Learning a language is no easy task, especially one that is notoriously difficult such as Chinese. Thankfully, we’re here to help you in your quest to speak Mandarin. While we post tons of great content here on the blog, there’s also a lot going on over at our YouTube channel. There are plenty of videos about travel, holidays, food, and of course, Chinese language. Rather than waste a bunch of time searching through the dozens of pages of videos, you can find 10 of our best beginner Chinese videos right here. Bookmark this post and study these short, easy-to-follow videos for a good crash course in Chinese:

Common Greetings

No matter what language you’re studying, you’ve got to start with greetings. Learn quite a few of them in Chinese here in this simple video.

20 Most Common Chinese Characters

There are thousands upon thousands of Chinese characters, but your life will be much easier if you start out by learning the most common ones.

Pronouns and the Verb “To Be”

Many think that Chinese is a very hard language to learn, but plenty of aspects of it are much easier than other languages. Whereas English uses many words (am, are, is) for the verb “to be,” you only have to learn one character in Chinese!

Counting to 100

Bargaining is a huge part of Chinese culture, but you’ll have an even tougher time doing it if you can’t count to 100. You can also learn the hand signals that are used for the numbers 1-10.

Yes and No

Right after “hello” and “thank you,” learning how to say “yes” and “no” is an important early step in learning a language. We’ve got you covered for Chinese in this short video.

Telling Time

There’s a lot packed into this 2-minute video – the parts of the day, how to ask the time, how to tell the time, and more.

Introduce Yourself

Making friends and speaking Chinese is much easier if you can confidently introduce yourself. Study this video and the examples and then try to do it yourself!

Past Tense

Once again, Chinese proves to be easier than you might think, at least in terms of how you use the past tense. Learn how to use two characters that are used to indicate the past tense in Chinese and you’ll be well on your way.

Making Comparisons

Making comparisons is easy in Chinese! At least it’s easier than in English. This simple video walks you through how to do it and gives plenty of examples.

A Day in the (Chinese) Life

Ok, this video may be a bit tough for beginners, but that’s why it’s at the end of the list here. Check out what a common day in my life as an English teacher in Beijing was like and learn a bunch of Chinese in the process.