Labubu
The Pop Mart monster on every bag is Chinese: Lābùbù. The Pop Mart app is where collectors learn their first characters.
You already speak Chinese. No cap.
Boba, Labubu, Black Myth: Wukong, kung fu, 666 — Chinese is already all over your feed. LexiTrail takes you from the words you already use to the 5,000 of HSK.
Spaced repetition shows you each word right before you'd forget it, so review time goes to the words you actually need — not a fixed daily list.
main character energy
奶茶bobaLiterally “milk tea”. You already order it. Now read it.
01 · Already yours
Six words you use every week
Each one came into English from a Chinese language.
- boba波霸bōbàTaiwanese slang for the big pearls. Yes, really.
- ketchup鲑汁guīzhīoriginHokkien kê-tsiap, a fermented fish sauce.Mandarin today 番茄酱 fānqiéjiàng
- kung fu功夫gōngfu“Skill earned through effort.” Also: grinding.
- typhoon台风táifēng“Great wind.” The storm kept its name.
- dim sum点心diǎnxīn“Touch the heart.” Small plates, big brunch.
- tea茶cháHokkien tê sailed to Europe in the 1600s.
02 · On your FYP
Your feed is already bilingual
Black Myth: Wukong
10 million copies in three days. Based on Journey to the West — the 16th-century novel Chinese kids grow up on.
The RedNote moment
January 2025: hundreds of thousands of Americans joined Xiaohongshu in a week and learned 你好 from strangers in Shanghai. That energy, with a plan.
Lunar New Year
From SF to Sydney, the biggest street party of the year. 新年快乐 xīnnián kuàilè is usually the first phrase people pick up.
03 · Text like a local
Chinese internet runs on numbers
Pinyin sounds like digits, so the internet made digits into words. Five minutes and you can read group chats.
- 520I love you
- 666insanely good
- 88bye
- yydsthe GOAT
- 3Qthanks
今晚吃火锅？Hotpot tonight?
666 走！666, let’s go!
奶茶我请Boba’s on me
yyds 3Q 88GOAT. thanks. bye
04 · Head start我爱你
Easier for English speakers than its reputation
- 1
Same word order as English
我爱你 wǒ ài nǐ is literally “I love you”. Subject, verb, object. Nothing to rearrange.
- 2
No conjugation, tenses, plurals or gender
吃 chī is eat, eats, ate and eaten. A time word does the rest.
- 3
Tones are a habit, not a talent
You already use pitch for meaning (“Really?” vs “Really.”). Mandarin has four patterns, and spaced repetition drills them in.
05 · The trail
Six levels. First boss: 150 words.
HSK 1 is enough for a first conversation. Every level is a curated set with pinyin, meanings and AI memory hints.
- HSK 1150wordsOrder boba
- HSK 2149wordsSurvive a group chat
- HSK 3300wordsWatch a C-drama
- HSK 4600wordsTravel solo
- HSK 51,300wordsArgue online
- HSK 62,500wordsRead the novel
Popular words
Word Sets
- HSK 1–6
- HSK 3.0
- Chinese measure words EN
- Numbers
- Animals
- Colors
- Greetings
- HSK 3.0 · 1
- HSK 3.0 · 2
- HSK 3.0 · 3
- HSK 3.0 · 4
- HSK 3.0 · 5
- HSK 3.0 · 6
- HSK 3.0 · 7–9
- How to write “hello” in Chinese EN
- How to write “happy new year” in Chinese EN
- How to write “thank you” in Chinese EN
- How to write “i love you” in Chinese EN
Character Breakdown
记忆jì yìmemory
Think of 记 (jì) as a "speech" 讠with "self" 己 - speaking to yourself to remember something. 忆 (yì) shows a "heart" 心 - memories come from the heart!
智能 Smart Word Sets
Study curated HSK 1-6 vocabulary lists with pinyin, characters and meanings, in English, Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Spanish.
AI Memory Hints
Our AI generates clever memory aids and etymology explanations for Chinese characters, making them stick in your memory naturally.
Interactive Practice
Test your knowledge with character recognition, pronunciation, and meaning exercises. Track your progress with spaced repetition.
Expanding Horizons
Starting with Mandarin Chinese, we're building a platform that will soon support multiple languages. Join our growing community of language learners!
开始吧
1.1 billion people are waiting to talk to you.
Start with the 150 words of HSK 1. Your first conversation is closer than you think.
Start Learning Chinese