What is mandarin Chinese?
China is a diverse nation of many ethnic groups with hundreds of dialects. Mandarin Chinese, also known as Pu Tong Hua (common language), is the Chinese official language and is understood by many ethnic groups. Mandarin Chinese is spoken by more people than any other language in the world.

How should EaseIntoChinese be used?
Students can learn the Chinese language using EaseIntoChinese in the absence of Chinese-speaking parents or teachers. Since lessons are designed in a spiral fashion, we recommend students work on the lessons sequentially.

Most lessons are composed of three parts: a brief review of the previous lesson, the main lesson (first individual words, then sentences), and then interactive activities. You can bypass the review by clicking on the skip button. There are also three buttons at the bottom of each slide: repeat, fast forward, and pause for your learning convenience:

There is a bilingual index for each level containing all the words and sentences as well as their pronunciations for reference. Students can use the indices to review the lessons. Parents or teachers can also evaluate a student’s progress by comparing the student’s pronunciations with the recordings in the indices.

The whole family can learn a lesson together or separately. In a large group setting, we recommend students use separate computers and wear headphones, so that each student learns at his or her own pace.

How long will it take to finish one level of lessons?
It depends on how much time you devote to learning the program each day or week and the learning style of each student. We have seen students master all the content, i.e., be able to understand the Chinese words, speak them, and write the Chinese characters in 3 to 8 months when spending more than 3 or more hours a week. Our program allows you to learn at your own pace.

What is needed for the program to run?
System requirements: Broadband internet connection, Adobe Flash Player (free download).