Chinese Learning Apps
Build your Chinese skills with apps for structured lessons, vocabulary, listening, speaking, reading, AI-powered practice, gamified learning and more.
Looking for something more specialized? Browse our full Mandarin Resource Directory for dedicated pages on courses, books, dictionaries, Chinese characters and other learning resources.
AI Conversation & Speaking Apps
LingoLooper is an AI-powered speaking practice app that lets learners practice Mandarin through open-ended conversations with virtual characters in everyday settings such as cafés, workplaces, parks and clinics. Conversations adapt to your level, with suggested phrases, slower playback, saved vocabulary, transcripts, and feedback designed to help improve speaking, grammar and fluency. LingoLooper is free to try, but continued practice requires a paid subscription. Available on Android and iOS.
Free Trial / Paid
Pingo AI is an AI-powered language-learning app focused on speaking and conversation practice, with Mandarin Chinese among its supported languages. Learners can have interactive conversations and role-plays based on everyday situations, practice listening and responding in real time, and receive feedback on pronunciation, grammar, and word choice. Pingo adapts conversations and lessons to the learner’s level and goals, making it useful for building speaking confidence and conversational fluency. The app offers a free trial, but full conversation practice, custom chats, personalized lessons and other features require a Pingo Pro subscription. Available on Android and iOS.
Free Trial / Paid
Talkpal AI is an AI-powered language tutor for practicing Mandarin through interactive conversations, speaking and writing exercises, roleplays, dialogue practice, pronunciation assessment, and personalized feedback. Learners can practice realistic situations, receive corrections, and use different AI modes for conversation, vocabulary, sentences, and speaking practice. A free Basic plan provides limited daily use, while paid Premium plans unlock unlimited practice and the full range of AI modes and features. Available on the web, Android and iOS.
Limited Free / Paid
Tenmin is an AI-powered language tutor that supports Mandarin Chinese and focuses heavily on speaking and conversational practice. Learners can have real-time conversations with an AI tutor, receive pronunciation and correction feedback, work through personalized lessons, practice roleplay scenarios, switch between their native and target languages, and use an interactive whiteboard for vocabulary and visual explanations. Tenmin is free to download and offers limited free use, with subscriptions for expanded access. Available on the web, Android and iOS.
Limited Free / PaidGamified Chinese Learning Apps
★ Structured Chinese Course. ChineseSkill is a gamified Chinese learning app for beginners, with courses in Mainland Mandarin, Taiwan Mandarin and Cantonese. Lessons cover vocabulary, grammar, listening, speaking, pronunciation, tones, reading, writing, and Chinese characters, with native-speaker audio, speech feedback, handwriting practice, review activities and mini-games. Simplified and traditional characters are supported, along with Pinyin or Zhuyin depending on the course. Available on iOS and Android.
Free / Paid
★ Gamified Chinese Character Writing Practice. Chinese Writer by trainchinese turns character writing into a timed game: characters fall down the screen, and you must write them correctly before they reach the bottom. It provides stroke-order guidance, pronunciation, meanings, HSK-based character packs, and extra review of characters you miss. Available on Andriod and iOS
Free / Paid
★ Gamified Chinese Vocabulary Practice. Drops makes Mandarin vocabulary practice feel more like a game, using short sessions, colorful illustrations, matching and swipe activities, spaced repetition, achievements, and rewards. It focuses primarily on building and reviewing useful words and phrases rather than teaching a complete Chinese course, making it best as a supplement for learners who want a quick, visually engaging way to expand their vocabulary. Drops is free to use with limitations, while Premium unlocks unlimited learning time, additional game modes, offline access and other features. Available on the web, Android and iOS.
Free / Paid
★ Casual Practice. Duolingo teaches Simplified Chinese through short, bite-sized lessons that practice vocabulary, reading, listening, speaking and writing. Game-like features such as XP, streaks, levels, rewards, and leaderboards encourage regular practice and make it easy to fit a few lessons into your day. Duolingo is free to use, with optional paid subscriptions and in-app purchases for additional features. Available for iOS and Android.
