Learn Chinese
in the right order
Self-study Mandarin from zero to HSK 6. No signup to try it: a demo of the study room is right below, and full access is $49 once, yours for life.
Self-study Mandarin from zero to HSK 6. No signup to try it: a demo of the study room is right below, and full access is $49 once, yours for life.
That's the real study room. All 829 topics unlock for $49 once, yours for life. One payment, no subscription.
Learn the words that let you ask for the rest.
Sized by how much each word lets you ask for.
Point, ask what it is called, and every answer is another word. You never switch to English.
这个中文怎么说？points at a tree
How do you say this in Chinese?
这个叫树。这种叫梧桐。
This is called a tree. This kind is a plane tree.
很多树在一起叫什么？ask for the bigger word
What do you call a lot of trees together?
叫森林。
A forest.
这个部分叫什么？points at a branch
What is this part called?
这是树枝。
That's a branch.
你最喜欢哪一种？
Which kind do you like best?
我喜欢桂花树，很香。
I like osmanthus — it smells wonderful.
你老家也有吗？now it is about them
Do you have them in your hometown too?
有，我们那儿到处都是。
Yes, they're everywhere where I'm from.
你拿到了 树梧桐森林树枝桂花香
这个叫什么？
What’s this called?
这是拖把，拖地用的。我们家每天拖两次，孩子小，地上老是不干净。
This is a mop, for mopping the floor. We mop twice a day — the kids are little, so the floor is never clean.
你刚才说的最后一个词是什么？take out the one word, not the whole sentence again
What was the last word you just said?
拖地。就是拿它把地上弄干净。
Mopping the floor. You use it to get the floor clean.
是第几声？
Which tone is that?
第一声，拖。拖地、拖鞋，都是这个拖。
First tone — tuō. Mopping, slippers: same tuō in both.
我说得对不对？you own it now
Did I say that correctly?
对，很清楚。有人说得快，听着像拖的，其实是拖地。
Right, very clear. Some people say it fast so it sounds like tuō de, but it's tuō dì.
可以写一下吗？
Could you write that down?
我写给你看。左边是提手旁，用手做的事都有它。
I'll write it for you. The left side is the hand radical — anything done with the hands has it.
你拿到了 拖把拖地拖鞋提手旁
这道菜叫什么？
What’s this dish called?
这是麻婆豆腐。
That's mapo tofu.
里面有什么？
What is inside?
豆腐、肉末、花椒。
Tofu, ground pork, Sichuan pepper.
你刚才说的最后一个词是什么？mine their sentence
What was the last word you just said?
花椒。
Sichuan pepper.
什么意思？
What does that mean?
一种调料，吃了嘴巴会麻。
A spice — it makes your mouth tingle.
你们那儿有什么好吃的？
What’s good to eat where you’re from?
你拿到了 麻婆豆腐豆腐肉末花椒调料麻
那只鸟叫什么名字？
What’s that bird called?
那是喜鹊。
That's a magpie.
这个名字是什么意思？
What does this name mean?
喜是高兴的意思，看见它是好事。
Xǐ means happy — seeing one is a good sign.
真的吗？
Really?
老人都这么说。
That's what the old folks say.
还有别的吗？keep them talking
Is there anything else?
还有燕子，春天来。
There are swallows too — they come in spring.
你拿到了 喜鹊喜燕子春天
I'm Carson. I studied Mandarin at Middlebury, at ICLP in Taipei, and as a Yenching Scholar at Peking University. That's me in the video. Those programs work. They also cost thousands and demand you drop your life to attend.
GraphChinese is that path, self-study: one graph of everything the language requires, ordered so you can start asking questions in Chinese long before you can read a newspaper. You only need a little of the language to ask a native speaker what things are called. That is how the rest arrives. Nothing you learn is allowed to fade, and no topic is ever locked away from you. Streak apps keep beginners renewing forever. I want the opposite: pay once, own your timeline, actually get there.
Watch “Meet the Yenching Scholars” on YouTube
Carson 木林森
Not for you? Email and we refund it. We would rather do that than have you feel stuck.
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Immersion programs cost thousands and streak apps are priced to keep you renewing forever. Pay $49 once for lifetime access and never think about it again.
Since April 2026 Duolingo says its Chinese course reaches CEFR B2, and it is not organised by HSK. HelloChinese publishes no end level. GraphChinese starts at zero and runs HSK 0 to 6 on one graph of 829 topics, with reviews scheduled so nothing you learn fades. $49 once, no subscription. See how the apps compare.
Email carson@graphchinese.com and we refund it. No form, no window to miss, and you do not have to explain yourself. The terms put it the same way: we would rather refund you than have you feel stuck.
No. The free placement test finds exactly where your knowledge ends and starts you there. You can test out of anything you already know, and you are never made to re-grind it.
Because a handful of question words buys you a teacher. Once you can point at something and ask what it is called, pull out the one word of the answer you missed, and keep someone talking, every conversation you have starts feeding you vocabulary. We measured it against our own course: the words that get you asking arrive in a few hundred characters, where reading fluency takes a few thousand. Reading and HSK run alongside from day one and take over as you go.
Both. Flip the Sim./Trad. toggle in the header and the whole platform follows, including this page, right now.
No. Tones, pinyin, and your first characters sit at the base of the graph, and the course teaches them. The free placement test tells you whether you can skip them.
Everything: every topic from zero to HSK 6, character writing, conversation training, placement, spaced repetition. $49 once, yours for life — one payment, no subscription, no upsells, and every future update included.
3 minutes, no signup. The graph shows the rest.
Drag to rotate · scroll or pinch to zoom · tap a dot · tap a level to isolate it · hover a region label to highlight it
Start from absolute zero and follow one path through every HSK level. Topics come in prerequisite order, none is locked, and each review is scheduled for you.
One payment, yours for life. No subscription clock running while you take a slow month.
Not for you? Email and we refund it. We would rather do that than have you feel stuck.
Full lifetime access: every HSK level (0 → 6), the knowledge graph, spaced repetition and all future updates.
Anonymous by default. Once it’s written you can choose a name to put it under — or leave it without one.
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