Studying a language can be expensive, especially when you don’t have the chance to immerse yourself in it. Not everyone can just up and move to China where they will see and hear Chinese on a daily basis. Luckily, the Internet has made it possible and easy to learn a language from anywhere in the world for free. Here are some of my favorite resources for learning Mandarin Chinese on the web:

Transparent Chinese

Learn Chinese with us!

Of course, I have to give a shameless plug for my own work and the hard work of everyone else on our team here. There are tons of resources at your fingertips to help you in your quest to learn Chinese, for example:

• Chinese Word of the Day – Learn a new word every day of the year!
• Language and Culture Blog – You’re looking at it now! Subscribe to the blog and get posts to your e-mail.
• Facebook Page – Read interesting articles, look at photos, and join in the discussion with 68,000+ people!
• Twitter – Receive updates in real-time by following us @chineselanguage.
• YouTube – I post 3 videos to the YouTube page every month, so subscribe and make sure you never miss one!
• Learn Chinese Online – Try a free week-long trial of the online program. You might as well – it’s free! You can read my review of the program here.

All of those resources are 100%, completely FREE! We have more options available for purchase, obviously, and those are definitely worth looking into.

nciku

The homepage for nciku.

This free website is a fantastic resource for learning Chinese. It includes a comprehensive Chinese-English dictionary, as well as themed vocabular lists, hundreds of conversations, HSK practice, and much, much more. I’ve been using it for years now and it never disappoints.

Chinese Pod

Learn Chinese on the go with the incredibly informative Chinese Pod. Download episodes from iTunes, toss them on your MP3 player, and learn Chinese anywhere you like! The lessons are varied from beginner to advanced, and they include a wide range of topics. No matter what you want to focus on in your Chinese studies, they’ve got something for you at Chinese Pod. Search for it on iTunes.

Chinese with Mike

If you think that learning Chinese from a white guy wearing a Hawaiian shirt in his garage sounds stupid, think again. Mike is a good (and hilarious) teacher who clearly explains everything and makes Chinese both fun and easy. Start from the beginning and work your way up through the lessons, as they get more and more difficult:

FluentU

FluentU - a great resource for learning Chinese.

This is a great website that helps you learn Chinese through watching actual videos from China, such as commercials, music videos, and more. The interactive player lets you scroll over words you don’t know, see the meaning, and save them for later. Instead of out of date textbooks that may use language most people don’t actually use anymore, these videos are current and relevant.

Chinese Tools

This site is packed full of great resources to help you study Chinese. You can learn idioms, Chinese calligraphy, or even figure out your Chinese name! The 30+ lessons that they have on here will help you learn Chinese in just 10 minutes a day. What have you got to lose?

Sexy Beijing

This highly entertaining YouTube series has over 10,000 subscribers, and for good reason. Each episode focuses on a different topic, and gives you exposure to real people in Beijing. You’ll learn about Chinese culture while learning some of the language at the same time. I particularly enjoy this one about Chinese rap:

Well that should keep you busy for a while! If that’s not enough, you can always try to surf the ‘net the Chinese way by using the most popular websites in China.