You'll learn the Lanzhou dialect fastest by giving most of your study hours to Lanzhou speech you can mostly follow, or comprehensible input. Your material should get harder as you do, so the plan below sets out each level and how an hour of study splits at that stage.
What to Do at Each Level
Start at the row that matches what you can read now, and use its bar to divide your hour.
- First Steps
I can't read pinyin yet.
Learn pinyin 20 min. Listen 40 min.
Pinyin spells Mandarin sounds with letters you already know, plus a mark for each tone. Learn it first, 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 audio and a translation, and listen to each one twice. Your first Lanzhou words will be ones like 攒劲 (great) and 一搭里 (together).
- Bubblegum's Level 1 Lanzhou lessons
- Standard Mandarin lessons about greetings
- Level 2
I can read basic characters and simple sentences.
Read and listen 40 min. Review 10 min. Speak 10 min.
Hide the translation and look up only the words that stop you. Here 唦 starts to urge and suggest, and 哪达 asks “where.” Retell each dialogue out loud.
- Bubblegum's Level 2 Lanzhou lessons
- Standard Mandarin lessons about food
- Level 3
I can read short chats and stories in the local dialect.
Read and listen 40 min. Review 5 min. Speak 15 min.
Read Lanzhou stories, and listen once more without reading along. 那 now means “he” or “she,” and friends give orders like 把衣裳穿上 (get dressed). Talk with a partner from Lanzhou about what you read.
- Bubblegum's Lanzhou stories
- The Lanzhou government's picture guide
- Level 4
I can read longer texts about everyday life.
Read and watch 45 min. Review 5 min. Speak 10 min.
Read longer lessons and the news in Lanzhou speech, and start watching short comedy videos from Lanzhou. You'll hear thanks like 把您费心了, for someone who went to trouble for you.
- Bubblegum's Lanzhou news
- Search 兰州话 on Douyin or Bilibili
- Level 5
I can follow complex topics, but miss some details.
Read and watch 50 min. Speak 10 min.
Read about work, family and the city's history, and listen to unscripted Lanzhou speech. Notice word order like 他很不喝酒, which means he hardly drinks.
- Level 6
I can follow local jokes, wordplay and slang in writing.
Read and watch 50 min. Speak 10 min.
Read and hear fast banter, local sayings and the most local grammar, such as 给儿子把学费给给了 (I gave my son his school fees), and talk about them for their own sake.
- Bubblegum's Level 6 Lanzhou lessons
When a level stops feeling like work, try the next one. If a lesson loses you early on, drop back for a while.
How Long Does It Take to Learn the Lanzhou Dialect?
No institute publishes class hours for the Lanzhou dialect, and the U.S. Foreign Service Institute's list of languages doesn't include it. For Standard Mandarin, which most learners build first, the institute estimates about 2,200 class hours to reach professional fluency. If you already speak Standard Mandarin, your hours go into Lanzhou's own words, tones and grammar instead.
This table is a study budget, not a promise. It shows how many hours you put in at different amounts of study a week.
| Study per week | 3 months | 6 months | 1 year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3½ hours | About 45 hours | About 90 hours | About 180 hours |
| 7 hours | About 90 hours | About 180 hours | About 365 hours |
| 14 hours | About 180 hours | About 365 hours | About 730 hours |
| 28 hours | About 365 hours | About 730 hours | About 1,460 hours |
What Slows Learners Down
- Tones From Pinyin AlonePinyin marks show Standard Mandarin tones, and Lanzhou's tones sit at different pitches. Learn each Lanzhou word from its audio.
- Words From Other Parts of GansuGansu speech changes from town to town: in Linxia, many question words start with 阿, like 阿门 for “how.” Check that a word you find online is from Lanzhou.
- Saving Every New WordIf you save every word you meet, review fills up with words you'll rarely hear again. Save the ones that keep coming back in your lessons, like 尕 or 唦.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Lanzhou dialect app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Lanzhou dialect, start with Bubblegum. Poppy writes lessons at your level about things you like. To find a Standard Mandarin course or a conversation partner as well, see our Lanzhou dialect app comparison.
Can I learn the Lanzhou dialect in three months?
From zero, you can learn pinyin and enough to greet people and talk about food. At 14 hours a week, three months is about 180 hours, which is less than a tenth of the 2,200 class hours the Foreign Service Institute lists for Standard Mandarin.
How much should I study the Lanzhou dialect each week?
Three to five hours a week of Lanzhou speech you can follow is a good target, in sittings of 15 to 30 minutes or more. Longer sittings let you sink into a story, and regular hours through the week count for more than an unbroken streak. Our post on why longer sessions help explains more.
Is the Lanzhou dialect hard for English speakers?
Yes, by the Foreign Service Institute's measure for Mandarin, which it puts in its hardest group. Lanzhou adds its own sounds on top: to visitors, 水 (water) can sound like 飞 (fly), so listen to Lanzhou audio from your first lesson.
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 Chinese lessons here on the site are free as well, with no account needed.
Sources
- U.S. Department of State, Foreign Language Training (FSI language categories)
- 兰州话 (Chinese Wikipedia): a Lanyin Mandarin dialect with four tones
- 甘肃经济信息网《【陇上趣方言】异彩纷呈的甘肃方言口音》(2021): Lanzhou 水 sounds like 飞, and Linxia questions begin with 阿
- Li Lan and Hilary Chappell, 汉语方言中的处置式和“把”字句（下）, with Lanzhou 把 sentences such as 给儿子把学费给给了
- 袁芳、魏行《语言接触与西北方言否定语序的演变》(2023), with Lanzhou 他很不喝酒
- International Dialects of English Archive, Gansu 3: a speaker from Lanzhou reads the Analects in Lanzhou dialect
- 兰州发布 via 澎湃新闻《一起看图get兰州方言 系不攒劲！》(2018-09-12)
