Terms and Conditions

Last updated: 21 September 2026

These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") govern your use of the Chunking Chinese website and web application and related services (together, the "Service") operated by Chunking Chinese ("we", "us", "our"). By creating an account or otherwise using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

The Service is a language-learning platform for spoken Mandarin Chinese. It teaches reusable spoken "chunks" and asks you to speak (or type) Mandarin sentences, which are checked with the help of speech recognition and AI grading.

1. Accounts

• To save your progress across devices you must register an account with a valid email address.
• You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login details and for all activity that occurs under your account.
• You must provide accurate information when registering and keep your details up to date.
• You may not create multiple accounts to circumvent free-tier limits or other restrictions of the Service.
• You must be at least 13 years old to create an account. Users under the age of digital consent in their jurisdiction should only use the Service with parental or guardian consent.

2. Free and premium features

• Some features and content of the Service are free; others may require a paid subscription or upgrade ("Premium"), for example content beyond the free level range.
• Where paid features are offered, prices, what is included, and billing terms will be presented clearly before you pay. Subscriptions billed on a recurring basis renew automatically unless cancelled before the next billing date.
• We may change feature availability, content, or prices from time to time and will give reasonable notice of any material change affecting something you have paid for.
• Except where required by applicable consumer protection law, fees already paid for periods already provided are non-refundable.

3. Speech recognition and AI grading

• The Service uses speech recognition to work out which words you said and in what order, and AI systems to grade and analyse your answers. These technologies are imperfect: recognition and grading may occasionally be wrong, and no output of the Service should be treated as an authoritative judgment of your language ability.
• The Service checks word choice and word order, and also scores the pronunciation and tones of the speech you record, character by character. Those scores are automated estimates, may be wrong, and are not a substitute for formal language instruction, professional certification, or a human teacher.
• Translations, definitions, example sentences, pinyin, and level classifications provided through the Service may contain errors and are offered as a learning aid only.
• Microphone access is always under your control. If speech input is unavailable or not permitted, you can type your answers instead.

4. Your content

• You may be able to add your own sentences and chunks to practise with. You retain ownership of material you create, and grant us a worldwide, royalty-free licence to store and process it for the purpose of providing the Service to you (including sending it to our speech and AI providers for grading).
• You must not add content that is unlawful, infringes anyone else's rights, or contains personal information about another person.
• Do not include personal information about yourself in custom sentences or spoken answers. See our Privacy Policy.
• We may remove user-submitted content at our discretion where it violates these Terms or in response to a valid complaint.
• If you switch on Store my recordings, you give us permission to store the recordings of your spoken answers and to use them to operate, fix and improve the Service, including improving and training the speech recognition it uses, as described in our Privacy Policy. This permission ends for each recording when you delete it, and for all of them when your account is deleted.

5. Acceptable use

When using the Service, you must not:

• use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in breach of any applicable law or regulation;
• attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Service, other users' accounts, or our systems;
• interfere with, disrupt, or place undue load on the Service or its underlying infrastructure;
• use automated tools, bots, or scrapers to access the Service except as expressly permitted;
• attempt to extract, reverse engineer, or scrape the prompts, models, content libraries, or grading systems underlying the Service;
• circumvent or attempt to circumvent any rate limit, paywall, entitlement check, or other technical measure;
• copy, redistribute, resell, or commercially exploit the Service or its content (including its chunk and sentence libraries and audio) without our prior written permission.

6. Intellectual property

• The Service, including its software, design, teaching method, chunk and sentence libraries, audio, and trade marks, is owned by Chunking Chinese or its licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws.
• Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the Service for your own language learning.
• Where the Service incorporates open-source software, your use of that software is also subject to the applicable open-source licence.

7. Third-party services

• The Service relies on third-party providers, for example Microsoft Azure for hosting, speech recognition, and AI grading, and Cloudflare for content delivery. We are not responsible for interruptions originating with those providers, though we will always work to restore the Service promptly.
• Where the Service links to third-party websites or services, your use of them is at your own risk and governed by their own terms and privacy policies.

8. Availability and disclaimers

• The Service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, and non-infringement.
• We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure, or that any particular learning outcome will be achieved. Language learning results vary by individual.
• Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable consumer protection law.

9. Limitation of liability

• To the extent permitted by law, in no event will Chunking Chinese be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages, including loss of profits, loss of data, or business interruption, arising out of or related to your use of or inability to use the Service, however caused and regardless of the theory of liability.
• For all claims arising under or in connection with these Terms or the Service, our total aggregate liability to you in any twelve-month period is limited to the greater of (a) the total amount you paid to Chunking Chinese for the Service in that period, or (b) fifty pounds sterling (£50).
• We are not responsible for technical issues on your end (for example, your device, microphone, internet connection, or third-party software) that affect your ability to use the Service.
• Nothing in this clause limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for any other liability that cannot be limited or excluded by law.

10. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Chunking Chinese, its founders, employees, contractors, and agents from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to your breach of these Terms, your misuse of the Service, content you submit through the Service, or your infringement of any third-party right.

11. Suspension and termination

• You may stop using the Service and close your account at any time.
• We may, at our sole discretion, suspend or terminate your account or restrict access to any content where we reasonably believe you have breached these Terms, for example by attempting to bypass entitlement checks or rate limits, creating multiple accounts to circumvent restrictions, submitting unlawful content, or abusing the Service's infrastructure.
• Termination does not entitle you to a refund of fees already paid for periods already provided, except where required by applicable consumer law.
• Clauses that by their nature should survive termination, including those relating to intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnification, and governing law, survive termination of these Terms.

12. Privacy and data protection

• Our collection and use of personal data is described in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms.
• You have rights under the UK GDPR and other applicable data protection laws, including the right to request a copy of your data or to request that it is deleted. To exercise these rights, contact us at will@chunkingchinese.com.

13. Modifications to these Terms

• These Terms may be updated from time to time. Material changes will be posted on this page with a new "Last updated" date, and where they significantly affect account holders, communicated by email or in the app.
• Continued use of the Service after the updated Terms take effect constitutes your acceptance of those updated Terms. If you do not agree to the updated Terms, you must stop using the Service and may close your account.

14. General

• Entire agreement. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Chunking Chinese regarding the Service.
• Severability. If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full force and effect.
• No waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision of these Terms is not a waiver of our right to do so later.
• Assignment. You may not assign or transfer your rights under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign our rights and obligations under these Terms to any successor in interest.
• Force majeure. We are not liable for any failure or delay in performance caused by events beyond our reasonable control.

15. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Subject to any mandatory consumer protection rights you may have under the law of your country of residence, any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms will be resolved through the courts of England and Wales.

16. Contact

For questions about these Terms, please contact us at:
Email: will@chunkingchinese.com