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Letitia Wu

Want to speak and understand everyday Chinese with confidence? The Everyday Chinese Challenge makes learning practical Mandarin easy and quick, no matter your experience level. With short, focused lessons, you’ll build solid skills for real-life conversations.

Imagine ordering food in a busy Chinese market or chatting with a local while travelling. From greetings to daily conversations, this course gives you practical language skills you can use immediately.

Read more

Want to speak and understand everyday Chinese with confidence? The Everyday Chinese Challenge makes learning practical Mandarin easy and quick, no matter your experience level. With short, focused lessons, you’ll build solid skills for real-life conversations.

Imagine ordering food in a busy Chinese market or chatting with a local while travelling. From greetings to daily conversations, this course gives you practical language skills you can use immediately.

Join now to start confidently speaking Mandarin, understanding Chinese culture, and connecting with native speakers. Don’t wait—embrace the challenge and see how fast you can learn.

What Exactly Will You Learn in This Course?

  1. Daily Conversation Skills: Master essential phrases and vocabulary for everyday interactions, from greetings to ordering food.

  2. Listening and Pronunciation: Improve your listening skills and pronunciation with video lessons and practice exercises.

  3. Practical Vocabulary: Learn useful words and sentences that you can use in real-life situations, enhancing your communication skills.

  4. Grammar and Sentence Structure: Understand the basics of Mandarin grammar, helping you to form sentences correctly and naturally.

  5. Cultural Insights: Gain insights into Chinese culture, traditions, and social norms to deepen your understanding and appreciation of the language.

  6. Interactive Learning: Engage with quizzes and interactive exercises after each lesson to reinforce your knowledge and track your progress.

After Taking This Course, You Will:

  • Speak Chinese confidently in everyday conversations, from ordering food to meeting new people.

  • Understand Basic Mandarin Grammar to help you build sentences and express yourself clearly.

  • Improve Your Listening Skills to understand native speakers more easily.

  • Gain Cultural Understanding to connect better with native speakers and navigate Chinese culture.

  • Track Your Progress and stay motivated with quizzes and exercises reinforcing your learning.

Start learning Mandarin today; in just over a month, you’ll be confident to engage in daily conversations. There’s no better time than now to challenge yourself and grow. Leap, and let’s begin this journey together. See you in class.

Enroll now

What's inside

Learning objectives

  • Speak confidently in daily life: learn key phrases and words for everyday conversations.
  • Improve listening and speaking: practice pronunciation and listening with easy lessons for quick progress.
  • Build grammar basics: understand basic sentence structures to make speaking easier.
  • Learn actively with exercises: strengthen your skills with interactive activities that keep learning fun.
  • Understand chinese culture: discover the meaning behind expressions to connect better with people.
  • Reach your fluency goals: follow a daily plan to improve steadily and gain confidence.

Syllabus

Introduction
Hello
ECC Day 1: Hello
Test yourself
Read more

Traffic lights

Read about what's good
what should give you pause
and possible dealbreakers
Provides a structured 36-day plan, which can help beginners stay motivated and track their progress in learning Mandarin Chinese
Focuses on practical vocabulary and phrases for everyday situations, such as ordering food and asking for directions, which are useful for travel
Includes interactive exercises and quizzes, which can reinforce learning and make the process more engaging for new language learners
Offers insights into Chinese culture and social norms, which can deepen understanding and appreciation of the language beyond just vocabulary
Covers basic Mandarin grammar and sentence structure, which helps learners form sentences correctly and express themselves more clearly
Includes a lesson on using WeChat and Alipay for payments, which are essential tools for daily life in China

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Reviews summary

Everyday practical chinese basics

According to hypothetical learners, the Everyday Chinese Challenge provides a practical introduction to Mandarin for beginners. The 36-day structure is highlighted as helping learners stay motivated and make quick progress. The course focuses on everyday conversation skills like ordering food and greetings. Interactive exercises are noted as useful for reinforcing learning. Some mention the fast pace requires daily commitment. Overall, it's seen as a good starting point for basic conversational Chinese.
Quizzes reinforce learning effectively
"The quizzes after each lesson helped me check my understanding right away."
"I liked having the interactive elements to practice what I learned."
"The exercises really made the lessons stick better in my memory."
Good starting point for new learners
"As a total beginner, I found this course easy to follow along with."
"It seems to assume no prior knowledge of Chinese at all."
"It's a gentle introduction to Mandarin basics for someone just starting."
The 36-day format keeps you on track
"The daily challenge structure helped me stay consistent with my learning."
"Breaking it down into 36 days made the goal feel manageable."
"I appreciated having a clear daily plan to follow to build habits."
Learn useful daily conversation skills
"I learned key phrases for ordering food and getting around."
"The focus on everyday situations is really helpful for me."
"I can use the vocabulary immediately in practical contexts."
36 days requires consistent effort
"Keeping up with the daily lessons was quite challenging at times."
"The pace is quite fast if you don't commit dedicated daily time to it."
"It definitely lives up to being a 'challenge' with the quick timeline!"

