You want to improve your Mandarin skills? For some of the greatest online resources for Chinese you don’t have to look far: they can be found on YouTube. But where to start? Like so many others I greatly benefited from watching online lessons on this video-sharing platform. This is my personal top 10 of YouTube channels for learning Chinese.
10. eChineseLearning
- Followers: 110K
- Since: 2010
- Nr. of videos: 500 – 1000
- Language level: Beginner / Intermediate
eChineseLearning is a longstanding channel to which many online teachers contribute, so you find loads of useful material here – if you know where to look, cause the channel seems to be organized rather randomly. With so many people creating content, it’s hard to discover one connecting approach or style.
Positives
- Some useful content for beginners and intermediates
- Native speakers from China
- Covering the Mandarin basics and more
Negatives
- Randomly organized
- Varying quality
9. Learn Chinese with ChineseClass101.com
- Followers: 313K
- Since: 2009
- Nr. of videos: 500 – 1000
- Language level: Beginner
Learn Chinese with ChineseClass101.com is one of the most longstanding Chinese learning channels on YouTube. It focuses mainly on beginners and covers all sorts of Mandarin basics. And more on the meta level: they also support learners with Chinese learning strategies and tips.
The teachers in the videos use a lot of English, to the degree of word by word translating every Chinese sentence into English, even though the videos are fully subtitled. That’s convenient and may attract more viewers, but in terms of teaching it’s not best practice.
Positives
- Great quantity of helpful videos, mainly for beginners
- Native speakers from China
- Learning advice
Negatives
- Too much English
8. Fragrant Mandarin 香橘子
- Followers: 1,7K
- Since: 2019
- Nr. of videos: 0 – 50
- Language level: Beginner / Intermediate
Fragrant Mandarin 香橘子 is a fairly new channel which is not so much about classic teaching, but about online language immersion. The content I’ve seen so far looks promising.
Positives
- Authentic and high quality content from a charming couple in Guangxi Provence, China.
- Original approach to Mandarin learning
7. Chinesewith-Xiaolu
- Followers: 0,5K
- Since: 2019
- Nr. of videos: 0 – 50
- Language level: Beginner to upper intermediate
Chinesewith-Xiaolu is a rather fresh channel covering basic Chinese. What got me interested is the fact that Xiaolu evaluates the Mandarin skills of Laowai vloggers. Her comments on news and current affairs are also worthwhile.
Positives
- Original and fun content
- Professionally edited videos
Negatives
- The font she uses for characters looks nice, but might not be the best pick for beginners
6. ChineseEddieG汉语艾迪
- Followers: 4,3K
- Since: 2014
- Nr. of videos: 100 – 200
- Language level: Beginner / Intermediate / Upper intermediate
ChineseEddieG汉语艾迪 is a young charismatic guy with a talent for teaching.
Positives
- Interesting content for beginners as well as more advanced learners
- Native speaker from China who covers original topics like religions, internet slang, Chinese car brands and swear words
5. Chinese Zero To Hero
- Followers: 32K
- Since: 2016
- Nr. of videos: 200 – 300
- Language level: Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced
Chinese Zero To Hero‘s YouTube channel is a very HSK-focused channel. They actually cover all levels, but on the whole and compared to other channels, they offer more content for intermediate and advanced learners. In an earlier post I recommended their website, but recently it seems to have a security problem and my browser doesn’t allow me the visit their webpage anymore. But from what I can tell, these guys from Mainland China are really committed to improve the world of Chinese learning with solid video content, learning resources and strategies.
Positives
- Useful if you are preparing for HSK
- Interesting content for higher levels
- Well organized channel
Negatives
- Using more English than they have to
4. ChinesePod
- Followers: 178K
- Since: 2014
- Nr. of videos: 300 – 400
- Language level: Beginner / Intermediate / Upper intermediate
ChinesePod is a popular learning website for Mandarin Chinese where you can find over 4000 video and audio lessons. Their YouTube channel “shares just a taste” of all this content, so to get full access to all the material – similar to Mandarin Corner – you have to sign up.
What makes ChinesePod stand out is the abundance of quality content for all levels, their bilingual approach and their years of experience.
What I’m not a big fan of though is the fact they are using so much English. From a teaching point of view that’s less than optimal. I know many learners, especially people new to the language, appreciate all the explaining in English, BUT – in the long run it’s actually not that helpful.
