Hanzio: Learn Chinese

Hanzio is the free Chinese dictionary that turns characters into long-term memory, now with grammar lessons and stories. Whether you're learning your first hanzi or pushing toward HSK 9, it fits your day in short, focused sessions.

Chinese doesn't have a 26-letter alphabet. It has thousands of characters, and each one carries its own shape, meaning and pronunciation. That's why an efficient, practical method makes a real difference here — it's what turns study time into characters you keep. That's what Hanzio is built for.

It's built on two ideas from memory research: spaced repetition (you see each word again right before you'd forget it) and active recall (you pull the answer out of your head instead of just recognizing it on a page).

YOU PRODUCE THE ANSWER, NOT JUST RECOGNIZE IT
Every word comes back four ways:
• Meaning — type in what it means
• Pinyin — type the pronunciation on a pinyin keyboard built around real Chinese syllables and tones
• Writing — draw the character from memory with your finger or stylus
• Audio — hear the word spoken in Mandarin and pick the character it belongs to

These aren't flashcards you grade yourself — either you produced it or you didn't. That four-way coverage is what turns a character you've seen into one you can read, write, sound out and recognize by ear.

THREE PHASES, SO NOTHING SLIPS THROUGH
• Learn — new words one at a time, with the character's breakdown, a mnemonic, and all four modes taught together
• Review — all four modes are scheduled independently, so weak modes come back often and the ones you've nailed stop taking up your time
• Practice — a separate phase for the words you keep struggling with, so they get the focused attention they need instead of dragging down every review

GRAMMAR AND STORIES, ONE STEP AT A TIME
An HSK course that runs alongside your vocabulary:
• Grammar — one point at a time, explained with examples, then exercises where you build the answer yourself
• Stories — each one puts that grammar to use and gradually adds new vocabulary. Listen and read along, turn on pinyin when you need it, and tap any word to open its card
Lessons open in order, so each one builds on what you already know. HSK 1 alone has over 200 lessons, with more levels on the way.

A DICTIONARY THAT TEACHES
150,000+ entries in simplified (学) or traditional (學), with meanings, Mandarin pronunciations, stroke order animations, example sentences — and frequency data on everything. Search a word and its synonyms come back ranked by how commonly they're actually used, so you know which one to learn first.

Every character opens into a tree: 菜 breaks into 艹 and 采, 采 into 爫 and 木 — and each piece shows you the other characters and words it turns up in. Add your own mnemonic to lock it in. Study an official deck, or build a custom one.

WHAT'S FREE
The whole dictionary — all 150,000+ entries, stroke order, character trees, example sentences. Plus ten minutes of study every day, with no limit on which words you can learn. Premium adds more time per day and the grammar and stories course; it never locks words behind a paywall.

START WHERE YOU ARE
New to Chinese? Hanzio walks you in one word at a time. Already know part of the language? Mark what you've mastered and skip straight ahead — no grinding through what you already know. Ideal if you're switching from another app.

PROGRESS YOU CAN FEEL — AND FRIENDS TO KEEP YOU GOING
Earn XP, level up, and keep your streak alive. Add friends to see what they're learning and compete on weekly leaderboards — the easiest way to make a daily habit stick.

BUILT FOR REAL LIFE
Hanzio works offline, syncs across your devices, and is designed for short sessions — the commute, the coffee line, the five minutes before bed. And your data stays yours: export everything, anytime.

Start today. A few minutes a day, and by the end of the week you'll notice characters coming back to you before you've had time to think.

Terms of Use: https://hanzio.app/terms