10 Best Online Mandarin Courses with Certificate 2025 (Free & Paid + up to 50% cashback)

1. Chinese for Beginners from Coursera

Rating: 4.8

Duration: Approx. 21 hours to complete

Cost: Free to enroll, $49 to purchase course and earn certificate

This is an ABC Chinese course for beginners, including an introduction to phonetics and daily expressions. After taking this class, learners can have a basic understanding of Chinese Mandarin and make basic conversations of daily living such as exchanging personal information, talking about daily arrangements and food, asking about price, introducing the city and the weather, telling your hobbies, etc. Selected topics and situations come from real-life scenarios and can be used for everyday communications.

In addition to the dialogues, the selection of reading materials and practice activities will make the content as rich and varied as possible, in order to stimulate the learners’ interests. This is an elementary course on Chinese speaking. The learners don’t need to study Chinese characters, so it is easier to follow and complete this course.

2. Learn Chinese: HSK Test Preparation Specialization from Coursera

Rating: 4.8

Duration: Approximately 7 months to complete (suggested pace of 6 hours/week)

Cost: Free to enroll, $49 per month to purchase course and earn certificate

This specialization consists of three elementary language courses, aim to improve your Chinese language skills effectively and systematically. This specialization introduces everyday language and includes activities to practice all four language skills: conversation, comprehension, reading, and writing. You will learn about Chinese culture and basic Chinese Characters more, will possess the ability to further your Chinese language studies.

Chinese for HSK 1

Chinese for HSK Level 1 is the first part of the 6 levels and assesses test takers’ abilities in the application of everyday Chinese. It is the counterpart of Level 1 of the Chinese Language Proficiency Scales for Speakers of Other Languages and the A1 Level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. You will learn:

• 30 video lectures with dialogue role play by PKU students;
  

• More than 150 commonly used words;
  

• Around 50 key grammar points;

• New words and texts via audio;
  

• Quizzes for each lesson and HSK test papers;

• Videos for 70 basic Chinese characters (optional);

• Supplementary materials about China (optional).

In short, the course covers the four skills although only listening and reading are tested in HSK. At the end of the course, you will be able to understand and use simple Chinese phrases, meet basic needs for communication and possess the ability to further your Chinese language studies.
Chinese for HSK 2

This course is called “Chinese for HSK Level 2”, which is also the second step towards HSK Level 6. At the end of the 6 weeks, you will be able to express your views on some simple and common daily life topics. This course includes:

• 24 lecture videos and in-class exercises;

• 44 short videos in complement to the context of learning material;

• Over 150 new vocabularies, 62 new grammar points as well as relevant pictures and examples;

• Downloadable practice charts for over 100 basic Chinese Characters;

• Weekly online quiz and final simulation exam questions.

Chinese for HSK 3

Chinese for HSK 3 is a 10-week course. It consists of two parts: Part I, which is a 6-week program, covers vocabulary and grammar delivered mainly through dialogues and passages; Part II takes 4 weeks to complete and the foci are exercises and testing strategies.

At the end of the course, you will be able to communicate in Chinese at a basic level in your daily, academic and professional lives. You can manage most communication in Chinese when travelling in China.Specifically, you will master certain grammar knowledge containing fundamental sentence structure and usage like sentences with “把”, sentences with “被”(passive voice), comparative sentences and rhetorical questions. Moreover, you will master the meaning of fixed structure and usage of sentences like “….for sb…”(对…来说), “increasingly…” (越来越), etc.

3. Learn Mandarin Chinese Specialization

Rating: 4.8

Duration: Approximately 6 months to complete (suggested pace of 4 hours/week)

Cost: Free to enroll, $49 per month to purchase course and earn certificate

This specialization course uses video lectures, short plays, interactive exercises, and cultural tips to help learners build a fundamental capability of oral Chinese in real-life situations. At the end of the 15-week specialization, the learners will reach the following proficiency: 1000 words, 75 language points,  and handling 30 real-life situations.  There are 4 courses in this Specialization:

Mandarin Chinese 1: Chinese for Beginners

It is a beginner's course of Mandarin Chinese. It uses lectures, short plays, interactive exercises and cultural tips to help learners build a fundamental capability of oral Chinese in real-life situations. At the end of the 5-week course, the learners will reach the following proficiency:

• 150 words

• 20 language points
  

• handling 5 real-life situations
  

This is a beginners' course, therefore no prerequisite is required.

