Spoken Chinese: how to start speaking from zero

October 14, 2026 · 10 min read

You don't start speaking Chinese "someday later": you start in the first weeks. First the tones, then ready-made phrases, then short dialogues of two or three lines. Spoken Chinese isn't a separate language or slang. It's the same Mandarin, 普通话 pǔtōnghuà — the common language, just in live speech: sentences are shorter, the subject is often dropped, and particles like 吧 ba — let’s; probably, 呢 ne — and you? and 啊 a — exclamation come at the end. Here's how it sounds in a real conversation:

• 嗯，好的。ǹg,hǎodemm-hm, OKthe most common way to say “deal”
• 对duìyes, rightin conversation “yes” is more often this than 是
• 我很好，你呢？wǒhěnhǎo,nǐneI’m fine, and you?呢 bounces the question back
• 我们走吧！wǒmenzǒubalet’s go!吧 turns a sentence into a suggestion
• 啊，下雪了！a,xiàxuěleoh, it’s snowing!啊 shows surprise
• 没关系méiguānxino problem, it’s OKthe answer to “sorry”

Textbook Chinese has few of these words, but without them your conversational Chinese sounds like a dictation. That's why spoken Chinese for beginners is, above all, ready-made lines you say as a whole, not assemble word by word.

How to start speaking Chinese: your first 30 phrases

Your first goal isn't "fluency". It's getting through an introduction and not freezing when you don't understand. About thirty phrases are enough for that. Here are the fifteen you'll need most; listen to each one and repeat it out loud:

Put your own country in place of 美国 (Měiguó, the US): 英国 Yīngguó is the UK, 加拿大 Jiānádà is Canada, 澳大利亚 Àodàlìyà is Australia. And notice the four lifesaver phrases: "I don't understand", "say that again", "more slowly" and "how do you say this?". With them you can keep any conversation going, even when you run out of words. The rest — greetings, polite phrases, questions in a shop — are in the section of Chinese phrases, each with a translation, pronunciation and audio.

Where to practice speaking Chinese

There are five kinds of Chinese speaking practice, and each has its cost, and not only in money. A combination works best: a little on your own every day, and once a week with a real person.

A Chinese conversation club or meetup pays off once you can talk about yourself for a minute or two: then the other people's questions are real practice rather than painful silence. How to find a teacher and tell a course with real speaking practice from a "watch the videos" course is covered in the article on online Chinese courses.

Practicing with a native speaker: when you need one

A native speaker is irreplaceable for things no textbook has: how people really greet each other, when they're joking, what sounds rude and what sounds too bookish. They hear your tones and accent the way people in China will. That's worth paying for.

But to be honest: in your first month, a native speaker won't do much for you. With fifty words and tones you still mix up, the lesson turns into pauses and "sorry, what?", and a native speaker with no teaching experience can't explain why your sentence is wrong. They'll just say "we don't say it like that". So first a few hundred words, basic grammar and tones you can hear and tell apart, and a live partner as the next step. A good sign you're ready: you can answer five or six simple questions about yourself without preparing.

When you do get to a native speaker, agree on the rules up front, or a polite partner will quietly understand your mistakes and let them pass:

• Ask them to correct every sentence, not just the ones where the meaning is unclear. It's best to type corrections into the chat so you can review them later.
• Speak more than you listen. If the teacher talks for three quarters of the lesson, that's a lecture, not speaking practice.
• Prepare a topic. Five questions and five answers about your weekend, work or food, and the conversation moves instead of getting stuck after hello.

An AI conversation partner: how it works in Nomto

The gap between "I learned the phrases" and "I talked to a person" is closed by a partner you're not embarrassed to ask ten times. In Nomto that's Mei, an AI tutor you talk with in everyday situations. There are ten of them: seven at HSK 1 level ("Meeting people", "Family", "Time and plans", "At the café", "At the store", "The city and the weather", "Study and work") and three at HSK 2 ("A trip", "Hobbies", "At the doctor's"). There's also free conversation with no script, where you pick the topic.

• She uses the words of the lessons you've done. Mei doesn't answer in "grown-up" Chinese: her lines are built from words you've already learned, with pinyin and a translation a tap away.
• She corrects you in English. After your line, a "better like this" hint appears: the correct version and a short explanation of what went wrong. At the end you get a list of all the corrections.
• You can answer by voice or with a ready-made reply. If you don't know what to say, ask for a hint and pick one of the ready-made lines with a translation.
• It's voice messages, taking turns, not a call. You record your line, Mei answers in text and voice, and you have time to think.

"Meeting people" is open to everyone, even without signing up; while we're in beta, the other situations and free conversation are free with an account. One important limitation: speech recognition understands a sentence by its meaning and forgives wrong tones, so tones aren't graded in the conversation. You train them separately in the pronunciation trainer, which compares the pitch of your voice with the target tone. More on how Mei differs from a general chatbot is on the AI Chinese tutor page and in the article on learning Chinese with AI.

A 6-line Chinese dialogue for meeting someone

Your first conversation in Chinese is almost always the same one: your name, where you're from, whether you speak Chinese. Learn it whole, both roles, and you'll have a ready-made base for any first meeting. Listen to each line and repeat it out loud:

• 你叫什么名字？nǐjiàoshénmemíngziwhat’s your name?the other person asks
• 我叫安娜。wǒjiàoĀnnàmy name is Annaput in your own name
• 你是哪国人？nǐshìnǎguórénwhere are you from?literally “you are a person of which country?”
• 我是美国人。wǒshìMěiguórénI’m Americanor 英国人, 加拿大人…
• 你会说汉语吗？nǐhuìshuōHànyǔmado you speak Chinese?
• 我会说一点儿。wǒhuìshuōyìdiǎnrI speak a little

The pattern is simple: question, then answer in the same word order. A question with 吗 becomes an answer when you drop the particle; a question with 什么 or 哪 becomes one when you put the answer in its place. Note that English moves the question word to the front ("what is your name?"), Chinese doesn't. To wrap up, use phrases from the table above: 认识你很高兴 and 再见. Everyday dialogues with audio are in the section of dialogues for beginners, and when your lines get longer, move on to Chinese texts with translation.

Common mistakes when you start speaking

• Tones "later". A syllable with a different tone is a different word: 买 mǎi — to buy and 卖 mài — to sell. The habit of speaking without tones sets in fast and takes a long time to fix. How to get tones right from day one is in the article on pronunciation.
• English word order. In Chinese, time and place come before the verb, not at the end of the sentence: 我每天在网上看新闻。 wǒměitiānzàiwǎngshàngkànxīnwén — I read the news online every day.
• An extra 是 for "am / is / are". An adjective works like a verb and needs no linking word: 我很忙。 wǒhěnmáng — I’m busy, not "我是忙".
• Word-for-word translation. "I am twenty years old" in Chinese is simply "I twenty years": 我二十岁。 wǒèrshísuì — I’m twenty, with no 是. Learn the phrase whole instead of building it from English words.
• Silence for fear of a mistake. A short 对 or 好的 beats a perfect sentence you never said. Someone will correct a mistake; nobody can correct silence.

How do you learn to speak Chinese with no Chinese speakers around? Ten minutes out loud every day: repeat phrases after the speaker, act out dialogues playing both roles, record yourself. Look up any word you've forgotten in the Chinese dictionary with audio. Which apps help with speaking practice and which only do flashcards is covered in the review of apps for learning Chinese.