Learn Chinese from the roots up.

Looks it up in the course

No account needed · Your progress stays on your device

See ZIGEN in action

How it works

Every character is built from pieces you already know

You learn the pieces first. When they're learned, the character opens, and then the words that use it. Tap any tile to follow it.

1Learn first
2Then
3Opens

The system

A study system that learns how you forget

Every review is a question, timed to land just before you'd forget. Then ZIGEN fits that timing to your own memory, and drills tones the way people actually speak.

01Memory

21settings, fitted to your memory

A schedule that learns from you

Every review is timed by FSRS-6, the same algorithm Anki uses, running on your device. After 400 reviews, ZIGEN fits its 21 settings to your own history with the official FSRS optimiser, and again every 500 reviews after that. It only switches to your settings if they predict your past reviews better than the standard ones, and Settings shows you by how much.

Coming: bring an Anki deck and its whole review history trains it on day one.

02Recall

  • Type the pinyin
  • Type what you hear
  • Say it out loud

You recall it. You don't pick it.

Reviews are recall, not multiple choice: you type the pinyin, type what you hear, or say the answer out loud and mark yourself. Only brand-new items start with choices.

03Tones

Tones the way they're said

Tone drills on words and inside real sentences, marked the way the tones are actually spoken. Listening drills switch between four voices, two women and two men, because hearing many speakers is what tone-training research supports.

04Characters

207basic shapes behind all 2,970 HSK characters

    Learn the shape once, read it everywhere

    Every HSK character breaks down into shapes that don't break down any further. You learn the parts first, then the character, then the words, then sentences you can read.

    Built on the only two study techniques, out of ten, that a landmark review rated “high utility”: testing yourself and spacing your practice.
    Dunlosky et al., 2013
    Two weeks of tone-listening practice improved learners by 21%, and the gain was still there six months later.
    Wang, Spence, Jongman & Sereno, 1999
    The 1,000 most frequent characters make up about 89% of Chinese text.
    Jun Da, Modern Chinese character frequency list
    FSRS predicted forgetting more accurately than Anki's old SM-2 scheduler for over 99% of about 10,000 users.
    Open FSRS benchmark, Aug 2025 · it measures prediction, not learning

    The map

    Drag to learn. Watch what you can read.

    Every square is one thing to learn, in the order ZIGEN teaches them. Slide forward and see how many real sentences open up.

    0sentences you can read

    0 of all learned · before day 1

    Chorus

    Hear what a tone looks like

    Tap a tone. ZIGEN plays the recording and draws its pitch over the shape the tone should take. In the app you record yourself and see your line beside it.

    Tap a tone to hear it and see its pitch.

    Questions

    Before you start

    The short answers. For everything else, try a lesson: it's four quick questions away.

    Your first lessonStarts with yī, “one”: a single stroke
    Do I need an account?

    No. Your progress is saved on this device. Save a backup from Settings whenever you like and restore it on another device.

    What is HSK?

    HSK 3.0 is the official Chinese proficiency test, in levels. ZIGEN breaks each level into parts, characters, words and grammar points.

    How does it decide what comes next?

    A memory model called FSRS brings each item back for review just before you're likely to forget it. New items open only when the parts they're built from are learned.

    Where do the sentences come from?

    From Tatoeba, a free collection of sentences translated by volunteers, plus sentences ZIGEN puts together from words you already know. Each Tatoeba sentence shows its credit.

    Can I use it on my phone?

    Yes. Add it to your home screen and it opens like an app. Every recording is saved the first time it plays.

    Start with your first part

    Four quick questions set your pace. Then your first lesson opens, right here in your browser.

    Start learning Open the app
    • No account needed
    • Works on your phone
    • Progress stays on your device