Mandarin Meadow

Help & FAQ 常见问题

Troubleshooting and corrections

What should I include when asking for help or reporting a content error?

Keep the lesson link, the word or sentence involved, and the button you used. For an audio problem, say whether it affected Listen, Listen to mine or Compare. Include your device and browser, what happened and what you expected. This makes a problem easier to reproduce.

Copy the template below and add the details before contacting the person who shared the course with you. Use Share feedback to send a report directly to the site owner. The copying tool below is optional. Leave out names, passwords, private recordings and other personal information.

Share feedback

Practising Mandarin

How do Listen, Record and Compare work?

Listen plays the example. You can skip listening and record straight away. Tap Record, say the item, then tap Stop. Choose one phrase, one sentence and one dialogue reply for the core lesson practice. A successful recording completes that item’s task; further recordings are optional. Compare plays the model, then your voice. After recording, the smaller Listen to mine link lets you hear just your voice.

“Recorded” means you practised; it is not a pronunciation score. Listen for tones, rhythm and light syllables. You can record again. Try a few items at a time and take a break when needed.

Where do my recordings and completed tasks go?

Voice clips stay in this browser tab. Reloading, closing the tab or leaving the website clears them. Opening this help page keeps your clips available. Completed tasks remain saved even when a voice clip is gone, so Listen to mine and Compare become available after a new recording.

Learners have separate progress. Choose Sign in at the top of any page to sync learners and learning progress between devices. Voice recordings stay in the current tab and are not synced.

How can I read a longer text?

Use the Listen button beside each part. Pause or stop with the audio controls, then continue when ready. Pinyin + English and Useful expressions provide optional support. Short texts have one Listen button.

How do character animations and tracing work?

Flip a character card to see the writing controls. Replay shows the strokes; Trace lets you try them. The lesson’s writing focus identifies which characters to practise first. Printable pages are available in Practice.

Choosing a course & reviewing

How do I choose a starting point?

Each course page lists what to know before starting and what you will practise. Choose by what you can understand and do in Mandarin. Later literature and social themes are intended for teenagers and adults ready for extended reading and discussion; language support remains available.

How do the cumulative reviews work?

Open Short reviews on your course page after each lesson group. Try one six-question set, then use the feedback to choose more language practice or return to your lessons. Optional “Use it together” activities connect ideas through a written response. First choices and retries remain saved. The written reflection is self-reviewed, with room for different supported answers.

Can I spread a long reading over several days?

Yes. Open Goals & study plan for reading sessions linked to each part. Read one part in a sitting, then connect the parts and complete the reading tasks when ready. The short Course 7 bridge readings have optional longer versions; the longer version is not required.

Chinese typing

How do I type Chinese and use written responses?

Add a Simplified Chinese Pinyin keyboard in your device’s keyboard or language settings. On iPhone/iPad, look under Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards. On Android, use your keyboard’s Languages settings. On Windows or Mac, use language or input-source settings. Select the Chinese keyboard, type pinyin, then choose the intended characters.

Later readings include a short written response. Drafts are saved to the active learner’s progress as you type. You can save a response, compare it with a possible supporting detail, and revise it. These responses are not automatically graded; different reasoned answers can work. When signed in, saved responses sync with this learner’s progress.

Accounts, learners & syncing

Can I try the course without signing in?

Yes. Browse the lessons, listen to model audio and try practice activities without signing in. Guest progress is saved on this browser for one learner. Sign in to add more learners or continue on another device.

How do I continue on a phone, iPad or another computer?

Choose Sign in in the top-right corner. Sign-in currently uses a ChatGPT account; separate email, Google or Apple sign-in is not available on this website. Use the same ChatGPT account on each device, then choose the learner from Learn as. Syncing happens automatically after sign-in and as you practise. You do not need to press a sync button.

Does each child need a separate account?

No. After signing in, a parent or carer can use one account and add a separate learner for each child. Adult learners can also keep their own learner profile. Each learner has separate progress. Learn as is only for choosing the learner. Open Account → Manage learners to add, edit or delete a learner. Edit learner changes the name without creating another learner. Deleting a learner also deletes their learning progress, requires confirmation, and keeps at least one learner in the account.

What syncs, and what stays on this device?

Learner names, lesson progress, completed tasks, saved written responses, and pinyin and number-practice results sync with your account. Voice recordings stay in the current tab and clear when it reloads; they are not uploaded.

If the connection drops, progress stays on this device and the status shows Offline. It retries when you reconnect. Keep using the same learner on your other device.

Why is there a learner called Saved practice?

Existing guest practice may be kept as a separate learner when you sign in, so it does not overwrite another learner’s history. You can rename it in the Learn as menu.

Microphone setup

What if microphone access is blocked?

