 videos that I've made and found on YouTube. Chinese really is not as hard as you might imagine at first. With some studying and determination you too can learn to speak fluently one day! I hope this website gives you some inspiration to pursue learning the language and wish you good luck!
For beginners you might also want to check out Pimsleur . They teach with a tried and tested method whereby you learn by repeating what you hear - just as you learned your native language when you were a baby. Indeed, there's no need to read or write to study Mandarin with the Pimsleur method.
In the beginning you might find learning Chinese to be very discouraging. Indeed, for hundreds of years both Chinese and Western people alike have stuck to a myth that it's impossible for non-native speakers to learn the language. While it is true that Chinese is a difficult language as it does not have anything in common with European languages, it is indeed possible to learn.
What's great about Chinese is that it does not have complex grammar. There are no confusing verb conjugations and you don't have to memorize the feminine and masculine forms of nous as you must with many European languages. However, there are four tones which you must try to learn. Also, while the characters might seem difficult at first there actually is a lot a logic and reason to them. If you have a good eye for memorizing the shape of images you should have no problems learning Chinese characters.
Lessons 1-5
- Learn Mandarin Chinese Lesson 1: How to Introduce Yourself in Mandarin
- Learn Mandarin Chinese Lesson 2: How to Say Where are You From In Mandarin
- Learn Mandarin Chinese Lesson 3: How to Say Cat in Mandarin Chinese
- Learn Mandarin Chinese Lesson 4: How to Say Hungry in Mandarin Chinese
- Lean Mandarin Chinese Lesson 5: How To Say Cute
Grammar and Fundamentals
- How to Express Time - Verb Tenses - in Mandarin Chinese - Today, Yesterday and Tomorrow
- How to Compare Two Objects or Things in Mandarin
- How to Make Command Sentences in Mandarin and How to Say Do Not and Don't
- How to Say to Be in Mandarin Chinese
- What Is The Definition of Mandarin Chinese
- How To Pronounce The Four Tones
- How to Pronounce the Consonants in Mandarin Chinese Pinyin
- How to Make Words in Mandarin Chinese
- How to Pronounce the Final Vowels in Mandarin Chinese
- How to Make a Negative Sentence in Mandarin Chinese
- Mandarin Chinese Basic Sentence Structure
- Personal Pronouns Tutorial
- Mandarin Chinese Verbs
Greetings, Introductions and Formalities
- How to Say Hello in Mandarin Chinese
- How to Say How are You in Mandarin Chinese
- How to Say Thank You in Mandarin Chinese
- How to Say Sorry or Excuse Me in Mandarin Chinese
- How to Say Are You Busy in Mandarin Chinese?
- How to Say Good-Bye in Mandarin Chinese
- How to Say I am Fine Thank You in Mandarin Chinese
Dating Vocabulary
- How to Ask Somebody Their Phone Number
- How to Say I Love You In Mandarin Chinese
- How to Say Beautiful in Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin Chinese Numbers
Fun Vocabulary
- How to Say President Obama in Mandarin
- How to Say Lee Hom Wang is a Handsome Guy in Mandarin Chinese
- How to Say Taipei 101 in Mandarin Chinese
- How to Say Typhoon in Mandarin Chinese
I hope this website to learn Mandarin online is helpful and look forward to reading your comments below!
You’re the man David, keep up the good work. Your site gave me the inspiration to start on mandarin.
Thank you very much for your kind comments, Andereth. I appreciate that!
hai david, you know actually i’m not good in eglish, but i really like to learn mandarin.so from your video i can learn mandarin and also improve my english. thank you very much. i will always follow up your blog.
Hi!
What is your first language? If it’s French or Spanish I can try to do videos in that language too!
-David
I think living in China (or Taiwan) is a great way to learn Mandarin and you are definitely a lucky guy! I hope I can have that experience someday.
>>> Thank you for your kind comments, Susan. I’m sure your dreams of traveling and learning Mandarin will come true! -david
Thx for viewing my blog: http://kontjidot.blogspot.com...
Great, u are smart guy… how long have u been learning Mandarin? Very usefull article inside here…
Thx.. keep in touch my new friend…
idotkontji – thanks man! i have learned chinese for over 10 years – i studied in university then lived here in asia. chinese is very, very useful. thanks for your nice comment! david
I’m learning via the Michel Thomas method CDs, which I’ve used to great success with French, Italian and Spanish. I also have an Earworms CD, which helps you learn frequent expressions in an easy manner (to music) and some books. But I really like the fact that your blog covers all the elements at the same time: the tones, the pronunciation, the meaning, the chinese text and the romanization. It’s a great blog. Thanks!
hi david,
this is a very promising website.
i was planning to start learning mandarin when I’ve come across ur blog through youtube.
you’ve got a a great site. more power to you! I hope to learn the language like u did
-trish
Hi Trish! I’m honored that you came to my site and thank you for such a kind comment. I’m sure you can learn Mandarin one word at a time!
-david
Thank you David for spending the time to create a great website and for sharing your knowledge. What do you think is the secret to learning a foreign language? I have heard you should think in the language and not try to translate it in your head.
