Speak Chinese from day one — five-minute voice practice for real situations
Build useful Chinese out loud: 你好, 您好, day-part greetings, name lines with 我叫…, and soft formality with 您 — short voice sessions with Gu where you say the full syllable line out loud, and try again instead of drilling silent character tiles or a pinyin-only quiz.
- 5-min sessions
- Speak with Gu
- First two units free
Start Chinese on the App Store or Google Play. The first two units are free.
Tones, characters-first lines, and 你 versus 您.
What trips beginners up in Chinese — and how you practice it out loud. Early lessons use everyday Simplified Mandarin (简体) forms like 你好, 您 and 我叫…
- Tones rewrite the meaning
The same syllable with a different pitch contour is a different word. English speakers often flatten tone into “accent,” while spoken greetings force a full contour in one breath (你好 versus a flattened nihao). Worksheets show pinyin marks. Voice practice makes the contour land.
- Characters come first — pinyin literacy is later
Free early units present 汉字 as the primary target. Pinyin and four-tones literacy come later in the course. Silent flashcard apps push romanization-first. This path trains saying the character line aloud before deep tone charts.
- 你 versus 您 is the everyday formality gear
Informal 你好 to a peer sits beside polite 您好, and soft 您好，先生 / 您好，老师. Silent vocab tiles skip the register choice and the syllable rhythm of a full greeting breath.
Say it out loud, then try it again.
Say a Chinese line out loud, and try it again.
- 01
Say, retry
Practise a useful Chinese line in a short speaking loop tied to the tone contour in 你好 / 谢谢, characters-first full lines before pinyin depth, or 你 versus 您 register in a full greeting.
- 02
Real beginner situations
Greetings, introductions, and polite please, thank-you, and sorry are practised out loud, not only as silent tiles. Café orders, the station, 洗手间, numbers, and pinyin literacy come later in the course.
- 03
Protect tomorrow’s five minutes
Use the daily-habit guidance linked on this page so the next five-minute session still happens.
Six speaking scenes — not a fluency promise.
Voice-first scenarios, not a time-to-fluency promise. Free week one is units 1–2 only: greetings and introducing yourself, with 我叫, 认识你很高兴 and 哪里. Café, the station, 洗手间, numbers, and pinyin literacy come later in the course.
- 01
Greet across the day
你好。 您好。 早上好。 下午好。 晚安。 Informal 你好 and polite 您好 are both in the free early lessons.
- 02
Close the exchange
再见。 Soft informal 拜拜 is in the free early lessons too.
- 03
Polite cluster
请。 谢谢。 对不起。 不客气。 请问。 没关系。 Speak each as a full syllable breath, not an isolated character tile. In the free early lessons.
- 04
Soft formality
您好，先生。 您好，老师。 Contrast that with an informal 你好 to a friend. In the free early lessons.
- 05
Introduce yourself
我叫 ___。 我是 ___。 认识你很高兴。 In the free early lessons.
- 06
Ask name and origin, then close
你叫什么名字？ 你是哪里人？ 我是中国人。 Close with 再见。 These are in the free early lessons.
Coming later in the course: café orders (请给我咖啡), 洗手间在哪里？, the station (请问，车站在哪里？ · 车站怎么走？), numbers 1–20, and pinyin, tones and 汉字 literacy.
Tone contour, syllable rhythm, and register.
Quick mouth cues for saying each line out loud.
| Focus | Chinese cue | Mouth / structure note |
|---|---|---|
| Tone as meaning | 你好 | Pitch contour is part of the word. Don’t English-flatten it to a one-pitch “nee-how”. Say it once, exaggerating the rise and fall on each syllable. |
| Syllable rhythm | 谢谢 · 再见 | Each character is one timed syllable. Keep both beats clear. Avoid rushing the second syllable into an English schwa. |
| Characters-first (free path) | 我叫… · 认识你很高兴 | Say the 汉字 line aloud first. Deep pinyin and four-tones literacy come later in the course. |
| Formality register | 你好 vs 您好 / 您好，先生 / 老师 | Informal 你 for peers. 您 softens stranger and teacher greetings. Practise both full lines. Early lessons use 哪里. |
Say these lines out loud.
Practice script — say these lines out loud. Café, station and bathroom lines come later in the course.
You: 你好！
Hi!
You: 您好。
Hello (polite).
You: 早上好。 / 下午好。 / 晚安。
Good morning. / Good afternoon. / Good night.
You: 我叫 Alex。
My name is Alex. / I’m called Alex.
You: 我是学生。认识你很高兴。
I’m a student. Nice to meet you.
You: 你叫什么名字？
What’s your name?
You: 您好，先生。 / 您好，老师。
Hello, sir. / Hello, teacher.
You: 请。谢谢。对不起。不客气。请问。没关系。
Please. Thank you. Sorry. You’re welcome. May I ask…? It’s okay / no problem.
You: 再见。
Goodbye.
Three people who open Chinese to speak, not to finish silent character tiles.
- English-speaking beginners
You want greetings, name lines, and polite 你 / 您 phrases you can say aloud in week one — without waiting for a full pinyin literacy course.
- Returning learners
You recognise character tiles or pinyin marks but hesitate over tone contours and 你 / 您 register when speaking.
- Travellers and culture-curious learners
You want a small daily voice habit for hellos, introductions, and soft please, thank-you, and sorry — not a silent stroke-order marathon. Café, station, numbers, and pinyin depth arrive later in the structured path.
Chinese next steps, sibling courses, and the habit pieces.
All languages
Browse every VoiGu course, including the other speaking pages.
Japanese
Japanese speaking practice — greetings, particles, and polite lines.
Korean
Korean speaking practice — syllable rhythm, soft requests, and 해요체.
Portuguese
Portuguese speaking practice — greetings, nasals, and polite senhor / senhora.
Spanish
Spanish speaking practice — café lines, directions, and ser versus estar.
A daily language habit
How to protect a five-minute session so tomorrow’s Chinese still happens.
How speaking practice works
Say each line out loud, then try it again.
Get the app
Start speaking Chinese free. The download links are on the get-app page.
See what Plus unlocks
Plus unlocks content beyond the first two free units.
Straight answers.
Do I need to master every Chinese tone before speaking?
No. Start with useful complete phrases (你好, 您好, 我叫…, 请, 谢谢). Tone contours become clearer through spoken practice; we do not promise pronunciation mastery in a fixed number of weeks. Deep four-tones / pinyin literacy comes later in the course, not in the free early lessons.
Does VoiGu teach Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Mandarin, or Cantonese?
The Chinese path is standard beginner Mandarin, and early lessons use everyday Simplified forms (e.g. 你好, 您, 我叫…). There’s no separate Traditional Chinese or Cantonese version.
Can I practise Chinese pronunciation as a beginner?
Yes — use the voice-first practice loop and the page’s sound examples (tone contour, syllable rhythm, 你 / 您 greetings). Say the line out loud, then try it again. The free early lessons are characters-first; pinyin and tones come later in the course.
Are the first Chinese units free?
The first two units are free. They cover greetings and introducing yourself. Plus unlocks content beyond the first two free units; see /pricing. Start via /get-app.
Put a useful Chinese greeting into your voice practice.
Say 你好。我叫 ___。 out loud today — five minutes is enough to start.
The first two units are free.
Start Chinese on the App Store or Google Play. The first two units are free.
Five minutes from now,
you'll know your first phrase.
Scan the QR code or grab the app — we'll see you on the path.
Start Chinese on the App Store or Google Play. The first two units are free.