MandarinMinute

hǎo · good, okay · word 48 of 186

Tap the character to hear it

186 words.
Half the language.

The most common words carry about half of everything said in Mandarin. Learn those first, a minute a day, and Chinese stops sounding like noise.

Learn word 1 Why 186?

Free. No account. Your learning data stays on your device.

One short session. Nothing else.

See it and hear it

Every card shows one word, plays its pronunciation and gives you pinyin plus a short meaning. Card meanings are in German for now; hanzi, pinyin and audio work the same in any language.

Rate yourself honestly

Again, good, or easy. The app remembers when each word should come back.

Continue tomorrow

Five new words a day by default. No streak pressure and no punishment for taking a break.

Why 186?

Because a finite goal is easier to start. The list focuses on frequent function words, pronouns, verbs and everyday building blocks. It is a starting point, not a full language course.

The order comes from a public, Taiwan-associated frequency list that mixes spoken and written language. "Half the language" refers to word frequency: in large corpora, the most common words make up about half of all word occurrences. We do not promise an exact number for your conversations. The methodology and its limits are documented openly (in German).

你you 知道to know 他he 说to say 什么what 吗question particle

5 of 6 building blocks of this sentence are on the list.

All 186. Nothing more.

Every entry links straight to its learning card.

Why MandarinMinute exists

The app began as a private vocabulary trainer. Its maker spends a large part of the year in Asia and did not want yet another course platform, just a small, fixed starting set he actually uses every day.

That became this simple app. It does not try to be a complete language course. It helps you revisit the first 186 building blocks systematically.

On your home screen

  1. Open the app in your browser
  2. Tap share or the browser menu
  3. Choose Add to Home Screen

After the first complete download, the flashcards and audio work offline.

Start now
Is the app free?

Yes. All 186 words, audio and reviews are free.

Do I need an account?

No. Your progress is stored in this browser only.

Will 186 words make me fluent?

No. They give you a limited first vocabulary. You will still need listening and speaking practice, grammar and context.

Why are the card meanings in German?

The app started for German-speaking learners. Hanzi, pinyin and native audio are language-neutral; an English card set may follow.

Why are some obvious words missing?

The list follows its frequency source and is not a curated travel vocabulary. That is exactly why we document the source openly and do not claim that it perfectly reflects everyday usage.