Mandarin Chinese 2: Chinese for Beginners

It is a beginner's course of Mandarin Chinese in continuation of Mandarin Chinese 1: Chinese for beginners. It uses lectures, short plays, interactive exercises, and cultural tips to help learners build a fundamental capability of oral Chinese in real-life situations. At the end of the 5-lesson course, the learners will reach the following proficiency:

• 300 words

• 40 language points

• handling 10 real-life situations
  

Mandarin Chinese 3: Chinese for Beginners

It is a beginner's course of Mandarin Chinese in continuation of Mandarin Chinese 2: Chinese for beginners. It uses lectures, short plays, interactive exercises and cultural tips to help learners build a fundamental capability of oral Chinese in real-life situations. At the end of the 5-lesson course, the learners will reach the following proficiency:

• 500 words
  

• 60 language points

• handling 15 real-life situations

Learn Mandarin Chinese: Capstone Project

In this course, learners are required to complete a few tasks of using Chinese languages in simulated real-life situations. Some guidance on taking and passing HSK (Chinese proficiency test) will also be provided. By completing this course, the learners will finish the learning of the whole series and be standing at the threshold of intermediate Chinese proficiency.

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4. Tsinghua Chinese: Start Talking with 1.3 Billion People from edX

Rating: /

Duration: Estimated 6 weeks (2–3 hours per week)

Cost: Free to enroll, get a certificate of completion for a $49 fee

This introductory Chinese language course will emphasize basic language skills for everyday life in Mandarin-speaking countries. The course utilizes pinyin, the standard system of Romanized spelling for transliterating Chinese, so learners will find it easy to understand and study the language.

The course is composed of several parts: Dialogues (taught through pinyin), listening comprehension exercises (in real-world situations), Chinese characters (frequently used in daily life), Mandarin songs, and Tea Time (tips for self-study). This course is for anyone interested in learning Mandarin Chinese, especially if you plan to work or study in Mandarin-speaking countries. The course is also a good start toward the HSK Chinese proficiency test.

5. Professional Certificate in Mandarin Communication from edX

Rating: /

Duration: 7 months (4 - 10 hours per week)

Cost: $745 for the full program with certificate

This certificate program is an in-depth introduction to the Chinese language. In Essentials in Chinese, learners will be introduced to Mandarin Chinese in 5 parts. In Basic Level 1, learners will learn basic language skills to talk about eating, shopping, and getting around in Mandarin-speaking countries. In Basic Level 2, learners will expand extensively on vocabulary for describing people and objects, making comparisons, and speaking about opinions. In Basic Level 3, learners will further advance their Mandarin Chinese vocabulary and repertoire of sentence structures based on dynamic scenarios.

In Business Chinese, learners will be equipped with daily business communication skills, and learn how to react in several scenarios. Participants will not only learn at their own pace, but will also have a chance to practice speaking and listening with professional language teachers. We will focus on important topics for business issues and career development. Participants will have to take a 30-minute oral training class which will be focused on diagnosing their language proficiency level and strengthening the learning outcome.

Overall, the program includes 5 Mandarin Chinese courses, 5.5 hours of one-on-one oral training sessions, a 30-minute diagnosed oral training lesson. After completing this course,  you will obtain an edX Professional Certificate and MandarinX Oral Training Program Certificate.

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6. Chinese Made Easy L2: Understand Chinese in 10 hours from Udemy

Rating: 4.8

Duration: 13 hours on-demand video

Cost: Free trial for 7 days, $129.99 with certificate

This course is for people who have previously studied Chinese but want to start reading more. The Instructor has always done an awesome job providing explanations and descriptions for everything in his language courses. Provides little skits to make things far more memorable and also breaks down each written character into its smaller forms to help you better recognize and understand the written form of mandarin as well.

