First Steps in Mandarin
Like Duolingo, but for First Steps in Mandarin. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.
A short one: 12 levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes end to end, roughly 5 days at five minutes a day. It moves through The Music of Meaning and Building Your First Sentences. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in First Steps in Mandarin
- Pitch is not just for emotion or emphasis in Mandarin
- The first tone stays at a constant high pitch
- Changing the tone changes the actual dictionary definition of a word
- The sound does not rise or fall throughout the duration of the syllable
- The fundamental role of tones in Mandarin meaning
- Identification of the first tone's characteristics
- The second tone starts lower and ends higher
- The pitch movement mimics a rising question like 'What?' or 'Me?'
- The third tone requires a distinct drop to a very low pitch
- The tone has a 'V' shape: starting mid, going low, then rising
- Recognizing the rising inflection of the second tone
- Understanding the physical shape of the third tone
- The fourth tone starts very high and drops rapidly
- The delivery is short, sharp, and forceful, like a command
- Applying the decisive nature of the fourth tone
- Nǐ hǎo is the universal standard greeting
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives First Steps in Mandarin the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
When you are pronouncing the first tone, what should your voice do?
Get it right to open this lesson and 11 more in the app.
Where First Steps in Mandarin takes you
Break the sound barrier of Mandarin Chinese by mastering the four tones and building your first practical sentences for daily life.
- 1
The Music of Meaning
- Mastering the Four Tones
- Essential Greetings and Politeness
- 2
Building Your First Sentences
- The Logic of Chinese Grammar
- Navigating Daily Needs
2 sections · 4 units · 12 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
First Steps in Mandarin is taught in the The Bestie style: your friend who just gets it. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start First Steps in Mandarin today.
Download Tomo, search First Steps in Mandarin, and play your first lesson in under a minute.