Tap Record and allow microphone access when your browser asks. If access was denied, change this website’s microphone permission to Allow or Ask. Your device must also let the browser use its microphone. Return to the lesson and try Record again; reload only if your browser requires it. Reloading clears voice clips in this tab.

Open Mandarin Meadow directly in your browser if recording is unavailable in an embedded window. If the microphone is busy, close other apps using it. For children, a parent or carer can help with permission settings.

iPhone or iPad · Safari
  1. Open this website in Safari, then tap Record and allow the request.
  2. If blocked, open Safari’s page menu beside the address, find Website Settings (or More, then Website Settings), and change Microphone to Ask or Allow for this website.
  3. You can also check Settings → Apps → Safari → Microphone; older versions may show Safari directly in Settings. Return to Safari and try again.

Menu names vary by version. Apple’s Safari settings guide

Android phone or tablet · Chrome
  1. In Chrome, open Settings → Site settings → Microphone. Allow this website or remove its blocked permission, then try Record again.
  2. If still blocked, check Android Settings → Apps → Chrome → Permissions → Microphone, and allow access while using the app.

Google’s microphone guide for Android

Mac · Safari or Chrome

In Safari, use Settings → Websites → Microphone and choose Ask or Allow for this website. In Chrome, open the controls beside the address → Site settings → Microphone → Allow.

If the browser is blocked by macOS, check System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone and allow the browser if listed. Relaunch it if requested; relaunching clears current voice clips.

Safari website settings · Chrome microphone settings

Windows · Chrome or Edge

Open the controls beside the website address and allow Microphone in this site’s permissions. In Windows Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone, check microphone access and permission for desktop apps. On older Windows versions, look under Privacy.

Microsoft’s microphone settings guide

Firefox

Use the permissions icon beside the address to remove a blocked microphone permission, then tap Record and allow the new request. You can also review Microphone under Firefox Settings → Privacy & Security → Permissions. Check your device’s microphone permission for Firefox too.

Mozilla’s permission guide
PINYIN BASICS · LESSON 4 OF 12

First initials: b p m f d t n l

Build syllables with eight common initials.

About 10–15 minutes for the core practice · Split into two short sessions if helpful · English-guided · All ages

Listen → Learn & blend → Choose → Record & compare → Use it

Listen & notice · Learn & blend

Listen for the puff

Mandarin b/p and d/t differ mainly in aspiration: p and t have a stronger puff of air. Do not treat them simply as English voiced and unvoiced pairs. Hold a tissue loosely in front of your mouth to notice the air.

Use lips, then tongue

b, p and m begin at the lips; f uses the upper teeth and lower lip. d, t, n and l begin with the tongue near the ridge behind the upper teeth. Keep the movements comfortable.

Blend, do not spell out

In bā, move from b straight into a. Do not say the English letter name B first. The examples play complete syllables or words, never alphabet names.

Syllables and words use the original course voice. Separate recordings are used only for simple, compound and nasal finals in the sound reference. For words, focus on the sound named on the card.

Record the two examples marked Practice 1 and Practice 2. Use the other examples whenever you want extra practice.

Practice 1bā八eight

b in bā

píng guǒ苹果apple

p in píng

mā ma妈妈mum

m in mā

fēi jī飞机aeroplane

f in fēi

dì di弟弟younger brother

d in dì

tóu头head

t in tóu

nǎi nai奶奶grandma

n in nǎi

Practice 2lí梨pear

l in lí

Dedicated sound recordings · 1 examples

Listen in small groups. These reference sounds do not add completion tasks. The spellings show the intended targets; in connected speech, notice the spoken tones.

Same syllable · four tones

mā妈

Hear & choose · Quick review

Choose an answer for immediate feedback. You can retry; your first answers remain in the review summary.

1. Listen, then choose the pinyin you hear.

2. Listen, then choose the pinyin you hear.

3. Listen, then choose the pinyin you hear.

4. Listen, then choose the pinyin you hear.

5. Which pair contrasts a smaller and stronger puff of air?

6. How should you read bā?

Use it

Name bà ba or nǎi nai, then use a number such as bā.

Family option: take turns listening, saying the example, and noticing one sound. Stay on this page; no extra materials are needed. Independent option: look away and say it again before recording.

Your practice so far

Finish the six review questions and the two recordings marked Practice 1 and Practice 2 for a practice-complete tick. Listening results and recording completion are separate. No pronunciation score is given.

Progress is saved for the selected learner on this browser. Voice clips stay in this tab and clear when it reloads.

Sources & image credits

Curriculum references: 幼儿汉语 1–4 and 中文 1–12. Lessons are organised by learning themes and include original texts and graded adaptations.

Scene illustrations: Twemoji, © Twitter and contributors, CC BY 4.0. Pilot word-card illustrations are original AI-generated images.

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