Northeastern Mandarin is the everyday speech of Harbin, Changchun, and Shenyang, and of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning, the three provinces around them. About 98 million people live in those provinces, according to China's 2020 census. It's close to Standard Mandarin, and Harbin's pronunciation is often called the closest of all. The everyday words are what change: a friend asks 你嘎哈呢？ to mean "What are you doing?", and 贼 in front of a word means "really", as in 今儿个贼冷 (it's really cold today).
Apart from Bubblegum, we found two small phrase apps for Northeastern words and no app with full lessons in it. Many learners start with Standard Mandarin and pick up the local speech from people, TV, short videos, and comedy. This guide covers the apps that help with each part and says which ones teach Northeastern speech. If you only want Standard Mandarin apps, see our Chinese app comparison. For Northeastern Mandarin to read and hear at your level, see our Northeastern Mandarin comprehensible input comparison.
Custom Lessons Made for You
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Northeastern Mandarin. You learn from Northeastern Mandarin you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Northeastern Mandarin is its own journey in Bubblegum, listed as Chinese (Northeast China). Tell Poppy, your AI tutor, your level and what you like, and she writes lessons for you in Northeastern speech, from buying corn at a Changchun market to a winter evening at a friend's home. Friends and family use the local words, while a doctor or a shop clerk often answers in standard Mandarin, the way people in the Northeast really talk.
Bubblegum doesn't give you a person to talk with or a set course to follow. For conversation, try the tutors and language partners further down, and for audio lessons with recorded speakers, try Pimsleur.
- Lessons, stories, and news are written in the everyday speech of Harbin, Changchun, and Shenyang, at six levels, in Simplified characters.
- Eleven grammar cards explain local forms such as 整 (to do, make, or fix), 搁 (at), and 这嘎达 (here).
- Tap a Northeastern word, and the dictionary explains it.
- Chat with Poppy, and she answers in Northeastern speech.
- Collect stamps of local places as you learn, from Harbin's Central Street to the Shenyang Imperial Palace.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, so you review them by reading instead of using flashcards.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- You cannot import your own books, articles, or videos.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn.
- Regenerative Review™
- Teaches Pinyin
- Traditional characters
- Zhuyin
Mobile
Build Your Standard Mandarin
Northeastern Mandarin is written in the same characters as Standard Mandarin and shares nearly all of its grammar. The courses below teach Standard Mandarin, and you add the Northeastern words on top.
HelloChinese
HelloChinese is a step-by-step Chinese course with speaking practice built in. It fits learners who want the basics laid out in order before they add the speech of the Northeast.
- Courses follow the HSK levels.
- Speech recognition gives you feedback on your pronunciation.
- More than 1,000 graded stories give you reading at your level.
- Flashcards
- Teaches Pinyin
- Traditional characters
Mobile
SuperChinese
SuperChinese builds each unit around one practical scene, so new words arrive in the situation where you'd use them. You record yourself, and it scores your pronunciation.
- The Main Course has 8 levels and covers HSK 1 to HSK 5.
- Chinese teachers write the lessons, and you start speaking in the first one.
- Teaches Pinyin
- Traditional characters (partly)
Mobile
Pimsleur
Pimsleur fits learners who'd rather start by talking than by reading. Its lessons use standard Mandarin, so hear Northeastern speech afterwards with a tutor or the videos below.
- Levels 1 to 5 give you a clear path through spoken Mandarin.
- You answer out loud in every audio lesson, then hear the answer.
MobileWeb
Learn Northeastern Words in Small Apps
Two small paid apps on the App Store teach Northeastern words with recordings. Northeastern Chinese Dialect lets you spin a wheel to explore basic everyday words, each with an English meaning and a recording of a real voice, and it works offline. Dongbei 120 Phrase Cards came out in September 2026. It sets 120 casual Northeastern expressions beside their Standard Mandarin versions, with a picture, usage notes, and recordings of both.
Both are lists of words and phrases, so hear and read the same words in full sentences too.
Learn With People From the Northeast
People are the main way learners pick up Northeastern speech. When a learner on Reddit asked how to sound like the Northeast, the replies said an accent comes from the people you learn with, and suggested a tutor with that accent or time spent in the region.
italki
Search Chinese teachers' profiles for Harbin, Changchun, Shenyang, or 东北 (the Northeast). Before you book, ask whether they'll use local words with you in class.
- Book one-to-one online lessons with a Chinese teacher.
- Practice speaking and get corrections from a person.
MobileWeb
Preply
Preply's list of Chinese tutors includes tutors who say they're from Northeast China. Some say they speak standard Mandarin in class, so tell your tutor that you'd like to hear Northeastern words too.
- Compare Chinese tutors by their background and what they teach.
- Pick a tutor whose schedule fits yours.
MobileWeb
HelloTalk
With a VIP plan, HelloTalk lets you look for partners in a city such as Harbin. A partner from the Northeast can tell you which local words people around them really use.
