Speak Chinese from Day One
Like Duolingo, but for Speak Chinese from Day One. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.
230 levels across 10 sections, about 460 minutes end to end, roughly 92 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Your First Conversation, Ordering Food and Drinks, Mastering the Four Tones, Getting Around the City, Shopping and Bargaining, Building Real Sentences, Cracking the Character Code, Family and Daily Life, Handling Real Situations, and The Logic Under the Hood. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in Speak Chinese from Day One
- Hǎo means good or well
- Zài means again
- Chinese greetings follow a 'Subject + Hǎo' structure
- Jiàn means to see
- Applying the 'Person + Good' logic to a specific person
- Understanding the literal meaning of Zàijiàn
- Nín is the respectful form of 'you'
- Nǐ is the standard/informal 'you'
- Ma is a question particle
- Adding Ma transforms a statement into a yes/no question
- Distinguishing between formal and informal pronouns in greetings
- The standard response to Nǐ hǎo is Nǐ hǎo
- The title or person comes before the word 'good'
- Formal vs informal pronouns
- Greetings are often mirrored in Chinese culture
- Lǎoshī means teacher
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Speak Chinese from Day One the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
When you greet someone in Chinese, you are essentially telling them they are what?
Get it right to open this lesson and 229 more in the app.
Where Speak Chinese from Day One takes you
Skip the boring grammar drills and start talking immediately. Master the tones, survive your first trip to China, and unlock the secrets of the world's most spoken language.
- 1
Your First Conversation
- Saying hello and goodbye
- How to introduce yourself
- The magic of 'thank you' and 'sorry'
- Asking if someone speaks English
- Using numbers 1 to 10
- 2
Ordering Food and Drinks
- Ordering your first bubble tea
- Pointing and choosing at a restaurant
- Asking for the bill
- Common street food snacks
- 3
Mastering the Four Tones
- Why tone changes everything
- The high flat tone
- The rising 'question' tone
- The dipping and falling tones
- Telling 'Mother' apart from 'Horse'
- The hidden fifth neutral tone
- 4
Getting Around the City
- Taking a taxi or Didi
- Finding the nearest bathroom
- Buying a subway ticket
- Left, right, and straight ahead
- 5
Shopping and Bargaining
- Asking 'How much is this?'
- Colors and sizes
- The art of asking for a discount
- Paying with your phone
- Big numbers: hundreds and thousands
- 6
Building Real Sentences
- The 'Subject-Verb-Object' secret
- Talking about what you want
- Describing people and things
- 7
Cracking the Character Code
- Pictures that became words
- The basic building blocks of characters
- How to type in Chinese on your phone
- Reading signs on the street
- The logic of Chinese handwriting
- 8
Family and Daily Life
- Talking about your family
- What do you do for work?
- Hobbies and free time
- Days of the week and time
- Describing your home
- 9
Handling Real Situations
- Making a phone call
- What to say at the doctor
- Dealing with emergencies
- Expressing feelings and opinions
- 10
The Logic Under the Hood
- Why Chinese has no verb tenses
- Measure words: the 'slices' of language
- How 'Ma' turns statements into questions
- The history of Mandarin and dialects
- Formal vs. informal speaking
10 sections · 46 units · 230 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
Speak Chinese from Day One is taught in the The Bestie style: your friend who just gets it. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start Speak Chinese from Day One today.
Download Tomo, search Speak Chinese from Day One, and play your first lesson in under a minute.