Chinese has become one of the most commonly used languages around the world, with globalization and the Chinese economy and business thriving. According to Forbes (2021), among the 500 companies with the most revenue, 135 of them are from China, including 7 from Hong Kong. Thus, being capable of speaking Chinese is also becoming a useful skill in the labor market, especially knowing business Chinese. With the skill of business Chinese, not only can you work in a Chinese company, but also deal with Chinese clients. Also, being able to read in Chinese might give you first-hand information about the business.
In this article, you will be introduced 20 different platforms to learn Chinese, and how they can help you succeed in mastering the language.
1. Amazing Talker
- Make learning languages fun by making your personalized learning plan with the best tutors.
Available on: Main Website, iOS, Google Play store
Average Price: $15-$40/ hour
Amazing talker is an online tutoring service, which has highly qualified tutors to help you learn Chinese with your customized learning plan. You can choose when and where you want to learn, and on your most comfortable device. Not only does Amazing Talker provide tutors to all levels of Chinese learners, and it also provides tutors of other languages. So, if you are interested in learning a new language, don’t forget to check out what Amazing Talker can do for you!
2. Coursera
- Learning new skills from the best universities and companies.
Available on: Main Website , iOS, Google Play store
Average Price: $39-$79/month (free courses provided)
Coursera is an online learning platform, which cooperates with top universities and organizations to provide numerous online learning materials. Not only linguistic courses, you can as well find learning materials for loads of skills and knowledge. According to the package of your choice, you can also get certificates or even degrees from the platform, thus the platform would be an excellent choice if you are eager to learn Chinese but afraid to start immediate conversations with teachers.
3. Chinese Zero to Hero
- Comprehensive online tools for mastering HSK
Available on: Main Website
Average Price: $10.8/session (Bundle price provided)
Chinese Zero to Hero is an online Chinese leaning platform. not only does it have courses to help you learn Chinese used in life, but it also has courses to help you pass the HSK Chinese test to all levels. It provides well-structured learning materials, several learning tools practice resources, and media on their website to make learning more fun. Thus, if you are targeting to get an HSK certificate, don’t forget to check out hoe Chinese Zero to Hero can help you out!
4. MandarinX
- Free online Chinese courses to various levels
Available on: Main Website , Google Play store
Average Price: Free (Optional upgrade available)
MandarinX is the Chinese learning course under the online learning platform edX. MandarinX provides Chinese courses to different levels, and it is free! If you want to get certificates, unlimited access and practice materials, you can also choose to buy the verified track package to upgrade your Chinese learning experience. Thus, it would be a great choice if you want to try to start on your Chinese learning journey.
5. italki
- 1-on-1 lessons in more than 150 languages
Available on: Main Website, iOS , Google Play store
Average Price: $4-$30/hour
italki is an online tutor service which provides lessons in more than 150 different languages. It also has its own community, which allows you to practice your language skills, share your thoughts and experience with other language learners around the world, and also receive feedback from native speakers. The platform provides lessons for different purposes, from daily conversations to business levels, for you to choose from your budget and your level.
6. Hello Chinese
- The Chinese learning app for total beginners
Available on: iOS, Google Play store
Average Price: Free for download app, $60/year for complete access
HelloChinese is an app on your phone that is made for beginners. It makes learning Chinese fun by designing game-based learning materials and systemic categories and content. to cover all aspects of Chinese learning including listening reading and writing. As for speaking, it also has a speech recognition system to help you with pronunciation. The platform is useful and handy with its materials on your smartphones when you are learning Chinese.
7. Superprof
- Match your perfect Chinese tutor
Available on: Main Website
Average Price: $23/hour
Superprof is an online tutor matching platform, to help you find your perfect tutor. It helps you to find not only Chinese, but also tutors for other subjects in your area (if you are in the States), or online. You can choose from a list of tutor based on what then can provide and what you need, and the tutor would get back to you soon. Superprof also offers a free first session, so you can try if the tutor is a perfect match for you.
8. YOYO Chinese
- Chinese taught in plain English
Available on: Main Website
Average Price: $29/course (Bundle price available)
YOYO Chinese provides well-structured study plans on 6 comprehensive courses, from beginners to immediate levels. The study plans include quizzes and a tracking system to help you with your study. YOYO Chinese also produces online Chinese learning media on Youtube, which gives well explanations on confusing Chinese expressions, to help you understand and sound more natural.
9. Coffee Break Academy
- Make your downtime your “do” time and learn a new language on your coffee break
Available on: Main Website
Average Price: $29/course (Bundle price available)
As their name presents, Coffee Break Academy aims to help you learn in your coffee break time, thus they provide short learning materials which last around 15 to 20 minutes, including videos, audios, transcripts. Bonus audios are also provided in every session to help you review and learn some extra vocabulary. In the contents, the character Mark will act as the language, like you, to learn the language with you! The length and the contents of the courses are perfect for the time of commute.
10. Pimsleur
- Discover the Secret to Speaking a New Language!
Available on: Main Website , iOS, Google Play store
Average Price: $14.95-$20.95/month
Pimsleur helps you to learn new languages with their research on memories. Combining their method with the convenience of apps, Pimsleur uses its 30-minute audio core lessons and reading lessons to help you learn Chinese. With loads of conversations and reading, it helps you understand the language as well as culture, and speak more like a native speaker. With one subscription you can get access to all 51 languages that they are providing, and it also has a 7-day free trial for you to try out.
