Chunking ChineseFinally speak the Mandarin you already know.
Flashcards built for speaking: internalise the chunks native speakers use, then recombine them out loud, on the spot.
- See the English, say the Mandarin out loud, and get instant feedback on every card
- Learn a pattern once, reuse it in hundreds of sentences
Starts with a 2-minute placement · 15 to 30 minutes a day · Speak or type
That's how native speakers do it: ready-made chunks, recombined to fit whatever they want to say, with no word-by-word assembly.
★★★★★“By far the best I have found to help with my conversations.”Debbie, 3 years learning
★★★★★“Anki step aside. The results have been quite profound already.”Arthur
★★★★★“The bridge I've been missing in my Mandarin journey.”Daniel, intermediate learner
See it in action
Prompt. Speak. Get feedback. See it in 45 seconds.
Does this sound like you?
- You know hundreds of words, but your mind goes blank the moment someone actually talks to you.
- You build the sentence in English first, piece it together word by word, and the conversation has moved on.
- You've done months of flashcards and apps, and still can't hold a real conversation.
- You keep making the same mistakes, and nobody tells you.
Here's why it happens
It's not a vocabulary problem. It's a retrieval problem, and that's what we train.
What you get
Less time preparing. More time actually speaking.
“Are you free this weekend?”
Recall it, say it, then check: you hear the natural version straight after yours.
01
Flashcards built to make you speak.
Normal flashcards train you to recognise a word and flip the card. Here you're expected to say every sentence out loud, from memory, before you see the answer.
That's the same skill a real conversation asks for, practised every single day. Grading is flexible, too: use a synonym and it still counts. Can't talk right now? Switch to typing and keep going.
02
Internalise patterns. Don't memorise sentences.
Learn a chunk once and use it in hundreds of new situations. You're not reciting one sentence you've seen before; you're building new ones on the spot, the way native speakers do.
Save several sentences under the same chunk and each review rotates which one you get. You can't just remember the answer, so the pattern itself sinks in.
03
Save hundreds of hours making flashcards.
Paste in your sentences and, in one click, every one gets natural-sounding audio, pinyin and an English translation. No typing up cards, no hunting for recordings. Watching something on YouTube? Upload the transcript and get recommended sentences to add.
Getting ready for a trip, a job interview or meeting your partner's family? Add the exact sentences you'll need and practise them out loud until they come automatically.
Or skip that entirely: the full HSK 1 to 5 chunk curriculum, plus a growing set of HSK 6 chunks, is already built, sequenced and recorded. Everything you add is practised on the same schedule, and you can save several sentences under one word or chunk: each review rotates which one you get.
04
Catch the mistakes nobody tells you about.
Every character you speak gets a tone and pronunciation score. The ones that drifted are highlighted, and you can replay them in your own voice next to a natural recording.
Whether an answer is right still depends on the chunks you said and their order. Tone scores are coaching on top, an automated estimate rather than a teacher's ear.
“I'm planning to go hiking this weekend.”
“Shall we grab something to eat?”
要不要… is a chunk you'll reuse for every casual suggestion.
05
Sound natural, not like a textbook.
Most learners can't tell when their Mandarin is correct but clunky. After every answer you see what you said next to how a native speaker would actually say it, with the natural recording to copy.
Because you learn the chunks native speakers really use, the natural phrasing becomes the one that comes out first.
Learner spotlight
“It's hitting a different part of my brain and I am actually remembering.”
★★★★★Debbie· 3 years learning Mandarin
The difference
Flashcard apps vs Chunking Chinese
| Typical flashcard app | Chunking Chinese | |
|---|---|---|
| What you practise | Recognising a word, then flipping the card | Saying whole sentences out loud, from memory |
| Ready-made content | Usually build or download your own decks | 1,100+ chunks, already sequenced by level |
| Adding your own sentences | Typed in manually, one card at a time (e.g. Anki) | Paste a batch and add them all in one click, with audio, pinyin and English generated |
| Finding sentences to learn | Up to you | Upload a YouTube transcript and get recommended sentences to add |
| How you're checked | You usually mark yourself | Graded on the chunks you said and their order, with flexible grading that accepts synonyms |
| Tones and pronunciation | Usually not checked | Scored character by character |
| Sounding natural | Usually not covered | Your answer shown next to the native phrasing |
| What you end up able to do | Recognise words when you see them | Say what you mean in a real conversation |
How it works
Two minutes to find your level. Then 15 to 30 minutes a day.
- 1 · LEARN
New chunks, sized to you
A few new chunks a day, just above what you know, with natural audio to shadow.
- 2 · REVIEW
Right before you'd forget
Spaced repetition brings each chunk back at the moment it's about to slip.
- 3 · SPEAK
An English prompt, answered aloud
You say the whole sentence in Mandarin, combining two or more chunks.
Why 15 to 30 minutes a day? Fluency compounds. Short daily sessions that keep chunks moving through review beat the occasional long one.
Watch your chunk network grow.
Every chunk you learn links to the ones you've combined it with. Over time it becomes a picture of how much Mandarin you can actually produce, not just recognise.
Drag the slider to watch the network grow. Drag nodes to rearrange, click one to see its connections.
Built for a specific kind of learner.
This is for you if
- You know some Mandarin but freeze mid-sentence.
- You can read pinyin and some characters.
- You can practise for 15 to 30 minutes most days.
Probably not for you if
- You're starting from zero, without pinyin or characters.
- You want a live teacher or a dedicated accent course.
