The best way to learn to read Chinese
Read texts where you know almost every word. We counted how much easier that is than the open web.
We make Mandarin The Wild.
1. Learn pinyin and the tones
Pinyin is how Chinese is written in Latin letters, with marks for the four tones. A character rarely tells you how it sounds, so learn the sounds before the characters. Every dictionary, card and reader uses pinyin to show you how to say a word.
Our pinyin chart plays every syllable in all four tones, and the pinyin trainer drills the tone pairs learners mix up.
2. Learn the first few hundred words
The HSK exam's 2025 syllabus starts with 300 words at level 1 and about 1,000 by level 3. HSK: the official site of the Chinese Proficiency Test. Learn words, not only characters: knowing 东 east and 西 west doesn't tell you 东西 means "stuff".
我买了很多东西。
thing; stuff
Also written 東西
Every HSK 1 word has its own page with its sound and real sentences. A flashcard app with spaced repetition keeps them, but cards alone don't teach you to read.
3. Read graded stories at your level
Readers follow a text on their own when they know about 98 of every 100 words in it. Hu and Nation (2000), Unknown vocabulary density and reading comprehension, Reading in a Foreign Language 13(1). Below about 95% they struggle. Laufer and Ravenhorst-Kalovski (2010), Lexical threshold revisited, Reading in a Foreign Language 22(1).
Real Chinese web text is far below that for a learner. We counted it: the words of HSK 1–3 make up 42% of the words on a page, and all of HSK 1–6 only 69%. FineWeb-2, the web text we counted (its Mandarin part, cmn_Hani).
A story written for your level is a different text. We counted every story in our Library with the reading our word cards use:
| Story level | Stories | Words you know at that level | New words per 100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| HSK 1 | 36 | 93.1% | 6.9 |
| HSK 2 | 64 | 93.6% | 6.4 |
| HSK 3 | 52 | 94.1% | 5.9 |
| HSK 4 | 43 | 93.5% | 6.5 |
| HSK 5 | 47 | 94.2% | 5.8 |
| HSK 6 | 24 | 95.2% | 4.8 |
"Words you know" are words on the HSK list up to that level, or built from them (回家 is 回 + 家). Names are left out, as a reader passes over them. So an HSK 3 learner meets about 6 new words in 100 in an HSK 3 story. On a web page, 58 words in 100 are off the HSK 1–3 list.
Start a level below where you feel ready. Reading fast and easily is the point; that is how the words you half know become words you know. The Library has free graded stories from HSK 1, each read aloud.
4. Look up new words in their sentence
A new word in a story is clearest where it stands. Look it up there, and keep the sentence with it, so the meaning you learn is the one that sentence uses. Then review the words you keep, a few minutes a day.
我想看懂这篇文章。
article; essay
In the Library, tap any word for its meaning in that sentence, save it to Backpack, and Review brings it back with the line you met it in.
5. Move to real Chinese
Once HSK 4 or 5 stories feel easy, read what you would read anyway: news, forums, subtitles. A pop-up dictionary keeps the lookups quick. Mandarin The Wild's extension shows the meaning a word has in its sentence on any page or YouTube subtitle. How hard is this text tells you a page's level before you start.
Do you need to write characters by hand?
Not to read. Writing a character helps you notice its parts, and many learners write the first few hundred. But reading improves by reading; typing in pinyin covers most everyday writing.
How we counted
We cut every Library story with an HSK level into words with the reading our word cards use, and counted each word against the HSK 2025 syllabus. Numbers, Latin letters and names are left out. The web figures are from the Mandarin part of FineWeb-2, counted the same way (see how many words you need to read Chinese).
Questions
What is the best way to learn to read Chinese?
Read a lot of text where you know about 95–98% of the words: graded stories at your level, then real pages with a pop-up dictionary. Learn pinyin and the first few hundred words first.
Should I learn pinyin before characters?
Yes. A character rarely shows its sound, so pinyin and the tones come first. Every dictionary and reader uses them.
Are graded readers worth it?
Yes. In our count an HSK 3 learner knows about 94% of the words in an HSK 3 story, while only 42% of the words on a web page are on the HSK 1–3 list.
Do I need to learn to write characters to read?
No. Writing the first few hundred helps you notice their parts, but reading improves by reading.
Sources
Checked on 13 October 2026. Prices and features change; tell us if one has.
- Hu and Nation (2000), Unknown vocabulary density and reading comprehension, Reading in a Foreign Language 13(1)
- Laufer and Ravenhorst-Kalovski (2010), Lexical threshold revisited, Reading in a Foreign Language 22(1)
- HSK: the official site of the Chinese Proficiency Test
- FineWeb-2, the web text we counted (its Mandarin part, cmn_Hani)