Study plan builder

Prompt library

Daily warmups

• Do 5 minutes in the tone trainer before any new vocabulary.
• Read one pinyin chart row aloud (initials or finals).
• Shadow yesterday’s favorite dialogue line three times.
• Say mā/má/mǎ/mà, then 不/一 sandhi examples once each.
• Record a 10-second greeting and play it back for tone checks.
• Spell three trap syllables (qù, xī, zhī) before opening a word deck.
• Breathe, then speak five known words slower than conversation speed.

Session builders

• Learn 8–10 words from one deck; say each example sentence aloud.
• Pick one pattern guide and replace nouns/verbs to make 4 new sentences.
• Finish with a short read: cover English first, then check.
• Write or type the same 8 words in characters after you can say them.
• Do 4 cloze drills from one pattern’s drill list.
• Explain one grammar tip in English in one sentence, then demonstrate in Chinese.
• End by teaching one new word to an imaginary beginner out loud.

Weekly reviews

• Revisit tone sandhi examples: 你好, 不是, 一个.
• Quiz yourself on numbers 0–100 and two price phrases.
• Write or trace 10 hanzi you already know by sound.
• Record a 30-second self-intro using 我/是/在/有.
• Reuse one café order and one directions dialogue from memory.
• Retake a lesson mini-check without looking at notes.
• List 15 words you still mix up and drill only those.

Speaking challenges

• Order an imaginary café drink with 要/来 + measure word.
• Ask and answer three 吗 questions without looking at notes.
• Give directions from your door to a nearby place using 左/右/直走.
• Describe your family photo with 这是 and 的.
• Call a friend (or voice note) to ask 你在哪儿？ and 现在几点？
• Negotiate a weekend plan using 想/要 and 还是.
• Apologize and recover politely with 对不起 / 没关系 / 请问.

Mindset checks

• Progress is reuse: the same words should reappear in lessons, decks, and reads.
• Prefer short daily streaks over marathon cramming.
• When stuck, simplify the sentence instead of abandoning speaking.
• Clear tones beat a large mute vocabulary list.
• Mistakes in practice are data; silence teaches less.
• One solid pattern used ten times beats ten patterns used once.
• Rest is part of learning—return tomorrow with a smaller loop if needed.