Thanks again David
cheers
Bret
Dear Bret,
Thank you for your kind comments. I have been learning languages for a long time. In addition to my mother language, English, I speak French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese and Portuguese. Basically, you are correct: It’s best to learn the new word then just “think” with that word.
Best Wishes,
David
Plks let me know! Are yr video lessons either on yr website or on
YouTube where I first knew them free and downlodable or not??
Are y going to edit others ?
Why dont y follow always the lesson number order , otherwise it
becomes more confusing and less helpful to follow them. Pl help.
Best of all Thanks Regards
Vito aged 54 Florence Italy employee
Your website is very helpful indeed for beginners to learn mandarin. Also, it’s just brief and very commendable. Keep up the good works-
appreciate it.Thks
Dear David,
Thank you for this great resource. It is great that you’ve had such success in learning Mandarin. I live in Australia currently, how beneficial would it be to move to China to learn and study Mandarin?
Wishing you all the best, are you going to start learning any new languages?
Rgds
Hello David,
Like you I love languages but I am not fluent in all. My native language is spanish and besides English I speak Portuguese, a little French a long time ago and Latin at High school for 2 yrs.
Thanks a lot for giving us the opportunity of learning Chinese. I am jus starting and will view your videos with my grandson 2.5 yrs old so that he can catch your pronunciation.
Hope you keep posting more lessons. I have some questions:
Do you have a schedule recommended? How do you suggests we cover the lessons, like one daily and repeat them 3 or 5 times?
How much time do you thing it will take if we stick to that schedule to be able to understand a childs DVD or have a simple conversation.
Thanks again and congratulations for your excellent blog and feel free to ask if need somehing with Spanish
Ni hao Daxid.
Podrìas poner ordenes para educar a un perro , como sientate, echate, quieto etc?
xie xie
Ane
hola ane – hablo un poco espanol y debo hacer eso para ti. voy a pensar como hacerlo y hacere un dia parati! david (perdon – no escribo muy bien en espanol!!!)
WOW this is so great !!! Excellent job … Thank you
Hola David! estoy muy contenta con tu espacio, solo un comentario en la leccion 2, 3 y 4 no puedo apreciar muy bien los sonidos para pronunciar las palabras debido a como esta grabado el video, por lode mas permiteme felicitarte, yo soy principiante en el chino-mandarin y el hecho de que tengas un espacio gratuito para todo publico es bueno. Gracias
Hi David, I just stumbled upon your blog as i was trying to figure out how to say goodbye in Mandarin. We are adopting from Taiwan and I am trying to learn some basic phrases. This is an awesome gift you are giving me and many others!! Thanks so very much. Kris
hey david ..
i’ve just started learing chinese at the university and i cant memorize the freakin characters =S .. do u have any advice for me ?
i went to the library the otherday to try to look up the origins of the charcters but failed miserably =( HELP!!
How do you do, David.Wo jiao Eko. Wo cong Inni lai.I learn Mandarin from yours. Xiexie
Hello David,
Coming across your website was such a relief. You videos are amazing and are certainly helping me! I am eighteen and always wanted to learn Chinese, but I am out of high school and not sure about how hard college classes would be, so I am doing it on my own for now. Thank you so much for these videos. You are such a great help!
Thank you!
-Alison.
I am so confused, how to open and watch your video? I can not open and watch your video at all.
Muchas gracias
Estoy muy contenta y he aprendido mucho.
Gracias
this is so awesome!!! i first saw on youtube and i thought i had to check the website out
David,
Thanks for taking the time to publish this information. I am just starting out with Chinese and find thid invaluable and very encouraging.
Best,
Erek
Hi David,
With what accent do you speak Mandarin. A Taiwanese friend of mine says that the Taiwanese accent sounds best and that the Beijing accent sounds more harsh. Any thoughts about this? Lane
I very enjoy browsing your blog..
but actually I’m studing english now.
so sometimes I find some words wich you Explain I don’t Understand
because I’m indonesion
Madarin is my mother tongue, well.. and…
You’ve got talents and
I have to say that your madarin is
amazingly good
motivation
However, please allow me to remind you two trivial things:
Your pronunced the third tone in Madarin a little bit
too high-pitched; you might have to lower “your yo-yo” a bit (the imagery you used). The second thing is that what you are using is “ping-ying”, a phoetic system (only used in China) of Madarin. And that system is not 100% percent accurate. For example, the Chinese “b” is more like “p” in Spanish than “b” in English, though the difference is somewhat too subtle that you don’t even have to notice.
Anyway, you’ve done a great job and as a native-speaker who’s interested in teaching Madarin, I’m really impressed and amazed
Hey, why don’t you put your videos on souku.com or sina.com.cn as well as youtube? Those of us here in mainland China can’t access them.
Your lessions are wonderful. Our Daughter Olivia currently is 16 months of age and enjoys your lessions David. Thank you.
David:
Your pronunciations are precise and comprehensible. I plan to retire in Singapore, and wondered if the Chinese spoken there is similar to the Mandarin dialect. Thanks, gracias, grazie, mercie and xiexie.