Free / Paid
★ Comprehensive Beginner Chinese Course. HelloChinese is a gamified Mandarin learning app designed especially for beginners. Short, interactive lessons build listening, speaking, reading, writing, pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary skills through games, speech recognition, handwriting practice, native-speaker videos, and graded stories. The course follows a structured progression based on HSK levels and supports both simplified and traditional Chinese. Available on iOS and Android.
Free / Paid
★ Structured Chinese Course with Game-Like Practice. LingoDeer offers a guided Mandarin Chinese course covering vocabulary, grammar, sentence building, reading, listening, and pronunciation from beginner through intermediate levels. Lessons are short and interactive, with native-speaker audio, quizzes, flashcards, review exercises and progress tracking to reinforce what you learn. Available on iOS and Android.
Free /Paid
★ HSK-Based Gamified Chinese Course. Ninchanese combines a structured Chinese course with game-like progression, achievements, leaderboards, challenges, and colorful characters to keep learners motivated. Work through lessons from HSK 1–6 while practicing vocabulary, characters, grammar, listening, speaking and sentence building, with spaced repetition helping reinforce what you learn. The app supports both simplified and traditional Chinese. Available on iOS and Android.
★ Comprehensive Chinese Course. SuperChinese combines structured Mandarin lessons with AI-powered personalization and gamification to keep learners engaged. Work through 400+ lessons across nine levels while practicing vocabulary, pinyin, grammar, listening, speaking, reading, and character writing, with thematic lessons, animated videos, speech practice and spaced repetition reinforcing what you learn. An AI proficiency test helps place learners at an appropriate level, making the app suitable for beginners through more advanced students. Available on iOS and Android.
Free PaidStructured Chinese Learning Apps
★ Structured, gamified Chinese lessons combine core language skills with AI speaking practice and real-life scenarios. Chinesia is a Chinese learning app for beginners and more advanced learners, with lessons covering vocabulary, grammar, pinyin, pronunciation, listening, speaking, reading, writing and Chinese characters. Courses include HSK-focused material, interactive exercises, situational videos and AI role-play conversations for practicing everyday communication. Core courses are free, with optional paid subscriptions for additional content and features. Available on Android and iOS.
★ HSK-Based Chinese Study & Practice. Chinesimple offers separate apps for HSK 1–6, combining structured HSK study with a wide variety of interactive practice. Work on vocabulary, grammar, reading, listening, pronunciation, and character writing through flashcards, games, example sentences, native audio, stories, handwriting exercises, stroke-order animations, and HSK-style practice tests. The apps support both HSK 2.0 and newer HSK 3.0 vocabulary and are free to download, with ads and optional paid PRO features. Learn more on the Khanji School website or browse the Chinesimple HSK apps for Android and iOS.
★ Context-Based Chinese Learning. Dong Chinese combines vocabulary, reading, listening, and character study in one adaptive learning platform. Learn new words through level-appropriate sentences, videos, songs, and other contextual material while practicing handwriting, stroke order, character components, and etymology. A built-in dictionary provides definitions, example sentences, frequency information, and stroke-order guidance, while progress tracking helps the app recommend material suited to your level. Available on the web and Android.
★ Sentence-Based Speaking & Listening Practice. Glossika uses thousands of sentences, native-speaker audio and spaced repetition to help you build listening comprehension, speaking fluency, vocabulary and an intuitive feel for grammar. Mandarin learners can choose Beijing or Taiwan Chinese and practice by listening, repeating, recording and working through sentence-based exercises. Glossika is best suited to learners who already know some basic Mandarin rather than those looking for step-by-step grammar instruction. Available on the web, android and iOS.
