Master Chinese
In the right order
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借力 · The order we teach in
Every course hands you a word list. None of them tell you which words buy you a teacher. These do. Learn them and you can point at something you cannot name, ask what it is called, pull out the one word of the answer you missed, and keep the person talking long enough to be told. That is how the other ten thousand words arrive.
Sized by how much each word lets you ask for.
问 · Caveman questioning
Two hundred characters is enough to point at something and ask what it is called. Then you ask what the big version is called, and the small part, and which one they like, and whether it grows where they grew up. Every answer is more words, and every one of those is another thing to ask about. You never switch to English, because you never have to.
这个中文怎么说？points at a tree
How do you say this in Chinese?
这个叫树。这种叫梧桐。
This is called a tree. This kind is a plane tree.
很多树在一起叫什么？ask for the bigger word
What do you call a lot of trees together?
叫森林。
A forest.
这个部分叫什么？points at a branch
What is this part called?
这是树枝。
That's a branch.
你最喜欢哪一种？
Which kind do you like best?
我喜欢桂花树，很香。
I like osmanthus — it smells wonderful.
你老家也有吗？now it is about them
Do you have them in your hometown too?
有，我们那儿到处都是。
Yes, they're everywhere where I'm from.
你拿到了 树梧桐森林树枝桂花香
这个叫什么？
What’s this called?
这是拖把，拖地用的。我们家每天拖两次，孩子小，地上老是不干净。
This is a mop, for mopping the floor. We mop twice a day — the kids are little, so the floor is never clean.
你刚才说的最后一个词是什么？take out the one word, not the whole sentence again
What was the last word you just said?
拖地。就是拿它把地上弄干净。
Mopping the floor. You use it to get the floor clean.
是第几声？
Which tone is that?
第一声，拖。拖地、拖鞋，都是这个拖。
First tone — tuō. Mopping, slippers: same tuō in both.
我说得对不对？you own it now
Did I say that correctly?
对，很清楚。有人说得快，听着像拖的，其实是拖地。
Right, very clear. Some people say it fast so it sounds like tuō de, but it's tuō dì.
可以写一下吗？
Could you write that down?
我写给你看。左边是提手旁，用手做的事都有它。
I'll write it for you. The left side is the hand radical — anything done with the hands has it.
你拿到了 拖把拖地拖鞋提手旁
这道菜叫什么？
What’s this dish called?
这是麻婆豆腐。
That's mapo tofu.
里面有什么？
What is inside?
豆腐、肉末、花椒。
Tofu, ground pork, Sichuan pepper.
你刚才说的最后一个词是什么？mine their sentence
What was the last word you just said?
花椒。
Sichuan pepper.
什么意思？
What does that mean?
一种调料，吃了嘴巴会麻。
A spice — it makes your mouth tingle.
你们那儿有什么好吃的？
What’s good to eat where you’re from?
你拿到了 麻婆豆腐豆腐肉末花椒调料麻
那只鸟叫什么名字？
What’s that bird called?
那是喜鹊。
That's a magpie.
这个名字是什么意思？
What does this name mean?
喜是高兴的意思，看见它是好事。
Xǐ means happy — seeing one is a good sign.
真的吗？
Really?
老人都这么说。
That's what the old folks say.
还有别的吗？keep them talking
Is there anything else?
还有燕子，春天来。
There are swallows too — they come in spring.
你拿到了 喜鹊喜燕子春天
Every line you say above is one we teach you. We order the whole course by how much each character helps you run this loop — that is what the map above is.
I'm Carson. I studied Mandarin at Middlebury, at ICLP in Taipei, and as a Yenching Scholar at Peking University. That's me in the video. Those programs work. They also cost thousands and demand you drop your life to attend.
GraphChinese is that path, self-study: one graph of everything the language requires, ordered so you can start asking questions in Chinese long before you can read a newspaper. You only need a little of the language to ask a native speaker what things are called. That is how the rest arrives. Nothing you learn is allowed to fade, and no topic is ever locked away from you. Streak apps keep beginners renewing forever. I want the opposite: pay once, own your timeline, actually get there.
Carson 木林森
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Subscriptions are priced to keep you renewing forever. Immersion programs cost thousands. This is one payment for the entire path, at your pace, for as long as you need.
Streak apps are priced to keep you renewing. GraphChinese is a mastery system: the whole language in one dependency graph, taught in the order that gets you talking soonest, with reviews scheduled so nothing you learn fades. Every topic stays open, so you can read ahead whenever you want. One payment, the whole path.
No. The free placement test finds exactly where your knowledge ends and starts you there. You can test out of anything you already know, and you are never made to re-grind it.
Because a handful of question words buys you a teacher. Once you can point at something and ask what it is called, pull out the one word of the answer you missed, and keep someone talking, every conversation you have starts feeding you vocabulary. We measured it against our own course: the words that get you asking arrive in a few hundred characters, where reading fluency takes a few thousand. Reading and HSK are not dropped, they run alongside from day one and take over as you go.
Both. Flip the Sim./Trad. toggle in the header and the whole platform follows, including this page, right now.
No. Tones, pinyin, and your first characters are the first topics on the graph. The free lesson above is literally step one.
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