The fastest way to learn Chinese is to spend most of your study time on Chinese you can mostly understand. That kind of Chinese is called comprehensible input. What you read and listen to should change as you improve, so the plan below shows what to do at each level and how to split an hour of study.
What to Do at Each Level
Find the level that sounds like you. Its bar shows how to spend an hour of study.
- First Week
I can't read pinyin yet.
Learn pinyin 40 min. Listen 20 min.
Pinyin spells Chinese sounds with letters you already know, plus a mark for each of the four tones. Learn it first, or zhuyin if you are learning Taiwan Mandarin, and listen to easy Chinese while you do.
- Level 1
I'm just starting out and can't read much yet.
Read and listen 35 min. Review 15 min. Speak 10 min.
Read short dialogues with pinyin over every character, audio, and a translation, and listen to each one twice. Copy the tones out loud, then review the words you saved.
- Level 2
I can read basic characters and simple sentences.
Read and listen 40 min. Review 10 min. Speak 10 min.
Read dialogues about food and weekend plans with the translation hidden, and look up only the words that stop you. Retell each one out loud in a few sentences.
- Level 3
I follow conversations on familiar topics.
Read and listen 40 min. Review 5 min. Speak 15 min.
Turn pinyin off for the characters you know, and listen to each lesson once more without reading along. Add short news stories written for learners, and talk about them for longer.
- Level 4
I understand most content but miss some nuance.
Read and watch 45 min. Review 5 min. Speak 10 min.
Watch C-dramas with Chinese subtitles, one episode a week, and read a lesson about the episode afterwards.
- Level 5
I read complex topics but rare words slow me down.
Read and watch 50 min. Speak 10 min.
Read web novels and the news, and look up only the words that block the story.
- Level 6
I read at near-native level.
Read and watch 50 min. Speak 10 min.
Read novels and the news, and talk about them, for their own sake.
Move up a level when your lessons start to feel easy, and move back down if you lose the thread by the third line. If you are learning 
Taiwan Mandarin, the plan is the same with traditional characters and zhuyin.
How Long Does It Take to Learn Chinese?
Mandarin Chinese takes about 2,200 class hours to reach professional fluency, according to the U.S. Foreign Service Institute. That puts it in the institute's hardest group for English speakers, with Cantonese, Japanese, Korean and Arabic.
| Language | FSI group | Full-time weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish, French | Category I | 30 |
| German, Indonesian | Category II | 36 |
| Thai, Vietnamese | Category III | 44 |
| Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean | Category IV | 88 |
TOCFL, Taiwan's official Chinese test, expects 480 to 720 class hours for its Level 2, which it suggests for everyday talk, and 960 to 1,920 hours for its Level 4. Those numbers are for study outside Chinese-speaking countries, and TOCFL lists half as many hours for study inside them. Here is how long those take at different amounts of study a week:
| Study per week | TOCFL Level 2 (480 hours) | TOCFL Level 4 (960 hours) | FSI professional fluency (2,200 hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3½ hours | About 2⅔ years | About 5¼ years | About 12 years |
| 7 hours | About 16 months | About 2⅔ years | About 6 years |
| 14 hours | About 8 months | About 16 months | About 3 years |
| 28 hours | About 4 months | About 8 months | About 1½ years |
These are class hours, so treat them as a rough guide. Time you spend understanding Chinese on your own counts too.
What Slows Learners Down
- Pinyin Always OnWhen pinyin sits over every character, your eyes read the letters and skip the characters.
- Skipping Tones妈 (mother) and 马 (horse) sound alike except for the tone, so learn each new word with its tone.
- HSK Lists AloneWords from an HSK list, learned with no sentence around them, are easy to forget.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Chinese app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Chinese, start with Bubblegum. Poppy writes lessons at your level about things you like. Our Chinese app comparison covers courses, tutors and speaking apps too.
Can I learn Chinese in three months?
You can learn pinyin and enough Chinese to greet people and order food. At 14 hours a week, three months is about 180 hours, which is less than half of the 480 hours TOCFL expects for its Level 2.
How much should I study Chinese each week?
Aim for three to five hours a week of Chinese you understand, in sessions of at least 15 to 30 minutes. A longer session lets you get lost in a story, which teaches more than five minutes a day, and steady time each week matters more than a daily streak. Our post on deep sessions over daily streaks explains why.
Is Chinese hard for English speakers?
Yes, by the Foreign Service Institute's measure: Mandarin is in the hardest group, with Japanese and Korean. Pinyin is the quick part, and most of the time goes into characters and tones, which you pick up fastest from Chinese you understand.
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 and Zhuyin courses and the Chinese lessons on this site are also free and need no account.
