Learn Chinese: free pinyin tools for kids
Mandarin Chinese learning tools written in English, for families raising bilingual children and for anyone teaching young learners.
All Chinese tools
Pinyin Flashcards
23 initials, 24 finals and 16 whole syllables, each with tone marks and an example word.
Open pinyin flashcardsPinyin Chart for Kids
The whole pinyin system on one printable page.
Chinese Character Writing Sheets
Make tian zi ge practice sheets with the characters you choose.
Where to start with Chinese
For young children, Chinese starts with listening and speaking: songs, stories and everyday phrases. Reading comes in through pinyin, which spells each syllable with familiar letters plus a tone mark, for example 大 (dà) — big.
Once pinyin feels familiar, characters become much easier to learn, because your child can check how any new character is said. Our pinyin flashcards cover the full set children in China learn in first grade, and we are building printable character writing sheets next.
Questions parents ask
Should my child learn pinyin or characters first?
Most teachers start with pinyin because it shows how words sound. Characters can come in at the same time through picture books and songs; pinyin simply gives your child a way to read new words on their own.
Is this Mandarin or Cantonese?
Mandarin. Pinyin is the spelling system for Mandarin Chinese, and the characters shown are simplified, as used in mainland China and Singapore.
We don't speak Chinese at home. Can we still use these tools?
Yes. Every example has pinyin and an English meaning, so you can learn along with your child. Pair the tools with a teacher, class or audio source for tones.