Mandarling: Say it in Mandarin

Karl B

In-app purchases

About this app

Mandarling is a Mandarin flashcard app for English speakers, built around speaking. See the English, say it in Mandarin, and find out whether a listener would understand you.

Your phone's speech recognizer stands in for the listener. Mandarling shows what it heard, in characters and pinyin, marks the syllable or tone that slipped, and tells you what your tongue, lips or jaw should do to fix it.

Say it, then see why it worked or didn't
• Know if you'd be understood: the answer shows what your phone heard and whether it was the word you meant.
• Tone check: see your pitch next to the voice's, and hear your own attempt played back (Android 13 or newer).
• Sound tips written for English speakers: why 桌 zhuō isn't "Joe", what the "in" of jìn needs from your jaw, how to buzz zi, si and shi.
• Train your ear: when a sound keeps coming out as another, hear the two side by side in your phone's voices and say which is which.

Start from your very first words
• 104 first phrases for absolute beginners: hello, thank you, I don't understand, good night. Each is said whole, the way people say it.
• Then the HSK 3.0 words, levels 1 to 6 (about 5,400), in order, with audio and example sentences.
• One-syllable words are practiced inside a short, easy sentence, because phones and people rarely catch a syllable said alone.
• A review schedule that brings back what you're forgetting, a daily streak, and an optional reminder.

A phrase a day
One phrase at your level, the same for everyone. Say it in as few tries as you can and share your colored squares with a friend.

Your own cards
• Type English, pinyin (ni3 hao3, nǐ hǎo or nihao) or characters. A whole pinyin sentence becomes characters, word by word.
• Bring your decks from Anki, Pleco or a spreadsheet.
• Write your own memory trick on a card; it shows when you forget that card.
• Hands-free practice: the phone says the English, listens, says the answer and moves on.
• Back up to a file, restore on a new phone, and share cards with a friend.

Free every day, one small payment, no subscription
Practice free for 15 minutes a day, with every deck and every feature. Unlimited practice is a single one-time payment, not a subscription, and it includes every feature added later that runs on your phone. Cloud AI costs money every time it is used, so if we ever add AI features they will be optional and priced separately.

Private by design
No sign-up and no ads today. Your cards stay on your phone. Learning works offline; the speaking check uses your phone's speech recognizer, which may need a connection.

Built on open data: CC-CEDICT, the HSK 3.0 syllabus word lists, Tatoeba example sentences and OpenCC. Attributions are in the app under Settings, Credits and licenses. Mandarling is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the HSK program.

What’s new

Screen-reader and keyboard improvements across the app (headings, labels and contrast), and What you're learning in Settings now shows every level choice at once without tapping More. Free practice is 15 minutes a day, and the Unlock screen notes that an unlocked copy never shows ads. Keep practicing beyond what's due with Practice anyway, and set any minute for the daily reminder.