Learning a new language can be intimidating, especially for beginners. The challenge is often magnified for parents striving to teach their children. However, starting with a few basic Chinese words and phrases can be a manageable and rewarding experience.

We’ve built a supportive community and developed practical steps to help parents confidently share the beauty of the Chinese language with their young learners. Join us as we explore simple and effective ways to make language learning a fun and engaging journey for both parents and children.

If you haven’t, be sure to check out our trailer with Auntie KIKI and Little Dragon on our YouTube page.

KaiBan’s engaging episodes and relatable characters are designed to entertain your early learner. With our family-oriented, story-based language learning platform, early learners will barely notice that they are gaining insight into a world of inclusivity.

Learning 15 Basic Chinese Words

Our KaiBan team understands children are far more intelligent than we adults sometimes give them credit for. It is with that understanding that partnering with parents to provide their young learners a leg up will help ease the intimidation of learning the Chinese language.

As you and your youngsters explore new languages and absorb more Chinese culture for the first time, we would like to give you an easy way to share.

We’ve compiled 15 primary Chinese characters and words to support you to give you a great way to prepare them. The familiarity with basic words and valuable phrases may strike interest and excitement as they set out on countless adventures with Little Dragon and Auntie KiKi exploring China.

Here are 40 basic Mandarin Chinese words and phrases for your beginners to arm them for their virtual expedition:

# English Word Mandarin Chinese Word Mandarin Character(s)
1 Yes Shì de 是的
2 No Bù 不
3 Mom Māmā 妈妈
4 Dad Bàba 爸爸
5 School Xuéxiào 学校
6 Door Mén 门
7 Window Chuānghù 窗户
8 Chair Yǐzi 椅子
9 Table Zhuōzi 桌子
10 Lamp Dēng 灯
11 Bed Chuáng 床
12 Couch Cháng yǐ 长椅
13 Kitchen Chúfáng 厨房
14 Bedroom Yùshì 浴室
15 Bathroom Wòshì 卧室

KaiBan Quick Tips

Everyone learns differently, especially our early learners. If your child is just starting or isn’t exposed to Chinese at home, here are some practical ways to enhance their language immersion.

  • Join our Kaiban community: Continue to adventure with Auntie KIKI and Little Dragon.
  • Start with Basic Phrases: Begin with simple greetings, common expressions, and everyday phrases.
  • Practice Pinyin: Master the Chinese phonetic system (Pinyin) to improve pronunciation and reading skills.
  • Learn Characters Gradually: Start with frequently used characters and build up your vocabulary over time.
  • Listen to Mandarin: Immerse yourself in Mandarin by listening to podcasts music or watching movies with subtitles.
  • Practice Speaking: Practice speaking with native speakers or language partners to improve fluency and confidence.
  • Flashcards and Repetition: Use flashcards or spaced repetition systems (SRS) to memorize vocabulary effectively.
  • Explore Chinese Culture: Learn about Chinese customs, traditions, and history to deepen your understanding of the language.

By incorporating these tips into your learning routine, you can make learning Chinese more accessible and enjoyable for beginners.

When learning Chinese, the first thing to remember is mastering the basic pronunciation and tones, which form the foundation for accurately understanding and speaking the language. Pinyin, a system of Romanized spelling used to represent Chinese sounds, is essential for beginners to grasp these nuances effectively.

Familiarizing your early learner with these basic Chinese phrases and vocabulary words is an excellent way for beginners to practice conversation and Chinese pronunciation at home. Most schools use these basic words to introduce students to learning any new language. These are common Chinese phrases beginners can use in real life when conversing with native Chinese speakers in everyday social situations.

It takes time to get to a fluency where speaking with native speakers is comfortable and even to plan a trip to China. In the meantime, KaiBan has assembled several suggestions on simple ways to help parents incorporate Chinese vocabulary into their daily lives. 

Practical next steps to learn these basic words and phrases:

  • Incorporate the vocabulary words in real life

    Outside of school, children spend most of their time at home, where they learn strong habits. Therefore, incorporating the vocabulary into regular home life is a good idea. Transforming your home into a life flash card is the simplest way to familiarize your little learners with these vocabulary words quickly. Think about the most common words you say in daily home conversations. Next, make a Chinese flash card for each word and attach it to the objects that reflect the literal meaning of those flashcards. Replace those words with the new Chinese words in your daily conversations whenever possible.

  • Translate Greetings

    You may encounter and greet people while performing normal day-to-day activities. After the initial greeting, ask your child if they know how to translate it into Mandarin.

  • Memory Games

    One of Sunny Lu’s, KaiBan’s Founder’s, favorite childhood games, which she and her son, Auggie, still enjoy, is the memory game. Many of us can recall those small cards with image pairs. To play, mix or shuffle those cards and arrange them face down. Then, you and another player take turns flipping the cards with the intent to flip matching pairs based on trial and error and remember the placement of various cards. KaiBan suggests placing a little Chinese vocabulary twist on this game! Instead of image pairs, replace those with Chinese vocabulary pairings. On one card of any size or material you choose, write a Chinese word from the list above, and on the other card, draw the Chinese character. Then, shuffle the cards, arrange them facedown, and attempt to flip a Chinese word with its accompanying character.

  • Words of the Day

    This practice has worked for countless teachers seeking to educate their classes on new vocabulary words. It is also an amazing method of learning a second language. Parents can select a word from the vocabulary list and teach it to their little learners and then try to use it as frequently as possible for the whole day.

  • Daily Debriefs

    Another fun and simple way to familiarize your child with some of the basic Chinese words and phrases above is to discuss the day using them. When preparing for or even ending the day, you and your child can discuss the weather, their feelings, and potential accessories to prepare for the day. Simply pick a phrase from above that best fits the circumstances.

  • Arts & Crafts

    Learning the Chinese language by writing can improve a child’s handwriting and fine motor skills. For every Mandarin word or phrase, there are accompanying Hanzi–the oldest Chinese characters representing the language. Chinese is one of the rare languages that still use pictographic text, and the art of writing it out is a writing style known as calligraphy. As you and your child learn new words, you both can practice writing the Hanzi symbol for them. Once you’ve mastered calligraphy, you can recreate the Hanzi using all sorts of art supplies ranging from various types of paints like puff pain to assembling them as a mosaic using materials such as candies, stones, scrap paper and more.

  • KaiBan Treasure Hunt

    While we strongly encourage reinforcing language lessons in the home, the KaiBan team is happy to partner with parents to aid in that goal. Our last suggestion for familiarizing your youngster with Chinese vocabulary is to gamify the process. As you watch our videos of Little Dragon’s adventures, challenge your child to recognize and identify when we use these words in our videos. For every vocabulary word your child recognizes and uses correctly, reward them with a small prize.

 

As parents, you may already have plans for how to help your children learn. Our KaiBan community provides suggestions for leveraging everyday phrases and words for those starting to learn a second language. Suppose the little learner in your life has more of a hands-on preference. In that case, our blog post highlighting how to celebrate AAPI provides a list of organizations and cultural centers that can provide subversive experiences to introduce your child to the Chinese language and culture. If you are looking for additional resources to facilitate your child’s success on this journey, sign up for our mailing list, and KaiBan can send more fun activities, insights, and updates on our content.