Chinese Learning Resources: The Best Tools for Every Skill

沉浸 TeamAugust 11, 20265 min read

There are more Chinese learning resources than any one learner could use, and that's the problem. This guide is the short list: the best tool or two for each skill (reading, listening, speaking, vocabulary, characters, grammar, tones), what's free, and what's worth paying for. Pick one resource per skill, then spend your energy on hours, not on shopping.

Quick note on how we chose: everything here is either something we built at Chenjin (marked clearly) or a tool with a long track record among serious learners. No affiliate links, and we list weaknesses.

Reading: graded readers and story libraries

Reading at your level is the single highest-value habit in Chinese, so this section comes first.

Chenjin (ours). A library of graded stories and full novels from HSK 2 to 7 with tap-to-look-up words, native audio, pinyin toggles, and one-tap flashcards. The free plan gives you 3 stories a day plus a complete 12-chapter novel, The Country of the Blind.
Mandarin Companion and Chinese Breeze (print). The classic paper graded-reader series, adapted classics and originals. Great for screen-free reading; no built-in dictionary, so they shine slightly above your comfort level. Our best books guide reviews the series in depth.
Du Chinese and The Chairman's Bao. Story-lesson and news-lesson apps with synced audio. Full reviews: Du Chinese, The Chairman's Bao.

Not sure what level to read at? Start with our complete reading guide by level.

Dictionaries

Pleco (iOS/Android). The gold-standard mobile dictionary: fast, offline, with handwriting input and OCR add-ons. The free core is excellent. Every serious learner ends up with Pleco installed.
Chenjin's dictionary (ours, free). Every HSK word has a public page with stroke-order animation, a word-family map, radical breakdown, and audio; try 学习 (xuéxí, to study). Because it's built into the reader, lookups happen mid-story without switching apps.

Vocabulary and spaced repetition

Anki (free on desktop/Android). The most powerful SRS ever built, endlessly customizable, with shared Chinese decks. Downside: setup friction and the temptation to study decks of words you've never met in context.
Chenjin's built-in SRS (ours). Tap a word in any story and it's a flashcard with the sentence attached; reviews use the modern FSRS scheduler. If Anki is already your home base, Chenjin syncs new cards straight into it via AnkiConnect.
HSK word lists. Useful as a map, not a curriculum. Browse all 11,000 HSK 3.0 words free at our vocabulary explorer.

Characters and handwriting

Free printable practice sheets (ours). Our character practice sheet generator prints 田字格 grid worksheets with stroke-order diagrams for any characters you paste in.
Skritter (paid). The best app for handwriting practice specifically: you draw characters on screen with stroke-level feedback. Worth it if handwriting matters to you; skippable if you mainly type.
Component thinking (free habit). Whatever tool you use, learn characters by their parts. Our how to read Chinese roadmap explains the system.

Listening

Audio attached to your reading. The cheapest listening gain there is: hear every story you read. All Chenjin stories include native-quality audio with per-sentence playback and speed control.
Learner podcasts. ChinesePod's archive (huge, conversational) and Teatime Chinese (calm, intermediate-friendly) are reliable picks. For beginners, slow-Chinese style podcasts bridge the gap to native speed.
YouTube with a mining tool. Once you're intermediate, real videos become study material if you can look words up from the subtitles. Chenjin's video study mode and Chrome extension let you save words and sentences straight from what you watch.

Speaking and pronunciation

Tone Coach (ours). Record yourself mimicking a native sentence and see your pitch curve overlaid on the speaker's, with per-syllable scoring. Tones are the one skill where visual feedback beats ears alone; try it at /tone-coach.
italki and Preply (paid). Marketplaces for 1-on-1 tutors, typically $10–25 per hour for community tutors. One session a week converts your input into conversation. More options in Chinese classes for adults.
Dictation practice (ours). Hear a sentence, type it or say it back, get graded character by character. Built into every Chenjin story in typing, cloze, and voice modes.

Grammar

Chinese Grammar Wiki (free). The reference every learner bookmarks: thousands of patterns organized by level, with examples. Use it to look things up, not to read cover to cover.
Pattern-tagged reading (ours). Chenjin stories highlight the grammar patterns they contain, so you meet 越来越 or 把 in a real scene first and read the explanation second. That ordering, example before rule, is how grammar becomes instinct.

Structured beginner courses

For your first few months, a guided course keeps you moving:

HelloChinese (app). The best gamified zero-to-beginner course; strong speech recognition drills. Runs thin after HSK 3. Full review: HelloChinese review.
Yoyo Chinese (video). Clear English-language video teaching, especially good for pronunciation foundations. Full review: Yoyo Chinese review.

For the app landscape overall, including free options, see best apps to learn Chinese, and for what the newest AI features add, AI-based Chinese learning apps.

Free tools worth bookmarking

Chinese to pinyin converter: paste any Chinese text, get word-aware pinyin with tone marks or numbers.
Character practice sheet generator: printable grid worksheets with stroke order.
HSK vocabulary explorer: every HSK 3.0 word, browsable by level.
The Country of the Blind: a complete free 12-chapter graded novel at HSK 3.

How to combine all this (without drowning)

A complete stack is smaller than you'd think:

Beginner: one course app + tone practice + our phrases and words lists.
Upper beginner onward: a graded reading library + SRS + audio, which covers reading, listening, and vocabulary in one habit.
Whenever you're ready to speak: one weekly tutor session.

That's three moving parts. The full method is in our pillar guide, how to learn Chinese.

Want the reading, SRS, tones, and dictation pieces in one place? Create a free Chenjin account: 3 graded stories a day, a full free novel, and flashcards that build themselves while you read.