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Learn Chinese

Build Chinese vocabulary from what you read

In short

Chinese (中文) is a broad language label; this guide focuses on Standard Mandarin, its characters, tones and grammar. With Rememberry, translate words on the page, save the meanings you need and review them as flashcards in the mobile app. You can also generate Chinese cards for a topic you choose.

Build Chinese vocabulary from real reading

Treat the tone as part of each word, and keep characters, pinyin, audio and a short example on the same card.

  • Translate Chinese in place

    Select a word or phrase in Chinese while reading and compare the available meanings, parts of speech and pronunciation near the text.

  • Remember with spaced repetition

    Rememberry schedules saved Chinese words from your review history and recall difficulty.

  • Hear it spoken

    Listen to Chinese with text to speech, or let Playback read your cards in sequence.

  • Generate cards for a topic you choose

    In the mobile app, generate Chinese cards for a topic you choose, then practice them in your own AI chat.

Chinese at a glance

See how Chinese writing, pronunciation and grammar shape what you need to notice.

Writing and sound

中文 is broader than Mandarin; this overview focuses on Standard Chinese, or Standard Mandarin. Mandarin uses characters in simplified or traditional forms, Hanyu Pinyin to show pronunciation, and four lexical tones plus a neutral tone.

Grammar and usage

Mandarin verbs do not conjugate for person or tense; time, aspect and context are expressed through word order and particles. Number phrases usually place a classifier between the number and the noun.

What to notice as a learner

Treat the tone as part of every word, and learn characters in two- or three-character words rather than as isolated symbols. A short example keeps pronunciation, meaning, classifier and context connected.

Interesting facts

  • 中文 can refer broadly to Chinese language and writing; Chinese also includes major varieties such as Cantonese, Wu, Min and Hakka, not merely accents of Mandarin.
  • Simplified and traditional characters are writing systems, not different spoken languages, and many characters are identical in both.

From reading to remembering

You look up a word to keep reading. Rememberry helps you practice it afterward, so it doesn't just disappear.

  • Select a word or phrase in Chinese while you read. The translation opens near the text, so you stay on the page.
  • Compare meanings, hear the pronunciation when it is available and save the sense that fits as a flashcard.
  • Review cards when they are due. Your cards and study progress stay in sync between the extension and app.
  • When that vocabulary shows up on pages you visit, Rememberry highlights it so you meet Chinese words in context.
  • Continue in the mobile app with synced cards, offline study, Playback and card generation for a topic you choose.

Start your Chinese deck

Add Rememberry to your browser, then open the mobile app to keep learning Chinese from what you read and the decks you generate.