Learn Chinese (中文)
Practise Chinese with an AI tutor that explains why
Chinese has no verb endings to learn, but it asks for other things: tones, word order and the measure word that has to sit between a number and a noun. YaP is the place to practise between your lessons, ask the questions you didn't have time for in class and learn the Chinese that matters to you.
Speak or type to the tutor. It answers in the variety you choose, corrects what matters, explains the rule and asks you to try again.
Mainland Mandarin, Taiwan Mandarin, Hong Kong Cantonese
YaP supports three variants. Mainland Mandarin uses simplified characters and the pinyin system most courses teach. Taiwan Mandarin uses traditional characters and some different vocabulary (網路 vs 网络 for "internet"). Hong Kong Cantonese is a separate language for our purposes, with its own grammar and the six (or nine, depending who you ask) tones.
Pick a variant when you start. The tutor will stay in that variant until you switch.
- Mandarin (Mainland)
- Mandarin (Taiwan)
- Cantonese (Hong Kong)
What a session looks like
After class. Your teacher covered measure words tonight and it half made sense. You open a lesson and ask for more examples. Then you ask why it's 一本书 for a book but 一张桌子 for a table, and whether 个 would do for both. The tutor explains that many measure words group things by shape or type: 本 for bound things like books, 张 for flat things like paper, tickets and tables. 个 is the general one and fits many nouns, but a book needs 本. It gives you a few more to try and corrects you as you go. The lesson is saved with a date and a description, so you can find it again before next week's class.
What you care about. Your partner's mother makes the best dumplings you have ever eaten and you want to learn how. You ask the tutor to help you follow her on the next video call. You learn that 饺子 are the dumplings, that 馅 is the filling and that you 包饺子, literally "wrap dumplings", when you make them. Then you practise telling her how your first batch turned out. Every new word is saved as a flashcard for review.
Or the dramas you watch with your family, the colleagues in Shanghai, the grandparents in Hong Kong who speak Cantonese. Whatever you need, YaP follows.
New flashcard
本: measure word for books
Sample turn. Real session, redacted.
Who it is for
You're learning Chinese properly, not just for a holiday. Maybe you're in evening classes, working towards HSK or reconnecting with a family language you understand but rarely speak. Perhaps you have family, friends or colleagues who speak it, a love of the food or the films, or plans to spend more time in China, Taiwan or Hong Kong.
You don't need to follow anyone else's order. Jump from this week's chapter back to the basics, or straight to the words you need tomorrow. YaP follows you and remembers everything.