Best Apps to Learn Chinese for Beginners

HelloChinese

HelloChinese is one of the easiest starting points for many beginners because it combines pinyin, tones, listening, sentence patterns, speaking prompts, and review in a mobile-first lesson path.

It makes the most sense if you want a beginner app that feels guided but still interactive. It is especially useful if you are starting from zero and want Chinese-specific practice instead of a general language-game format.

• Best for true beginners who want structure.
• Useful for pinyin, tones, basic sentences, and early listening.
• Good as a main app for the first stage.
• Still needs support from reading, listening, and speaking tools later.

Yoyo Chinese

Yoyo Chinese (web-based course) is a better fit if you want clear explanations and a more course-like learning path. It is less about tapping through quick drills and more about understanding how Mandarin works.

It is a strong choice for learners who want help with pronunciation, tones, beginner grammar, and character learning in a guided format.

• Best for beginners who like teacher-led explanations.
• Useful for pinyin, tones, grammar, and structured progression.
• Good if you want more explanation than a gamified app gives.
• Less casual than apps built mainly for daily streaks.

Duolingo

Duolingo can help you build a daily habit, but it should not be your only Chinese learning system if you are serious about Mandarin.

Chinese has early problems that need more support: tones, pinyin, character recognition, listening, and sentence order. Duolingo can be useful as extra repetition, but it is too light to carry the whole job.

• Best for habit building and casual review.
• Useful as a low-pressure extra app.
• Good if it keeps you studying every day.
• Weak as a complete Mandarin course.

ChineseSkill

ChineseSkill is another beginner-friendly app with Chinese-specific practice. It can be useful if you want a lighter app-style learning path and extra reinforcement.

It is best treated as a beginner support tool rather than the only resource you use. If you like its format, it can help you practice basics, but you will still need stronger listening, reading, and reference tools over time.

• Best for beginner reinforcement.
• Useful for extra practice after HelloChinese or another course app.
• Good if you want Chinese-specific drills in a lighter format.
• Not strong enough to be your only long-term learning system.

Pleco

Pleco is one of the most useful Chinese learning apps even though it is not a course. It is a dictionary and reference tool that can stay useful for years.

Beginners can use it to look up words, check pinyin, compare example sentences, inspect characters, and support whatever course or reading app they use.

• Best as a dictionary and reference app.
• Useful from beginner level through advanced study.
• Works well beside HelloChinese, Yoyo Chinese, Du Chinese, Anki, or tutor lessons.
• Not a complete learning path by itself.

Skritter

Skritter is for character writing, stroke order, and active recall. It is useful if handwriting, exams, or deeper character memory matter to you.

It should usually be a secondary app. If you are still struggling with pinyin, tones, and basic word order, start with a broader beginner course first.

• Best for handwriting, stroke order, and active character recall.
• Useful if you want stroke-level feedback and spaced review for hard characters.
• Good for learners preparing for handwriting-heavy study, exams, or deeper character memory.
• Too specialized to be your main beginner app unless writing is your primary goal.

Anki

Anki is powerful for spaced repetition, but it is not always beginner-friendly. It works best when you already have real material to review from lessons, reading, tutor sessions, or your own vocabulary notes.

Use Anki when you know what you want to remember. Do not start by collecting huge decks that do not match your current level.

• Best for custom spaced repetition.
• Useful for reviewing words, sentences, characters, audio cards, or material from your own lessons.
• Good if you are willing to manage decks and keep reviews realistic.
• Can become a distraction if you collect too many cards before building real input and sentence exposure.

Du Chinese

Du Chinese is one of the strongest reading apps for learners who want graded stories and articles with audio, translations, and level-based progression.

It is usually better after you know basic pinyin, common words, and simple sentence patterns. At that point, it helps you connect vocabulary, grammar, characters, and listening in real context.

• Best for graded reading and reading-with-audio practice.
• Useful when you want tap-to-translate support, pinyin help, and native-speaker audio while reading.
• Good after you have enough basics to follow short learner-level stories.
• Not the best first app if you still need a full beginner course for pinyin, tones, and sentence patterns.

Yabla Chinese

Yabla Chinese is useful when your main problem becomes listening. It uses video, subtitles, replay tools, and vocabulary support to help you understand spoken Mandarin more gradually.

It is best for upper beginners and intermediate learners who already know the basics and need more exposure to real speech.

• Best for listening practice with real or learner-friendly video.
• Useful for interactive subtitles, dictionary lookup, slow playback, looped replay, and vocabulary review.
• Good if you already have a course app and need more Mandarin input.
• Less suitable as your only tool if you are starting from zero.

The Chairman’s Bao

The Chairman’s Bao is another useful graded reading option, especially if you like news-style or article-style content.

It can feel more content-heavy than a pure beginner app, so it usually makes more sense after you have a foundation and want more regular reading practice.

• Best for learners who want graded articles rather than short course lessons.
• Useful for reading practice with level-based texts, audio, vocabulary support, and grammar notes.
• Good if news-style topics help you stay interested.
• Less ideal as a first beginner app because it assumes you are ready to read regularly.

LingQ

LingQ is good for learners who like input-heavy study through reading, listening, and vocabulary collection.

It can be powerful, but it may feel overwhelming if you are an absolute beginner. It works better once you can handle some basic Chinese text and want more independent input.

• Best for input-heavy reading and listening.
• Useful if you like saving new words, tracking known vocabulary, and learning from texts with audio.
• Good for learners who want more independent content after the first beginner stage.
• Can feel too open-ended if you still need a guided Mandarin curriculum.

italki

italki is not a normal self-study app, but it can help once you need speaking feedback. A tutor can correct tones, word choice, sentence rhythm, and unnatural phrasing in a way most apps cannot.

• Best for live speaking practice and personalized correction.
• Useful for pronunciation, tones, conversation confidence, exam prep, or working through a textbook with a teacher.
• Good when you are ready to speak with a real person instead of only tapping through app exercises.
• Tutor quality, teaching style, availability, and lesson cost vary, so try carefully before committing.

Preply

Preply is another tutor marketplace for live speaking practice. It can be useful if you want scheduled lessons and human correction, but tutor quality, lesson style, and ongoing cost vary.

• Best for scheduled one-on-one tutoring.
• Useful when you want a tutor matched to your goals, level, schedule, and budget.
• Good for learners who need accountability and regular speaking practice.
• Not a replacement for daily self-study; you still need review, listening, reading, and vocabulary work between lessons.