Free A1 Chinese course: elementary

A1 turns words into everyday sentences: adjectives with 很, measure words, 的, 有 and 在, question words, dates and times, and 了 for things you've done.

10 grammar lessons, 3 graded stories, 6 videos, flashcards and an AI conversation partner, all free. A1 is roughly HSK 1–2; the two scales measure different things, so treat it as a guide.

What you'll be able to do

• Listening: I can understand slow, clear questions about my name, my family, my job and where I live (about HSK 1–2).
• Listening: I can catch numbers, prices, dates and times when people speak slowly.
• Reading: I can recognise about 150–300 common characters and read short sentences with them, with pinyin to help.
• Reading: I can read simple signs and menus with familiar characters such as 入口, 出口, 茶 and 面.
• Speaking: I can order food and drink, buy things and ask how much they cost (多少钱？) in short sentences.
• Speaking: I can ask and answer simple questions with 吗 and question words (什么, 哪儿, 几), keeping my tones mostly clear.
• Writing: I can type a short message in characters with a pinyin keyboard, choosing the right characters for familiar words.

What you'll learn

Learning A1 Chinese with AI

At A1 you can order noodles, ask the way to the metro or take a taxi with the AI partner, and ask it to explain any mistake in plain English. The AI also explains any wrong answer in a lesson, in plain English. It's included free, with a daily allowance; like any AI it can make mistakes, so the lessons remain the reference. More about learning Chinese with AI.

All 10 A1 grammar lessons

Free to read here. In the app, each one is taught in short steps with audio, practised, and brought back for review.

1. Adjectives: 很 + adjective, no 是
2. Measure words: 个, 本, 杯, 张, 口, 只
3. 的: my, your, the teacher's
4. 有: to have, there is
5. Question words: 什么, 谁, 哪儿, 几, 多少, 怎么
6. 在: where things are and where things happen
7. Days, dates and clock time
8. 了: a completed action
9. 不 or 没: two ways to say 'not'
10. 想, 要, 会, 能, 可以: want, can, may

Words for A1

HSK 1–2 vocabulary: the first Chinese words (A0–A1): 247 words with pinyin, English and an example sentence.

Reading at A1

• 在成都吃火锅: A Beijinger goes for hotpot in Chengdu with a local friend and finds out how spicy it is.
• 妈妈的生日: On Mum's fiftieth birthday, Dad and the narrator buy a cake, but Mum has a surprise.
• 车站里的老人: On a busy holiday at Beijing South Station, Lin Xiaoyu goes home to Shanghai with the wrong red suitcase.

Listening at A1

• Daily routine (Lazy Chinese): A teacher talks through her day. She wakes at about nine and has coffee instead of breakfast, then works or studies Spanish until noon. Lunch is fried noodles, followed by a 30-minute nap like many Chinese people. After that comes piano practice, then two Chinese dishes for dinner and bed at midnight.
• Food and days of the week (Lazy Chinese): The Very Hungry Caterpillar retold in simple Chinese. Each day the caterpillar eats more fruit, then a pile of party food that gives it a stomach ache. Then it eats green leaves and becomes a beautiful butterfly.
• Free time (Jun): Jun compares doing things alone and with friends: scrolling on her phone, watching TV on the sofa, going for walks (with a podcast, or chatting) and eating, which she does fast alone and slowly with friends.
• Family, home and daily life (jiayouchinese): Jiajia, a Chinese teacher in Berlin, tries to use only HSK 1 words. She introduces her German husband and three-year-old daughter, shows what's on her desk, talks about the weather and coffee, and gets ready to see the doctor and walk to the supermarket.
• Introducing yourself (Speak Your Chinese): Jiaqi introduces herself and pauses so you can answer too. She's 28 and lives in Beijing, where she likes the short spring and autumn best. She enjoys reading, swimming, skateboarding and travel, shows a favourite second-hand shirt, and talks about the foods she loves.
• A guessing game: Confucius (Lazy Chinese): One teacher plays a famous person and answers simple questions. He's Chinese, from Shandong, and a teacher who never wrote a book, but his students wrote down what he said. The other teacher keeps asking until she guesses Confucius.

Questions