Free Trial / Paid
★ Structured Listening Practice From Beginner to Intermediate. Immersive Chinese is a carefully sequenced course designed to take learners from absolute beginner to intermediate-level spoken Chinese. Lessons begin with very simple sentences and introduce new vocabulary gradually, while continually recycling earlier material through built-in spaced repetition. The course includes thousands of sentences and audio recordings, simplified and traditional characters, manually segmented Pinyin, translations, detailed notes and audio recorded by a professional broadcaster. Beginner material includes separate normal and extra-slow recordings. Its Repetition Training tools let you loop selected material, control pauses and repetitions, change playback order and create custom study lists for focused listening practice. Audio can also be downloaded for offline study. Available on the web, Android and iOS.
Paid
★ Practical vocabulary, Listening and Speaking Practice. Memrise teaches Chinese through useful words and phrases, spaced review, native-speaker videos and speaking practice with AI conversation tools. A limited free plan includes some vocabulary lessons, videos and conversations, while Memrise Pro unlocks all vocabulary, native-speaker videos, unlimited speaking practice and removes ads. Available on the web, Android and iOS.
Limited Free / Paid
★ An all-in-one Mandarin app with guided lessons, AI speaking practice, HSK preparation, vocabulary tools and reading practice. Speak Chinese: Learn Mandarin provides structured learning for beginners through advanced learners, with lessons covering listening, speaking, reading and writing. Features include AI conversation practice and pronunciation feedback, HSK mock tests, character learning with visual mnemonics and stroke order, customizable spaced-repetition flashcards, graded reading and an integrated dictionary. The app is free to download, with in-app purchases and paid subscriptions for additional features and content. Available on Android and iOS.
Free / Paid
★ HSK Study & Test Preparation. SuperTest (formerly HSK Online) is designed specifically for learners preparing for the HSK. It offers HSK 1–6 vocabulary practice, listening, reading and writing exercises, detailed answer explanations, personalized review, mock exams, and previous real HSK tests so you can identify weak areas and practice under exam-style conditions. The app is free to download and use, with paid memberships unlocking full access to its courses and additional features. Available on the web, Android and iOS.
Free / PaidTV & Video Based Immersion Apps
FluentU helps Chinese learners build listening comprehension and vocabulary through authentic videos, including clips from movies, TV, music, news, and other real-world content. Interactive subtitles let you click Chinese words and characters for pinyin, definitions, and usage examples, while playback controls let you slow down or repeat difficult sections. You can save vocabulary for review, complete contextual quizzes, and also use supported Netflix and YouTube videos as learning material. FluentU is subscription-based with a free trial. Available on the web, Android and iOS.
Free Trial / Paid
Lexirise is an immersion-based language learning platform that helps Chinese learners study through content they already enjoy, including videos, comics and webtoons, podcasts, books, PDFs and other documents. Learners can tap words for definitions and translations, save vocabulary in context, and review saved words with spaced repetition. Lexirise also works with supported sites such as YouTube, Netflix, Bilibili, iQIYI, Crunchyroll and Webtoon, making it especially useful for learners who want to study through native content rather than a traditional course. A free Basic plan includes word lookup and saving, limited daily content, and up to 20 spaced-repetition reviews per day, while paid Pro plans remove many limits and add features such as sentence mining, AI transcription, vocabulary export, speaking practice, and additional review options. Available on the web, Android and iOS.
Free / Paid
Lingopie helps you practice Chinese through TV shows, movies, podcasts, audiobooks, music and other authentic media instead of a traditional lesson-by-lesson course. Interactive dual subtitles let you tap unfamiliar words for instant translations, replay lines, adjust playback speed, and save vocabulary for later review. Flashcards, quizzes, pronunciation tools and content for different proficiency levels add more focused practice. Available on web, Android and iOS.
Free Limited / Paid
Yabla helps learners improve listening, vocabulary, pronunciation, and comprehension through authentic videos featuring native Chinese speakers. Follow along with Chinese captions and English translations, slow or repeat difficult phrases, click words for definitions, and reinforce what you hear with vocabulary review, listening games, dictation, an interactive Pinyin chart, and tone-pair exercises. A limited selection of content is available free, while full access requires a subscription. Use Yabla on the web or iOS. Android users can access Yabla through its mobile website.
Free Limited / Paid