Positives
- Great variation of content for all levels between complete beginners and upper intermediate learners
- The channel is neatly organized
- It’s easy to find the kind of video’s or playlist(s) you are looking for
- Bilingual Chinese-American teachers who bridge the gap between the two cultures really well and understand the needs of non-Chinese students
- Team of charming teachers
Negatives
- A lot of explaining in English
3. Yoyo Chinese
- Followers: 284K
- Since: 2006
- Nr. of videos: 400 – 500
- Language level: Beginner / Intermediate / Upper intermediate
Yoyo Chinese is probably the first and most well-known Chinese learning video channel, founded by Yangyang Cheng, a former Chinese TV host. If you look at some of the first uploads, you’ll discover she actually started out teaching English to Chinese people. It’s a pleasure to watch her teach: very passionate and upbeat. Newer content is mainly done by junior staff members.
Most videos are meant for beginners. Yoyo Chinese covers the whole spectrum to get you started: from Pinyin, tones to basic grammar and essential vocabulary. And Yangyang does a great job at this.
Positives
- Great for beginners and English speakers
- Passion for teaching + longtime experience
- Innovation
Negatives
- For such a longstanding channel the content is not that well ordered: only a couple of playlists, most videos are not categorized, but then again Yangyang’s username is “sloppycheng”
2. Everyday Chinese
- Followers: 160K
- Since: 2017
- Nr. of videos: 200 – 300
- Language level: Beginner to upper Intermediate
The Everyday Chinese channel has grown quite popular in only a few years time. Young teachers from Mainland China do a good job on creating new and original content. It seems to me they take their inspiration directly from the classroom as they cover lots of topics people learning Mandarin genuinely struggle with.
Positives
- Great content for beginners and intermediate learners
- Good understanding of the needs of students, thinking from the learner’s perspective
- Covering Mandarin basics and HSK levels 1 – 4
- Nice street interviews and real life dialogues
- Chinese-English subtitled + Pinyin
Negatives
- Some videos only show slides with text and grammar which is OK, but a little static
1. Mandarin Corner
- Followers: 54K
- Since: 2017
- Nr. of videos: 200 – 300
- Language level: Beginner / Intermediate / Upper intermediate
Mandarin Corner is centered around Eileen Xu and still seems to be a rather underrated channel. Not only does Eileen create original and authentic content, she does so with using as little English as possible. That means you get to hear a lot more of the language than in most other Chinese learning videos. Mandarin Corner’s content is typically English-Chinese subtitled and – very important – also includes Pinyin, which makes the videos accessible for beginners too.
As for the more basic stuff: Mandarin Corner covers HSK levels 1 to 5 and provides loads of tips to improve your overall fluency. But what you can’t hardly find elsewhere – or not in the same quality – are the street interviews Eileen does, asking random people in her city about topics like “leftover women“, Japan, South-Korea and foreigners in general. Very interesting to watch, even if you are not in the least interested in learning Mandarin, but simply want to hear the opinions of average Chinese people.
Eileen has a very personal approach to creating videos. She takes you on a bicycle ride downtown, showing you around, and she even gives a tour of her old hometown. She also interviews interestingpeople like tattoo artists, rock climbers, the local phone repair shop owner and waiguoren in China.
To get full access to all the content and materials you need to sign up.
Positives
- Highly original and authentic content from Mainland China for beginners up to upper intermediate learners
- Covering the Mandarin basics
- Interesting topics for people interested in China and Chinese society
- Personal and innovative approach to online learning
- Using a minimum quantity of English to explain. Subtitles: English, Chinese and Pinyin
Negatives
- The channel is not that frequently being updated
Bonus Channels
- 大鹏说中文-Speak Chinese With Da Peng – Great vocabulary focused lessons for intermediate learners
- GoEast Mandarin – Great short videos, I particularly enjoy their series “Chinese slang language with GoEast Mandarin’s Beyond Class” where they teach Chinese slang with the help of mini-sketches.
That’s my top 10 of YouTube channels for learning Mandarin. I know there are many more – I just couldn’t include all. For this post, I only looked at the video channels, not at the websites and teaching companies that stand behind it. My main interest is simply to see what these channels have to offer to people learning Mandarin. I do very much admire all the work online teachers put into their videos, especially those who work more or less on solo-projects and who produce great results with limited means.
What are your favorite YouTube channels? Feel free to let me know which one(s) helped you to get to the next level.
HSK Academy videos are my favorite, I just watch them in loop on my phone to practice words and characters recognition and it works well on me.