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Everyday Chinese Challenge: Master Mandarin in 36 Days with these activities:
Review Pinyin
Review the Pinyin system to ensure accurate pronunciation from the start.
Browse courses on Pinyin
Show steps
  • Find a Pinyin chart online or in a textbook.
  • Practice pronouncing each sound individually.
  • Practice pronouncing words using Pinyin.
Read "Chinese for Dummies"
Supplement the course with a beginner-friendly guide to Mandarin Chinese.
Show steps
  • Obtain a copy of "Chinese for Dummies."
  • Read the introductory chapters on pronunciation and basic grammar.
  • Focus on the sections related to daily conversations.
Practice Pronunciation with Online Tools
Improve pronunciation by using online tools to practice tones and sounds.
Show steps
  • Find a website or app with Mandarin pronunciation exercises.
  • Repeat after the native speaker recordings.
  • Record yourself and compare your pronunciation.
Four other activities
Expand to see all activities and additional details
Show all seven activities
Create Flashcards for Vocabulary
Reinforce vocabulary learning by creating flashcards for new words and phrases.
Show steps
  • Write the Chinese character, Pinyin, and English translation on each card.
  • Review the flashcards regularly.
  • Use the flashcards to test yourself.
Practice Conversations with a Language Partner
Enhance speaking skills by practicing conversations with a language partner.
Show steps
  • Find a language partner online or in person.
  • Prepare conversation topics based on the course material.
  • Practice speaking and listening to each other.
Record Yourself Speaking Mandarin
Improve speaking skills by recording yourself speaking Mandarin and identifying areas for improvement.
Show steps
  • Choose a short passage from the course material.
  • Record yourself reading the passage.
  • Listen to the recording and identify areas where you can improve your pronunciation or fluency.
Explore "Lonely Planet Mandarin Phrasebook & Dictionary"
Expand your vocabulary and practical phrases with a travel-oriented phrasebook.
Show steps
  • Obtain a copy of the "Lonely Planet Mandarin Phrasebook & Dictionary."
  • Browse the sections relevant to your interests, such as food or travel.
  • Practice using the phrases in real-life conversations.

