How it works
These Chinese words flashcards cover 100 first Mandarin words in ten sets of ten: numbers, family, colors, animals, food, body, school, greetings, time and verbs. Say the word, flip to check, type pinyin or English in quiz mode, or print a set.
Read the full guide
What is on each card
The front shows the word in simplified characters: 老师. The back gives pinyin with tone marks, one syllable for each character (lǎo shī), then the English, teacher, and on 43 cards the traditional form, 老師. Some backs add a hint: 熊猫, panda, is bear then cat, and 牛奶, milk, is cow then milk.
Print Chinese flashcards, one set to a sheet
Pick a set, turn a card, then Print cards. Ten cards fit one sheet of Letter or A4, fronts on one side, mirrored backs on the other. Print double-sided, flip on the long edge, and māo lands behind 猫. All 100 take 9 sheets. Print fold-over cards puts character and pinyin side by side instead, ten strips to a sheet.
- A syllable with no tone mark, like the second ma of mā ma, is a neutral tone.
- 一, 二 and 三 take one, two and three strokes. 四 breaks the pattern with five.
- 牛 is cow, ox or bull and 羊 is sheep or goat, so quiz mode accepts any of them.
Questions and answers
Are these Mandarin Chinese flashcards simplified or traditional?
Simplified, the script of mainland China and Singapore. 57 of the 100 words are written the same way in both scripts. For the other 43, such as 马 and 馬, the back of the card adds the traditional form used in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
How do I type pinyin in quiz mode?
With or without tone marks and spaces: ni hao, nihao and nǐ hǎo all pass for 你好. Tone numbers work too, as in ni3 hao3, and a wrong number is marked wrong. For ü, type u or v. The English meaning also counts.
Do the cards show stroke order?
No. These Chinese character flashcards show each finished character in your device's Chinese font, with no stroke arrows and no writing grid. For handwriting practice, copy the character from the card onto squared paper, one character to a square.