MANDARINLearn Chinese
Survival Mandarin for Shanghai
Free, no sign-up. Tap a line to hear it. Tap the Chinese to fill the screen, then hand the phone over.
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- The twenty linesScreenshot these before you land
- Sounds & tonesPinyin, four tones, five hard sounds
- 60-second drillFlashcards for the queue, the lift, the metro
Start hereEmergency lines
Emergency lines
nǐ hǎo
Hello
xièxie
Thank you
duìbuqǐ
Sorry
wǒ bú huì shuō zhōngwén
I do not speak Chinese
wǒ tīng bù dǒng
I do not understand
qǐng shuō màn yìdiǎn
Please speak slowly
jiā ge wēixìn
Let us add each other on WeChat
When to use itPlumbers, teachers, landlords and doctors all reach you this way. Business cards do not.
qǐng qù zhège dìzhǐ
Please take me to this address
When to use itSay it, then show the address in Chinese on your screen.
tíng zài zhèlǐ
Stop here
xǐshǒujiān zài nǎlǐ
Where is the toilet
By situationTaxis, clinics, compound gates, delivery lockers
By situation
Taxis, clinics, compound gates, delivery lockers
- Hello & courtesiesThe first ten seconds of every encounter19 lines→
- Taxi & DidiAddress in, route agreed, receipt out16 lines→
- Metro & directionsLines, changes, exits, and being lost15 lines→
- RestaurantsOrdering, chilli, allergies, the bill19 lines→
- Delivery & couriersGate, building number, parcel locker14 lines→
- Shops & marketsPrice, size, weight, and walking away14 lines→
- Numbers & payingCounting, QR codes, foreign cards13 lines→
- At home & building managementRepairs, access cards, rubbish sorting15 lines→
- Doctor & pharmacySymptoms, allergies, the insurance paperwork16 lines→
- Kids & schoolPick-up, absence, the parents’ group13 lines→
- Bank, police, phone shopCounters, forms, documents, queue numbers14 lines→
- EmergenciesHelp, ambulance, police, lost documents13 lines→
Three ways to use thisLearn Chinese
Three ways to use this
01
Listen
Tap play, then slow. Copy the rhythm first and the tones second.
02
Show
Tap the Chinese characters. The line fills the screen, large enough to read across a taxi seat.
03
Drill
Open the flashcards while you queue. Sixty seconds at a time.
What this page covers — A phrasebook, a pronunciation primer and a flashcard drill. Grammar, characters and conversation need a teacher.
How far fifty words get you
A serviced compound in Gubei runs on fifty words. Ten minutes further out it does not. Tell us where you need to be each morning.