After finishing this course you will be able to talk about the most common things in your everyday life.   You can also understand the most important grammar so that you know how to build most sentences.

7. Learn Basic Chinese - Speak Chinese Mandarin (Level 1) from Udemy

Rating: 4.8

Duration: 9 hours on-demand video

Cost: $129.99 with certificate

This course follows the natural process of learning a language, just like how you learned your mother language, which is completely different from the traditional way of language learning. They will play a dialogue spoken by two to three native speakers. Listen as much as possible, like a little baby, emerse your brain into the conversation, pay attention to the gestures and any other kind of visual content that matches the sound you hear, and try to guess the meaning.
Play the conversation as often as possible, until you are able to understand the content and even able to predict what the next word sounds like. The video dialogue will be followed by an explanation lecture, with pinyin, and every detail from the video dialogue. You can listen, repeat, and try to imitate the pronunciation of a word using the shadowing technique ( repeat right after you hear a word or a sentence) you can record yourself and compare yourself with a native speaker. In the end, there will be vocabulary extension PPT with the soundtrack. After finishing this course, you will be able to communicate with native Chinese speakers with confidence, even speak with a genuine Chinese accent.

8. Chinese language for beginners : Mandarin Chinese HSK1-HSK3 from Udemy

Rating: 4.6

Duration: 25.5 hours on-demand video

Cost: Free trial for 7 days, $149.99 with certificate

This course is prepared for people who are looking to learn Mandarin Chinese in a simple and easy way.  You can start learning the Chinese language from scratch or refresh it if you have learned it long ago and you have forgotten a lot. You don't need any knowledge of the Chinese language to attend the course, but you can be on HSK1 or HSK2 level as well. The course includes HSK1, HSK2, and HSK3. 

HSK (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi) or the Chinese Proficiency Test is an international standardized exam that assesses non-native Chinese speakers' Chinese language proficiency. It contains the most common Mandarin Chinese words and sentences. It fits all Chinese language learners, not only people who want to take the exams. HSK1 Course includes 150 words,  Around 200 sentences, 19 conversations, and one HSK1 test. HSK2 Course includes 150 words, Around 300 sentences, 17 long conversations, and one HSK2 test. HSK3 Course includes 300 words, Around 900 sentences, 25 stories, and one HSK3 test. After you finish the course, you can get a Certificate of completion and you will be able to manage most communication in Chinese when traveling or living in China.

9. Speak Mandarin Chinese right: Sound native in under 4 hours from Udemy

Rating: 4.6

Duration: 11.5 hours on-demand video

Cost: Free trial for 7 days, $49.99 with certificate

Say it Right is a ChinesePod original video course with game-changing instruction on how to master Chinese pronunciation. Gain the confidence and skill to speak like a native. Every lesson works as a three-step process. First, watch the video, then practice speaking with the review drills, and finally test your knowledge with our lesson worksheets. Twenty-two videos & three hours of content. ChinesePod provides the most extensive Chinese pronunciation instruction available. You won't find any course like the Say It Right series... on or offline.

This course covers the most difficult parts of learning pronunciation. The pronunciation expert, gives you insight into mastering pinyin, tones, and difficult sounds in the Say It Right series. By the end of the course, you will have acquired the necessary tools to sound like a native. This course will give you the confidence that you can say anything in Mandarin the right way.

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10. Level 2 Certificate in Chinese as Foreign Language from John Academy

Rating: 4.6

Duration: 4 hours, 40 minutes

Cost: $23.47

In this course, you will learn about the advantages of learning Chinese. It will teach you the different methods through which you can learn and understand Chinese. You will also be taught about the easy ways through which you can learn it easily. You will learn about the different techniques which will help you speak Chinese. You will learn about the basics of written Chinese.

After you have successfully passed the test, you will be able to obtain an Accredited Certificate of Achievement. You can however also obtain a Course Completion Certificate following the course completion without sitting for the test. Certificates can be obtained either in hard copy at a cost of £39 or in PDF format at a cost of £24. PDF certificate’s turnaround time is 24 hours and for the hardcopy certificate, it is 3-9 working.

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