Career center

Learners who complete Everyday Chinese Challenge: Master Mandarin in 36 Days will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:
Travel Agent
Travel agents plan and arrange trips for clients, which often includes interacting with international vendors or partners. This role requires effective communication skills in multiple languages, especially those common among international travelers. The Everyday Chinese Challenge course helps you gain practical Mandarin skills for everyday conversations, such as greetings, ordering food, and asking for directions, which will allow you to better assist clients traveling to China. By understanding Chinese cultural insights, you can also better advise clients on travel plans.
Tour Guide
A tour guide often interacts with people from diverse backgrounds. This role requires not only a deep understanding of local culture and history, but also the ability to speak with confidence in the local language. The Everyday Chinese Challenge course provides you with practical Mandarin skills for daily conversations, including greetings, ordering food, and asking for directions, which are essential when guiding tourists in China. This course helps you build a solid foundation in conversational Mandarin, allowing you to engage more comfortably and effectively with native Chinese speakers.
Hospitality Professional
Hospitality professionals, such as hotel staff, interact with guests from around the world in order to provide excellent service. The Everyday Chinese Challenge course helps you learn essential phrases and vocabulary for everyday interactions, such as greetings, ordering food and asking for directions, while also allowing you to improve your listening skills. This course helps you build a stronger foundation to better interact with Chinese-speaking clients. As a hospitality professional, you are often the first point of contact for a guest, making language skills and intercultural understanding crucial.
Import/Export Specialist
An import export specialist manages the logistics of international trade, often involving significant communication with overseas partners, suppliers, and distributors. The Everyday Chinese Challenge course provides you with practical Mandarin skills for everyday conversations, including greetings, ordering items, and negotiating prices, all of which may be helpful when working with Chinese language partners. The course also helps you understand Chinese culture, which can improve your ability to effectively collaborate with Chinese speakers.
Customer Service Representative
A customer service representative is often the first point of contact for customers. This role requires not only a polite and helpful demeanor, but the ability to communicate effectively in the language of the customer. This course will help you improve your listening skills and pronunciation, as well as build practical vocabulary that you can use in everyday situations. This course will help you gain the confidence to handle customer inquiries and requests. The Everyday Chinese Challenge also helps you build a sense of Chinese culture, which further improves your ability to effectively connect with customers.
Cultural Liaison
Cultural liaisons work to bridge understanding between different cultures. This role requires not only knowledge of cultural norms and traditions, but also the ability to communicate effectively in the language involved. This course in Mandarin helps you develop practical language skills for daily conversations, and also provides cultural insights such as understanding Chinese customs and social norms. A cultural liaison needs to understand not only the language but the culture behind it. The Everyday Chinese Challenge course may be a helpful step in building the background needed to work in this position.
Translator
Translators are responsible for converting written or spoken content from one language to another. This career requires a solid grounding in the nuances of both languages. This course, the Everyday Chinese Challenge, will help you understand spoken Mandarin, build basic sentence structure, and practice pronunciation. These skills are essential as a beginning to understanding how Chinese is used in daily life. Even if the translator role requires more advanced knowledge, this course helps you build a solid foundation.
International Sales Representative
An international sales representative works with clients from different countries and cultures. This role requires a strong understanding of the cultures the sales rep is working within. This course, the Everyday Chinese Challenge, may be useful to helping you learn the basics of conversational Mandarin, including greetings, discussing prices, and ordering food. This may help you understand practical language skills, as well as a deeper understanding of Chinese culture, both of which are important to building effective business relationships in China.
Language Instructor
Language instructors create lesson plans and teach language skills to students. This role requires not only a deep understanding of the language itself but also the ability to explain it clearly and practically. Through this course, you will gain a foundational understanding of Mandarin Chinese, learning how to teach basic sentence structures and everyday phrases. This course is useful because it gives the instructor a practical entry to Chinese used in daily life. The Everyday Chinese Challenge helps future language instructors understand the perspective of students learning Mandarin.
Global Marketing Specialist
A global marketing specialist develops and implements marketing strategies for international audiences. This role requires not only a knowledge of marketing but also an understanding of different cultures and languages. This course, the Everyday Chinese Challenge provides practical language skills for daily conversations as well as cultural insights. The course will help build a foundation for working with Mandarin speakers, and may be a useful step toward fully understanding the culture you will be working within. A global marketing specialist must be able to connect with diverse audiences.
Flight Attendant
Flight attendants are the face of the airline, and interact with people from many different backgrounds. This role requires not only a pleasant demeanor but the ability to communicate effectively with people who may have a variety of needs. This course will improve your listening skills and pronunciation, as well as provide you with practical vocabulary. The Everyday Chinese Challenge course may be useful by helping you build a foundation for understanding Chinese speakers and also better understand Chinese culture.
Market Research Analyst
Market research analysts gather and analyze data about consumer behavior and market trends, often in international contexts. This role requires not only an analytical mindset, but also an understanding of the cultural and linguistic nuances of different markets. The practical Mandarin skills gained from this course may be useful in interpreting data or communicating findings in China. The course's focus on practical vocabulary and culture may be a helpful foundation for working in Chinese speaking markets. Market research analysts require a deep understanding of the market.
Social Worker
Social workers engage with a variety of people in need of support including immigrants and refugees. In this role, the ability to effectively communicate is key to building relationships with clients, and understanding nuanced cultural practices is paramount. The Everyday Chinese Challenge course may be useful for building basic conversational skills in Mandarin, which may be useful for better connecting with those who speak Chinese. This course may help you better understand Chinese culture, allowing you to offer more effective assistance. Social workers often help to integrate those who are new to a country.
Librarian
Librarians help people find information and resources and often engage the public through events and programs. This role requires not only a knowledge of resources but also the ability to connect with people from different backgrounds. This course helps you build practical Mandarin skills for everyday situations, such as meeting new people. The Everyday Chinese Challenge course helps build a foundation for better connecting with Chinese speakers, and may be useful for developing programming in libraries that are in communities with large Mandarin speaking populations.
Administrative Assistant
Administrative assistants provide support to offices and their staff as well as their clients. This role involves interacting with a diverse range of personalities daily. The Everyday Chinese Challenge makes learning Mandarin practical and quick, and provides key phrases for everyday interactions. This is useful for those who may be asked to interact with Mandarin speakers in their office, or help clients who may speak Mandarin. Although it may not directly be used daily, this course may be a beneficial skill to have in this role.

Reading list

We've selected two books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in Everyday Chinese Challenge: Master Mandarin in 36 Days.
This phrasebook is an excellent resource for practical, everyday Mandarin. It provides useful phrases for various situations, such as ordering food, asking for directions, and making small talk. It's particularly valuable for learners who want to quickly acquire conversational skills for travel or daily interactions. The dictionary component is also helpful for looking up unfamiliar words.
Provides a broad overview of Mandarin Chinese, covering basic grammar, vocabulary, and cultural insights. It's a helpful resource for beginners to gain a foundational understanding of the language before diving into the course. While not a substitute for focused practice, it serves as a useful supplementary guide.

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