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Elementary

Chinese: Elementary level

At elementary your Chinese moves from single phrases to simple connected sentences. You meet everyday situations: shopping, directions, family, work and plans. These lessons keep the language clear while introducing more variety.

What you can do at elementary

  • Talk about family, work and daily routines in simple terms.
  • Handle shopping, travel and eating out.
  • Understand short texts on familiar subjects.

About 1,000 words and roughly 180–200 hours of study to reach this level.

Chinese lessons for elementary

TravelElementary
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Inspiration & humourElementary
文学城Aug 31

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Business & careerElementary
Aug 26

开启我的第一家小店

Chinese elementary by topic

Other Chinese levels

Not sure this is your level?

Take the short placement test and we will suggest where to start.

Take the level test

Questions about Chinese at elementary

What is the Elementary level in Chinese?
On Heylangs, Elementary is one of six levels that describe how well you handle Chinese. Everyday situations.
How many Chinese words do I need for elementary?
Around 1,000 words is a good target for elementary. The number depends on the language and on which words you choose. Learn the most frequent ones first.
How long does it take to reach Chinese elementary?
Roughly 180–200 hours of study in total, for an English speaker learning a language of average difficulty. Daily short sessions with content at your level work better than rare long ones.