- You mainly want to read and write, or a one-off crash course.
Black Friday bundle · Ends 30 November
Hear it, then say it: the trainer and the course, 68% off
A year of daily speaking practice plus the complete Chunking Chinese course, for less than the trainer alone.
The fluency trainer, 12 months
Daily speaking practice: an English prompt, your spoken Mandarin, instant feedback.
- 1,100+ chunks, sequenced from HSK 1 to 5
- Tone and pronunciation scored character by character
- One-click cards from your own sentences or a YouTube transcript
- Spaced repetition and your chunk network
- The private learner community
The Chunking Chinese course
Real Mandarin to absorb and imitate: 52 chapters, 257 lessons.
- 50 real-life diary entries written by native speakers
- 50 guided imitation videos, narrated by native speakers from 3 regions of China
- 50 explanatory PDFs and quizzes
- 50 transcripts with a pop-up dictionary
- 1 year of Mandarin Mosaic Premium, plus unlimited email support
Less than a year of the trainer on its own, with the full course included.
Get the Black Friday bundleOne payment of $206.50 · 14-day money-back guarantee · Offer ends 30 November
After the first year the trainer renews automatically at $295 a year. Course access is yours for life.
Why they work together
The course fills your ears with real Mandarin and has you imitate it. The trainer makes you pull those chunks back out and say them yourself, every day. Input, then output.
“It seems very complementary to the Chunking Chinese course, since the course focuses more on exposure and speaking drills, while the app focuses more on composition and accurately expressing my meaning.”
Or just the trainer
Prefer to try it first? Start free for 7 days
Both plans start with the 2-minute placement and the full software, free for a week. Until 30 November the annual plan is 30% off its first year too, so if you already have the course, this is the one for you. Cancel during the trial and you pay nothing.
Monthly
Flexible. Cancel any time.
$30/ month
Less than the price of a single tutoring session.
Start free trial$0 today, then $30/month after 7 days
Annual
Best value for steady progress.
$295$206.50/ first year
About $17.21 a month. Save $88.50 on your first year, then $295 a year.
Start free trial$0 today, then $206.50 for your first year after 7 days
No surprises: we'll email you a reminder before your trial ends.
Both plans include
- One-click card creation: audio, pinyin and English generated for every sentence you add.
- The full HSK 1 to 5 curriculum, chunk-based, sequenced and recorded.
- Spoken practice with instant grading on every sentence.
- Tone and pronunciation scores, character by character.
- Spaced repetition and your chunk network.
- Speak or type, so you can keep practising anywhere.
- A private community of learners working on their speaking: ask questions, request features and keep each other going.
Reviews
From the people doing the speaking.
Questions people ask
What's in the Black Friday bundle?
A year of the fluency trainer ($295) and the full Chunking Chinese course ($349): 50 diary entries, 50 imitation videos, PDFs, quizzes and transcripts. Bought separately that's $644; the bundle is $206.50, until 30 November.
What happens after the first year?
The trainer renews automatically at $295 a year, and you can cancel any time before then. The course is yours for life.
How does the free trial work?
Pick monthly or annual, take the 2-minute placement, and you get the full software for 7 days. We'll email you a reminder before it ends. Cancel before then and you're never charged. If you keep going, your plan starts on day 8.
Should I choose monthly or annual?
Same features either way. Annual is $295 a year, $65 less than twelve months of monthly, and until 30 November your first year is $206.50. Monthly keeps things flexible.
Do I need to know some Mandarin already?
Some vocabulary and grammar helps, because chunking builds on what you can already recognise. The placement covers HSK 1 to 5 and starts you at the right level. There's also a growing set of HSK 6 chunks for when you're ready.
What exactly is a “chunk”?
A small, reusable piece of a sentence, such as an opening (我想问一下), a topic (这个地方) or a question frame (在哪里), that turns up across many different sentences.
Why not just make my own Anki deck?
Anki decks train you to recognise words and flip a card. Here you say whole sentences out loud, from chunks already chosen, sequenced and recorded. And when you do want your own sentences, one click adds the audio, pinyin and English, so you spend your time speaking, not building cards.
Do you check my tones?
Yes. Your answer is graded on which chunks you said and their order, and grading is flexible enough to accept synonyms. Every character also gets a pronunciation and tone score, with drifted ones highlighted to replay against a natural recording. It's coaching, not a gate, and you can turn it off in Settings.
What if I can't speak out loud?
Prompts fall back to typing, so you can keep practising if your microphone isn't working or you'd rather not speak right now.
Can't I just do this on my own?
Honestly, yes. You could collect your own chunks, sort them by level, write example sentences, find audio and keep your own review schedule. It took us six months to build ours, and it takes real expertise in Mandarin grammar, sentence patterns and common phrases. Most people give up somewhere in the spreadsheet, long before the speaking. Give it 15 to 30 minutes most days and every one of those minutes is spent saying real Mandarin out loud.
Will I be learning on my own?
Your daily practice is self-paced, with no classes, schedules or leaderboards. But you're not on your own: every subscriber gets access to a private community of learners working on their speaking, where you can ask questions, request features and encourage each other. Join in as much or as little as you like.
Can I cancel?
Any time, in one click, and it takes effect at the end of the period you've paid for. Cancel during the free trial and you're never charged at all.
Start speaking now.
Say the things you actually want to say, in Mandarin, without translating first. This Black Friday, get the trainer and the full course together for 68% off.
Get the Black Friday bundle Or start a 7-day free trial of the trainerTrainer + course, 68% offGet the bundle