11. Hacking Chinese
- A practical guide to learn Chinese
Available on: Main Website
Average Price: $97
Hacking Chinese provides learning materials such as video and audiobooks, a study checklist, and an e-book for you to get started to learn Chinese. The materials are made by its founder, who also learnt Chinese as a foreigner. Thus, the materials not only aimed to teach you Chinese, but also are designed as a guide to help non-native speakers with the tactic to learn Chinese.
12. Touch Chinese
- Your private Chinese tutor online
Available on: Main Website
Average Price: $18/lesson
Touch Chinese is an online Chinese tutor service, which provides native and experienced tutors. They provide lessons for all levels of Chinese learners, including kids and business level. All their lessons are on a one-on-one basis, which allows them to design your own study plan. The strength of Touch Chinese is that it has a lineup of very experienced tutors, with an average of 8 years of experience.
13. Mondly
- Play your way to learn a new language.
Available on: Main Website , iOS , Google Play Store
Average Price: Free, with additional contents for $9.99/month
Mondly is and language learning app that uses AR technology to help you learn. The app uses not only thematic courses materials to make it more fun to learn, but it also uses a chatbot to assist your learning by the fact that you can practice conversation anytime anywhere. The thematic materials are also useful for beginners to choose from. Now, it also launched many other learning materials with the latest technology to make learning more fun.
14. eChinese Learning
- Live teacher from China 24/7.
Available on: Main Website
Average Price: $11-$23/lesson
eChinese Learning is also an online one-on-one tutor service, providing Chinese lessons to all levels of Chinese learners. It is one of the oldest online tutor websites, thus it has its well-developed learning materials and lessons. It has comprehensive lessons for you to look for no matter what your learning purpose is, and it also has experienced tutors to help you with your learning.
15. Udemy
- Choose from 183,000 online video courses with new additions published every month
Available on: Main Website , iOS, Google Play Store
Average Price: from$12.99/course
Udemy is an online courses platform, which offers numerous Chinese learning materials, including those for kids, for business and of course, for HSK tests. It also has some useful thematic courses, such as conversations for travelling, for you to choose from, and you can watch them anytime, anywhere on your device.
16. My Mandarin House
- One-on-one Chinese lessons with certified teachers
Available on: Main Website
Average Price: $25/session
My Mandarin House is an online tutor website, which offers one-on-one Chinese sessions with certified teachers. Not only does it have its systematic sessions, it also provides tailor-made sessions, to help you learn with your own pace. Due to its long-time history, it has its own alumni society, to let you share you Chinese learning journey and make connections to their other students.
17. Chinese Class 101
- Short Audio & Video Lessons for Fast and Easy Learning
Available on: Main Website
Average Price: Free (Premium Subscription available)
Chinese Class 101 provides thousands free of short audio and videos lessons for you to get started. To help you learn much quicker. it also provides study tools to make learning more effective. Other than its short and fun learning materials, you can also subscribe to its premium plan to practice, speak, and get feedback from its teachers. By its service, you can choose the contents based on what you want to learn or your needs.
18. Go East Mandarin
- Chinese unlike it was ever taught to you before
Available on: Main Website
Average Price: $699/course
Go East Mandarin is a Chinese-teaching institution that provides classes online and offline in Shanghai. The institution has its structured class for all levels and different purposes, and they provide both group and one-on-one classes for you to choose from. For their online classes, they provide study tools to help you learn with more fun.
19. Super Chinese
- Learn Chinese with AI
Available on: Main Website , iOS, Google Play Store
Average Price: Free (Premium subscription $12/month)
Super Chinese is a Chinese learning app that offers fun and real-life scenarios-based learning materials on your phone. Though it is an app without a teacher to instruct you, Super Chinese uses its AI Technology to help you with not only your grammar and reading but also with your speaking. Premium subscription is also provided to let you get unlimited access to their materials.
20. Ninchanese
- The fun and effective way to learn Chinese
Available on: Main Website , Google Play Store
Average Price: Free (Premium subscription from $10/month)
Ninchanese is a learning platform with a unique learning method to help you master Chinese. With its algorithm, it aims to help you learn Chinese in the most natural way and to memorize grammar and vocabulary easily. It uses gamification materials to motivate you and science-proofed methods to make your learning more efficient.
Hesitating about learning Chinese?
1. How can I find the best online Chinese course?
It is important to know which learning method suits you the best. You might like more flexible classes at your own pace, or you might be suitable for group classes that you can practice your language skills with classmates. Thus, the first step of finding the best online Chinese source is to know what you like your class to be like. There are many tutor matching platforms and institutions that offers free trials, it is useful to talk to them and try out one or two classes.
2. What are the advantages of taking online Chinese courses?
One of the biggest advantages of online Chinese courses is that it is flexible. You can decide when and where you want to involve in it, and you can choose the way you are the most comfortable with. Moreover, with short media learning materials or learning apps on your phone, it makes it easier to make the most use of your time, to make your learning more efficient.
3. How do you define a good online Chinese course?
A good online Chinese course must be meeting your needs, your goal and your way of study. You might learn Chinese for travel, for work, for meeting new people or even for fun! No matter what your purpose is, a good online Chinese course is supposed to help you learn with fun and efficiently. So don’t be afraid to try out different types of courses and see how can then assist on your study.
Get Started on Your Search of Courses
After reading this article, you now know that there are various kinds of online Chinese courses and how they can help you succeed on your Chinese learning journey. If you are interested in learning Chinese, don’t hesitate to try out these online sources to kick off you study. Not sure about where to start? It is always a good idea to check out AmazingTalker and talk to their tutors and find out how to start!
