Learn Chinese,
16 words a day
Mandarin vocabulary that stays learned — audio on every word so the tones sink in, spaced repetition, and a Tetris break between answers.
Free to start — no credit card · your progress is saved to your account
Pick a language pair, type the answer, take a Tetris break — in 10 seconds.
Why Mandarin pays back
The most-spoken first language on Earth, one word at a time.
HSK, at its core
Every HSK level is defined by a vocabulary list. Grammar helps, but the words are the exam — and retained words, not crammed ones, are what survive test day.
Business Mandarin
Trade, tech and manufacturing run through Chinese. The corpus is organised by topic — business, IT, banking, logistics — so work vocabulary is a choice, not luck.
Family & heritage
Heritage speakers often understand far more than they can produce. Active recall — typing the word, not recognising it — is precisely the missing half.
Finish with proof, not a feeling
Every CEFR tier you reach earns a verifiable certificate with a public serial — retention checked at 7, 30 and 90 days.
Specimen. Real certificates carry a unique serial and a public verification link; the Sealed mark means recall was re-verified 90+ days after learning.
What makes 16Word different
Built for characters, tones, and memory that lasts.
Tones you can hear
Audio on every one of the 6,300+ words. Mandarin is tonal — reading pinyin is not the same as hearing 妈 and 马 side by side.
Fair character matching
Type your answer in characters; spacing never counts against you, and accepted synonyms mean a valid alternative word is right, not marked wrong.
The Tetris loop
Every clean answer banks Tetris pieces; every miss costs a garbage line. The play break is what consolidates the character you just produced.
Offline packs
Download your topics and keep practising on the subway, the plane, or anywhere without signal.
Your first 16 characters are waiting
Five minutes today. A year of days like it is a working Mandarin vocabulary — checked, spaced and sealed.