- Meet Chinese speakers who want to practice your language.
- Chat with built-in translation help, and join voice rooms to practice speaking.
Mobile
Tandem
Tandem connects you with people in those three cities who want to practice a language you know. Agree on how to split each chat between your two languages.
- Tandem has pages for language partners in Harbin, Shenyang, and Changchun.
- Practice with messages, voice notes, and calls.
- It can take a few tries to find a partner who matches your interests and free time.
MobileWeb
Look Up Words
Pleco
Pleco is a Chinese dictionary for your phone. Keep it open while you chat or watch, for the moment a word stops you.
- The free CC-CEDICT dictionary is built in.
- Paste in text, and tap any word to look it up.
- Flashcards
- Traditional characters
- Zhuyin
Mobile
Hear Northeastern Speech Explained in English
Free videos let you hear the Northeast explained in English before you try it on TV. Julesy, who grew up in the Northeast, teaches seven everyday words and goes through the region's sounds and tone rules. Rita Mandarin Chinese compares Northeastern Mandarin with Beijing speech, from its sounds and tones to its slang. For shows, comedy, and a podcast in Northeastern speech, see our comprehensible input comparison.
Learn Northeastern Mandarin in Your Language
These counts cover menu languages. Other apps' counts come from their US iPhone listings.
| App | Supported Display Languages | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Full list
|
| HelloChinese | 13 | Full list |
| SuperChinese | 16 | Full list |
| Pimsleur | 3 | Full list |
| italki | 19 | Full list |
| Preply | 19 | Full list |
| HelloTalk | 16 | Full list |
| Tandem | 14 | Full list |
| Pleco | 1 | Full list |
Other Apps We Looked At (6)
- 乡音 - 方言交流分享A Chinese-language app where people share recordings of their home dialects, Northeastern speech among them, and play a game guessing where a voice comes from.
- Kevin in ShanghaiA video in Chinese that puts the Taiwan Mandarin and Northeastern Mandarin accents side by side.
- The China TravellerA short video where a friend from the Northeast teaches a learner some local phrases.
- Marco Polo MandarinA clip under two minutes for practicing your ear on a Northeastern accent.
- Victor TalkingA travel video where a learner tries Northeastern words with people in Harbin.
- HRB蓝网The site of Harbin's radio and TV station, in Chinese, with sections to watch local TV and listen to local radio.
Common Questions
Which Northeastern Mandarin app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Northeastern Mandarin, start with Bubblegum. Poppy writes lessons at your level about things you like. Or start with HelloChinese if you'd like a Standard Mandarin course first. Either way, the free Pinyin course on this site teaches the sounds and tones you'll need to read your first characters.
Should I learn Standard Mandarin first?
You don't have to choose. Every Standard Mandarin word you learn works in the Northeast, and Standard Chinese is taught in schools there. A local question like 这可咋整？ (Now what do we do?) is built the same way as its standard form, 这可怎么办？, with two words swapped.
Where is Northeastern Mandarin spoken?
It's spoken across Heilongjiang and Jilin, in most of Liaoning, and in parts of Inner Mongolia, by about 98 million people in an estimate published in 2012. The southern tip of Liaoning, from Dalian to Dandong, speaks a different kind of Mandarin.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
The Pinyin course and the Mandarin lessons on this site are also free and need no account.
Sources
- National Bureau of Statistics of China: Communiqué of the Seventh National Population Census (No. 3), population by province
- Wikipedia: Northeastern Mandarin (where it is spoken, and about 98 million speakers in a 2012 estimate)
- Wikipedia: Harbin dialect (phonologically close to Standard Mandarin)
- Wikipedia: Shenyang Mandarin (Standard Chinese is taught in schools)
- r/ChineseLanguage: How do I learn to speak with a northeastern accent?
- Northeastern Chinese Dialect on the App Store
- Dongbei 120 Phrase Cards on the App Store
- SuperChinese FAQ (Main Course levels and free lessons)
- Pimsleur: Mandarin Chinese (Levels 1–5, 30-minute lessons)
- Preply: Chinese tutors, including tutors from Northeast China
- HelloTalk: City search is a VIP feature
- Tandem on the App Store (voice notes, audio and video calls)
- HelloTalk on the App Store (translation tools and voice rooms)
- Tandem: Language partners in Harbin
- Tandem: Language partners in Shenyang
- Tandem: Language partners in Changchun
- Julesy: 7 Essential Dongbei Dialect Words You NEED to Know!
- Rita Mandarin Chinese: Northeastern Mandarin Explained
- 乡音 - 方言交流分享 on the App Store
- HRB蓝网: Harbin Radio and Television
- Bubblegum
- HelloChinese
- SuperChinese
- italki
- HelloTalk
- Tandem
- Pleco
Checked on October 14, 2026 against each app's own pages.
