Speed in the Xi'an dialect comes from hours spent on Xi'an speech you can mostly follow, the kind of material known as comprehensible input. As your level rises, so should the difficulty, and the plan below lays out each stage with a suggested split for an hour of study.
What to Do at Each Level
Look for the level whose reading description fits you, then follow the time split shown for it.
- First Steps
I can't read pinyin yet.
Learn pinyin 20 min. Listen 40 min.
Pinyin spells the Standard Mandarin sound of each character with letters and tone marks. 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 simple Xi'an forms, like 么 at the end of a question and 好喝得很, and listen to each one twice. Say the lines 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 chats about food and weekend plans with the translation hidden, and notice local forms such as 嫑 and 得是. Retell each chat out loud in a few sentences.
- Level 3
I can read short chats and stories in the local dialect.
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 a short dialect video, and talk with a partner from Xi'an for longer.
- Level 4
I can read longer texts about everyday life.
Read and watch 45 min. Review 5 min. Speak 10 min.
Watch one scene of a Shaanxi-dialect drama a week, and read a lesson about the same kind of everyday story afterwards.
- Level 5
I can follow complex topics, but miss some details.
Read and watch 50 min. Speak 10 min.
Watch longer dramas set in Shaanxi, and look up only the words that block the story.
- Level 6
I can follow local jokes, wordplay and slang in writing.
Read and watch 50 min. Speak 10 min.
Try tongue twisters and jokes in Shaanxi dialect, and talk about local shows with friends from Xi'an.
Step up once a level feels comfortable, and step back if you're lost after a few lines. The level sentences describe reading, so you may want easier material for listening and speaking at first.
How Long Does It Take to Learn the Xi'an Dialect?
We couldn't find a school or test that counts the hours it takes to learn the Xi'an dialect. It is a kind of Mandarin, and the U.S. Foreign Service Institute expects about 2,200 class hours, or 88 full-time weeks, for its English-speaking students to reach professional fluency in Standard Mandarin. That puts Mandarin in the institute's hardest group, with Japanese, Korean, and Arabic. The local words and grammar come on top of that shared base, and no one has counted those hours.
So the clearest way to plan is a weekly time budget. The table shows what 12 weeks adds up to at each pace.
| Study Per Week | Hours Across 12 Weeks |
|---|---|
| 3½ hours | 42 hours |
| 7 hours | 84 hours |
| 14 hours | 168 hours |
| 28 hours | 336 hours |
A total like this tells you how much time you'll put in, not which level you'll reach. At the end of the 12 weeks, reread an early lesson or listen again to a video you found hard, and see how much more you follow.
What Slows Learners Down
- Trusting Pinyin for SoundPinyin gives the Standard Mandarin reading, so it can't tell you how a word sounds in Xi'an. Learn each new line from its audio.
- Staying in Standard CoursesCourses for learners teach Standard Mandarin, so local forms never come up there. Start reading Xi'an speech as soon as you know some characters.
- Only ListeningXi'an forms stick better once you say them. Answer a 么 question out loud from your first week, like 有冰奶茶么？ with a simple 有。
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Xi'an dialect app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Xi'an dialect, start with Bubblegum. Poppy writes lessons at your level about things you like. Our Xi'an dialect app comparison covers tutors, courses, and dictionaries too.
Can I learn the Xi'an dialect in three months?
It depends on where you start. If you already speak Mandarin, you are learning only the local layer, so aim for one clear task, like following a short chat with a neighbor. If you are new to Chinese, 12 weeks at seven hours a week is 84 hours, a small part of the 2,200 class hours the Foreign Service Institute lists for Mandarin, so aim for pinyin and short everyday exchanges.
How much should I study the Xi'an dialect each week?
Aim for three to five hours a week of material you understand, in sessions of at least 15 to 30 minutes. A longer session lets you get lost in a story, and steady time across the week matters more than a streak. Our post on deep sessions over daily streaks explains why.
Is the Xi'an dialect hard for English speakers?
The hard part is the Mandarin underneath it, because characters and tones take time. The local layer is smaller: Xi'an speech has four tones and a neutral tone, like Standard Mandarin, though the pitches are different, so learn each local word from its audio.
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.
You can also use the Pinyin course and the Standard Mandarin lessons on this site for free, without an account.
Sources
- U.S. Department of State, Foreign Language Training (FSI language categories)
- Guanzhong dialect (Central Plains Mandarin, with Xi'an as its typical form)
- The World of Chinese, Fangyan Friday #7: The Plains of Shaanxi (2019)
- 西安发布《用“陕西话”解读“新西安”！》(2019), via The Paper
- 西安电视台《西安故事》 (TVmao listing)
- 陕西日报《跟着电视剧〈主角〉学陕西话！》(2026), via Sina
- 中国之声《乡音密码》: 陕西话，嫽扎咧！(2024)
