Practical Chinese guides
Learn Chinese for the moment you are in.
Start with a real situation: a restaurant, taxi, hotel, airport, shop, doctor, or a simple greeting.
How to Ask for the Bathroom in Chinese
Learn how to ask where the bathroom is in Chinese, with clear audio, pinyin, polite phrases, and a short real-life dialogue.
Open guide Travel Chinese essentialChinese Taxi Phrases for Travelers
Use these essential Chinese taxi phrases to find a taxi, go to the airport, ask about fares, and get help when you are lost.
Open guide Listening lessonHow to Order Food in Chinese
Learn practical Chinese restaurant phrases for water, less spice, food preferences, and asking for the bill with natural Mandarin audio.
Open guide Listening lessonChinese Hotel Phrases for Travelers
Learn Chinese for hotel check-in, a reservation, breakfast time, checkout, and room problems, with tone-mark pinyin and spoken examples.
Open guide Emergency Chinese essentialChinese Emergency Phrases for Travelers
Learn essential emergency Chinese phrases for asking for help, calling the police, finding a doctor, and reporting a lost passport.
Open guide Health Chinese essentialChinese Doctor and Health Phrases
Use these beginner Chinese health phrases to say you feel unwell, describe a headache, and ask for a doctor in a real situation.
Open guide Shopping Chinese essentialChinese Shopping and Payment Phrases
Learn practical Chinese phrases for asking the price, paying by card, asking for a discount, and shopping with confidence.
Open guide Beginner Chinese essentialBasic Chinese Greetings for Beginners
Learn the first Chinese greetings beginners actually use: hello, good morning, thank you, excuse me, and goodbye with audio and pinyin.
Open guide Listening lessonChinese Phrases When You Do Not Speak Chinese
Learn what to say in Chinese when you speak only a little Mandarin, need English, or want someone to repeat something more clearly.
Open guide Listening lessonChinese Airport Phrases for Travelers
Learn Chinese for airport check-in, counters, boarding gates, and boarding times, with audio, tone-mark pinyin, and situation practice.
Open guide First conversation essentialHow to Introduce Yourself in Chinese
Learn a short Chinese self-introduction with hello, your name, nice to meet you, and a simple way to say you speak a little Mandarin.
Open guide Listening lessonHow to Ask for Directions in Chinese
Learn practical Chinese direction phrases for asking where a place is and understanding left, right, straight ahead, and distance.
Open guide Food safety essentialChinese Food Allergy Phrases for Travelers
Communicate a peanut allergy in Chinese, ask about ingredients and sauces, and understand uncertain replies, with pinyin and audio.
Open guide Listening lessonChinese Metro and Subway Phrases
Ask for a metro exit, confirm a line transfer, and say you are getting off in Mandarin.
Open guide Chat reading lessonChinese WeChat Phrases for New Contacts
Ask to add a WeChat contact, agree who scans, and send a short first message, location, or photo.
Open guide Listening lessonChinese Mobile Payment Phrases
Understand who scans the payment code and ask about card or cash when a mobile payment does not go through.
Open guide Listening lessonChinese Train Station Phrases for High-Speed Rail
Ask about the ticket gate, platform, and seat, or request a ticket change at a Chinese railway station.
Open guide Listening lessonHow to Say No Spicy in Chinese
Ask for no chili, less chili, or chili on the side in Mandarin, and listen for what the kitchen can actually change.
Open guide Practical Mandarin guideChinese Phrases for Trying on Clothes
Ask to try on clothes in Mandarin, then choose between the next size up and a looser fit in the fitting room.
Open guide Listening lessonChinese Restaurant Reservation Phrases
Book a table by phone, give your reservation name, move the time, and ask how long the wait is.
Open guide Practical Mandarin guideHow to Describe Symptoms in Chinese
Describe where it hurts, when it started, and whether it comes and goes in Mandarin. Prepare a short note for a clinician.
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