If you are learning Chinese from scratch, which library you pick first matters. On the China track, there are two good starting points, and the right one depends on what you need:
- Need everyday Chinese soon? Choose L1: Basic Level 1 Library – 850 Everyday Words.
- Want a solid foundation first? Choose L100: HSK Chinese Proficiency Test Level 1 A1 Vocabulary.
L100: the foundation
HSK 1 is the official starting line. HSK is the standardized Chinese proficiency test, and Level 1 (A1) is its entry level. The L100 library follows that word list.
The words are short and everyday. In L100 you meet words like 爱 (love), 吃 (eat), 唱 (sing), 茶 (tea) and 杯子 (cup). Many are a single character, and you can use them right away.
L1: everyday Chinese
L1 follows the idea behind Basic English's 850 words: the words people use every day are much the same in any language. It gets you to daily conversation faster. Everyday does not always mean easy, though. L1 has more multi-character words and includes radicals such as 亻 and 冫, the parts characters are built from, so it asks more of a complete beginner.
How to choose your library
1. Open Study mode.
2. Under track selection, choose China.
3. In the library list, pick L1 or L100.
4. Confirm and start driving.
What you will see on the China track
- The road sign often shows the English meaning of the word, for example "sing".
- The prompter at the top and the radar at the bottom left show the Chinese characters.
- Pinyin is not shown. Listen to the voice prompts instead: you hear each word spoken as you drive.
Use the road sign to know the meaning, and the radar to know which character to hit next.
What comes next
Whichever you start with, the other makes a good next step. After HSK 1, L101 and the libraries after it follow HSK 2 and beyond.