Free B2 Chinese course: upper intermediate

B2 moves towards written and formal Chinese: written connectors, 即使 and 尽管, causatives, long descriptions before a noun, finer comparisons, formal verbs, chengyu in use and data.

12 grammar lessons, 3 graded stories, 5 videos, flashcards and an AI conversation partner, all free. B2 is roughly HSK 5; the two scales measure different things, so treat it as a guide.

What you'll be able to do

• Listening: I can understand most TV news and current-affairs programmes in standard Mandarin (about HSK 5).
• Reading: I can read newspaper articles and reports on current issues where the writer takes a position.
• Reading: I can read contemporary fiction written for adults, using a dictionary for less common characters.
• Speaking: I can talk with native speakers fluently and spontaneously enough that neither of us has to strain, with tones that rarely get in the way.
• Speaking: I can explain my point of view on a topical issue, giving the advantages and disadvantages of different options.
• Writing: I can write clear, detailed texts in characters, including an essay or report arguing for or against a point of view.

What you'll learn

Learning B2 Chinese with AI

At B2 the AI partner speaks natural Mandarin at normal complexity, with set phrases and chengyu, and no pinyin unless you ask for it. 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 12 B2 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. Written links: 然而, 而, 并且, 从而, 以及, 以便, 甚至
2. Even if and although: 即使, 哪怕, 就算, 尽管
3. More conditions: 要不是, 否则, 不然, 万一, 假如, 除非
4. Emphasis: 就是, 可, 并, 偏偏, 是…的, 才, 都
5. Making something happen: 使, 令, 让, 叫, 使得, 导致, 引起
6. Aspect together: 过…了, 着, 起来, 下来, 下去
7. Long descriptions before a noun: 我昨天买的那本书
8. Finer comparisons: 不如, 比不上, 与其…不如, 宁可…也不, 相比之下
9. Formal verbs: 进行, 加以, 给予, 受到, 得到
10. Chengyu in use: meaning, grammar role and register
11. Talking about data: 倍, 分之, 百分点, 增长, 达到, 约, 将近
12. Negation in writing and speech: 未, 无, 非, 别, 甭, 不必, 不用, 没必要

Words for B2

HSK 5 vocabulary list, with pinyin and examples (B2): 800 words with pinyin, English and an example sentence.

Reading at B2

• 父亲的自行车: Personal essay: an old, rusty bicycle that the writer's father refuses to sell, and the winter mornings it carried them through.
• 送错的外卖: Short story with dialogue: a delivery rider knocks on the wrong door and an elderly woman asks him for a small favour, just as his order is about to be late.
• 敢说“下班”: Opinion column: why leaving the office on time takes courage in many companies, and why a culture of overtime helps no one.

Listening at B2

• Tea culture and history (TeaTime Chinese 茶歇中文): An episode of TeaTime Chinese about tea. It starts with the legend of Shennong discovering tea and the characters 荼 and 茶 (and why other languages say 'tea' or 'cha'). It then covers Lu Yu's Classic of Tea in the Tang dynasty, how tea reached Europe and Britain, three famous teas (Longjing, Tieguanyin and Pu'er), and young Chinese people's turn to milk tea and coffee.
• Culture: filial piety (TeaTime Chinese 茶歇中文): The host admits she stays in a dull internship to please her parents, then explains filial piety. She covers Confucius's definition, the Han-dynasty custom of recommending filial and honest men for office, three classic stories (Huang Xiang, Wu Meng and Jiang Ge), and the good and bad sides of the tradition today.
• Homes and ways of life (一条Yit): Wangzai, an Iranian who has lived in China for 13 years, rented an almost-collapsed old house near Moganshan for 20 years. With his wife he rebuilt it in a mix of Persian and Chinese styles for about 200,000 yuan. He talks about his architect father, his paintings mixing Iranian and Chinese myths, and a quiet village life with their baby.
• Homes and ways of life (一条Yit): A couple from northeast China moved to Dali in 2022 and now work three days a week. Their old Bai-style courtyard is full of salvaged doors and lamps and a kang table from her late grandfather, and they live with two dogs and 15 cats. They also run 'open table' dinners that he cooks with Yunnan herbs, fruit and mushrooms.
• Physics: collisions (李永乐老师): Li Yongle uses momentum and Newton's second law to answer a viewer's question. He shows why impact force grows with the square of speed, and why two equal cars colliding at 60 km/h are like one car hitting a wall at 60, not at 120. He then explains why a plane hitting a bird is a different case.

Questions