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🐻 Pinyin for Kids

The gateway to reading Chinese: a 10-lesson animated pinyin adventure. Kids learn the vowels, consonants and four tones with the Pinyin Kingdom bear — one focused classroom session at a time.

🎓 Immersive classroom — videos can't be skipped⏱️ Timed quizzes🔓 Pass 80% to unlock the next lesson
  1. Lesson 1: Welcome to Pinyin Kingdom — video preview
    Lesson 1 · ~10 min

    Welcome to Pinyin Kingdom

    Meet the Pinyin Kingdom bear and discover what pinyin is: the alphabet that spells out the sound of every Chinese word.

    1 video · 4 words · 6 questions

  2. Lesson 2: The First Vowels: a · o · e — video preview
    Lesson 2 · ~12 min

    The First Vowels: a · o · e

    Your first three pinyin sounds! Learn a (open wide!), o (round lips!) and e (little smile!) with the animated bear.

    1 video · 3 words · 6 questions

  3. Lesson 3: Four Tones & i · u · ü — video preview
    Lesson 3 · ~12 min

    Four Tones & i · u · ü

    The four magic tone marks turn one sound into four words — then meet three new vowels: i, u and ü (the one with two little dots!).

    1 video · 4 words · 6 questions

  4. Lesson 4: Review: The Six Vowels — video preview
    Lesson 4 · ~13 min

    Review: The Six Vowels

    A fun checkpoint class: all six single vowels a · o · e · i · u · ü and their four tones, practiced with games in the Pinyin Kingdom.

    1 video · 3 words · 6 questions

  5. Lesson 5: First Consonants: b · p · m · f — video preview
    Lesson 5 · ~16 min

    First Consonants: b · p · m · f

    Meet the first four initials! Learn b, p, m, f and start blending them with vowels to spell real words — like bà (dad) and mā (mom).

    1 video · 4 words · 6 questions

  6. Lesson 6: Tongue Team: d · t · n · l — video preview
    Lesson 6 · ~14 min

    Tongue Team: d · t · n · l

    Four initials made with the tip of your tongue: d, t, n and l. Blend them with vowels to read syllables like dà (big) and lè (happy).

    1 video · 4 words · 6 questions

  7. Lesson 7: Throat Trio: g · k · h — video preview
    Lesson 7 · ~14 min

    Throat Trio: g · k · h

    Three sounds from the back of your mouth: g, k and h. Practice blending them into syllables like gē (song), kǎ (card) and hē (drink).

    1 video · 3 words · 6 questions

  8. Lesson 8: Smiling Sounds: j · q · x — video preview
    Lesson 8 · ~17 min

    Smiling Sounds: j · q · x

    Three smiling initials: j, q and x. They love the vowels i and ü — and there's a sneaky rule about ü losing its dots!

    1 video · 4 words · 6 questions

  9. Lesson 9: The Great Initials Review — video preview
    Lesson 9 · ~15 min

    The Great Initials Review

    Checkpoint class! Race through all the initials you know — b p m f, d t n l, g k h, j q x — with blending games and tricky look-alike letters.

    1 video · 4 words · 6 questions

  10. Lesson 10: Curly Tongue Sounds: zh · ch · sh · r — video preview
    Lesson 10 · ~18 min

    Curly Tongue Sounds: zh · ch · sh · r

    The famous curly-tongue sounds! Curl your tongue tip up to say zh, ch, sh and r — the sounds in zhōngguó (China) and rì (sun).

    1 video · 4 words · 6 questions